On 3rd-4th December, 2015, the 17th EU-NGO Forum on Human Rights, organized by the European External Action Service (EEAS), European Commission and the Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN), took place to discuss the issue of shrinking space for civil society in the world and EU response to this growing phenomenon. The Forum, which was among other addressed by Maina Kai (UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association), Stavros Lambrinidis (EU Special Representative on Human Rights), Oleg Orlov (Sakharov Prize Laureate Memorial), Michel Forst (UNSR for Human Rights Defenders) and Federica Mogherini (EU Special Representative on Foreign Policy/Vice-President of the…
Author: anja
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán backed down Thursday in a long-running dispute between his government and Norway over development aid and agreed to end to all investigations into work being done in Hungary by CSOs supported by Norway. Norwegian aid to Hungary, part of a EUR 1.8 billion package delivered by the European Economic Area (EEA) to support social and economic cohesion in Europe, had been suspended in 2014 over concerns that the Hungarian government was cracking down on NGO activity. The dispute is seen as the second significant marker of Orbán’s backtrack from liberal democracy following earlier efforts by…
All over the world, human rights defenders and CSOs are facing increasing challenges with both state and non-state actors seeking to silence them. This was evident in the CIVICUS report earlier this year which showed that core civil society freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly were violated to a significant degree in 96 countries in 2014. From CIVICUS’ reporting over the course of 2015, there has been no let-up in attacks on human rights defenders despite the issue being highlighted by the United Nations in an upcoming resolution to be adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2015…
BCSDN is proud to announce that the study “Economic Value of the Non-Profit Sector in the Countries of the Western Balkans & Turkey” has been published. This is the first study ever that gives an overview of the current situation with the non–profit sector-related data collection, analysis and presentation in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. It provides information on the quality and reliability of data on the economic impact of the sectors in those countries, including also challenges that CSOs face to obtain relevant data. Furthermore, this in-depth research maps and illustrates the financial capacities,…
At the occasion of the visit of the current UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai at the European Parliament for a round table discussion with MEPs, EEAS and DEVCO representatives and civil society actors, ACT Alliance and CIDSE published a briefing paper based on their joint research on civil society space in a number of countries and containing a number of recommendations for EU institutions and EU Member States regarding their responsibility to promote and protect civil society space. More information is available here. [ACT Alliance]
For his next report to the Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai will explore the subject of fundamentalism and the intolerance that it can spur, leading to violations of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. The report will explore many variations of fundamentalism – market, nationalist, political and cultural fundamentalism – essentially any belief system that posits itself as superior to others and makes itself impenetrable to criticism. Potential human rights violations and abuses only arise when fundamentalism is put into action in a way that infringes upon the assembly and association rights of others.…
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many countries saw the importance of defending civil society. Today, however, many countries are defunding civil society. Using all sorts of pretexts, governments that feel threatened by such organizations impose restrictions on them, writes Douglas Rutzen, CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL). These governments are able to do so in part because the cornerstone concepts of civil society are still being developed, debated, and—at times—violently contested. The outcome of this debate will shape the future of civil society for decades to come. If there was a global associational revolution in…
On 1st December and as a response to the Syrian crisis, the EU Regional Trust Fund adopted a package of 4 programmes totaling EUR 350 million the single biggest EU measure in response to the Syrian refugee crisis to date. The aim of the programmes is to help up to 1.5 million Syrian refugees and overstretched host communities in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq through the provision of basic education and child protection, better access to healthcare, improved water and waste-water infrastructure, as well as support to resilience, economic opportunities and social inclusion. The aid package consists of four different…
On 3rd-4th December 2015, the 17th EU-NGO Forum on Human Rights organized by the European External Action Service (EEAS), European Commission and Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN) took place to discuss the issue of shrinking space for civil society in the world and EU response to this growing phenomenon. The Forum, which was among other addressed by Maina Kai (UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association), Stavros Lambrinidis (EU Special Representative on Human Rights), Oleg Orlov (Sakharov Prize Laureate Memorial), Michel Forst (UNSR for Human Rights Defenders) and Federica Mogherini (EU Special Representative on Foreign Policy/Vice-President of the European…
The Civil Rights Programe Kosovo (CRPK), supported by the Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF), published a research paper that intends to assess and shed light on the opportunities for Civil Society Organizations to obtain state contracts in the Republic of Kosovo. The research was inspired by the Monitoring Matrix on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development developed by BCSDN together with its partners. The Matrix, in its Sub-area 3.3: Collaboration in service provision, it stipulates the standard and the indicators regarding the creation of the environment supportive for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) involvement in the service provision. Based on the Matrixes’…