The Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) published a paper aiming to encourage a process of discussions and a platform to strengthen the role and contribution of the Agency for Support of Civil Society (ASCS) as an influential mechanism for supporting civil society organizations and strengthening of democracy and sustainable development in Albania. The Albanian government and civil society a year ago agreed on the main priorities and expressed their joint commitment to further consolidate the enabling environment for CSOs. Improving the regulatory framework and functional practices of the ASCS was one of the undertaken commitments by public and civil…
Author: anja
The Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) was honoured with the 2014 PASOS Think-Tank Achievement of the Year Award for its work on leading a campaign to preserve the integrity of civil society in Kosovo. The annual award was announced at the PASOS General Assembly in Warsaw on 13th of December. KCSF initiated and led a multi-CSO coalition after Kosovar lawmakers adopted legislation that would have done great harm to the integrity of NGOs by allowing micro-financed CSOs to convert into joint-stock companies. The KCSF filed a lawsuit, eventually arguing in front of the country’s top constitutional court. In April 2013,…
The Centre for Promotion of Civil Society (CPCS) has launched a new advocacy program for creating an enabling environment for development of civil society in BiH. The Program is realized in the framework for developing a more sustainable civil society in BiH with the support of USAID and the Government of the United Kingdom. The main objective of the Program is to promote advocacy and support the creation of a more favourable legal, institutional and tax framework for the development of civil society in BiH. The Program will be implemented in four separate and interrelated advocacy campaigns and will form…
At its 101st Plenary Session, taking place on the 12th-13th December in Venice, the Venice Commission and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights on Freedom of Association (OSCE ODIHR) adopted the Joint Guidelines on Freedom of Association. The Guidelines on Freedom of Association have been developed to further the goal of implementing the right to freedom of association. The added value of this document is that it incorporates the long-standing and in-depth expertise of the OSCE/ODIHR and the Council of Europe’s Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) in providing legislative assistance in matters pertaining to the right…
On the 19th of December, BCSDN together with MCIC, and with the support of 57 CSOs representatives, sent the comments and proposals on the two bylaws drafts concerning the establishment of Council for cooperation and dialogue with CSO and conditions of state financing in the form of an integral letter to the General Secretariat of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, Unit for Cooperation with NGOs. The document with comments and proposals was sent together with the list of participants on the public Consultation held on 15th of December in Skopje, and the integral text of the bylaw on…
On 15th of December, in the EU Info Centar in Skopje, BCSDN in cooperation with MCIC held a public consultation with CSOs regarding the two bylaws proposals by the General Secretariat of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia – Unit for Cooperation with NGOs: the Decision on establishment of Council for promotion of cooperation, dialogue and stimulating the civil society development; and Proposal to Decision on conditions for allocation and use of funds from the Budget of the Republic of Macedonia for financing program activities of associations and foundations. These two bylaws are key measures envisioned with the Strategy…
The enabling environment for civil society is broadly defined as the conditions within which civil society works. Specifically, enabling environment is viewed as the varied array of conditions – economic, political, social, cultural, legal, and otherwise – that affect the capacity of citizens, whether individually or collectively, to voluntarily participate in civil society. The enabling environment has increasingly come to be viewed as key to assessing civil society’s health. This booklet guides you through the main elements of the Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development. These elements include: Legal, Regulatory and Financial Environment in which CSOs operate, depicted through 8 steps…
Tanja Hafner Ademi, Executive Director of BCSDN participated to this year’s edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum taking place from 8th to 10th December in Kiev, Ukraine in the panel devoted to the enabling environment for CSOs in the region. She presented the Monitoring Matrix developed by BCSDN in partnership with ECNL to an audience of 150 representatives of civil society from 11 countries of the Black Sea region as example of civil society shadow monitoring mechanism. The 7th annual edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum, which is for the first time taking place outside Bucharest is discussing…
BCSDN representatives had the opportunity to participate on meetings with the former and the future European Parliament Rapporteur for Macedonia, Richard Howitt and Ivo Vajgl. Mr. Vajgl met with few civil society representatives to discuss the role of CSOs in Macedonia, interaction with the government as well as intra-CSO cooperation/coordination in the accession process. He expressed his commitment to present the whole picture during his appointment that will include civil society views on the situation in Macedonia. Ilina Nesik, BCSDN programme manager, participated at the meeting as a former deputy member of the National Council for EU Integration, and shared…
It is our pleasure to inform you that BCSDN together with the candidate applicant Ms. Milka Ivanovska were selected for the Open Society Foundations (OSF) Think Tank Fund fellowship in BCSDN as part of the Think Tank Young Professional Development Program. This Think Tank Fund (TTF) program aims at supporting MA and PhD “returnees” to assume posts in think tanks from the region that can provide guidance for the research fellow and opportunities for gaining policy and advocacy experience. At BCSDN, Ms. Milka Ivanovska, who holds an MA in Political Science with specialization in Research Methods and Social Analysis from…