Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS) is a non-partisan, non-governmental policy watchdog and think tank, which conducts research and public policy analysis and provides advice and project management in the fields of public policy and public administration reform.
GRASS was established in October 2012 by a group of former senior civil servants from Georgian Ministries of Justice, Interior, Economy, Foreign Affairs and Defence, among other Government agencies and former international civil servants with worldwide experience. In many cases the founders were the leaders of some of Georgia’s most heralded and successful reform initiatives. Through GRASS, their rich first-hand expertise in designing, planning and implementing public policy and governance reforms in Georgia and other transition countries is now converted into transferrable models, methodologies and lessons learned.
GRASS mainly focuses its work in the fields of foreign policy and security, but is also involved in conflict resolution as well as working with ethnic minorities, IDPs and other vulnerable groups.
Main activities and achievements
Through its “Developing Policy Recommendations on the Durable Solutions for the Phase III IDPs” project (supported by the East West Management Institute’s GPAC program in 2012-2013) GRASS identified the specific needs of privately accommodated IDPs (housing, social assistance, access to services, access to information and other needs) and developed a policy paper with recommendations to state agencies dealing with IDP housing.
The US Department of State-funded project “Confidence Building Initiative – Euro-Atlantic Integration and Experience of Peace” (2013-2014) brought together fourteen young academics and researchers from Tbilisi and Sukhumi. The project aimed at increasing the participants’ awareness of NATO and EU integration processes through a tour in Brussels, as well as familiarisation of Hungary’s Euro-Atlantic integration process.
In 2015, GRASS has organised three training courses for Georgian journalists on the conflict of Abkhazia, where the participants attended lectures on political, social and economic processes in Abkhazia. The activities were funded by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation.
Its most recent project, “Familiarizing Abkhaz Community with Europeanisation Processes in Black Sea Region” will provide a format for the exchange of information on European Union and Georgia’s progress towards the organisation to community leaders in Abkhazia. The project is funded by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation and will run from September, 2015 to February, 2016.
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