Supporting Juvenile Justice Reforms in Georgia Begins its Trainings in Children’s Rights

  Kids participate in rights training exercises/Photo by Jasmine Van Deventer “Tavisuplebas!” (emphasis on the uplebas), Nino repeated fervidly. Interspersed with slight, spirited eruptions of laughter and bounties of enthused engagement, this lesson brought together five children, who gathered around a table, now overflowing with markers and blank papers, upon which Nino asked them to inscribe their names and record those of their rights that they held most dear. It is not surprising that throughout the lesson, the word I … Continue Reading →

Informing at-risk Georgian youth of their basic human rights

After a human rights training session, Georgian children talk about what right is most important to them: “Every child of Georgia should have the right to live in a family.” Lika Tstaishvili, 8, at a children’s home with her simulated family. / Photo by Roshan Nebhrajani This is the driving force of Georgia’s latest initiatives aimed at ameliorating the living conditions of abandoned children. As shelters continue to swell, international bodies have begun to support the implementation of institutions roughly … Continue Reading →

IBJ Country and JusticeMakers Fellows Come Together in Singapore to Unite for Justice

Very often, lawyers feel isolated – and overwhelmed by their responsibility of people’s fundamental freedom. Bringing them together helps build the movement for legal rights in their country and around the world. The global movement for legal rights will be given a kick-start over the coming weeks, as IBJ Asia and Africa Fellows gather for a 10-day Summit in Singapore, where IBJ has recently laid the foundations of the Justice Training Center. From August 8th to August 14th, eight IBJ … Continue Reading →

A new job opportunity ignites growth

In addition to writing legal memorandums, implementing new initiatives and developing innovative project activities, JusticeMaker Nana Chapidze will carve yet another notch on to her leadership belt: micromanaging. On Thursday July 22, Chapidze received a long-awaited call from the Georgian United Nations Development Programme. The office in Zugdidi offered her a position as a “Coordinator of the Rule of Law Initiative and Conference Building Program.” As the closest city to the conflict-region Abkhazia, Zugdidi hosts approximately 80,000 internally displaced people. … Continue Reading →

Sealing the cracks, one reform at a time

The dissolution of the Soviet Union left many former republics struggling to establish a viable, trustworthy legal infrastructure. From 1991 up until 1997, the Soviet model continued to govern Georgian society. During this time, many citizens still did not trust the Georgian government to protect their rights and solidify their safety. Legal texts in the library of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association./ Photo by Roshan Nebhrajani In 1997, legal scholar Lado Chanturia helped translate, and adapt aspects of the German … Continue Reading →

Supporting Juvenile Justice Reforms in Georgia- Repairing a Fraught System

Above: Nana and other GYLA members convene with representatives of Georgian and international partner organizations to discuss the frailties of local governmental infrastructure/photo by Jasmine Van Deventer Speaking with Nana Chapidze about her project, Supporting Juvenile Justice Reforms in Georgia, one finds little to be apprehensive about. She endeavors to realize an undertaking that is unequivocally imperative on a multiple levels. It is part and parcel of efforts underway to bolster Georgia’s still emergent democracy and buttress the political capacity of … Continue Reading →

Introducing the Georgian JusticeMakers DreamTeam

On Thursday, July 1, JusticeMaker Nana Chapidze hosted a working meeting of the lawyers, consultants and legal studies interns that would work diligently for the next year executing the project “Supporting Juvenile Justice Reforms in Georgia.” Beginning only two weeks ago, the project is currently in its administrative stage. At this meeting, Chapidze assigned tasks and deadlines to six other key team members, each of whom had their own passions and skills to contribute to the project’s completion. Nodar Jikia, … Continue Reading →

Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association: Chronicling Its Struggle for Democracy

The Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Kutaisi Branch is not one to lose momentum. On the face of it, the budding young lawyers’ group seems to have an unbearably expansive mandate. But probe a bit deeper, and one invariably finds how its cohesion takes shape before an ailing set of state structures that have yet to fully respond to the needs and demands of Georgia’s most vulnerable populations. From human trafficking to domestic violence, from the plight of internally displaced persons to the … Continue Reading →

Meet JusticeMaker Nana Chapidze

In between working for five different Georgian legal justice NGOs, spearheading international grant projects and translating various legal documents, it’s a wonder that JusticeMaker Nana Chapidze has any time for herself. Chapidze discusses project implementation at the GYLA office / Photo by Roshan Nebhrajani Born and raised in Kutaisi, Georgia, Chapidze has always been deeply connected to community development projects. As a law student, she became a legal aid assistant at the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), an NGO that … Continue Reading →