PMCG together with GIPA is awarded USAID project to improve Public Policy Discourse in Georgia

A consortium of PMCG and Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) (lead company) will implement the USAID supported project “Improved Public Policy Discourse”.

Start Date: November 2009
End Date: July 2011
Country: Georgia
Client: USAID Caucasus
Development Partner: USAID Caucasus

Description of the Project:

USAID Caucasus office has awarded the PMCG/GIPA consortium with the Improved Public Policy Discourse project which will start in November 2009.

The principal strategic focus of the project’s activity is to increase the quality and quantity of the discourse of public policy alternatives in Georgia and to foster a more pluralistic and higher quality exchange of ideas and to promote more active engagement of Georgian citizens in public policy discussions. Project may need to address capacity-enhancing measures, but the main focus should be on tangible and measurable accomplishments consistent with the purpose of this program “quality discourse on public policy issues in a manner that minimizes politicization”.

The goal of these interventions is to engage the GOG, think tanks, and research or civil society institutions in public policy discussions based on unbiased, fact-based information obtained through high quality research and analysis, and to communicate this information to the public. The end result would be to maximize the involvement and expertise of Georgian organizations and institutions, and to foster relationships and partnerships among these entities in the process of public policy discourse. The following is a list of illustrative activities that might be considered:

• Increasing interaction between policy researchers/analysts and policy-makers;
• Building working partnerships among think tanks, media, government, and civil society organizations;
• Producing fact-based content that examines, explains, debates, and informs public policy discussion;
• Utilizing policy experts and analytical studies in content creation;
• Creating user-friendly interpretations of research data;
• Organizing moderated policy discussions for policy-makers and the public; and
• Linking research institutions and media outlets to jointly produce and disseminate information.

The main services will be:

• To develop quality assurance system for Policy Products (Policy Papers and/or Policy Briefs);
• To develop a system of policy dissemination by utilizing traditional (TV, radio, newspaper) as well as modern technologies (internet forum);
• To further enhance the existing Policy Forum practice (already set up within the “Public Policy Discussion Panel and the Internet Forum”€ program framework) through expanding discussed policy issues and target audience;
• To foster partnership among Georgian state and non-governmental actors while being enrolled in public policy discourse.