News and updates from BCSDN and the region
CSOs, big and small, global and local, are ‘system-relevant’ – it matters to millions of people that they remain operational and support the most vulnerable and their environment. It comes as no surprise that the SDG principle to ‘Leave no one behind’ has become a unifying theme of solidarity in response to the Coronavirus around
Read more →We live in a time when many governments remain unable or unwilling to provide enabling environments for civil society to flourish. A strong civil society space is a basic pillar for democracy and one of the most important factors in enabling citizens to participate in the systems that influence their lives. A strong civil society
Read more →Based on the discussions during the 100 Day Challenge for their members to work on strengthening their feedback and complaints mechanisms, Accountable Now have collected 12 key steps to creating an effective online feedback and complaints mechanism as the basic mechanism all organizations should have in place, regardless of their size, context, or stakeholder groups.
Read more →The representatives in the open government community are looking for ways to help and to apply the principles of transparency, accountability, and participation to the COVID-19 response. The best role for OGP is to help create an open space for the community to share where they see open government approaches to tackling COVID-19 being implemented,
Read more →In the second part of the blog series on accountability feedback mechanisms are shared the common challenges that Resilient Roots have encountered when collecting feedback from their primary constituents, along with some tips for how to make the process meaningful. Simply collecting feedback will not make the organization more accountable, and it is important the
Read more →Instead of just being an end-user, civil society leaders must shift priority to how a deliberate disruption in the use of such technologies for public good can affect their organizational purposes. For instance, what impact does fake news and disinformation have on the work of nonprofits and fundamental freedoms, which the constitution guarantees us. If
Read more →In regards to the BCSDN workshop on accountability for Macedonian CSO networks, held on 28-30 January in Ohrid, North Macedonia, Rendir Cuentas, and BCSDN delivered a joint article, illustrating the partnership nature underlying the Global Standard for CSO Accountability. According to the article, judging by the Macedonian CSOs’ interest towards self-regulation and to improving their
Read more →On 24 February 2020 in the premises of the Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation (MCIC) an informative session was held by BCSDN and MICIC with the 5 grantees whose applications were chosen to receive a grant after the Public Call for Networks of CSOs. After the grantees were informed about the main postulates of the
Read more →Through its primary constituent accountability pilot for Resilient Roots, FemPlatz has focused on building stronger relationships and trust with its primary constituents to shape and strengthen its advocacy demands for gender equality. Together with a diverse group of 120 women and 10 women’s rights organizations in Serbia, FemPlatz discussed the meaning of advocacy, the benefits
Read more →Civil society advocacy and campaigning has contributed to important changes in government and company policy and practice on a range of issues, including climate, access to medicines, landmines, labour and indigenous rights, gender justice, and tax justice. It has also learned a lot along the way about what does and doesn’t work. Yet despite widespread
Read more →The report seeks to add to the growing civil society literature on the issue and aims to provide an opportunity for reflection about efforts to champion and advance diversity and inclusion action within the ranks of CSOs. Acknowledgments of the importance of diversity and inclusion often remain at the theoretical level for CSOs, and they
Read more →Campaigning organizations are moving beyond the question of ‘if’ they should engage with movements to asking ‘when’ and ‘how’ – reflecting an understanding of systems change as complex, nonlinear and unpredictable in which NGOs can have little impact on their own. However, these institutions have a completely different DNA to movements, with heavy layers of
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