Welcome to our website
Photo collage
South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation proudly presents its new website. The Regional Office operates in the entire South Caucasus. As a calling card of our activities and positions, we hope to provide information about our work in an accessible format. The new website is divided into our four program areas: democratic development, dialogue between the EU and the South Caucasus, conflict transformation and our scholarship programme. You are invited to visit us often for further updates, and please feel free to contact us should you have any questions or comments.

News

Announcement

Your Ideas, Your NATO

Atlantic-community.org invites students and young professionals to contribute their policy ideas on key issues of the upcoming NATO Summit in Chicago in our new policy workshop, “Your Ideas, Your NATO”. We want to feature ideas from young people in all NATO Member and Partner countries on how the Alliance can build a sense of community, reach out to new partners in North Africa and the Middle East, and encourage participation in NATO’s Smart Defense initiative. Tell us what you’re looking for from “your NATO” and have a chance to discuss your ideas directly with decision makers, including US Ambassador Philip Murphy and a NATO representative, during the May 21 summit!

Presentation

Ethnic, Religious and Sexual Minorities in Georgian Printed Media

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On December 21, 2011 presentation of interim reports concerning media monitoring was held at the South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation. The topic of the media monitoring was highlighting hate speech in print media. The interim report was presented by Internews -Georgia, which is partner within the HBF SC project “Addressing Hate Speech in Georgia: A Litmus Test for Human Rights and Social Tolerance”. The aim of the monitoring is study of hate speech in Georgian print media, towards ethnic, religious and sexual minorities.

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Public Debate in Baku

Gender as an Issue of Academic Discourse in Azerbaijan

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On 27 September 2011, the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office organized the public debate in Baku. The topic of the discussion was: “Gender as an issue of academic discourse in Azerbaijan”. This was already a second public discussion organized by the HBF in Baku in 2011. As a rule, HBF discussions raise critical issues and actual problems facing the Azerbaijani society.

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Caucasus Analytical Digest

No. 34 Poverty in the South Caucasus

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  • Poverty in the South Caucasus by Katy E. Pearce, Georgetown University, Washington DC 
  • Pverty in Azerbaijan by Nazim Habibov, Windsor, Canada
  • Understanding Poverty in Georgia by Alexi Gugushvili, Cambridge
    download pdf (467 KB)
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Debates 2011

Student Self-Governments – Challenges, Perspectives

What is a function of student’s self-governance, how student self-government bodies are elected, what is a duration of the elected self-government bodies, how the functions of the student self-governments differ from each other at various Georgian universities, what is a rate of trust in this institution, what are major problems students in Georgia face and how the student self-government bodies support students in solving these problems, what was the reason for establishing an alternative student movement – These were some of the issues discussed during the debate held at the HBF on 14 December 2011. more»

Resolution 1325: Women, Peace and Security

 - Women and peace, conflicts and safety, gender based violence, human rights, women’s role in conflict prevention and resolution, participation in peace processes, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and Georgia’s National Action Plan – these were some of the issues discussed on 7 December 2011 at the public debate: Resolution 1325: Women, Peace and Security organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office. more»

HIV-Infection/AIDS and Human Rights

 - First data about an unknown disease with a lethal outcome were reported at the end of 1970’s by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, USA. To present, the total number of HIV/AIDS-affected population reaches 33 million worldwide. In Georgia, the first case of infection was recorded in 1989. Since then, the number of HIV/AIDS-positive persons increased to 3080. more»

New Directions of Georgia’s Forestry Reform

 - Forest should have its owner, existing legislation should be changed as Georgia’s forestry sector is in great need of reform - participants and speakers of the debate held at the HBF on 9 November 2001 on the issue of new directions of Georgia’s forestry reform, agreed upon these postulates. Though, the speakers invited by the HBF had diverging opinions regarding mechanisms for implementing reforms. more»

Repatriation Issues for Muslim Meskhetians

 - It has been 67 years since Meskhetians were exiled from Georgia by the Soviet Regime.  In November 1944, the entire Muslim population living in Georgia’s south-eastern province of Meskheti, including the Karapapak, Kurds, Gipsy and Turks were forcefully evicted from their homes and were deported to Central Asia. more»

