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Consolidating Parliamentary Democracy in Georgia
summary
In 2018, Georgia moved to parliamentary system of governance as a result of significant constitutional amendments of 2017. The role of the Parliament has consequently increased, particularly vis-à-vis the Government which has become more accountable toward the legislative branch. This has been further secured through the follow-up reform of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure which expanded parliamentary functions further and introduced new and effective mechanisms for better exercise of its legislative, oversight and representative functions. In the new constitutional and legislative framework, the European Union and UNDP support the Parliament of Georgia in its efforts to enhance institutional functioning and capacities and apply new mechanisms into practice. The new initiative also supports the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara to improve its institutional effectiveness and increase openness, transparency and citizen engagement.
The initiative builds on the achievements of the previous EU/UNDP parliamentary strengthening project and targets the existing gaps and challenges in parliamentary performance.
We work hand in hand with the members and staff of the Georgian Parliament and Supreme Council of Ajara, as well as civil society organizations and public at large. The initiative is being implemented in partnership with the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).
what we do
Assist Parliament of Georgia in strengthening its evidence-based policy and law-making capacities via:
- Facilitating effective policy and law-making processes in the Parliament through supporting the work of parliamentary committees and thematic rapporteurs.
- Building the capacities of the Parliamentary Research Centre and facilitating its transformation into a research and analytical hub contributing to evidence-based policy and law-making processes in the Parliament.
Support the Parliament of Georgia in improving government oversight functions by:
- Facilitating thematic inquiries and post-legislative scrutiny with particular emphasis on the EU-Georgia Association Agreement priorities and Sustainable Development Goals.
- Improving the Parliament’s oversight capacities in the security sector.
- Enabling effective collaboration between the Parliament and independent state institutions to increase government accountability.
Assist the Parliament of Georgia in enhanced public engagement in parliamentary processes through promotion of participatory democracy and open governance principles via:
- Promoting legislative openness reforms and facilitating the work of the Parliament’s Open Governance Council.
- Raising public awareness on the citizen engagement tools in the parliamentary activities.
- Developing civic education module for Georgia’s secondary schools – Parliament for Children.
Support the Parliament of Georgia in enhancing institutional effectiveness through:
- Reviewing the progress of institutional reforms and facilitating the elaboration of the institutional development strategy for the X parliamentary convocation.
- Reviewing the effectiveness of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure for their further streamlining.
- Facilitating the design of MP and staff induction programs for 2020.
- Developing Business Continuity Management (BCM) system and capacities in the Parliament.
Support the Supreme Council of Ajara in strengthening its institutional performance through:
- Improving institutional development framework and capacities.
- Kicking off openness reforms and building capacities of local CSOs to effectively engage in the Council’s openness activities.
expected results
- Strengthen performance of the Parliament of Georgia in the new context of constitutional and legislative framework, ensure that the policy and law-making processes are evidence-based and sustainable, accountability of the government is increased, and citizens’ access to the Parliamentary activities is significantly improved.
- Increase institutional performance of the Supreme Council of Ajara and institutionalize open governance principles in its work.
Contact information
Project address
8 Rustaveli Avenue
Parliament of Georgia
Tbilisi 0118
Contact persons
Giorgi Bobghiashvili
Institutional Development Specialist
giorgi.bobghiashvili@undp.org
Tanana Baghaturia
Financial Assistant
tanana.baghaturia@undp.org
Gigi Bregadze
UNDP Democratic Governance Team Leader
gigi.bregadze@undp.org
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