News and updates from BCSDN and the region
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
Read more →Covid-19 response is at present an all-consuming effort for governments and people in countries around the world. In a time of urgency, ICNL and ECNL offer a quick guide for authorities striving to protect lives in line with their duty to uphold human rights and protect human dignity, based on international human rights obligations. The
Read more →The coronavirus is a significant threat to public health; swift and effective government action is necessary. ICNL explores this tension and how governments can move quickly while upholding human rights in their response to a public health crisis. Governments can use a crisis as a pretext to infringe rights. In recent weeks, governments around the
Read more →Internet connectivity and use of forms of social media have become increasingly central to many aspects of organizing and exercising the right to freedom of peaceful assembly over the past decade. Over the same period, international bodies have regularly acknowledged the prominent role of the internet and the need to recognize that many of our
Read more →In the last several years, democracy indices have recorded that many EU governments have narrowed civic space. Authorities have used a wide range of tools to constrict the space for dissent and contestation; some of their tactics are blunt, others are more subtle. European civil society has begun to respond to the assault on civic
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