News and updates from BCSDN and the region
Civic Space 2040 is a futurist initiative to craft a positive vision for civic space and map strategies to make it a reality. The initiative explores trends that will radically transform the world and discusses how they will impact civic space. ICNL launched the initiative in 2019 with a meeting at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio
Read more →Despite criticism from the CoE, OSCE, international media freedom organizations, the EU, local media and journalists’ organizations the assaults against the journalist and the implementation of controversial media laws continue. Precisely, Civicus Monitor reports that concerns continued. The Albanian President Ilir Meta returned the controversial media laws to Parliament for reconsideration. In particular, he highlighted
Read more →The Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court on 18 February acquitted 9 of the 16 suspects in the case into the Gezi Park protests of 2013. Businessman, philanthropist and human rights activist Osman Kavala is set to be freed. The suspects were being tried in the case into the Gezi Park protests, which took place in
Read more →At the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, several journalists were accused of spreading fake news in Montenegro. In early January 2020 police arrested and detained the editor-in-chief of FOS Media. A few days later, the editors of IN4S, and Borba, were detained by police, also. According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs,
Read more →TUSEV published the Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2019 Report which presents comprehensive and up to date data on trends and motivations in individual giving in Turkey on 13 February 2020. Authored by Prof. Ali Çarkoğlu and Assistant Professor Selim Erdem Aytaç from Koç University Center for Civil Society and Philanthropy Research, the report
Read more →The purpose of the Guidelines is to regulate and encourage the involvement of stakeholders and target groups, primarily CSOs, in working groups set up by public administration bodies and thus ensure their participation at the earliest possible stage of the decision-making process. At the same time, they seek to direct the work of state administration
Read more →CIVICUS Monitor reports that smear campaign against journalists in the WBT region continues. For instance, TV N1 program director accused him of receiving illicit funding to work against Serbia’s interests. The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia urged for a thorough and impartial investigation, highlighting that this is not just a case of public vilification,
Read more →Around the globe, restrictions on freedoms of speech, assembly, and association are shrinking and transforming the space for CSOs to operate. Whether the challenges come from government crackdowns on internet access, scrutiny over international funding, or citizen distrust of terms like “human rights,” it is certain that the operating environment for CSOs has changed. In
Read more →The characteristics of social enterprises differ a lot from country to country concerning their number, size, legal forms and fields of activities. To create a clearer picture, the Commission has carried out a series of studies, mapping the reality of social enterprises in the 35 European countries using a common definition and approach. The EU
Read more →Prepared within the scope of Monitoring and Enhancing the Enabling Environment for Civil Society Project financed by the EU, BCSDN’ s member from Turkey, TUSEV published a report that includes a detailed analysis of public sector-CSO cooperation in Croatia, Estonia, and France with specific references to the types of mechanisms used or the principles adopted.
Read more →CSOs’ right to privacy has been facing increasing attacks over the past years. New rules were proposed and/or enacted in the name of transparency, protection of national security, countering money laundering and terrorism financing. These rules affect how and what kind of information CSOs have to report and disclose to the public or the authorities,
Read more →The index assessed 167 countries on the basis of five categories: electoral process and pluralism; the functioning of government; political participation; political culture; and civil liberties. Most Western European countries were considered full democracies, with Norway scoring the highest worldwide, while most Eastern European nations were considered flawed democracies or “hybrid” regimes. The Democracy Index
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