News and updates from BCSDN and the region
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — the most comprehensive regulation on the protection of personal data that currently exists — is scheduled to take effect on May 25. While companies who serve customers in the EU have to adhere, there are numerous applications for civil society, journalists, academia, philanthropy, and the private
Read more →The EU-Western Balkans Summit, which is set to take place on 17 May in Sofia and will be hosted by the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, will bring together the Heads of State or Government of the Member States of the European Union and their counterparts from the Western Balkan region. It
Read more →The main purpose of TACSO 3 is to strengthen the capacity of CSOs to actively take part in the democratic processes and to stimulate an enabling legal and financial environment for civil society and pluralistic media development. The maximum budget is EUR 5.000.000 and the initial period of implementation of the contract shall be of
Read more →The Macedonian Center for International Cooperation has published a call for proposals for CSOs to strengthen their capacities for transparency and accountability. MCIC will provide this funding through the EU-funded project Building shared commitment for CSO sustainability, implemented in partnership with BCSDN and CNVOS. All organizations registered longer than 2 years in Macedonia, that have
Read more →The specific objective of this CfP is to support civil society and human rights defenders in third countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in working on human rights and democratization. Any grant requested must fall between EUR 150.000 and EUR 200.000, with 51%-95% of the total eligible costs of the action. The initial planned duration of an
Read more →The OSCE Mission in Kosovo invites applications of civil society initiatives to jointly implement innovative projects for public participation. Supporting innovation in public participation (SIPP) will provide funding through direct and in-kind contribution with a maximum value of EUR 9.000 for initiatives of civil society actors in Kosovo that address one of the following areas
Read more →Since 2008, the Civil Society Facility (CSF) has supported 633 organisations in the region and 136 EU-based organisations, through 362 projects. The global objective of the evaluation was to assess the performance of the financial support provided by the CSF in EU pre-accession assistance — supporting civil society in candidate and potential candidate countries —
Read more →As the European Union and member states are busily designing the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework, development cooperation does not seem to have a place in the plan. The MFF will shape the priorities of the EU’s official development aid until at least 2027. This is a vital opportunity for the EU to honor its
Read more →While slogans like “think globally, act locally” have been around for decades, still so much decision making about philanthropy and development aid happens by stakeholders outside them. Even those funders that care deeply about championing local leadership and initiatives often struggle with giving up power. This paper intends to address this struggle with real-world examples.
Read more →As part of the Global Standard for CSO Accountability project, and the project “Promoting Civic Space: Duties and Participants” supported by Civica Mobilitas, BCSDN provided a translation of the Global Standard in Albanian language. The purpose of the Global Standard is to mainstream a dynamic approach to accountability in ways which strengthen CSO effectiveness, connectedness
Read more →A sustained and escalating crackdown curtailed the vital work of human rights defenders in Turkey and left swathes of society in a state of constant fear, a new report from Amnesty International has revealed. The report, Weathering the storm: Defending human rights in Turkey’s climate of fear, reveals how few areas of Turkey’s once vibrant
Read more →A collection of articles produced within the project Raising capacities and advocacy potential towards more substantive involvement of CSOs of the Visegrad countries (V4) and the Western Balkans (WB6). This collection provides insights into challenges of civil society participation in policymaking in three countries of the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia), in the
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