Third Quarterly Report: Mar. 31, 2015 – June 30, 2015

The project, which began in November 2014, is a five-year $5.5 million initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by EWMI and its local partners, the Centre for Training and Consultancy (CTC) and the Civil Development Agency (CiDA). The project has four objectives: (1) Citizens become more aware of and involved in CSO activities; (2) CSO leadership, organizational capacity, and sustainability are improved among organizations throughout Georgia; (3) CSOs are able to effectively monitor, analyze, and influence key government policies and processes; and (4) the Centers for Civic Engagement (CCEs) establish local ownership so that they continue to operate as politically neutral gathering spaces for public discourse. During the third quarter of the project, EWMI ACCESS awarded six grants to Georgian CSOs, shortlisted three project proposals for funding, and announced a new open grant competition to award four more grants. The grantees cover a range of issues and geographic locations, and apply diverse approaches to meet set goals. The Citizen Outreach Grants (COG) aim at mobilizing and engaging citizens in addressing the most pressing local issues, while the Public Policy and Accountability Grants (PPAG) support projects that promote Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration. The Best Practice and Innovation Events (BPIE) engaged 260 CSO leaders, journalists, local government officials, community leaders, and private sector representatives in discussing strategies and tactics for advancing public interest causes, increasing citizen engagement with CSOs, and overcoming continuing challenges in the civil society sector. The BPIE topics ranged from web-based technologies for holding the government accountable to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and result-oriented advocacy. The Regional Civic Engagement Week, spearheaded by CiDA, involved over 60 civic events throughout the country, with more than 1,000 citizens participating. The event aimed to give a forum for regional and national CSOs to present and discuss their work with their constituents, encourage local citizens to partner with CSOs, highlight regional civil society activities and issues in the regions, and further increase the Regional Civil Society Network's (R-CSN) visibility. EWMI ACCESS also organized a rapid response initiative to support the families affected by the devastating flood in Tbilisi, collecting information about the most urgent needs of the homeless families and providing them with desperately needed supplies. In total, EWMI ACCESS supported 14 families. Under its customized CSO organizational development program, CTC conducted comprehensive Organizational Capacity Assessments (OCA) of COG grantees and developed tailored Capacity Development Plans (CDP). CTC's assessments included group discussions with leaders and staff of the target CSOs and review of organizational documents, establishing baseline organizational capacity scores for each organization. CDPs highlighted technical assistance needs to achieve the desired results in the assessed areas. CTC also finalized the Non-Profit Leadership Program (NLP), which will include seven modules addressing the issues related to non-profit management, social marketing, project management, and advocacy. EWMI ACCESS and CTC will issue a Call for Expression of Interest to participate in the NLP and competitively select CSOs for participation. R-CSN adopted a Bylaw defining its mission, guiding values, goals, structure, and membership status, granted membership to three new regional CSOs, organized working group meetings to discuss internal development priorities, and joined two national CSO campaigns. R-CSN also fostered and facilitated the establishment of a CSR Club bringing together over 50 leading businesses and CSOs to promote socially responsible business practices and encourage sustained and coordinated social initiatives benefiting citizens across Georgia. The CCEs hosted and organized 1,364 public discussions involving 29,272 citizens, with 80 of them dedicated to the problems of gender equality and women's rights. EWMI ACCESS contractor, Applied Research Center (ARC), completed research activities interviewing and surveying over 2,000 CCE clients, potential clients, CCE staff, and other stakeholders to assess clients' satisfaction with CCE services, measure future market demand for these and additional CCE-relevant services, and identify potential competitors on the market. ARC will finalize its research findings and develop CCE sustainability plans in the next quarter. In order to reduce CCE dependence on EWMI ACCESS Tbilisi office and enhance professional skills of CCE Coordinators and Deputy Coordinators, EWMI ACCESS decentralized the CCE supply system and supported the development of CCE Coordinators and Deputy Coordinators' professional skills.