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 for intervention on regional level, and to support efforts of civil society organizations (CSOs), public authorities and the European Union (EU) in the creation of a more conducive environment for civil society.
Discussing the Report at the EU Policy Workshop in Brussels, Tanja Hafner Ademi, Executive Director of BCSDN gave a brief summary: “While all countries of the Western Balkans are showing general trend of improving the legal environment for civil society, its implementation in practice is still very much problematic. Most of the violations have been recognized in Turkey where legal guarantees on fundamental freedoms, including freedom of association and peaceful assembly are still not fully protected. In all of the countries there are issues, particularly in the area of funding, that require further focus and investment in order to ensure full compliance with the international and European standards and best practices and especially the longer term sustainability of civil society. Considering all reform challenges faced by Enlargement countries, the improvement in operation and the supportive environment civil society needs, should not be business as usual, but an area of priority for the EC in its upcoming Enlargement Strategy and Progress Reports, 2014-2015“.
The full Report is available for download here.