News and updates from BCSDN and the region
BCSDN has been selected through an open call for proposals and engaged within EU TACSO 3 project framework to conduct the Needs Assessment on the State of the Enabling Environment and Capacities of Civil Society of the Western Balkan and Turkey. During October and November, BCSDN members (Civic Initiatives, CPCD, CRNVO, KCSF, MCIC and Partners
Read more →The CIVICUS Monitor has released People Power Under Attack 2019, a new report showing that the fundamental freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression are backsliding across the world. In the space of a year, twice as many people are living in countries where these civic freedoms are being violated: 40% of the world’s population
Read more →In partnership with 30 organizations around the world, the global CSO platform CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE) has launched the Global Day of Action Against Shrinking Civic Spaces. Under the theme ‘Working Together to Defend Human Rights and Civic Space for a Just and Sustainable World,’ the campaign aims to raise the awareness of
Read more →All over the world, millions of civic organizations and movements play an essential role in our societies, improving the lives of our communities and promoting citizens’ participation. They advocate, campaign and act to provide effective access to fundamental human rights for all. The role of independent CSOs is recognized by the UN and by the
Read more →The position of human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Western Balkans is increasingly precarious. Across the region, HRDs and organizations, as well as independent media outlets, are prone to intimidation, threats, smear campaigns, digital and physical attacks, and an overall disregard by national authorities. While the region shares several common features (sluggish integration, weak rule
Read more →An increasing number of EU officials and institutions is posing questions in regard to the effectiveness of regional organizations and initiatives in the WB in times when EU member states are engaging in something that might end in major overhaul of the accession process. The authors of the paper contribute to the overall debate by
Read more →The policy brief zooms precisely on this “executive bias” – the focus of the region’s EU integration process based largely on dialogue between elected governments, with insufficient involvement of parliaments and wider society. It contends that meeting membership criteria and securing the irreversibility of reforms post-accession is only possible if the ownership of reforms in
Read more →The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) published the 22nd edition of their Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index (CSOSI) for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, covering developments in 24 countries in the region during calendar year 2018. BCSDN has partnered with USAID and FHI 360 to produce the CSOSI for Macedonia, examining the
Read more →The report, based on the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices, an index produced by International IDEA aims to inform the global democracy debate with evidence and data and provide a nuanced analysis of how opportunities and challenges to democracy play out in different ways around the world, shaped by regional and country contexts. The
Read more →The CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE) and the Task Team on CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment held a joint session on Inclusive Development Partnerships amid Shrinking Civic Spaces: Can CSOs be both watchdogs and partners of governments? on inclusive development partnerships at the Stockholm Civil Society Days 2019, happening on November 19, 2019.
Read more →The new BiEPAG brief offers recommendations on Overcoming the enlargement deadlock: An action plan for the incoming EU enlargement policy appears to have reached a deadlock. Following years of stagnation and relative neglect, the EU Commission’s attempts in 2018 to reinvigorate the EU’s engagement with the Western Balkans and to provide a credible enlargement perspective
Read more →People and countries across the globe have unequal access to political decision-making, often resulting in discriminatory laws, symbols or policies and shrinking civil society space. Reducing inequalities is a complex issue that demands a systemic that looks beyond traditional development cooperation to address the other EU and Member States’ policies that have a significant impact
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