Increasing awareness of Western integration and
engagement in the regions of Georgia

Project name: Increasing awareness of Western integration and engagement in the regions of Georgia
Budget: 749,673.56 USD
Duration: 51 months (start date: 28 September 2018 – end date: 30 December 2022)

Brief Description

“Increasing awareness of Western integration and engagement in the regions of Georgia” It is the first large-scale project that the Government of Georgia adopted for strengthening the resilience of the Georgian population against threats from anti-Western propaganda and ensuring effective communication about the country’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes.

In 2018, the U.S. Department of State allocated 499,675 USD to the Georgian government agency to strengthen the country’s strategic communications. The project was implemented by the Information Centre on NATO and EU of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the U.S. Embassy to Georgia, with the financial support of the U.S. State Department.

The project aimed to enhance the Georgian population’s informed  support towards the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Georgia, and to strengthen Georgian citizens’ resilience to myths and prejudices about NATO and the EU that have been disseminated by anti-Western disinformation campaigns.

The results of the first phase of the project significantly contributed to enhancing the awareness of  the general public in all ten regions of Georgia about Georgia’s Western integration processes. As a result of active intervention and information campaign, the population living in the regions regularly received increasingly greater information about the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Georgia.

In July 2020, the U.S. Department of State made a decision to continue the project and allocated an additional 250,000 USD for its implementation. The second phase of the project was aimed to consolidate the achieved results and not only to inform the citizens but also to actively involve them in the processes of Western integration.

Within the project, the Information Centre established direct communication with various target audiences, including young people, faculty staff, civil servants/representatives of local self-governments, community leaders, representatives of ethnic minorities, people living in rural areas, internally displaced persons from occupied territories, people living in villages across the occupation line, and media representatives, both in the capital and in 10 regions of Georgia (Adjara, Guria, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Racha, Samegrelo, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Shida Kartli).

  • Increasing the population’s awareness, through direct communication, about the benefits and opportunities resulting from Georgia’s cooperation with the European Union and NATO, and about the reforms already carried out, ongoing and planned to be carried out as part of Georgia’s Western integration;
  • Increasing access to information in 10 regions of Georgia, with the support of independent regional media organizations;
  • Conducting an objective and fact-based information campaign, to increase the awareness of the vulnerable and strategic segments of the target audience;
  • Capacity building and raising awareness of the main target groups in the regions of Georgia and of the stakeholders of the Information Centre to combat anti-Western propaganda and disinformation campaigns;
  • Encouraging the population living in the region through small grants;

  • A total of 1,969 events were organized by the Information Centre during both phases, as a result, direct communication was established with 66,795 people;
  • 1445 meetings were held with 40 656 people living in villages and urban settlements through the involvement of 10 regional representatives of the Centre;
  • 439 seminars were held for 25,014 representatives of local governments and various professional communities both in Tbilisi and in the regions of Georgia, with the involvement of invited experts;
  • The regional network of the Information Centre was expanded and 4 new regional bureaus were opened within the framework of the project (in highland Adjara, Kvemo-Kartli, Guria and Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti);
  • The professional skills of the Information Centre’s employees will be strengthened, in particular, 4 cycles of intensive training for the center’s employees were implemented;
  • 5 cycles of seminars were held for more than 100 students living in the occupied territory of Abkhazia, studying in the controlled territory of Georgia;
  • 3 surveys of Georgian citizens’ attitudes to and awareness of Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes were conducted;
  • In cooperation with the Journalism Resource Center, small grants were allocated to regional media outlets in Kvemo-Kartli, Kakheti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Shida-Kartli, Samegrelo and Guria. 789 media products relating to Georgia’s Western integration were created and distributed.
  • Up to 85 representatives of regional media were trained.
  • 4 cycles of thematic trainings were held for 25 representatives of regional media
  • 5 best project proposals were selected and implemented to promote the initiatives of the population living in the region by means of small grants
  • Up to 126,397 books, information brochures and visual materials were printed and distributed in Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani languages.
  • 126 info graphics, 39 video clips, 165 thematic posts were created and published on various online platforms of the Centre (the material was also translated into Armenian and Azerbaijani languages)

News

Tamara Tsuleiskiri Meets the Lithuanian Ambassador to Georgia
December 15, 2024
Information Center on NATO and EU at the Tbilisi International Book Festival
June 2, 2024
Celebration of Georgia’s Independence Day!
May 26, 2024
Celebration of “Europe Day” in “ExpoGeorgia”
May 11, 2024
Seminar on European Integration Issues for Beneficiaries of the Center for Spiritual and Intellectual Development of Youth at the Patriarchate of Georgia
April 12, 2024
Tamara Tsuleiskiri Meets Representatives of the Department of Media and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
April 10, 2024
Opening Event of the “Young European Ambassadors” Project at the Information Center on NATO and EU
April 4, 2024
Tamara Tsuleiskiri Meets the Slovak Ambassador to Georgia
March 28, 2024
Panel Discussion at the Information Center with the Representatives of the Ministry of EU Affairs of Hungary
March 25, 2024

Video Gallery