News and updates from BCSDN and the region
Accountability is not a report, but a dynamic relationship with stakeholders to improve the agency and credibility of CSOs. Digital technology helps facilitate this ongoing interaction and adaptive performance. In the digital age, empowered citizens demand an active role in co-shaping CSOs’ work. This is great news! Stakeholders become partners and the set of skills,
Read more →In a recent public appearance, during a TV pre-election debate on 17 May, SDS deputy Branko Grims announced that his party would abolish public funding for NGOs if it wins the elections, saying that “300 million EUR are wasted annually for NGOs, such as the Peace Institute and similar organizations, of which Slovenia has no real
Read more →Following a recent rejection of more than 90 freedom of information requests (FOI) in Montenegro, in an effort by MANS to obtain financial disclosures related to the recent presidential election, Transparency International denounces the actions of the government agency responsible for refusing the public access to important campaign spending information. Many of the rejected requests
Read more →Open civic space is key to successful OGP processes. In open civic space, CSOs can participate as full partners, and citizens are free and able to demand greater accountability and transparency from their governments. Although OGP member states are not immune from the global civic space emergency, data suggests that civic space in OGP member
Read more →The upcoming CIVICUS State of Civil Society Report, to be published in September 2018, will focus on the special theme of ‘Reimagining Democracy’. The publication will explore the current state of democratic practices, the contemporary trends that are having an impact on them, and civil society initiatives to respond to major democratic challenges and reinvent
Read more →Between 29 May and 1 June, 40 AGNA members, including BCSDN’s Executive Director Ilina Neshikj, met in Georgia for the annual AGNA AGM. Members reviewed AGNA’s work over the past year and discussed upcoming opportunities. The AGNA network’s terms of reference were also revised, and three main topics were addressed: Network Engagement, Peer Capacity Strengthening
Read more →A summit between the leaders of the European Union and the Western Balkans partners in Sofia on 17 May confirmed the European perspective of the region and set out a number of concrete actions to strengthen cooperation in the areas of connectivity, security and the rule of law. The summit and the resulting Sofia Declaration
Read more →Citizenship, Democracy and Culture in a digitalised Europe was the motto of the 2018 Civil Society Days, organised by the Liaison Group at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 24 and 25 May in Brussels. In six workshops, participants discussed living together in a digital Europe in the future and concluded with the
Read more →This first thematic study of the Peace and Security series focuses on EU peacebuilding efforts in the Western Balkans. The study assesses the extent to which the Union has been able to transform and strengthen the region’s governance, economy and resilience. It is organised around three key inter-connected phases in EU post-conflict peacebuilding − stabilisation,
Read more →This year, the CSO Open Days in Croatia will take place on 24 – 26 May. It is an opportunity for citizens to participate in numerous creative workshops, lectures, presentations and actions intended to inform them about various community projects and programmes, as well as possibilities for volunteering in the CSOs. The activities of CSOs
Read more →The conference will provide an international platform for the development of strategies on how citizenship education and civil society can counter the negative trend in liberal democracy and defend the civic space and basic democratic rights and freedoms in our societies. Scholars, practitioners and activists from all over Europe and its eastern and southern neighbors
Read more →The 2018 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy is a free, public event bringing together scholars, journalists, local officials, election administrators, and engaged citizens who are interested in direct and participatory democracy. Participants will work to define the particular characteristics of what makes a city global and democratic—and then enshrine those definitions in a charter
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