On 19th April in Skopje, MCIC organized a thematic debate entitled “Setting the Records Straight: Availability of Public Funding for Civil Society in the Western Balkans and Turkey (WBT) Region”, gathering civil society and state institution representatives. Speakers at the event were: Stefania Andersen (Foundation for Development of Civil Society in Romania) presenting the best practices of state funding of CSOs in Romania, Tanja Hafner Ademi (BCSDN) providing a regional overview of the state at play in the Western Balkans and Turkey, and Simona Ognenovska (MCIC) presenting a policy document on public financing of CSOs in Macedonia. Upon providing a short presentation on the standards that need to be fulfilled so that there is public funding-supportive-environment, Tanja Hafner Ademi provided a comparison between Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia on average annual funding per capita from public funds versus EU funds. Public funding of CSOs is one of the key elements of the Governments’ approach towards strengthening the partnership with civil society and supporting its development. The debate and experience form different countries showed that there exist a common challenge in available information on funding for CSOs as well as lacking transparency and accountability in managing and contracting these funds. More information is available here.
Source: MCIC
