The United Nations Association of Georgia is
the Georgian non-governmental organization established in 1995.
We believe that the peaceful co-existence of nations depends on
mutual awareness and development of the multilateral institutions
of cooperation. Therefore our vision is that of the democratic
Georgian nation participating in the world processes and contributing
to the development of humankind.
We see as our mission to provide the information
on ongoing developments on the world arena, on international institutions
shaping the world policies and to enhance the skills of our target
groups enabling them to adequately participate in the work of
these entities. Internally we favor development of Georgia as
a democratic society, strengthening civil participation in all
walks of life.
UNA-Georgia bases its activities on close cooperation
with the international agencies. It is the member of the World
Federation of the United Nations Associations and is affiliated
with the United Nations Department of Public Information.
Projects
Projects represent the specific types of activities of the United
Nations Association of Georgia. Single project may incorporate
several programs implemented in cooperation with various donors
or from internal resources and may transcend several directions
of activity. In brief the projects are what we are known with,
the practical expression of our vision and the directions of activity.
Civic Education
Field of activity aimed at general support of the democratic developments
in the country. Involves education efforts at high schools and
universities presenting the general system of values of the democracy
and elaborating on specific skills necessary for active citizenship
participation. Is carried our in form of the cycles of lessons,
seminars, training sessions and research targeting various beneficiary
groups.
Programs "New Generation for the Better World",
Seminars for media representative and Model UN cycles can be identified
as basic UNA activities in field of civic education.
Human Rights Education and Advocacy
At first stages human rights education was incorporated in civic
education framework, but recent programs and increased capacity
of UNA to address these issues through gained experience dictated
identification of Human Rights Education and Advocacy as separate
priority direction of activity.
Main effort in this direction is directed towards
raising the capacity of civil society organizations in the regions
for addressing human rights concerns and facilitation of the confidence
building measures in relations with official bodies.
Information provision, capacity building and advocacy
are considered by UNA to form the main elements of the direction.
These are practiced in programs Education and Consultation Network
on Human Rights, training programs conducted with UNHCR, publications
and information campaigns.
IDP and Refugee Rights
The direction is carried out by UNA-Georgia as implementing partner
of UNHCR. Activities are directed towards raising non-governmental
capacity to address the problem, provision of training to official
and non-governmental bodies, information provision.
Specific activities involve training session
on international humanitarian law, needs assessment through mobile
teams in various regions of Georgia, facilitation of the roundtable
meetings of the non-governmental organizations on specific issues.
The information direction incorporates publication
of the bimonthly Newsletter "Refuge" in cooperation with UNHCR,
translation and publication of relevant legal, operational and
promotion materials.
Recent activities in this direction incorporate
establishment of the network of contact persons in several regions
of Georgia working on facilitation of NGO-local government dialogue
on IDP and broader migration-related issues.
UN Association also regularly hosts the consultative
meeting of Georgian NGOs working on migration-related issues aimed
at facilitation of common approaches to most pressing problems.
Transparency of the Public Sector Activities
incorporated in this direction are directed towards promotion
of the transparent practices in local government by encouraging
active involvement of the civil society organizations in oversight
and assessment measures. The program "Transparency through Participation"
being run in cooperation with the Open Society Institute also
foresees facilitation of the systemic study on perceptions of
corruption in several regions of Georgia and elaboration of the
draft ethic code of conduct for public servants.
UN Popularization
Being at core of UNA activity worldwide the direction is certainly
forming one of the priorities for UNA-Georgia. Efforts are aimed
at presentation of the role of the United Nations Organization
as the forum of international multilateral diplomacy, but also
as the manifestation of the values of peaceful and democratic
coexistence of nations.
Specific activities in this direction include
regular Model UN Session Cycles for University Students, publication
of the promotional materials in cooperation with UN Department
of Public Information and UNDP Division of Public Affairs. UNA-Georgia
has also regularly been involved in organization of the activities
in celebration of UN Day.
Popularization direction also includes publications.
Currently the work in conducted for preparation and publication
of the handbook for university students of UN that will be used
as a suggested reading for international organizations course
at several Georgian universities.
