News and updates from BCSDN and the region
The 2018 Compendium of the Council of Europe Practice provides an overview of the measures taken by the CoE to guarantee the freedom of association and strengthen the position of CSOs. The report suggests that CoE bodies have carried out a variety of activities to strengthen freedom of association and ensure the crucial contributions of
Read more →CIVICUS, BCSDN, and MCIC have submitted joint UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submission for Macedonia as one of the seven countries in advance of the 32nd UPR session in January 2019. The submissions examine the state of civil society in each country, including the promotion and protection of the rights to freedom of association, assembly
Read more →The Montenegrin Ministry of Public Administration has launched a public call for Non-Governmental Organizations to submit nominations for 6 NGO representatives in the Council for Cooperation of State Administration Bodies and Non-Governmental Organizations in Montenegro. More details about the call in Montenegrin are available here. Source: Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of
Read more →The Policy Brief produced by the European Policy Center Belgrade and Think for Europe Network aims to shed light on an insufficiently enabling, often even disabling, environment for the work of civil society organizations (CSOs) from the region. It does so by providing a comparative overview of CSOs involvement in the policymaking in different countries
Read more →Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TUSEV) published the Monitoring Matrix on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development Turkey Country Report 2017, prepared in line with the Monitoring Matrix methodology. Developed under the Monitoring Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development Project coordinated by Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) through 2012 and 2016, the Monitoring Matrix
Read more →Access Info Europe and MANS called on the Montenegrin government to undo its 2017 amendments to Law on Free Access to Information (originally adopted in 2006) in order to bring it back into line with international standards. In an analysis of the Law, Access Info and MANS signaled that a particular concern is Article 1,
Read more →Partners Albania has prepared a monitoring report on the NPOs fiscal legal and regulatory framework and its implementation. Although the sector has been in operations for about three decades, its regulatory framework is still in development, marking very frequent changes, which often do not go through open consultative processes. The purpose of this paper is
Read more →In the Open Government Declaration, OGP countries pledge to protect CSOs in their pursuit to become more transparent, more accountable, and more responsive to their own citizens. CSOs are indispensable to fulfilling OGP’s vision of improved governance and improved quality of services. This chapter aims to support governments in their efforts to live up to
Read more →Around the world, there is an outbreak of vague, repressive, and overreaching legislation that represents a serious threat to civil society’s operations and influence. Because they often seek to protect human rights and hold governments accountable, civil society organizations are often a thorn in the government’s side, and therefore can face enhanced repression and legal
Read more →In a recent public appearance, during a TV pre-election debate on 17 May, SDS deputy Branko Grims announced that his party would abolish public funding for NGOs if it wins the elections, saying that “300 million EUR are wasted annually for NGOs, such as the Peace Institute and similar organizations, of which Slovenia has no real
Read more →Following a recent rejection of more than 90 freedom of information requests (FOI) in Montenegro, in an effort by MANS to obtain financial disclosures related to the recent presidential election, Transparency International denounces the actions of the government agency responsible for refusing the public access to important campaign spending information. Many of the rejected requests
Read more →Open civic space is key to successful OGP processes. In open civic space, CSOs can participate as full partners, and citizens are free and able to demand greater accountability and transparency from their governments. Although OGP member states are not immune from the global civic space emergency, data suggests that civic space in OGP member
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