On the 21-22 June in Skopje, BCSDN organized a regional capacity building event within the scope of the project Western Balkan CSOs in Global Development. 25 participants gathered to discuss and get more knowledge and introduction to the current development cooperation agenda as well as experiences from Romania and Slovenia. The workshop was led by Iuliana Rada, FDSC, Romania together with Marijan Huc, Sloga, Slovenia and Urlike Bey from the project leader Horizon 3000. BCSDN members and project partners alongside other CSOs’ representatives from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia discussed: history of development cooperation, EU and development cooperation and…
Author: anja
Being cognizant of the fact that is it crucial time for protecting fundamental rights, such as freedom of assembly, on June 21st, 2016, the European Center for Non-for-Profit Law hosted an expert conference on freedom of peaceful assembly in the Western Balkans “Right to Free Assembly: Making Democracy Work” in Skopje, Macedonia. The event gathered 30 representatives of national and regional civil society organizations, intergovernmental organizations and relevant state institutions from the countries in the region and beyond, including, Tanja Hafner Ademi – BCSDN’s Executive Director, Sanja Bogatinovska – BCSDN’s Junior Policy and Advocacy Officer on Civil Society Development and…
BCSDN is proud to present its latest policy brief, authored by Biljana Spasovska, BCSDN’s Policy and Advocacy Officer, assessing how the EU support for regional partnerships of civil society has contributed to fostering democratic reforms and more effective policies in the democracy and rule of law areas (incl. human rights, social dialogue) in current Enlargement countries. The paper finds that the Commission has been moving away from action-focused, shorter-term interventions towards a more strategic development support, recognizing the need to support independent civil society activities, rather than encourage donor-driven actions. Strengthening the capacities of the participating CSOs, is perceived by the…
Recent research on the effectiveness of the EU integration policy suggests that the EU strategies intended to bring domestic improvements in the areas of democracy, judiciary and rule of law are most successful if they ensure structural inclusion of CSOs. BCSDN is proud to present its latest policy brief, authored by Biljana Spasovska, BCSDN’s Policy and Advocacy Officer, assessing how the EU support for regional partnerships of civil society has contributed to fostering democratic reforms and more effective policies in the democracy and rule of law areas (incl. human rights, social dialogue) in current Enlargement countries. The paper finds that…
MCIC has translated into Macedonian language the third report submitted to the General Assembly by the Special Rapporteur, which was presented to the United Nations General Assembly in October 2015. In the report, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association is comparing the enabling environments for businesses and civil society around the world. It found that States and others often impose more burdensome regulation upon civil society, both in law and in practice, with businesses receiving more favourable treatment. The net result is that for businesses the enabling environment — defined broadly as…
MAXCAPs working paper no. 23 assesses the external political integration capacity of the EU across neighbours, candidates, and new members in different regions of Eastern Europe. External integration capacity refers to the ability of the EU to prepare non-members for accession and association, respectively; political integration capacity refers to strengthening democracy and governance effectiveness in. Eastern Europeans have been moving on distinct sub-regional paths and unable to catch up with the old member states. MAXCAPs analysis of the EU impact shows a robust effect of EU accession conditionality. Once countries become members, the EU’s political integration capacity weakens. Finally, they…
The TSI Croatia team formulated a number of significant recommendations to address challenges, elaborated in this latest TSI policy brief. As noted in the policy brief, it is necessary to adjust tax frame to needs of development of the third sector. Also, there is clear need for obtaining relevant skills in the sector such as management, leadership, and entrepreneurship that could be integrated in educational programmes. The modernization of social policy seems to be a key issue in opening additional space for TSOs that should go along with the acknowledgement of good governance as a concept. Researchers also raise measuring…
Atlas Corps is inviting CSOs leaders from around the world for its overseas fellowship program. Their mission is to address critical social issues by developing leaders, strengthening organizations, and promoting innovation through an overseas fellowship of skilled non-profit professionals. The U.S. Atlas Corps engages leaders committed to the non-profit sector in 12-18 month, professional fellowships at organizations to learn best practices, build organizational capacity, and return home to create a network of global leaders. More information is available here. Source: FundsForNGOs
Maison des Associations Internationales is hosting the ECIT first Summer University on European citizenship. From 29 to 31 August students, academics, policy makers and civil society representatives from all over Europe will meet in Brussels to exchange views on the gaps and future challenges of European citizenship. During this three-day event, participants from different backgrounds will discuss whether a stronger European citizenship based on shared values could resist the downward spiral of extreme nationalism and xenophobia that threatens the EU. More information is available here. Source: Citizens for Europe
Global Perspectives brings together key national and leading international CSOs with high level representatives from politics, the corporate sector and academia to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. How can civil society actors worldwide protect and expand civic space, in order to make meaningful contributions to the implementation of the SDGs and climate goals? Participants will be able to propose topics and workshops based on their experience and devise common strategies to deal with opportunities, challenges and trends which are impacting CSOs.More information is available here. Source: International Civil Society Centre