What's New

News and updates from BCSDN and the region

Civicus Monitor Report on Turkey: Mass Protests Over Istanbul Convention, LGBTI Rights, and Journalists Freedoms Targeted Again

The latest Civicus Monitor Report for Turkey, a research update provided by BCSDN and published by Civicus, covering recent information on the state of the freedom of association, assembly, and expression, reflects on worrisome trends of the civil society and journalist position in the country. Due to complete restrictions on LGBTI events, including Pride marches,

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SERBIA: Ugly Twins as a New Way of Attacking Local Media

The analysis based on Reporters Without Borders (RSF) findings reflects that fake websites’ attacks on some local Serbian media contribute to lower media’s trust and revenues. Besides the ongoing online and direct threats from the governing party representatives, the Serbian independent media are also targeted by their digital look-alikes. The report shows that some of

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TURKEY: Foreign Funding of CSOs – Statement by TUSEV

In a statement, BCSDN’s member from Turkey, TUSEV, working on providing an enabling environment for civil society development regarding legal, financial, and functional aspects, expresses its concerns about social media and other medium narratives on CSOs receiving foreign funds. The letter points that the statements about creating suspicion and labeling institutions that receive foreign funds

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ECNL: Did the UN Human Rights Council Strengthen Protection of Civic Space Online and Offline?

ECNL welcomes the adoption of the resolutions related to the digital sphere during the 47th session of the Human Rights Council and analyses to what extent the new language of the three resolutions (‘Civil society space resolution’, ‘Human rights on the Internet resolution’ and ‘Emerging technologies and human rights resolution’) provides safeguards for online manifestation

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SERBIA: Attacks on Civil Society Organizations and Activists in 2020

A case study delivered by the Program Director of BCSDN’s member Civic Initiatives, Bojana Selakovic, and published by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, reveals the operating environment of social actors who expressed critical views of Serbia’s current political and social situation worsened significantly in 2020. The pandemic’s circumstances have contributed to the further polarization

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Monitoring Matrix Country Report for Albania 2020

Partners Albania for Change and Development, the National Resource Centre for the Development of Civil Society in Albania, and BCSDN are pleased to present the eighth edition of the Monitoring Matrix Report on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development in Albania. The report covers important issues that marked the civil society development during last year, including:

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ALBANIA: Assessment Report on Legal and Regulatory Framework on Counter Terrorist Financing and Anti – Money Laundering for NPOs

BCSDN member Partners Albania prepared a comparative analysis of the legal and regulatory framework on counter-terrorist financing and anti-money laundering affecting non-profit organizations (NPOs) in Albania with the standards of FATF Recommendation 8 and its Interpretive Note. The legal and institutional assessment is established on the existing legislation related to AML and CFT, and NPOs.

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BiRN: Report on Freedom of Information in the Western Balkans in 2020

The report prepared by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BiRN) provides findings on governmental transparency and accountability in the Western Balkans. It lists institutions from the region from best to worst practices to grant access to freedom of information, focusing on response to journalists’ requests. It presents that faced with the global COVID-19 pandemic, the

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Led by ECNL, CSOs from the Moneyval Region Call for a Consistent and Meaningful Dialogue with the FATF Regional Body

Guided by ECNL, more than 55 organizations from South-East Europe requested the FATF regional body Moneyval to establish formal access and engagement mechanism with the non-profit sector. The initiative commenced after two regional meetings among ECNL and the civil society from the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe. In the letter, CSOs demand a more formalized and

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SERBIA: MONEYVAL Warns the Country not to Abuse the Fight Against Terrorism Financing to Obstruct Civil Society Operations

At the plenary session held in April 2021, the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism, MONEYVAL, has once again emphasized that financial intelligence bodies, among which the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering, do not have the authority to request

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