The organization “Young Barristers” will hold a Forum in Akhaltsikhe and Marneuli Municipalities within  the frameworks of the small grants  program  on the Eastern Partnership Minorities Network of the “Analytical Center for Interethnic Cooperation and Consultations”. The representatives from  educational sector, self-government and local NGOs will participate in the Forum. They will be provided with the information regarding the Eastern Partnership programs and advocacy of the minority rights. 

According to the program, the Forum topic will be: “Georgian –EU relations, current contacts and perspectives”, “Georgia and the Eastern Partnership System”. Local citizens will get the latest information regarding the issues and will have opportunity to ask questions to the representatives of the Ministries, attending the Forum. 

The “Young Barristers” will also prepare and publish special report in Georgian and Russian languages  in the process of the program implementation, providing detailed information about Georgian-EU relations and Georgian and the Eastern Partnership Format. A separate chapter will be devoted to the issues of  involvement,  participation and rights of the ethnic minorities within the program. After the Forum, the special report will be submitted to the libraries of the regional educational institutions, Civil Engagement Centers and Self-governments. 

According to the “Young Barristers”,  the main goal of the project is to inform, involve and increase trust of the ethnic minorities living in Georgia,  in the issues such as  the Eastern Partnership program, the perspectives of Georgian-EU relations, the role of the minorities within the frameworks of the  Eastern Partnership policy. It is necessary to increase civil responsibility of the ethnic minorities in the process of making decisions for the country’s development.

According to the evaluation of the organization, it is important, that in the process of European integration, ethnic minorities had clearly reflected civil attitude towards the issue, relevant information about their rights and responsibilities. This is the main reason explaining the need and necessity of the project, so far as ethnic minorities’ civil awareness still remains a problem. They are not adequately informed of what are the responsibilities, connected with the process of European integration, and in order to overcome the problem, they should have all the information about the benefits and importance of the European choice. 

Ethnic Minority Forum will be held on June 23 in Akhaltsikhe and in the second half of July in Marneuli.