BCSDN member, Center for Civil Society Promotion (CPCD), published the 2023 report on the civil society environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The report outlines both enabling aspects and critical challenges faced by CSOs. While CSOs maintain certain freedoms, such as the ability to register and operate with access to foreign funding, numerous obstacles persist. Key issues include limitations on peaceful assembly, increased government interference, and constraints on freedom of expression, notably under the defamation law. Additionally, CSOs face unclear taxation rules and restrictive financial conditions, with public funding processes often opaque and susceptible to political manipulation. The report recommends harmonizing legal norms across government levels, ensuring activists’ protection, and increasing transparency in public funding. It further stresses the need for consistent civil society involvement in policy-making to foster a more enabling environment. A regional report on the civil society environment, summarizing country reports from BCSDN members, is forthcoming. Find the report here.
Source: CPCD