Opinion: Abolition of Georgia's state grants agency contradicts pledges to 'support good causes'
Abolition of Georgia’s state grants agency
“The Georgian authorities’ decision to abolish the state grants management agency has confirmed how superficial officials’ claims were when they established it in 2025,” Tamar Oniani, chair of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), said, commenting on the decision.
“When the agency was established, the authorities said its purpose was to strengthen democratic institutions, combat corruption, support people with disabilities, protect the environment and minority rights, and carry out other ‘good deeds’ funded from the state budget,” Oniani recalled.
The Grants Management Agency was established in February 2025. Its stated purpose was to “support civil society organisations operating in Georgia, using funding from the Georgian state budget, whose activities are aligned with the country’s development priorities”. The government said state grants would be available only to organisations that complied with the “Transparent Financing” law and registered as “agents of foreign influence”.
On 17 September 2026, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the Grants Management Agency would be abolished by the end of the year.
“NGOs are artificial entities created for foreign political interference,” Kobakhidze said. He also claimed that “100 years ago, there were no non-governmental organisations“.
Tamar Oniani: “A hundred years ago, it was not only NGOs that did not exist. Neither did the Strasbourg court or the modern international system for the protection of human rights.
At the time, human rights were regarded as an ‘internal matter’ for states. But without human rights organisations, no human rights treaty could function effectively. That is why these organisations were given a recognised status and powers.
If anyone finds comfort in the claim that civil society organisations did not exist 100 years ago, it is both historically inaccurate and politically dangerous.
In fact, history provides an example in the Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians, founded by educator Ilia Chavchavadze. It is precisely an example of a civil society organisation.
It is worth paying attention to the narrative being used to justify the agency’s closure.
It is through this prism that the current regime views people – as powerless, subordinate and, consequently, deprived of their rights.
The phrase ‘NGOs did not exist 100 years ago’ means that the system is fighting those who have the organisational and institutional capacity to demand that people’s rights be upheld.
In other words, the regime is fighting genuine human rights organisations.
The decision to abolish the state Grants Management Agency has confirmed how superficial officials’ claims were when they established it – that they intended to strengthen democratic institutions, combat corruption, support people with disabilities, protect the environment and minority rights, and carry out other ‘good deeds’ funded from the state budget.”
