Dear ladies and gentlemen! First of all let me express my gratitude to organizers of this meeting, which provides with possibilities to share and exchange with valuable information and experiences. My Presentation is consisting of two parts, one related to the reforms taking place in the administration of the Georgian Parliament, another - on Georgian Parliament’s experience in implementing the Open Government Partnership goals, where Parliament’s administration plays crucial role. At the end of 2013 Georgia has been transformed from presidential to parliamentary republic and the role of the parliament, as of the major political body in the country increased significantly. Unfortunately, neither constitution, nor acting legislation could fully ensure the possibility for carrying out parliamentary oversight over the government. In 2016 the new composition of the parliament set as a goal to incorporate respective amendments into the constitution and harmonize the legislation with the new edition. After the two-year-long work the package of amendments has been adopted and the legislation has been harmonized therewith. The amendments to the constitution and legislation will enter into force this year, after the moment when newly elected president, by virtue of the presidential elections, will take an oath. In order to facilitate the implementation of the increased role of the Parliament, the administration of the Parliament is preparing itself. The administration of the Parliament of Georgia comprises up to 700 staff members, who are allocated in 10 departments, 9 structural units and 15 apparatus of the parliamentary committees. After the presidential elections the number of employees will increase up to 1100, as the acting staff members of the majoritarian bureaus in accordance with the new Rules and Procedures of the Parliament will be included in the whole administration of the Parliament. The role of the administration of the Parliament in terms of the implementation of the functions and powers attributed to the Parliament is extremely crucial. Therefore, various activities are being implemented within the administration, which ensure the capacity building of the staff members, carrying out new functions on a professional level and integrating novelties into practice. Within the timeframe given to me, let me briefly introduce to you the main activities that were implemented or are being implemented this year: Strengthening the Parliamentary Training Center – an educational component is a key facilitating element for the constant development of staff members of the administration. Accordingly, the particular emphasis is put on the strengthening of the Training Center of the Parliament. In this regard, the 5-weeks basic training program has been developed, which will be obligatorily completed by all trainees and newcomers in the administration before the start of practical part of the internship or the actual performance of duties by the new employee. In parallel, other training programs are in the process of drafting, taking into consideration the functions stipulated in the job descriptions of staff members of the administration. The group composed of 15 trainers selected from the staffers of the Parliament were selected, trained and involved in the long term (4 months) methodological program. In 2019, it is planned to identify 15 more trainers and strengthen the group of in-house trainers of the Training Center. Parliamentary Training Center initiated active cooperation with the vocational training institutions acting under various governmental agencies. Since May 2018 the memorandums of understanding were signed with 16 such training institutions. Within the framework of bilateral cooperation, training series focused on the needs of the staffers of the Parliament were conducted free of charge by the trainers of these vocational institutions. In 2019 we will be launching e-learning platform, fully operational by the end of the year. It will include a variety of training modules, which will be particularly relevant for the staff of the Bureaus of Majoritarian MPs operating in the regions outside Tbilisi. By the end of 2019, up to 50 Bureaus in various municipalities are planned to be involved in the e-learning system, which will allow for more than 200 employees to participate in regular online training activities. Reorganization of Research Department – research component has a special importance in activities of every Parliament; neither the Parliament of Georgia is the exception. Currently, the Research Department operating as a structural unit of the administration, comprises of 21 employees, providing valuable support to the parliamentary leadership, committees and faction, or individual MPs. Increased functions of the Parliament to carry oversight on implementation of the adopted laws by the Government has shown that research activities should be expanded, attracting more experts in various fields and equipping it with the regulation impact assessment function. To achieve these goals, in the beginning of 2019, the Research Department will be transformed into a legal entity of public law, which will ensure to allocate separate budget and to have more flexibility in terms of relations with donor and partner organizations. Pool of experts, to carry out research on specific topics and develop relevant reports according to their competence, will be established as well. Strengthening Parliament staffers in regions – 73 out of 150 MPs are Majoritarian MPs. The latter are running 95 offices across the country, where there are employed up to 350 employees. The Administration of the Parliament started intensive cooperation with the staffers of the bureaus. Particularly, trainings in various fields related to the daily workflow of the staffers of bureaus are organized on a monthly basis in all regions of Georgia; internship are now possible for this target group representatives in all departments and parliamentary committees apparatus at the headquarters. All these activities are directed to increase knowledge and skills of staffers in regions, as well as to improve coordination between headquarter and regional staff. Thousands of citizens address the bureaus of majoritarian MPs with allegations and complaints on the daily basis. Bureau staff processes, analyzes and provides MPs with the information. The MPs have immediate and direct contact with the leadership of the government and its structural units, which leads to solving problems defined by the bureaus. This ensures the elimination of the emerging problems. Accordingly, strengthening of bureaus is directly linked to strengthening of the Parliament’s oversight function. International Cooperation – active involvement of the Administration of the Parliament of Georgia in bilateral and multilateral format became one of priorities. In this regard, a decision has been taken to study the practical experience and achievements of each country and to determine the field of cooperation. We have started an active cooperation with German Bundestag through GIZ assistance, which led to the possibility of the involvement of German experts, in order to raise the quality of activities related to program budgeting, the Parliamentary Budget Office’s activities, HR assessment system, etc. With the Chancellery of Polish Sejm active cooperation started through sharing Polish experience on approximation and harmonization of the national legislation with respect to EU legislation. In December we are starting cooperation with the Knesset Administration in terms of adapting the Georgian Parliament building for persons with all types of disabilities and providing them with appropriate services. We also plan to study the experience of Israel on Concept of ‘Green Parliament’ and then introducing it to the Georgian reality. Most important activity was establishing a Network of the Secretary Generals of the Parliaments of Eastern Partnership Countries. This event initiated by Georgian side, supported by GIZ, took place at the end of September this year. It was first time that all SGs from 6 countries of the Region gathered and discussed areas of further cooperation. Next meeting of the SGs is scheduled in December, in Yerevan, where the Eastern Partnership Parliaments Research Network will be established. It will be similar to the ECPRD, but faster in exchange of information and sharing requested legislative acts. The action plan for the first half of 2019 was considered and agreed by the parties during Tbilisi meeting, defining particular activities to be implemented within the framework of this Network: (1) Winter Academy with the topic on research methodology (Tbilisi, February 2019); (2) Workshop on public awareness and training of staffers (Batumi, May 2019); (3) Summer Academy with the topic on oversight mechanism of the Parliament (Tbilisi, June 2019). These activities will be supported by GIZ involving staffers from Bundestag and other German experts as trainers and facilitators. All above listed activities are directed to strengthen the Administration of the Parliament of Georgia. Actually, I cannot imagine a powerful Parliament without a strong Administration. Therefore, improvements in the administration is directly linked to the strengthening of the Parliament. Now I move to the second part of my presentation, regarding the Georgian Parliament’s experience in implementing the Open Government Partnership (OGP) goals. The OGP is a global initiative that was launched in September 2011 and