The revisions of the UN 2003 Non-Profit Institutions (NPI) Handbook, led by the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University, were discussed at a seminar organized on 8th March on the sidelines of the 47th Session of the UN Statistical Commission. The NPI Handbook guides national statistics agencies in reporting – in collaboration with civil society partners – key data on the size, scope, activities, workforce (paid and volunteer), and financing of the non-profit sector in their countries. This NPI Handbook thus overcomes the problem that national economic accounting structures currently often classify non-profits as part of the…
Author: anja
On 7th March in Belgrade, Civic Initiatives, with the support of the OSCE Mission in Serbia, organized a roundtable on the current situation in the Serbian media from the perspective of civil society, entitled “Civil Society regarding Media”. This event launched a broad debate on the implementation of the existing media law, the results of the privatization of the media, the work of the institutions and other state organs, and the functioning of the rule of law in Serbia, including the case Tanjug. The general conclusion of this round table is a need for greater involvement of civil society in…
The European Commission seeks the views of all interested parties on the performance of the current Transparency Register for organisations and self-employed individuals engaged in EU policy-making and policy implementation and on its future evolution towards a mandatory scheme covering the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the EC. The purpose is to assess and understand what has worked well so far, what can be improved and how, in order to ensure that the Register fulfills its full potential as a meaningful tool governing relations between the EU institutions and interest representatives. The results of the public consultation…
According to Partners Albania’s findings from the monitoring of the legal and practical environment in which civil society in Albania operated in 2015, in general, the legal framework governing establishment and functioning of CSOs is regulated in most of its aspects. However, it still presents some problematic issues in terms of centralization of registration/re-registration process and the taxation for CSOs. The level of public funding has not changed significantly during 2015. Public funding is considered insufficient by the CSOs for their institutional development and financial sustainability. The Law on the Establishment and Functioning of the National Council on Civil Society…
In January and February 2016, CIVICUS and MCIC conducted the first Civic Pulse survey of civil society leaders in Macedonia. Participants were asked to rate the conditions for civil society in respect to fundamental freedoms, funding trends, and civil society’s impact on policy making and volunteering. The Civic Pulse provides a snapshot of conditions for civil society in Macedonia at the present moment. The preliminary results demonstrate negative perceptions of the environment for civil society in Macedonia, with more than 80% of survey respondents stating that overall conditions are below average. These results indicate that civil society in Macedonia is…
The Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs has published a new information brochure, as well as infographics, about CSOs in the Republic of Croatia, offering a concise overview of the key information. In one place, the citizens can get information about the role and importance of associations in society, means for their foundation and activities, as well as the data on the number of registered associations by counties and areas of activity, financing of associations from public sources, and their financial standing in general. More information is available here. Source: Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs – Croatia
IDM produced a country specific policy output for Albania based on the in-depth expert study “Donor Strategies and Practices for Supporting Civil Society in the Western Balkans” conducted in 2013 – 2014. The aim of the policy brief was to strengthen the coordination and cooperation of donors and CSOs both on national and regional level, based on the principles of local ownership and support sustainability. The report “Donor strategies and practices for supporting civil society in the Western Balkans” provides an insight in the international donors’ relation towards civil society in the Western Balkans, rationales and motivations for their presence,…
In 2015, BCSDN and its members for the first time collected and studied the data on non-profit sector in seven countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. After the publishing of the full study “Economic Value of the Non-Profit Sector in the Countries of the Western Balkans & Turkey”, BCSDN EO prepared infographics that visually present the main findings from the regional comparative analysis, and challenges encountered in the countries, as well as the main recommendations, aimed at developing advocacy campaigns to introduce more systematic and standardized data collection and availability. The infographics are available here: Findings…
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As part of the Think Europe Network (TEN), the European Policy Institute (EPI) – Skopje as a coordinator, together with the partner organizations: Centre for European Policies – Belgrade, Institute Alternativa – Podgorica, Institute for Democracy and Mediation – Tirana and the Group for Political and Legal Studies – Pristina, have published the regional analysis “The Western Balkan and its EU Integration: 2015 Comparative Overview”. This is the first analysis of this type and aims primarily to enrich the public discourse with an objective evaluation, as well as to raise public awareness on the content of the Country Progress Reports.…