In Guria region citizens are working to hold their elected officials accountable. The legislation on local self-governance obliges local Members of Parliament (MPs) and village representatives to meet their respective communities regularly and to report to citizens regarding ongoing and planned activities. The timeline of such meetings is also determined by the legislation. However, citizens have not been informed about their rights to meet decision-makers. Consequently such meetings have not taken place.
The Union for Democratic Development of Georgia (UDDG) is working in five villages of Ozurgeti Municipality in Guria region to establish this direct contact between local communities and officials.
UDDG obtained the approved timeline of these meetings from Sakrebulo (the local representative body) and publicized this information widely. Citizens in five villages have signed a petition requesting the local government to organize a general meeting with citizens.
UDDG representatives inform citizens about their rights to meet with village representatives.
“This is our chance to talk about the most pressing village problems with local government,” a woman said during a meeting in Jumati village, as UDDG collected signatures for the petition. “Such meetings should become a tradition because villagers must know what the government thinks and the government should know what people think,” she continued.
Indeed, citizens’ advocacy, facilitated by UDDG, resulted in 11 meetings between local residents, MPs and village representatives. During meetings, residents expressed their concerns and MPs promised to address these issues. Local officials have found these meetings useful.
“Village support programs are being carried out more effectively in the villages where local populations are active,” said Aleko Mameshvili, the Head of Ozurgeti Sakrebulo at a public advisory council meeting. “For that
purpose the role of local NGOs is important in terms of engaging local
communities in the decision-making process and making participatory mechanisms work in reality,” he said. Mameshvili emphasized the important role that UDDG had played in fostering communication between officials and citizens.
Now UDDG is monitoring MPs to ensure that they act on concerns raised by citizens. Meanwhile, people have become accustomed to this “novelty”; more and more citizens are seeking to meet with local MPs.
In order to facilitate future meetings, UDDG has developed detailed instructions regulating citizen engagement in decision-making processes in Ozurgeti Municipality. They hope that their proposed instructions will replace the currently rigid and ineffective legislation. The instructions provide detailed procedures for ensuring public participation and generating public feedback regarding the planning and distribution of funds allocated for villages in Ozurgeti Municipality. This includes involving citizens in determining the rationality of allocating funds to specific villages; installing mechanisms for identifying and categorizing community needs; and establishing procedures for community meetings. Ozurgeti Municipality has informed UDDG that the proposal is under discussion and its approval will be discussed at the next Sakrebulo meeting.
UDDG’s advocacy efforts were made possible through an EWMI G-PAC Citizens’ Advocacy Grant in the amount of $14,773.
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