News and updates from BCSDN and the region
The Institute for Democracy and Mediation has prepared and presented the Civil Society Sustainability Index Report for Albania, providing an assessment of the enabling environment for the civil society sector by analyzing several important developments that took place during 2021. Although most of the dimensions of CSO sustainability have remained largely unchanged, the legal environment
Read more →The Macedonian Young Lawyers Association (MYLA) has promoted a report on monitoring digitally mediated public gatherings in North Macedonia. The report deals with the current state of digitally mediated public gatherings in the country, including the relevant legal framework, the frequency, occurrence, and types of digitally mediated public gatherings, and the enabling environment in which
Read more →The SMART Balkans Project organized the first regional conference “Elephants in the Civic Space” in Podgorica Montenegro. Bringing together participants from 6 countries of the region, and people from the civil sector, religious communities, media, academia, and researchers of social processes, the event aimed to open a dialogue on two essential topics: “The role of
Read more →Since 2017, the CIVICUS Monitor has tracked an ongoing crackdown on the right to peaceful assembly. Most recently, governments have used the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to restrict further fundamental freedoms, including the right to protest. According to CIVICUS Monitor data gathered trough the period October 2021 – September 2022, protests took place in
Read more →Two independent and critically acclaimed towards the government cable televisions in Serbia, “N1” and “Nova S”, stopped broadcasting their programs on 2 December . Instead of the regular program, a television was installed with a black screen with the message “Darkness in Serbia, no free media”. These two television stations, which operate within United Media,
Read more →In partnership with the USAID and FHI 360, BCSDN member CNVOs prepared the 2021 CSOSI Report on Slovenia. The report is a part of Civil Society Organizations Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia which monitors the capacities and conditions for the operation of CSOs in 24 countries. According to the report, in
Read more →Leviz Alabania has covered the context and the importance of the digital democracy development by thoroughly diving into the questions on what is digital democracy, why it is important and who shall be responsible for it`s proper practice. An analysis conducted on the Albanian context in the framework of promoting digital democracy, looking at the
Read more →Amnesty International stated that the decision by Turkey’s highest appeals court to overturn baseless convictions of Amnesty Turkey’s Honorary Chair and three other human rights defenders is a huge relief, yet also highlights once more the politically motivated nature of the prosecutions. The ruling by the Court of Cassation on the convictions of Taner Kılıç,
Read more →Governments worldwide have been adopting surveillance measures for decades. But with the development of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), they can deploy surveillance at unprecedented scale and speed and gain easy access to new sources of information, such as vast amounts of data collected by online platforms and services. The increased ability of authorities
Read more →CONCORD, together with its civil society partners worldwide, has produced several concrete inputs on civil society participation in EU international partnerships and external action decision-making wrapped in the publication titled “7 Practices for Civil Society Participation in EU Decision-Making”, aiming to encourage not only a shift to action towards meaningful, inclusive and safe civil society
Read more →The European Youth Forum and the European Trade Union Confederation, as well as activists and EU lawmakers, gathered in front of the European Parliament in Brussels on 10 November, International Interns Day, to demand more rights for trainees. The goal of the event was to highlight the value of young people’s work and to ask
Read more →The sixth edition of the Women’s Rights in Western Balkans Report (2022) serves as a benchmark for the six Western Balkan accession countries regarding women’s rights and influence for comparisons over time. The four areas included in this benchmark are women in politics, gender-based violence (GBV), security of women human rights defenders (WHRDs), and women
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