News and updates from BCSDN and the region
CSOs are essential in raising people’s voices and assisting victims. This handbook provides practical guidance for CSOs to advocate and litigate to protect their rights and fight against closing space in the EU. The document also answers the questions of what happens when CSOs themselves become the actual targets and victims and their fundamental rights
Read more →ECNL and BCSDN organized a joint webinar to provide an overview of current practices and responses in the Western Balkans, Croatia and Romania, with the underlying question – how can civil society effectively monitor and prepare to request lifting of restrictions during Corona pandemic. Speakers discussed the severe measures that have been taken in the
Read more →CSOs and the Council for Cooperation with and Development of the Civil Sector in North Macedonia call on the Government to reconsider and change its decision to drastically reduce financial support for CSOs. They refer that this decision, by which financial support, depending on the institution, is completely abolished or severely reduced, and is taken
Read more →In a press release CPCD’s states that by excluding CSOs from the economic mitigation measures defined in the draft law, the FBiH Government is endangering the development of civil society in the country. It is explained that the proposed Law on Mitigation of Economic Consequences excludes CSOs as the third pillar of democratic society. FBiH
Read more →IDM prepared a brochure in the framework of the project: “Civic Monitoring of transparency and accountability at local self-government level”. The primary aim of the project is to improve transparency and accountability at self-government level. The project aims to strengthen grassroots CSOs’ role and capacities in monitoring the implementation of the Law 119/2014 “On the
Read more →The Expert Council on NGO Law of the Conference of INGOs of the CoE published an opinion that examines the compatibility with European standards of recently enacted amendments to the Law on Associations of the Republic of Turkey. The effect of these amendments is to require an association to notify the local administrative authority of
Read more →As a regional network focused on empowering civil society, promoting an enabling environment and safeguarding civic space, BCSDN is closely following the impact of the…
Read more →Clément Voule, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, in a statement saluted the efforts of governments and international organizations and stress that CSOs should be seen as strategic partners in the fight against the pandemic. He points out that CSOs have rarely been consulted in the process
Read more →In a letter of concern, Access Info called Montenegro’s Ministry of Public Administration to postpone a public consultation on reforms to the Law on Free Access to Information that occurred during the first week of April 2020. The letter indicates that the public consultation comes just at a time when people are confined to their
Read more →As the global standard‑setter for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation, the FATF encourages governments to work with financial institutions and other businesses to use the flexibility built into the FATF’s risk-based approach to address the challenges posed by COVID-19 whilst remaining alert to new and emerging illicit finance risks. The
Read more →Launched by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Tracker 19 is a tool made for an unprecedented global crisis. Created in reference not only to Covid-19 but also article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the project aims to evaluate the pandemic’s impacts on journalism. It will document state censorship and deliberate disinformation, and their
Read more →Civil Rights Defenders announced the release of the Internet Freedoms in the Western Balkan Region report. Developed in cooperation with the SHARE Foundation, the report presents in-depth research on the state of internet freedoms in Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania. It provides a comparative overview of specific indicators – according to the European
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