Georgian Government Announces Grant Fund for Foreign Agents-Registered CSOs
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
On September 9, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze unveiled a new government initiative to establish a grant fund for civil society organizations registered in the Foreign Agents Registry. The initiative aims to provide financial support to organizations that have complied with the registration process while promoting national interests.
During the announcement, the Prime Minister praised over 450 organizations that registered with the Ministry of Justice, viewing their registration as a sign of "civic responsibility." He stated, "Receiving foreign funding does not automatically mean harboring the negative interests of a foreign power." Kobakhidze also highlighted the registration process, which he said took place "against a backdrop of active pressure and blackmail" from both Georgian CSOs and donor organizations, some of which threatened to cut funding if they registered.
The new grant program, fully financed by the Georgian state budget, is set to launch in January 2025. "We have decided to establish a grant program for Georgian NGOs, which will be fully financed from the state budget of Georgia with the money of Georgian taxpayers," Kobakhidze announced. The institutional and financial foundations for the fund are expected to be completed within two months.
Kobakhidze emphasized that projects funded through this initiative will align with "Georgian people's interests," citing specific objectives such as "strengthening democratic institutions, fighting corruption, countering hybrid threats, caring for people with special needs, protecting the environment, and supporting ethnic and religious minorities."
He further promised that organizations participating in the grant program would receive "twice as much" funding as they previously received from abroad. He also stressed the importance of transparency, assuring that all expenditures would be available for public scrutiny.
"We call on all non-governmental organizations that want to become an agent of influence of the Georgian people and promote the national interests of Georgia to actively participate in the competitions announced within the grant program," Kobakhidze urged.
When asked how government-funded CSOs could serve as watchdogs over the government, the Prime Minister responded, "It is in the government's interest to have CSOs that will help in the fight against corruption." He asserted that the government is open to funding organizations that will assist in identifying and eliminating corruption within government structures.
Kobakhidze also addressed concerns about whether government-funded CSOs could still be considered independent. He pointed to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in the US, which is funded by the US government but serves American interests, saying, "If an organization can be funded by a foreign government and still be considered an NGO, why can it not be funded by the Georgian government?"
The Prime Minister emphasized that transparency and freedom would be key elements of the program. "As for freedom of activities of the CSOs, freedom will certainly be the starting point and the defining point. Without it, we can't start fighting corruption or other tasks related to strengthening institutions," he said.
While the exact budget for the initiative is still under discussion, Kobakhidze assured that it would be in the millions, citing that the Georgian budget has grown by 10 billion GEL in the last four years.
