TWENTY-THIRD QUARTERLY REPORT Award Period: October 31, 2014 – April 30, 2021 Reporting Period: April 1 – June 30, 2020 Submitted to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of Cooperative Agreement No. AID-114-A-14-00008 by the East-West Management Institute, Inc. Tamuna Karosanidze, Chief of Party, Tbilisi: [email protected] Ana Drakic, EWMI ACCESS Project Director, New York: [email protected] #5 Marjanishvili St., Third Floor • Tbilisi 0102 Georgia • Tel (995 0 32) 2202 444 • www.facebook.com/EWMI.ACCESS CONTENTS Acronyms .................................................................................................................................. 3 Background ............................................................................................................................... 4 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 5 Component One: Citizens become more aware of and involved in CSO Activities ......... 6 Key Activities and Accomplishments ................................................................................................................ 6 Key Issues and Challenges ................................................................................................................................. 13 Plans for Next Quarter ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Component Two: Improving CSO leadership, organizational capacity, and sustainability .................................................................................................................................................. 14 Key Activities and Accomplishments .............................................................................................................. 15 Key Issues and Challenges ................................................................................................................................. 19 Plans for Next Quarter ...................................................................................................................................... 19 Component Three: CSO policy research, monitoring, and influence increase ............... 19 Key Activities and Accomplishments .............................................................................................................. 20 Key Issues and Challenges ................................................................................................................................. 26 Plans for Next Quarter ...................................................................................................................................... 26 Component Four: Network of Centers for Civic Engagement ................................................... 26 Key Activities and Accomplishments .............................................................................................................. 27 Key Issues and Challenges ................................................................................................................................. 30 Plans for Next Quarter ...................................................................................................................................... 30 Public Outreach ...................................................................................................................... 30 Key Activities and Accomplishments .............................................................................................................. 30 Plans for Next Quarter: ..................................................................................................................................... 32 Annex 1: EWMI ACCESS Rapid Response Grant Projects EWMI Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS) USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-114-A-14-00008 23rd Quarterly Report: April 1, 2020 – June 30, 2020 Page 2 of 32 ACRONYMS ACCESS Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability Project CBO Community Based Organization CCA Center for Civic Activities CCY Coalition of Children and Youth of Georgia CDP Capacity Development Plan CiDA Civil Development Agency COP Chief of Party COGs Citizen Outreach Grants CSO Civil Society Organization CTC Centre for Training and Consultancy, Georgia DCoP Deputy Chief of Party DFRLab Digital Forensic Research Lab EWMI East-West Management Institute GCSD Georgian Center for Strategy and Development GEL Georgian Lari G-PAC Policy, Advocacy, and Civil Society Development in Georgia HICD 2020 Human and Institutional Development 2020 Activity HRSJRC Human Rights and Social Justice Research Center IFES International Fund for Electoral Systems IMDCA Internet Monitoring for Democratic Civic Action ISFED International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy NCCE Network of Centers for Civic Engagement, Georgia NMP Non-profit Management Program OACA Organizational and Advocacy Capacity Assessment Tool PPAG Public Policy and Accountability Grants RRG Rapid Response Grant StratCom Strategic Communications Center of Georgia TA Technical Assistance ToT Training of Trainers UNAG United Nations Association – Georgia USAID United States Agency for International Development WISG Women’s Information and Support Group WoG Women of Georgia WWC Winner Women’s Club EWMI Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS) USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-114-A-14-00008 23rd Quarterly Report: April 1, 2020 – June 30, 2020 Page 3 of 32 BACKGROUND The Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS) Project works to enhance the effectiveness of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Georgia. EWMI ACCESS is a 6.5-year $8,996,947 project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by East-West Management Institute (EWMI) and its local partners, the Centre for Training and Consultancy (CTC) and the Civil Development Agency (CiDA). ACCESS builds on the successes of EWMI’s and USAID’s previous work with CSOs in Georgia under the Policy, Advocacy, and Civil Society Development in Georgia (G- PAC) project. ACCESS works to achieve 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 they continue to operate as politically neutral gathering spaces for public discourse. EWMI ACCESS pursues these four objectives through grants supporting policy research, watchdogs, and civic engagement activities by CSOs, technical assistance programming to strengthen CCEs and CSO management and operations, and a wide range of events that deepen dialogue and partnerships between citizens, CSOs, government, businesses, and media. EWMI ACCESS prioritizes the expanded inclusion of women, minorities, and youth in its initiatives to ensure that voices from these groups are more fully taken into account in CSO activities and governance processes. By increasing the use of science, technology, and innovation in CSO activities, EWMI ACCESS also assists civil society in becoming more effective and efficient in representing the needs of the public. EWMI ACCESS began on October 30, 2014, and is scheduled to end on April 30, 2021. EWMI Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS) USAID Cooperative Agreement No. AID-114-A-14-00008 23rd Quarterly Report: April 1, 2020 – June 30, 2020 Page 4 of 32 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During the reporting period, EWMI ACCESS launched 38 new grant projects, including 11 Citizen Outreach Grant (COG) projects, 22 Rapid Response Grant (RRG) projects, and five Public Policy and Accountability Grant (PPAG) projects. COGs addressed wide-ranging issues concerning Georgian citizens across the country. The implementing organizations sustained regular communication with their constituents and despite the challenges created by COVID-19, significantly expanded their support bases. RRGs provided critical information and support to disproportionally affected groups during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. They gained wide media coverage and public support and spurred multiple crowdfunding initiatives and other solidarity actions in support of vulnerable groups. PPAGs used diverse online and face-to-face communication methods to safeguard citizens from conspiracies and misconceptions about COVID-19. They also tracked and exposed anti- western and pro-Russian fake Facebook accounts and pages and successfully advocated for their removal from Facebook. EWMI ACCESS supported a regular exchange of information among its grantees, leading to resource-sharing and amplification of results, as well as to the increased solidarity among civil society actors. EWMI ACCESS’ local implementing partner CTC provided uninterrupted organizational development assistance to eight organizations, responding to their concrete needs and priorities. It also engaged 154 CSO members and civic activists through self-paced e-courses, and launched a new e-course on preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. Additionally, CTC developed the first Georgian-language publication on co-creation to popularize this concept in