We are pleased to bring you the new issue of our eNewsletter publications. After the break that we took in publishing the newsletter now we are back announcing it as a regular publication. These two numbers are an overview of our so far activities for 2011 compiled in two editions which will be followed by regular publication of our activities and news in order to better communicate among members and partners. You can download here the 43 and 44 editions.
Author: anja
CNVOS from Slovenia won a lawsuit against the Ministry of Public Administration about the way in which the Ministry decides and justifies allocation of grants and tenders. According to the procedure by the Ministry, the applicants were not explained why they were assigned a certain number of points. In the ruling delivered on 15th September, the court concluded that the Ministry as well as other state institutions and municipal authorities are obliged to explain in their decisions on the allocation of public funds why each applicant has been assigned a certain number of points. The indication of the number of…
In the context of the review of the European Neighbourhood Policy in May, the EU recognized the importance of developing policies to support civil society in Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus, by promoting the creation of a Civil Society Facility and a new European Endowment for Democracy. This preliminary idea for ENPI Civil Society Initiative, with the main components inspired from the IPA civil society facility instrument has the ambitious goal of strengthening civil society and making it an actor in promoting the democratic transformation in these countries. BCSDN has been sharing the experience with EaP CSOs recently in…
Partners Albania together with a group of CSOs has sent a public letter several days ago to a number of state institutions and international organizations to protest the act of violence carried out several days ago by the Tirana Municipal Police against two employees of the municipality. Partners Albania together with a group of CSOs has sent a public letter several days ago to a number of state institutions and international organizations to protest the act of violence carried out several days ago by the Tirana Municipal Police against two employees of the municipality. Unfortunately, physical violence was followed by…
All CI’s weekly activities are available in weekly newsletter. In this edition you can read: Competition for participants in Youth Build Project in Bujanovac and Presevo; Two more Civic Education Manuals Translated into Albanian; The First classes of Teaching Literacy to Roma people were held; First results of the Survey “NGO sector in Serbia in 2011”; “CoolVille” Volunteering Action; Meeting held at the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society and Meeting with the OCSE representative.
The Center for Promotion of Civil Society (CPCD), Bosnia and Herzegovina held a seminar on the drafting process and the application of principles of program budgeting for the members of the BiH Parliament on the 19th of September. During the seminar on the role and responsibility of parliaments in the budget process and cooperation with civil society organizations spoke Mirjana Vinegar, Project Manager of CPCD, about the reforms by introducing program budgeting and budget documents and Faruk Hujić, director of consulting house INNOVA. Introduction to gender responsible budgeting and how to apply it when creating budgets of institutions was presented…
On 12th September, Tanja Hafner Ademi, Executive Director held a networking session for the members of the Steering Committee of the Decentralized cooperation programme between the Region Lower Normandy (France) and Macedonia project in Ohrid, Macedonia. In a two-session intervention, BCSDN was presented as a model for networking and advocacy towards the EU and national authorities. The session served as an inspiration for the Committee members to contemplate on ways for strengthening cooperation between project partners between the two countries. The project aims at strengthening cooperation between local authorities and CSOs in Lower Normandy (France) and Macedonia in areas such…
Tanja Hafner Ademi, Executive Director has been elected the representative of the Civic Platform for Macedonia (CPM) to the National European Integration Council (NEIC). The elections were held on the invitation of the newly formed composition of the Council by the CPM. NEIC is a Parliamentary working body composed of Members of Parliament and representatives of interested groups (academia, civil society, journalists, religious communities etc.). It is a multi-stakeholder body, whose decisions are taken by consensus and thus presents the highest common position by political parties and other interested groups with regards to EU integration. Ms. Ilina Nesik, Project and…
IDM, in the framework of a regional program of the German Council of Foreign Relations supporting civil society involvement in EU accession reforms and processes representatives, presented the research findings to senior officials of EU institutions from 5th – 9th of September 2011 (Brussels). The meetings with EU officials from the European Commission, European External Action Service, European Parliament, Council and Brussels-based think tanks (e.g. European Policy Centre) mark the beginning of the program’s final stage for 2011, with a total of eight policy research papers prepared by think tank organisations in Western Balkan countries on various issues related to…
CIVICUS launched its Civil Society Index (CSI) Summary Report for 2008-2011 Bridging the Gaps: Citizens, organizations and dissociation, bringing together assessments on the state of civil society development in 30 countries around the world. From the Balkans, 8 countries participated in the research, among which 4 were lead by BCSDN member organizations or associates. BCSDN will follow-up this amazing dissection of the state of our sector with regional and thematic-specific reports. Civil society – the sphere of people’s associations and organizations – is undergoing its most significant crisis and change for a generation. Many established CSOs are struggling under the…