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Civic Space 16 July 2018

Call for Nominations of CSOs Representatives in the Council for Cooperation of State Administration Bodies and Non-Governmental Organizations In Montenegro (Deadline: 23.07.2018)

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

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Civic Space 16 July 2018

Evidence-based and Inclusive Policy-making in the Western Balkans: What Role for Think tanks and Other Policy-orientated CSOs?

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

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Civic Space 2 July 2018

2017 Turkey’s Report on Enabling Environment is Available Now

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

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Civic Space 2 July 2018

Montenegro: 2017 Amendments Seriously Undermine the Law on Free Access to Information

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,

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Civic Space 14 June 2018

Fiscal Treatment, Assessment of National Legislation and Practice for NPOs in Albania

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

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Civic Space 14 June 2018

OGP Guide to Opening Government: An Enabling Environment for CSOs

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

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Civic Space 14 June 2018

Liberty or Security: Do Civil Society Restrictions Limit Terrorism?

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

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Civic Space 1 June 2018

Slovenia: CNVOS Letter to NGOs – SDS Predicting the End of NGO Financing

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

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Civic Space 1 June 2018

Montenegro: Rejection of Freedom of Information Requests Raises Alarm

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

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Civic Space 1 June 2018

Closing Space, Open Government? Civil Society Response to Restrictions in OGP Countries

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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Civic Space 1 June 2018

Open Call for contributions to CIVICUS’ State of Civil Society Report 2018

The upcoming CIVICUS State of Civil Society Report, to be published in September 2018, will focus on the special theme of ‘Reimagining Democracy’. The publication will explore the current state of democratic practices, the contemporary trends that are having an impact on them, and civil society initiatives to respond to major democratic challenges and reinvent

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Civic Space 15 May 2018

CIVICUS Monitor: Unending Restrictions on Civic Freedoms in Turkey

In recent months, Turkey has continued to experience serious violations of freedom of expression. The government has mainly relied on the legal system to target anyone who expresses critical opinions, including journalists, teachers, academics and others. Online spaces for dissent have been under attack since Turkey’s failed coup in July 2016, and hundreds of people

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