News and updates from BCSDN and the region
The CSO sector in Serbia saluted the first final verdict acquitting Srdjan Vukša, an activist accused of violating the Law on Public Assemblies, on the occasion of organizing last year’s protests in Serbia. Namely, the end of 2021 was marked by civil protests, which were attended by tens of thousands of citizens who wanted to
Read more →The Funders Initiative for Civil Society (FICS) has published a Submission it has made, with the Fund for Global Human Rights (FGHR), to the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association concerning civil society organizations (CSOs) increasing difficulty accessing funding and other resources, and how this is a critical driver of
Read more →The Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) is approaching lawmakers at the EU and national level with an expert policy brief on the European Commission’s EU anti-SLAPP proposals. The brief highlights the EC initiative’s most ambitious solutions and advice on how to best build on the Commission’s proposals to work towards the strongest possible set
Read more →Within the Mapping Digital Freedom Violations initiative, BIRN has published the most recent regional overview of digital rights and freedoms violations in six countries in Southern and Eastern Europe. For each country’s issues, please check the pages for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia. Hate speech and discrimination, threatening content, endangering
Read more →With USAID`s support, the publication of a guideline manual for organizing virtual and hybrid events aims to help a wide range of entities to maintain a presence and relevance in their field while adapting to the “new normal” brought by the COVID-19 pandemics. The guidelines offer practical tools and useful tips and tricks which will
Read more →Civil society is uniquely well-equipped to play a leading role in development and humanitarian assistance efforts, and in promoting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In all too many countries, though, civil society is subject to heavy constraints, and is hampered from leading and contributing to development and humanitarian assistance initiatives. ICNL has
Read more →A briefing paper released by the International Commission of Jurists points out that, “while new digital technology may be helpful for the protection of human rights, it also carries a real and potential negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights”. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the international human rights legal
Read more →Within the framework of the Solidarity Action Network (SANE), a guidance “Navigating cybersecurity: Guidance for (I)CSO professionals” has been developed to help civil society actors better respond to cybersecurity challenges and digital threats. The guidance shares lessons learned and best practices from a series of SANE curated conversations on the topics of data protection and
Read more →Citizens are important allies of public institutions, the non-governmental sector, and the media in the fight against corruption. Advocacy campaigns conducted through public information and education activities are creative and constructive tools to motivate and engage citizens to oppose corruption, it was stated at the kick-off Masterclass “From silence to action” organized in Sarajevo for
Read more →Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2021 Report, which presents a comprehensive and up-to-date data on individual giving and philanthropy, has been published on 31 May. The report presents data under sections Perceptions of Civil Society, Individual Giving, and Giving Motivations in Turkey. Referencing the earlier research conducted by TÜSEV, the report also provides a
Read more →The European Commission is taking action to improve the protection of journalists and human rights defenders from abusive court proceedings. Strategic lawsuits against public participation, commonly known as ‘SLAPPs’, are a particular form of harassment used primarily against journalists and human rights defenders to prevent or penalize speaking up on issues of public interest. It
Read more →Governments need to step up their efforts and coordination to combat money laundering and terrorist financing by adopting stricter regulation and supervision of the virtual assets sector and the specialised “gatekeeper” professions, such as lawyers, accountants and other services providers who often help launderers, according to the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing
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