For the twentieth consecutive year, the 2016 CSO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia reports on both the advances and setbacks in seven key dimensions affecting the sustainability of the civil society sectors in 24 countries in the region. A number of countries, including Hungary, Russia, and Macedonia, have experienced backsliding over the past few years that has threatened the sustainability of civil society. While the increasing restrictions on civic space indicate a worrisome trend, the CSO Sustainability Index also highlights the ways that CSOs and individuals in these countries are learning to adapt to the reduced civic space. As governments restrict access to foreign funding and reduce state funding to CSOs, CSOs are increasingly turning to crowdfunding as an alternative source of funding. In other contexts, however, government restrictions have made it virtually impossible for CSOs to operate. Read more in the report available here.
Source: USAID