At a time, when major (foreign) donors are largely exited/exiting the region, the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) deems it strategically important to review the past and current state of affairs, identify gaps and present lessons-learned and recommendations for effective and locally-owned models for sustainable civil society development. For this reason, the School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) has prepared a survey aimed at local CSOs that will provide information on the effects of the different types of funding (i.e. core funding, domestic, international funding) has had on development of CSOs and the sector as well…
Author: anja
In 2011, when the region is celebrating 20 years of transition, there is little reason for citizens and civil society in the region being jubilant. The already problematic economic development aggravated by the global economic and financial crisis has brought about a sharp decline in foreign donor support in a situation of extreme poverty, unemployment and apathy among the citizens. While there has been many efforts launched in evaluating the impact of donor assistance and its better coordination on the part of Governments and foreign donors (e.g. establishment of donor coordination forums, establishment of donor databases), there has been little…
At a time, when major (foreign) donors are largely exited/exiting the region, the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) deems it strategically important to review the past and current state of affairs, identify gaps and present lessons-learned and recommendations for effective and locally-owned models for sustainable civil society development. For this reason, the School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) has prepared a survey aimed at local CSOs that will provide information on the effects of the different types of funding (i.e. core funding, domestic, international funding) has had on development of CSOs and the…
On 10th and 11th June, the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) held its 3rd Annual gathering of members in Belgrade, Serbia. Hosted by Civic Initiatives, the gathering included a workshop under the theme: Sustainable Donors Strategies & Practices in Civil Society Development in the Balkans: Practices & Lessons-learned by Local Civil Society Actor. The workshop, which gathered 24 representatives of BCSDN members, partners, donors, academia and Government, discussed main processes and challenges to civil society development in the Balkans. The participants concluded that as a result of the global economic crisis and the withdrawal of traditional donors the situation…
The new, or rather differentiated approach under the IPA CSF 2011-2013 will include a unique (one) Commission decision covering all IPA countries and 3 year time period. In terms of the financing, the overall budget envelope for 3 years is planned for over 60 million EUR, of which 30 million EUR will be allocated to regional activities (s.c. Multi-beneficiary programme). The TACSO phase 2 (August 2011-August 2012) and P2P funding for the period are outside of this envelope as well as national activities for some countries already approved (e.g. IPA Macedonia 2011 project fiche-support to civil society/dialogue on local level).…
With around 400 participants from all over Europe, the European Civil Meeting was an official high visibility event of the Hungarian EU Presidency, designed to be the next chapter in a series of European civil society conferences known as the European Civic Days. The 3-day conference took place in the form of plenary and workshop sessions. The Budapest-based Századvég Political School Foundation was the organizer of the 2011 European Civil Meeting. BCSDN participated on the workshop dedicated to Western Balkan European integration. In connection with the previous events, the chief theme of the European Civil Meeting was built around the…
The European Commission, DG Enlargement organized a stakeholders’ meeting on the future pre-accession instrument post-2013 on 10th to 11th of May in Zagreb. The meeting involved over 100 participants including representatives from IPA beneficiary countries, EU Member States, international financial institutions and other donors, civil society organizations, and European Commission directorates. BCSDN was represented on the meeting by Ilina Nesik EO and Ana Novakovic ED of CRNVO, Montenegro. Several other CSOs were also present to the meeting. The Commission is currently in the process of preparing the multi-annual financial framework post 2013, under which DG Enlargement will propose a follow-up…
TRIALOG is a project which aims to strengthen civil society and raise awareness of development issues in the enlarged EU. Currently, the project is in its fourth phase (2009-2012). At the moment, a strategic process is taking place whereby consultations are being held to identify future focus of TRIALOG phase V. The Balkan Civil Society Development Network participated to the TRIALOG Future Factory meeting, which took place in Vienna, Austria with its representative from the Executive Office, Ms. Ilina Nesik and Marina Vukovic on behalf of CRNVO, Montenegro. The network was identified as a key regional player that could facilitate…
BCSDN is proud to present its Annual narrative and financial Report for 2010 accompanied by and independent Audit of its accounts. The 2010 was the first full year of operation for BCSDN since its formalization. Thus, the focus on external activities was limited with the need to develop rules and procedures for full functioning of the network organs and external fundraising for networks’ basic activities. Subsequently, focus of activities in 2010 was on strategic Goal 1 (“Civil society a partner in policy- and decision-making on national and EU level”) and Goal 2 (“Strong and active civil society actors informed and…
The CONCORD Working Group (WG) on Enlargement, Pre-Accession and Neighborhood issues (EPAN) met on its annual meeting in Brussles on 11th and 12th April. EPAN brings together representatives from across Europe. Long-established organizations from EU member states, newer member states and candidate countries are all represented within the group, which is convened by TRIALOG, a project to reinforcing the role of development NGOs in the enlarged EU. This working group represents an excellent platform of information exchange from NGOs working in the IPA region as well as those dealing with the Mediterranean and the Eastern Partnership countries. BCSDN is in…