With the aim to contribute for further improvement of the programming of IPA assistance to civil society, BCSDN has prepared comments and recommendations on the Multi-Country 2014-2015 IPA Civil Society Facility and Media Action document. Our comments are based on the policy workshop on Aid Modalities for CS support under the new IPA 2014-2020 held in Brussels in September 2013, and the findings from the Regional Report under the Monitoring Matrix for Enabling Environment for CSDev. The Action Document can be commended for incorporating the CS Guidelines and aiming at creating result oriented assistance. BCSDN’s recommendation is the Action Document…
Author: anja
On 20 June 2014, another SBPPF grantee, the SOS Telephone for Women and Children Victims of Violence, publicly presented their policy research “Institutional Mechanisms for Prevention from Family Violence and their Enforcement in Montenegro”, in the PR Center in Podgorica, Montenegro. The research, whose objective was to analyze the institutional and the administrative capacities and the transparency of public institutions relevant for the implementation of the Protocol on prevention and protection from family violence, was presented in front of relevant stakeholders at national level and media representatives. The Study provided data which define the problem in details, the conditions for…
The External Relations Section of the EESC adopted an own-initiative Opinion on Enhancing the transparency and inclusiveness of the EU accession process on 12th June, tabled by Marina Skrabalo – an EESC member from Croatia. The Opinion outlines some of the key features and lessons learned from the EU’s enlargement policy over the past five years. It calls, among other, for disclosure of all key documents for accession negotiation; making adoption and implementation of legislation on public access to information, public consultations an integral part of the progress monitoring process as well as for national parliaments to play a proactive,…
On 30 April 2014 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Center for Research and Development (CERD), one of the SBPPF grantees, organized a conference for presenting their policy paper on “Social Services and Public-Private Partnerships: The Role of NGOs”. In front of the present representatives of the civil society in B&H, the media, students and representatives of the international organizations present in the country, CERD presented the findings of their research as well as the recommendations and conclusions stated in the Study. The research was focused around the potential role that the civil society sector may take in providing services…
On 19 June 2014, Mikro Art, a SBPPF grantee from Serbia, held a press conference and presented their Policy Paper “Citizens in City Development”. This analysis of citizens’ participation in urban development in Serbia shows discrepancy between official strategic documents which proclaim the need for transparent and participatory urban and spatial planning and actual legal framework. This policy document also brings recommendations for better and more effective participation of citizens in urban planning. Given that Draft of Law on Planning and Constructing will soon be on public discussion, participants of the conference agreed that changes that should be most advocated…
The Union of Municipalities of Montenegro, in partnership with the Centre for NGO Development (CRNVO) and the Ministry of the Interior, organized a regional consultative meeting for representatives from local governments and civil society sector “Applying and lessons learned in the implementation of the Ordinance on the establishment of the Council for cooperation between local government and non-governmental organizations and the Rules of Procedures of Municipal Parliament” in Tivat on 5 June 2014. The meeting was organized as part of the implementation of the Strategy for NGOs development in Montenegro 2014-2016. The main goal of the meeting was to exchange…
From 18th to 19th June, 13 representatives of the Monitoring Matrix working group (MM WG) – either original experts who developed the MM or staff conducting the monitoring – met in Skopje to reflect on the 1st year monitoring and devise the approach in measuring progress in the current and future years. The representatives reviewed the MM and suggested several refreshments or merger of indicators, agreed on developing a joint sample questionnaire for surveys and interviews in all countries and defined 12 proxy/core joint/regional standards that are to be monitored in each country, while the rest 12 will be monitored…
The Metamorphosis Foundation, one of the SBPPF grantees, organized a conference for presentation of the final findings from the research of the gov.mk websites within the framework of the project “Increasing the Use of gov.mk Websites as Tools for Transparency, Accountability and e-Participation”. The conference took place at the EU InfoCentre on June 17, 2014 and around 60 participants, representatives from the public, the private and the NGO sector in Macedonia and media, attended. The research determines the quality of the e-services offered by the gov.mk websites and the quality of their tools for communication with the citizens, and highlights…
BCSDN is proud to present the 1st-ever Regional Report on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development in Enlargement Countries, developed in partnership with European Center for Non-profit Law (ECNL). This report summarizes the key findings from 8 country reports in the Western Balkans and Turkey, prepared by using the Monitoring Matrix on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development and the accompanying Toolkit, which guided the monitoring of the progress with the CS enabling environment in the respected countries. The main aim of the Regional Report is to identify the key common issues across the region, in order to highlight the priorities…
On 30 May 2014, the Center for Civic Education (Montenegro) organized a press conference where they presented their policy paper on “The role of inspection in the fight against corruption”, supported through SBPPF. The study was presented by Ms. Tamara MILAŠ, programme assistant in the CCE, and Mr. Boris MARIĆ, senior legal advisor in the CCE. The objective of the project was to contribute to the increase of public trust in the criminal justice sector through implementation of effective watchdog activities to track the government responses to reports of illegal activity and corruption. In specific, the project monitored the activities…