NDI has worked in Georgia since 1994, and has conducted programs in political party development, parliamentary strengthening, safeguarding elections, civil society development, women’s political participation, and local governance. In the lead-up to Georgia’s 2003 democratic transition, NDI provided extensive training to political parties, fostered dialogue among political party leaders, and supported domestic election monitors. Since 2003, NDI has provided technical assistance and support to parliament, supported local civic actors working to bolster public involvement in the reform process, provided technical assistance for election monitoring efforts, and conducted public opinion research examining citizens’ attitudes toward reforms.
Parliamentary Development
NDI’s work with the Parliament of Georgia focuses on strengthening parliamentary factions, supporting constructive policy debate through town hall meetings and roundtable discussions, and building the institutional capacity of parliament through workshops, technical assistance, and the NDI Parliamentary Internship Program. The Institute also encourages parliament to increase its transparency and outreach capabilities and recently helped parliament to digitize the parliamentary record into a web-based searchable format.
Women’s Political Participation
Since 2005, the NDI Future Women Leaders Program has brought together groups of 20 to 25 women for a year-long program designed to increase women’s participation in politics and prepare women to seek elected office. Each group of women is selected through a competitive process, and participates in monthly trainings on topics such as leadership, public speaking, campaign management, and project oversight. In 2008, alumnae of the program formed their own nongovernmental organization in order to continue to promote the networking and skills learned in the NDI-led workshops.
Civil Society Strengthening
NDI supports Georgian civil society through assistance to the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), a nonpartisan nongovernmental organization that is Georgia’s leading nationwide grassroots civic organizing and election monitoring organization. NDI elections experts offer technical assistance related to specialized election observation activities, including long-term monitoring, election-day observation, voters’ list audits, and parallel vote tabulations. In recent years, with NDI assistance, ISFED has developed its organizational management capacity and capacity to conduct programs in the inter-election period that promote citizens’ political engagement. Recent ISFED initiatives include town hall meetings with elected officials, public opinion research, advocacy workshops, and civic and voter education campaigns.
International Election Observation
NDI has fielded high-level international election observation and assessment missions to Georgia, most recently for 2003 parliamentary elections and 2008 presidential and parliamentary polls. These missions assessed the political environment, suggested improvements to the electoral framework based on international best practices, and demonstrated the international community’s commitment to transparent and credible elections.
Funding
NDI’s programming in Georgia is funded through the United States Agency for International Development, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Swedish International Development Agency, and the British Embassy in Tbilisi.
Contact Information
For more information about these programs, use our contact form or contact:
Washington, D.C.
Laura Jewett, Regional Director
