News and updates from BCSDN and the region
Despite the fact that the Universal Declaration with its broad range of political, civil, social, cultural and economic rights stands for “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”, unfortunately the Western Balkans and Turkey (WBT) cannot testify for a comprehensive level of enabling environment for civil society. Throughout the region, as the
Read more →An informal document of the European Commission on the situation in Chapters 23 and 24 in negotiations with Serbia, the so-called “non-paper”, has been published on the website of the Serbian Ministry of European Integration. It represents a six-month report that informs the EU Member States on the situation in areas of key importance for
Read more →A new BIRN report shows that Liberal-sounding access to information laws – vital for a free media – have yet to bring real transparency to the traditionally secretive countries of the Balkan region. With the aid of the information gained from 854 official requests to access public documents, submitted between January 2017 and June 2019,
Read more →The Center for Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO), organized a conference in Podgorica titled: “My Community – A Strong Community”. Among the speakers, was the…
Read more →Gong and Corporate Europe Observatory, with the support of more than 30 Croatian and European CSOs, appeal to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic with the proposal to include transparency of law-making and lobbying influence in the priorities of the soon-to-be EU Council Presidency. They call the Government of the Republic of Croatia to support the non-paper
Read more →Ten years ago, the smartphones and social platforms that helped to enable the protests were celebrated as vectors of positive change, opening avenues for speech and organizing beyond the control of authoritarian governments. They are now more often seen as fueling division, empowering surveillance, invading our privacy, and eviscerating the economic underpinnings of a free
Read more →Protests are taking different forms, from large and repeated demonstrations to the occupation of public places and spontaneous assemblies. The reasons for increasing mobilization of protesters across Europe are manifold. They include economic inequalities, decreasing trust in the traditional political elites and institutions, violations of human rights and democratic rules, etc. Protecting the right to
Read more →The International Civil Society Centre is working with ICSOs and their CSO partners to develop a new playbook for solidarity and cooperation, to be able to better respond to the clampdown, to be better prepared and to push back to the boundaries of what civil society restrictions have come to be. Many organizations shy away
Read more →Activizenship is a magazine edited by the European Civic Forum, aiming to connect ideas and experiences, explore and capture current trends and transformations affecting civil society in Europe and beyond. Activizenship brings together stories and analyses to shed light on the potential of civic activism on democratic, social, environmental, cultural and political issues to contribute
Read more →Piloted in 2019, the CSO Meter assesses the civil society environment against a set of standards and indicators in 10 different areas. Based on the information in the country reports, ECNL developed a regional report to highlight the key trends and developments shaping civil society in the region and formulate recommendations to support efforts to
Read more →Rhetoric that attacks civil society’s fundamental freedoms and the rights of excluded groups – such as women, LGBTQI people, migrants, refugees and minorities – is increasingly adopted and promoted by political leaders, and anti-rights groups are claiming civic space at the domestic and international levels. Civil society that defends rights is under attack. CIVICUS research
Read more →The last half-year has seen a startling cluster of protests around the world. Large-scale mobilizations have taken place in a staggering number of places. There is a major problem, however, with the attention that such protests attract, especially at the international level. In the heat of revolt, local people’s involvement is high in energy and
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