A means of mass mobilization in Soviet times, the right to rest does no longer exist. Resorts and sanatoria built in that time offer today decaying architecture and outdated practices luring to Soviet nostalgia
On Thursday, February 2nd, the European Parliament approved visa liberalisation for Georgia. Now the formalities at the EU Council of Ministers, and by the end of March the first travellers
Georgia has now full access to Horizon 2020: a great opportunity for research and innovation but at the same time a challenge for scientists and academia
After evolving in parallel for centuries, thanks to UNESCO, the three Georgian alphabets became intangible cultural heritage of humanity. A living and charming heritage, but one to be protected
A journey to Duisi, the principal village in the valley of Pankisi in north-eastern Georgia where many of its children have rebuffed the traditions of the fathers. Report
Things seem to be going well for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia at the 2016 Summer Olympics – scheduled to start on 5 August, in Rio de Janeiro. At least when it comes to the overall numbers of participating athletes
In Georgia there are many care services for beneficiaries below the age of 18, but problems really emerge once they become adults. Georgia’s ChildPact members address this issue, working with the authorities to find long-term solutions
Giorgi Bobghiashvili, of the European Centre for Minority Issues, spoke to us about national minorities and inclusive policies in Georgia ahead of the next general elections
Up to 100 Georgian citizens, mostly from the Pankisi Valley, have allegedly left their homes to join the Islamic State in Syria. With no effective counter-radicalisation policies, the situation could become even worse
Legitimate claim or political plot? A former co-owner of one of the country's most popular TV channels has claimed the intellectual property of the TV logo. The judiciary intervenes with a number of temporary restrictions and Rustavi 2 risks to disappear
Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, made public on 10 March his report on the state of human rights in Armenia. Our interview
It might be one page, one paragraph, or just two lines. But the importance of including child protection in EU’s Association Agreements cannot be overestimated
Following last year’s rampage by conservatives targeting LGBT activists intent on marking 17 May as the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), the Georgian Orthodox Church this year instead declared the day as one celebrating family unity. And while civil society did not take the attempt to hijack IDAHOT lying down, some are concerned that this is just the start
In Georgia the majority of the population is in favor of closer ties with the European Union. However this will depend on progress made in terms of human rights protection and it is in these issues that stumbling blocks might frustrate Georgian ambitions
Georgia has embraced the idea of open data as a vital component of open government. Critics, however, say data usability is still out of reach. A vital civil society sector could make the difference
Georgia's deinstitutionalisation policy has proved successful in addressing the needs of children deprived of parental care, but some concerns remain. In neighbouring Armenia and Azerbaijan, thousands of kids are still living in Soviet-era institutions
The Sochi Project, a digital tale showcased at the recent Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, is a powerful investigation into the next Winter Olympics, and on the human rights violations associated
The Association Agreements initialled by Moldova and Georgia in Vilnius are not identical. There may be very good reasons for the differences, but some are more difficult to explain than other
Kosovo's declaration of independence in February 2008 marked a change in Russia's approach towards Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the months preceding the war in Georgia in August 2008. Five years later, a short journey through this change in Moscow's official rhetoric
Funded by a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, three students from the United States and Gibraltar are researching and recording traditional music in the South Caucasus to make it available online
Elva is a platform developed in Georgia that allows to easily receive feedback from local communities via SMS. Successfully used to map local needs along the ABL with South Ossetia, it could soon be used elsewhere
In his contribution for the dossier “Abkhazia, twenty years after the war”, Francisco Martínez shares with Osservatorio's readers the materials he gathered in late 2010 while visiting the region, including video interviews in Gali, Sukhumi and Tbilisi
"Georgian Dream", the government coalition led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, promised to continue with Euro-Atlantic integration and, at the same time, get closer to Moscow. Yet, not everything seems to go as planned
The law "On the state language", approved by the authorities in Sukhumi in 2007, risks exacerbating inter-ethnic relations in Abkhazia, a territory that remains largely multi-ethnic, even after the ethnic cleansing that happened during the war. Our correspondent went to Abkhazia to find out more about it. A feature story
Aleksey Gogua is one of the most notable Abkhaz-language writers of the twenty-first century. During the Soviet era, his novels were translated into Russian and hundreds of thousands of copies were printed. Literature in Abkhazia today, relations with Russia, the situation of the Abkhaz language. An interview
The basic idea behind Go Group Media is simple: give a camera to people from all walks of life, living in isolated parts of the country, and tell them to make films about their lives or things that matter to them. The result is an amazing way to get to know the lives of people living in different parts of the Caucasus
Recent estimates give 93% of the software used in Georgia as pirated. Nearly everyone uses illegal software without seeing it as breaking the law. Shops in Tbilisi sell computers with Windows and other programmes already installed without the licence. Music shops happily sell copies of CDs and DVDs. In the short term the situation doesn't look like changing
“A boy is OK, a girl is not”. In the Southern Caucasus, male newborns outnumber females by more than 10%. Experts have no doubt that the cause lies in the practice of selective abortions, an already-known phenomenon in China and India. This clearly shows how gender inequality is still highly present in the region
