TI Georgia’s on-going project (some independet stages are completed - impact can be judged) – Monitoring Georgia’s International Commitments – is funded by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. As the name would suggest, it aims to monitor, assess and evaluate international commitments Georgia has made, particularly those under the European Neighborhood Policy. Four specific sectors have been identified: (1) rule of law—judiciary, law enforcement institutions, and criminal justice; (2) human rights and fundamental freedoms; (3) business climate and economic development; and (4) security and conflict resolution.
The project is less about international commitments per se and more about the government’s commitment to and implementation of reforms. Reform, when initiated, is done so in an entirely ad-hoc manner and at the level of individual sectors, ignoring the importance of comprehensive and inclusive reform strategies. There is little input or oversight from the public or from experts who can accurately assess the work being done. In general, there has been a lack of information generated or circulated on the work of individual sectors, conflicting and inconsistent accounts of what changes are being made, and a general lack of understanding within the ministries themselves of what should be their medium- and long-term reform strategies.
TI Georgia's project, by independently assessing the Government’s activities in comparison with its international commitments, by increasing public access to information on reforms, and providing the international community with an independent assessment of the reform process, fills an important gap. It acts as an early warning mechanism, giving warning of corruption, and as a catalyst for continuous re-planning and revision of decisions and procedures. In a broader sense, it seeks to ensure the development of a consistent and long-term reform strategy.
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