Participatory Urban Development – The Way towards Social Compact

 - Urban Studies is one of the priority for the Heinrich Boell Foundation, - with these words Gogi Gvakharia, the moderator of the public debate opened the discussion: “Participatory Urban Development – The Way towards Social Compact” organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office on 12 October 2011. more»

Inclusive Education in Georgia

 - The first state-financed project of the inclusive education was launched in 2006 by the National Curriculum Center at the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. At the same period, wide discussion was initiated within the public on the issue of inclusive education. more»

“Registration of Religious Organizations as Legal Entities of Public Law”

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The reaction of the Georgian public to the adoption of "The Rule of Registration of Religious Organizations as Legal Entities of Public Law”, endorsed in July 2011 by the Georgian Parliament, was not homogenous. What positive or negative results could bring the ratification of the new legislation, does its adoption carry any potential threats for the society, what are the threats foreseen by the Georgian Patriarchate with the adoption of the new legislation, how the state had to negotiate the issue with the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church, why the public reacted so sharply to the new legislation – these were the questions raised by the participants of the HBF discussion on the topic of “Registration of Religious Organizations as Legal Entities of Public Law.”

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Homophobia: Are attitudes towards minorities changing in Georgia?

 - What does LGBT mean and what society knows about this term? What is the attitude of Georgian society towards such groups, and to what extent are those attitudes changing over time, according to experts’ observations? Is there a solid cultural basis for homophobia, and where and in which cultures has it emerged early on? What determines internalized homophobia, or what are the concrete cases of oppression of sexual minorities in Georgia? Is  homosexuality an ideology or it is just a simple individual choice to be what one is? Raising the issues of homophobia as a “phantom threat” and the problem of “coming out,”  the openness of the public debate held on June 22, 2011 at the Heinrich Boell Foundation distinguished it from other debates carried out on the same topic. more»

Challenges to Regional Media in Georgia

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Media independence, censorship and self-censorship, objective and non-biased information, information publicity and accessibility, lack of resources and transparency, non-professionalism - these are some of the key problemsthe media sphere faces in today’s Georgia.

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Report of the Public Defender of Georgia – The Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia - 2010

 - “Death export,” unbearable conditions in Georgian prisons, and recommendations that require immediate reaction – those are the issues that the public defender of Georgia Giorgi Tugushi talked about and that are also reflected in the annual Ombudsman’s report of 2011.  The annual report consists of 523 pages and mentions all critical problems that still exist in front of various state institutions as well as societal level and needs urgent cure. more»

Hate Speech in Georgia: What is the Borderline between Freedom of Expression and Crime?

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The Public Debate held at the Heinrich Boell Foundation on April 6, 2011 was devoted to the topic  “Hate Speech in Georgia: What is the Borderline between Freedom of Expression and Crime?” Taking into consideration the fact that Georgia does not enjoy a long discourse tradition on this topic, with active discussion on the hate speech issue having begun only two years ago,  the debates caused wide interest within  Georgian society.

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IDPs in Georgia and their integration within the today’s Georgian society

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Public discourse on the issue of IDP integration in characterized by various attitudes – IDPs themselves often consider integration as a factor hindering return to their homes and are less likely to view this process as a positive change either for them or for a wider societal life. For that reason, there exists diversity of approaches while defining the term “integration.”

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Turkish-Armenian Dialogue

Ani Dialogue II in Istanbul

After signs of a breakthrough in 2008 diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia are in a bottleneck again. At the same time there is increasing interest in both societies in overcoming legacies of the past, exchanging experiences with neighbors and aiming towards an open border. Since its inauguration in October 2010, the Ani Dialogue — organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus, the Heinrich Boell Foundation Turkey and the Caucasus Institute in Armenia — is dedicated to bottom-up reconciliation and normalization of mutual ties between Turkey and Armenia. In 2011 the annual meeting of Ani Dialogue was held in Heybeliada, Istanbul on July 7-10. The Dialogue was held in three different formats: plenary sessions as an introduction, working groups targeting specific issues and field trips to various institutions related to the topics of the dialogue. The event was accompanied by different social and cultural activities.

