The resolution 32/31 on civil society space (A/HRC/32/L.29) is intended to ensure access to justice, and accountability, and to end impunity for human rights violations and abuses against civil society actors. It also seeks to encourage member states to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment in which civil society can operate free from hindrance and insecurity and ensuring that civil society actors can seek, secure and use resources need for their social justice agendas. More information is available here. Source: Open Government Partnership
Author: anja
With more and more governments narrowing space for dissent and activism, the UN has emerged as a key platform to air concerns about acute rights violations and develop protections for civil society and other vulnerable groups. The core freedoms that enable civil society to conduct its work are under threat across the world. A report recently released by CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, documented serious violations of the freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly in 109 countries. Individual activists and journalists are also increasingly being targeted to prevent them from exercising their legitimate rights and undertaking their vital…
After the Cold War, our attempts to encourage independent media in transition states didn’t have the success we hoped. Could crowdfunding be part of the answer? Crowdfunding would offer ordinary people — many of them disgusted by the distortions of their state- or oligarch-controlled media — a source of information they could trust and feel some investment in. More information is available here. Source: Open Democracy
On 6th-8th June, the “Role of Civil Society in Public Administration Reform – EU Standards and Practice” conference served as a forum to discuss public administration reform with an emphasis on citizen engagement and exploring modalities to advance cross-sector collaboration. This event considered “The Principles of Public Administration” (SIGMA/OECD) as well as the EC Guidelines for Support to Civil Society in Enlargement Countries” as recently established frameworks for support to the development of Public Administration and Civil Society (CS) in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Full conference report, discussion paper and other materials are available here. Source: TACSO
State repression against CSOs is increasing globally. In this interview, Barbara Unmüßig calls for a reconceptualisation of solidarity with civil society and puts the issue of shrinking and closing spaces at the very top of the political agenda. Read the full article here. Source: Heinrich Böll Foundation
Development funding is increasingly being channeled through Development Finance Institutions. These national institutions are particularly solicited when using development aid money to free up further investment, known as leveraging. When used well, these tools have the potential to allow sectors of developing countries’ economies that would not otherwise attract investment to strengthen and expand. However, this publication highlights a number of alarming shortfalls in how these institutions operate that can seriously undermine international development goals. This new report, entitled: Тhe development effectiveness of supporting the private sector with ODA funds examined nine Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). Five case studies provided…
An article by Eric Lipton and Brooke Williams, part of a series running in the New York Times, last weekend raised big questions about the independence of the think tanks that specifically trade on that independence, issuing research reports and generally acting as research based-arbiters of a wide variety of issues in the media and the highest levels of government. Perhaps think tanks have gone for the same short-term-return-above-all-else strategy that has caused such havoc in our general economy, a strategy inadvertently aimed at destroying what is most valued in the organization. The behavior of think tanks vis-à-vis the issues…
The most important fundraising tool you have at your disposal is your donor database. It is your organization’s history. It can tell you who your friends and most loyal supporters are. Through thick and thin it sticks with us and makes it possible for us to be effective fundraisers. It should be our best friend, but most fundraisers don’t respect it and couldn’t tell you a thing about its history. More information is available here. Source: Bloomerang
We would like to invite you attend our annual debate on the state of the enabling environment in which civil society in Enlargement countries operates. The debate taking place under the working title: “Raising Standards, Declining Trends? Operating Environment for Civil Society in Enlargement Countries” is organized on the occasion of the presentation of the 2015 Monitoring Matrix Regional Report on 7th September 10:00 to 13:00 hrs at the Residence Palace (Maelbeek conference room), Brussels. The event will bring CSO representatives from Western Balkans and Turkey to present the key challenges for the civil society operating environment in their countries.…
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) presented the 18th edition of their Civil Society Organization (CSO) Sustainability Index focused on Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. CSO sectors in the twenty-four countries covered in the CSO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia continue to be highly diverse in 2015, spanning the full spectrum of sustainability. The Index measures the sustainability of each country’s CSO sector based on the CSOSI’s seven dimensions: legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, infrastructure, and public image. BCSDN has implemented the Index for Macedonia. The report is available in native…