BCSDN has been involved in a regional meeting with organizations from South East Europe that deal with drug policy and harm reduction, by sharing experiences and knowledge on registration of a network in the region, foundation, membership procedures, joint advocacy examples etc. The meeting held in Novi Sad on the 7th of July served as first step to lead the partner organizations from informal drug policy network in South Eastern Europe to a formal umbrella organization. Ilina Nesik, BCSDN programme manager, presented BCSDN firsthand experience and participated in the strategic planning of the network to be registered by the end of…
Author: anja
The European Council on Foreign Relations, the Ministry of Foregn affaires of Bulgaria and the Sofia Platform have announced an International consultation with think-tank representatives in the framework of EU’s Global Foreign Policy Strategy Review in Sofia on the 23 of July. In 2015 we face a Europe that is “more connected, more contested and more complex”, but the reality remains that Europe needs to take care of its neighbourhood first and foremost, not only for the sake of its own security but also for the sake of paying its dues to the transatlantic partnership. Following this rationale, the Western…
Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly & association and Maria Leissner, Secretary General of the Community of Democracies, published recently: The clampdown on resourcing: comparing civil society and business as part of the CIVICUS State of Civil Society Report 2015. At first glance, the business and civil society sectors may seem strange bedfellows for comparison. The basis for this treatment seems to boil down to one dividing point: one exists to make a profit; the other is non-profit. But beyond their dissimilar profit motives, just how different are businesses and civil society? And how differently should governments…
On 7th July at the EU Info Center in Skopje, our member Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC), held a presentation on “Civil society organizations and economic activities – possibility for sustainability?”. Intended primarely for CSO management and accountants, the event served to inform CSOs that are engaged in, or are planning to start with, economic activities about the benefits, disadvantages and limitations of such engagement, as well as the legal framework in which CSOs’ ecomonic activities are to be implemented. Nikolaki Miov, the author of the Guide on CSOs economic activities, presented the guide and the changes in the…
A new global report by CIVICUS finds that rights of civil society were violated in almost half of the world’s 193 countries in 2014. In particular, the report draws attention to the systematic assault on Freedom of Association, Expression and Assembly. The CIVICUS Civil Society Watch Report shows that core civil society freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly were violated to a significant degree in at least 96 countries during 2014. More information is available here. [CIVICUS]
ARTICLE19 have submitted a third party intervention to the European Court of Human Rights regarding the case of MAGYAR HELSINKI BIZOTTSÁG v HUNGARY. The core issue raised is the right of the public to obtain information held by public bodies, arguing that the right of access to information is a fundamental human right, and thus any restrictions on it must be necessary and proportionate, and any privacy exemptions must meet those tests. More information is available here. [ARTICLE19]
Slovakia’s Visegrad Four (V4: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) presidency expires this month. In hindsight, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák is convinced it was an extremely dynamic term, during which, some 140 events associating both politicians and experts were organised. The V4 followed up on the inter-regional dialogue with countries of the Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership, Scandinavian and Baltic states. Following the example set by V4, Balkan partner countries have committed to strengthening regional cooperation and establishing the Western Balkans Fund, based in Tirana. More information is available here. [Slovak Spectator]
BCSDN and its members are proud to announce the successful applicants for funding under the Balkan Public Policy Fund Programme. Out of 47 submitted project proposals from organizations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, 12 proposals were selected for funding (2 per country). The pilot phase of the Slovak and Balkan Public Policy Fund has proved to be a successful support model for boosting the advocacy skills of the CSOs and the projects supported through the first two phases have demonstrated tangible results from the policy work. The specific objective in this new phase is to…
BCSDN and its members are proud to announce the successful applicants for funding under the Balkan Public Policy Fund Programme. Out of 47 submitted project proposals from organizations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, 12 proposals were selected for funding (2 per country). The pilot phase of the Slovak and Balkan Public Policy Fund has proved to be a successful support model for boosting the advocacy skills of the CSOs and the projects supported through the first two phases have demonstrated tangible results from the policy work. The specific objective in this new phase is to…
The working group for preparation of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on NGOs met on 27th and 28th May, 2015, to discuss the draft prepared by the Ministry of Interior, as well as the proposals submitted by the CSO Coalition “Cooperation Towards the Goal” (”Saradnjom do Cilja”) and the Association of Artists of Montenegro during the preliminary consultation phase. Amendments to the draft were adopted by the working group with certain corrections of the text and took into consideration opinions of civil society representatives regarding the financing of CSOs projects and activities from the state budget, and selecting…