Georgia is facing mounting challenges to its democratic development amidst political tensions and external threats. As the country grapples with shrinking civic space and increasing pressures on civil society, local organizations remain at the forefront of advocating for transparency, accountability and citizen engagement.

The 2024 Georgia parliamentary elections were highly anticipated amidst growing concerns over democratic backsliding and Russian aggression. The elections witnessed a series of transparency and accountability issues, including reports of voter intimidation, vote-buying, manipulation, coercion and harassment of observers. The ruling party's abuse of administrative resources and the controversial "foreign agents" law, which restricted civil society activities and suppressed opposition, created an uneven playing field. In the aftermath of the elections, mass demonstrations were ignited by allegations of vote fraud and Russian interference, as opposition parties and public boycotted parliamentary sessions and demanded new elections to be held. The government’s decision to pause EU accession negotiations further fueled the protests, with demonstrators advocating for EU integration facing excessive police force. The Georgian Government’s decision to halt EU accession negotiations came mere hours after the European Parliament's resolution, which rejects the results of the parliamentary elections due to “significant irregularities” and recommends new elections to be held throughout the next one year under international administration. The Georgian government’s answer to such developments raised serious concerns about the legitimacy of the election results, the rise of authoritarianism, and the implications for regional stability and peace.

Commit Global actively promotes accountability and strengthens democratic practices in the region by encouraging the use of Voice Monitor platform among local partners. Widely adopted by local and international partners on the 26th of October, 2024, Vote Monitor has been instrumental in enabling citizen initiative groups and civil society organizations to monitor and report on election integrity, political processes, and human rights violations. The data collected through this platform has served as a critical foundation for comprehensive reports exposing electoral fraud and irregularities, significantly shaping the current discourse on Georgia's contested elections. By supporting the adoption of such digital tools, Commit Global fosters greater civic engagement and empowers communities to exercise rights for accountability.

Vote Monitor is a tool dedicated to NGOs and INGOs that engage in election monitoring with independent election observers. This digital solution has two components, a web dashboard for NGO representatives and a mobile app (iOS and Android) for independent observers. The app helps accredited observers report back to their respective NGOs throughout the election day. The web version is a platform for NGO representatives that centralizes real-time information sent by their respective observers. 

Vote Monitor was utilized by over 31 local and 3 international organizations during Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections. The local alliance included partners such as the My Voice Coalition with 29 notable local CSOs including Transparency International Georgia, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS), the Civil Society Foundation and more. Vote Monitor was also used by Public Movement Multinational Georgia (PMMG) to observe elections in the Southern part of Georgia inhabited by Armenian and Azerbaijani ethnic minority groups, as well as by Daakvirdi - a student initiative group observing elections for the first time.. The above mentioned organizations are dedicated to tackling corruption, promoting accountability and advocating for the rights of minorities and civic participation. 

Internationally, the election was monitored by three key organizations— the European Platform for Democratic Coalitions, the Political Accountability Foundation and the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor, from Armenia. These groups specifically focus on election observation as well as on strengthening democratic values and institutions through mobilizing for collective action against challenges like authoritarianism and political polarization. They also promote peace, democracy and human rights through conflict resolution, civic education and advocacy for marginalized groups. In total, local and international NGOs registered 3,230 observers across the country, who responded to over 83,039 questions in forms and recorded an unprecedented 4,424 incident violations.

Website Factory: NGO is a tool for creating websites that is tailored to the specific needs of non-profit organisations. It is a free platform that makes it possible to create and maintain fully accessible websites for free, without a single line of code!

The platform features an intuitive Website Factory Dashboard, which allows users to create, edit, and manage their websites independently. The dashboard is fully available in Georgian, in addition to 20 different languages, including Arabic, Armenian, Bosnian, Croatian, Dutch, English, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Italian, Montenegrin, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish, and Ukrainian. Commit Global provides tutorial webinars and step-by-step video tutorials in English and Georgian, ensuring that NGOs of all technical skill levels can successfully leverage the platform's capabilities.

Website Factory: NGO eliminates the financial burden of hiring developers or paying for costly website-building software. For small and under-resourced NGOs, it addresses the challenge of limited technical expertise within their teams. The platform rolls out automatic updates, ensuring access to the latest features and improvements. By enabling the creation of accessible, inclusive, and user-friendly websites, it boosts an NGO’s credibility and makes it easier to attract donors, partners, and volunteers. Commit Global deploys Website Factory in areas where NGOs have a stake in enhancing their digital presence, expanding their reach, and operating more efficiently. 

Civic Tech 911 is an on-demand tech support service for NGOs. It helps organizations solve tech problems, streamline processes, and improve efficiency—just like having an in-house IT department. Since many NGOs do not have dedicated tech staff, Civic Tech 911 provides expert support for any tech-related needs, from troubleshooting to setting up tools and improving digital strategies. Support is available in English, Ukrainian, Romanian, Georgian, Turkish and Italian through 1-hour consultation sessions. In order to book a consultation session, an NGO needs to provide details about the issue they are facing, including the context, how it affects the organization, and any relevant information (such as legal context or similar examples). Once the details are submitted, NGO’s choose a time slot that works for them. Civic Tech 911 is available to any NGO, in any country, Monday to Friday. Sessions can be scheduled with a 48-hour notice.