The Civil Society Engagement Program (CSEP) in Georgia is a five-year activity funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI) in partnership with CANVAS, ZINC Network, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), European Community Foundation Initiative, Center for Training and Consultancy, Orbeliani Georgia, and the Global Compact Network Georgia (GCNG).  

CSEP aims to strengthen Georgian civil society through building the capacity of new and existing civic actors to act as trusted, legitimate, and effective representatives of citizens’ interests, empowering and mobilizing communities to advocate for their rights, and building an ecosystem for civic actors to diversify their resource base. The program will support civic movements, civic activists, and civil society organizations (CSOs) from across the country to put forward and advance citizen-vetted solutions to citizens’ key concerns and priorities. 

CSEP will ensure that women, youth, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI persons, and ethnic minorities participate meaningfully in all its activities and that their perspectives and interests are reflected in the processes and outcomes. 

To achieve its goals, CSEP will bring together co-creative processes, tailored and learning-by-doing capacity development assistance, opportunities for building horizontal and vertical partnerships, e-tech solutions, and flexible grant programs through the following three key objectives: (1) Enhance the capacity of civic actors to address citizen identified issues; (2) Foster partnerships among civic actors and between civic actors and other sectors; and (3) Develop an ecosystem for sustainability of civic actors.