EECMD organised a closing event of the project implementation “DRIVE Democracy: Developing Regional Information and Voter Empowerment for Democracy”.

After three years of the project implementation, EECMD showcased the results of this 36-month activity to highlight the overall progress and exchange regional experiences accumulated across 6 regions of Georgia.

The Citizen Congress was a multi-stakeholder conference and a unique platform for political decision-makers, citizen groups, and other relevant actors to deliberate on priorities and debate solutions to key challenges for regional development. By identifying and analyzing obstacles encountered and achievements made, the Congress highlighted and encouraged democratic practices and capacity-building actions at the grassroots in order to contribute to the more participatory and inclusive model of democracy.

In addition, this event  preceded by the “DRIVE Democracy Week” which entailed mini-citizen congresses in 5 regions of Georgia and engaged relevant local stakeholders and citizen groups to strengthen and solidify the commitment of regional politicians and elected authorities to the agreements that have been made throughout the discussions in the framework of Regional Task Force Meetings.

The congress brought together different democracy stakeholders: representatives of the civil society, government sector, political parties, non-profit organizations, media, international partners of Georgia, and the DRIVE Democracy alumni from the regions. Around 100 participants joined the in-person conference at Tbilisi City Assembly.

The event consisted of 4 interactive sessions to discuss the challenges facing democracy and regional development in Georgia. Discussions focused on ways to ensure effective further collaboration and how the DRIVE Democracy project approach will work in the course of time.