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Ani Dialogue kick-off conference reveals great potential in Turkish Armenian civil society cooperation

 - The first meeting of the Ani Dialogue has ended with great achievements in building relations and preparing the ground for future joint projects between the Turkish and Armenian civil society. A new bottom up process was inaugurated, which aims at contributing to a better understanding of both societies and, in a long term, to a relaxation in Armenian Turkish relations. Kerstin Müller more»

Football diplomacy and beyond

 - A breakthrough in Turkish Armenian relations

What would an opening mean for the two countries? What has made the rapprochement possible? How have political leaders handled the delicate process? What are the implications for the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh? How will Azerbaijan react? What new prospects open for relations between Europe and the South Caucasus, or between Turkey and the rest of Europe?

This dossier combines expert analysis and interviews with political leaders to give the latest insight into a complex region, and how conflicts can be peacefully overcome.

Ulrike Duffner (HBF Turkey), Iris Kempe (HBF South Caucasus) more»

Europe and South Caucasus

The Reform of the European Neighborhood Policy

 - The present paper examines the actual implementation of the Action Plan as an ENP instrument in terms of both its content and its institutional framework following the lessons learned from the experience of Ukraine. It assesses new ENP instruments that have been introduced during the EU presidencies of Finland and Germany (2006-2007) under the ENP Plus proposal, especially when it comes to the strengthened sector policy dialogue and prospects for the accession of ENP countries to European Community Programmes and Agencies.
download pdf (80 pages, 575 KB) Alexander Duleba, Lucia Najšlová, Vladimír Benč, Vladimír Bilčík more»

Archive

Roundtable Discussion on Civil Society Issues with the President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves

A strong democracy requires a vibrant, active civil society, said Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia, at the beginning of a roundtable discussion with representatives of Georgian civil society. He offered constructive criticism to the group, which met at the South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, in talks co-organized by the Estonian Embassy in Georgia, on 5 July 2011. Ilves highlighted the Estonian case but also urged Georgian NGO leaders to gain a more nuanced view of European values in contrast to the idealized version referenced throughout the discussion. A lively debate ensued between Ilves and the Georgian representatives regarding the level of democracy in Georgia and the approach necessary to address the current situation. more»

Religion, Politics and Gender Equality

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Contrary to modernist predictions that religion would retreat into a private zone of worship and practice, recent decades have seen religion become increasingly salient on the political stage worldwide. Does this matter? From the point of view of women’s rights and gender equality, much is at stake. UNRISD research shows that politicized religion impinges on women’s rights in problematic ways. The challenge to gender equality comes not just from fundamentalist agendas, but also from those who instrumentalize women’s rights for political ends.

Project to address hate speech in Georgia begins

 - Limiting and preventing hate speech in public life is crucial to Georgia’s peaceful and democratic development, because many of the country’s conflicts have dimensions that relate to ethnic, religious or other vulnerable groups. The Heinrich Boell Foundation, together with partners and supported by the European Commission, has initiated a project — “Addressing Hate Speech in Georgia: A Litmus Test for Human Rights and Social Tolerance” — to examine how much hate speech is present in Georgia’s politics and media, and to limit some of its effects. Existing violations of vulnerable groups’ rights constitute a threat to the stability of the Georgian state, and pose a potential risk to regional stability as well, as they hold potential to escalate into wider conflicts. A. Vasileva more»

HBF plans energy/environmental project in Georgia

- Georgia is dependent on imported energy. While energy consumption per person is less than the average of developed nations, this is not achieved through energy efficiency. Georgia's energy intensity is twice as high as the world average.   High energy prices and increasing demand for fuel and wood negatively impact Georgia's energy balance and also have grave environmental consequences. more»
Your Ideas - Your NATO Women's day EU financed project "Hate speech in Georgia"
Green links
Ani Dialogue Web-dossier Civil Initiative for Equal Participation Film festival "Nationality: human"