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The Association of the
Local
Democracy Agencies (ALDA) opened its first
office in the Caucasus, in Kutaisi, Georgia, on
8 September 2006.
This new Local Democracy Agency (LDA) will focus
its work on the participation of citizens in the
decision-making process, the strengthening local
democracy and the promotion of human and
minority rights.
The LDA will have, like the other 11 LDAs in
South East Europe, a solid European and local
partnership. The cities involved in the
activities for the next three years are:
At local level:
It is very likely that other international
and national partners will join the network of
the Agency in the following months.
During the opening ceremony a memorandum of
understanding was signed by all the partners
which confirmes their will to work together to
support democratic and peaceful values.
“We have a great expectations from this first
LDA in the Caucasus. After years of big
difficulties we are aware that the development
has to go along with democracy and
decentralization. We do think that the LDA can
be a useful tool to move towards this direction”
said the Mayor of Kutaisi, Mr Giga Chogovadze.
The work of the LDA, closely linked to the
Congress of the Local and Regional Authorities
of the Council of
Europe, was highlighted by Mr Igor Gaon,
Special Representative of the Secretary General
of the Council
of Europe to Georgia and former Mayor of a
suburban area of Sarajevo. He described his
experience with the LDA Prijedor in Bosnia and
Herzegovina after the war: “In Prijedor, the LDA
was our main partner for the return of more than
250.000 Muslim refugees. The LDA was a key
player for the stabilisation and the development
of the area.”
The Delegate in charge of the LDA in Kutaisi,
Joseph Khakhaleishvili, expressed his will to
create synergies among all the partners (civil
society, local authorities, citizens) and to
develop the resources of the territory, in
particular with the Kutaisi – Newport
International Association which has worked
extensively to develop the twinning between
Newport and Kutaisi since 1988.
The objectives of the LDA are: capacity building
for local authorities and civil society,
empowerment of young people and women.
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The
network of 12 Local Democracy Agencies |
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The
network of european countries where ALDA
has partners |
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