ODIHR is pleased to offer a five-day training event on human rights monitoring and safety and security for human rights defenders from Western Balkans, Central/Eastern Europe and Turkey. The objective of the training is to enable human rights defenders to independently carry out quality, objective and impartial human rights monitoring activities. The event will take place in Montenegro from 17 to 21 October 2016, and will cover the human rights monitoring principles, human rights monitoring cycle, physical and psychosocial safety and security of human rights monitors as well as digital safety and security. More information is available here. Source: ODIHR
Author: anja
The 22nd Issue of the Assembly and Association Briefing, the newsletter of Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association has been published. In this issue you can read about: USA visit: Inequality casts dark shadow over assembly and association rights, UN experts urge Turkey to adhere to its human rights obligations even in time of declared emergency, Bill threatens expressive freedom in Maldives, expert warns, Israel: UN experts caution against NGO law, Rights experts condemn killing of Cambodian political analyst Kem Ley, “End police impunity” – alarm over pattern of extrajudicial…
Most activists and social change leaders today would argue that a sustainable future will only be possible by making profound changes to our lives and our political and economic systems. But for many activists terms like system change, Great Transition, paradigm shift are too big, too utopian or too abstract and very difficult to be broken down into tangible strategies and steps. If it is already so difficult to achieve our small little steps – and often we don’t achieve them – what sense does it make to work towards utopia? The Smart CSOs Lab is a space where activists…
The European Commission (EC) is a significant source of funding for NGOs worldwide. Its regular calls for proposals and other grant opportunities offer a substantial amount of funding resources for NGOs. Мany CSOs avoid applying for funding because of the complexity and highly competitive nature of the EC grant system. The funding guidelines can be difficult to understand, instructions are complicated, and the application form can be difficult to follow. More information is available here. Source: FundsForNGOs
The report on the debate “Only a matter for politicians? Civil society, money and political activities”, which was organised by the Conference of INGOs on 6 and 7 June is now available online here. The debate considered three interrelated dimensions – freedom of association, political activities of CSOs and foreign funding for CSOs – which are essential in order for CSOs to play their role in a pluralist democracy and for the protection of human rights. The debate aimed at identifying the needs for protection, proposing changes to strengthen freedom of association and at taking preventive measures so that restrictions…
The Netherlands organization for international cooperation in higher education (EP-NUFFIC) offers fellowships to participate in training courses in the Netherlands. The aim is to promote capacity building within organizations in eligible countries via training and education for professionals. This is initiated and (almost) fully funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the budget for development cooperation. The deadline for submitting applications is 4th October, 2016. More information is available here. Source: The Hague Academy for Local Governance
Democracy must be fought for, revitalized, and renewed. Institutions, like the Heinrich Böll Foundation, have been struggling against a significant headwind for some time now, as the authoritarian developing state has gained massive momentum. With the publication “For Democracy” and this online-dossier, the state of democracy worldwide has been analysed, as well as the possibilities of democracy assistance. More information is available here. Source: Boell
The Global Human Rights Forums is a series of transformative conferences designed to influence a shift of paradigm of human rights as something divided into slices be privileged individuals and groups. This year theme topic is “Decoding Patterns of Privilege”, and will focus on the challenges of privilege, explaining the difficulties that people affected by and working on eradication of gender, sexual, heterosexual, racial, and other kinds of privileges and oppressions are facing daily. More information is available here. Source: Human Rights Forums
The event is organized with the occasion of the presentation of the 2015 Monitoring Matrix Regional Report and will bring CSO representatives from Western Balkans and Turkey to present the key challenges for the civil society operating environment in their countries. The aim is to raise a discussion with the Commission, other EU institutions and stakeholders on how the EU Accession Process can promote a stronger and more empowered civil society that enhances political accountability and fosters deeper understanding of accession related reforms ahead of the publication of the Enlargement Package and Country Progress Reports form 2015-2016. The deadline for…
The Council of Europe is preparing guidelines to help ensure meaningful civil participation in political decision-making in its member states. Before finalising these guidelines, the European Committee on Democracy and Governance (CDDG) and the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (Conference of INGOs) are organising a wide public consultation on the draft text. This consultation seeks to involve public authorities and bodies at central, regional and local level such as ministries, government departments and bodies, regional and municipal councils, and elected officials as well as civil society, including voluntary groups, non-profit organisations, associations, foundations, charities, as well as interest-based community and…