News and updates from BCSDN and the region
A new IDSC public policy study aims to assess the crisis management system’s structure and provide recommendations for its development. By reviewing the legal and institutional set-up, it reflects on the competencies of the municipalities; it identifies the systemic gaps and challenges, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operation of the municipalities; the
Read more →A smear campaign was launched against the investigative portal KRIK, emerging in Serbia’s major government-funded tabloids. The organization (a member of the Organised Crime and Corruption Research Network (OCCRP), was connected with an organized criminal group headed by a recently-arrested crime boss, under investigation for several murders. The campaign made unsupported and inaccurate claims that the criminal
Read more →European press freedom and journalists’ organizations expressed their concern about Slovenia’s state of media freedom and the Prime minister’s attacks on the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) independence. They state that journalists’ denigration, and the ruling party’s attempts to exercise greater control over the country’s public service media, generates a hostile climate for critical reporting. Moreover,
Read more →Thousands of protesters took to Istanbul’s streets after Turkey pulled out the Istanbul agreement designed to protect women from domestic violence, signed in 2011 to stop killing women and girls. Many national and international organizations condemned and, with joint actions, urged against the Turkish authorities’ decision that seriously affects women’s rights. BCSDN member from Turkey,
Read more →To maintain an independent, representative, and effective Council for Cooperation with and Development of the Civil Sector in the next three years in N. Macedonia, the General Secretariat of the Government announces a Public Call for the election of 16 members of the Council among associations and foundations. Organizations registered under the Law on Associations
Read more →Global counterterrorism is pursued through a closed institutional infrastructure. It includes UN entities, among which the Office of Counter-Terrorism (OCT). FATF recommendations are internationally endorsed global standards against money laundering and terrorist financing to enable countries to tackle illicit use of the financial systems. The FATF’s approach has been criticized as enabling governments to target civil society through repressive financial regulation.
Read more →COVID-19 has accelerated the erosion of democratic values across the world, including the Western Balkans. Among the other states in the region, North Macedonia, trying to keep pace with the pandemic’s human rights challenges, has reinforced severe restrictions. The pandemic expanded the current gap between legislation and reality in human rights protection in the country.
Read more →After the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering sent an official request to all commercial banks in Serbia to provide information and documentation concerning the accounts and financial transactions undertaken by 57 CSOs, media, and individuals, Serbian CSOs have been particularly concerned about the use of oversight powers to target the financing of terrorism
Read more →On 24 February 2021, together with the CSOs representatives, the Commission of Legal Issues, Public Administration, and Human Rights of the Assembly of Albania organized a hearing session on the draft law “On the registration of Non for Profit Organizations”. Even though CSOs positively welcomed the new law initiative, they noted that the process was
Read more →The Resource Centre for Civil Society in Montenegro presents the report on the citizens’ views about NGOs in Montenegro. The first chapter introduces the findings on the familiarity with NGOs’ work and citizens’ sentiment towards them. In the second chapter, citizens’ sentiment is complemented by the level of public trust in NGOs and citizens’ specific
Read more →The recent ECNL briefer provides examples of how CSOs can oppose abuse or overregulation caused by anti-money laundering (AML), combating financing of terrorism (CFT), and counter-terrorism (CT) standards. Firstly, CSOs affected can provide information to the UN Special Rapporteur, which as a UN Human Rights Council Expert can request inquiry from the government and address
Read more →TUSEV, BCSDN member from Turkey, with support from ECNL, published an information note on the policies and safeguards suggested by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) against terrorist financing, money laundering, and financing of weapons of mass destruction and discusses their impact on civil society operations in Turkey. The Law on the Prevention of Financing
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