FORUM OF MEDIA AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI

The Georgian Center for Strategy and Development (GCSD) has held a forum of media and civil society organizations on information challenges related to vaccination in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.

The online meeting consisted of two panels. At the first panel, participants discussed access to information on pandemics and vaccinations in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. Representatives of local media outlets spoke about the ongoing information campaign on vaccination in the country and the problems of informing various groups of the public in this regard. It was also noted that the attitude of the residents of the region towards vaccination is negative, as well as in other regions of the country and there is a need to inform the public about this direction. 

The second panel of the meeting focused on opportunities for civil society involvement and cooperation in the vaccination campaign. Representatives of local civil society organizations discussed what opportunities there are to raise awareness about vaccination in the community of the region through their involvement.

On February 5, at the previous meeting within the project, where they discussed the information impact and current challenges of COVID-19 in various fields in Samtskhe-Javakheti, the GCSD developed a document outlining the situation in the region. It also provides recommendations for dealing with problems in different sectors. This document has already been shared by the GCSD with government agencies working on the relevant issues. 

The meeting was held in the framework of the project "I Improving Media Access for the Ethnic Minority and Combating Disinformation", which is implemented in cooperation with GCSD, TV9, and with the financial support of the Georgian Open Society Foundation.