News and updates from BCSDN and the region
Freedom of association, as recognized in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and numerous regional treaties, provides a legal basis for the protection of CSOs, including philanthropy organizations. Unfortunately, there are myriad ways in which local legal frameworks fail to protect this right and do not provide an enabling legal environment for CSOs.
Read more →The collection of impact case studies illustrates how Philanthropy Support Organizations (PSOs) have implemented successful strategies to promote an enabling environment for civil society and philanthropy to thrive. Through eight cases from different countries, WINGS is bringing to the spotlight experiences that often remain behind the scenes. The publication also features specialized articles from the
Read more →Social enterprises contribute to a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. They play an important role in tackling social challenges by filling the gap in services of the public and private sector. ECNL has been promoting a more enabling environment for social entrepreneurship through research and technical assistance for several years. The concept is still relatively
Read more →More than two years since the attempted coup in 2016 and one year after its state of emergency measures were lifted, the government of Turkey continues its relentless and pervasive crackdown on civic space, media freedom and dissenting voices. Turkey’s human rights record will come under review by the UN through the Universal Period Review
Read more →Over 190 jurisdictions worldwide abide by 40 Recommendation on anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism set and assessed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Compliance with the recommendations is periodically evaluated by FATF or one of its-style regional bodies. The mutual evaluation processes produce ratings that have real consequences, affecting country’s bond ratings,
Read more →The European Center for Not-for-profit Law (ECNL), an innovative project on freedom of assembly, assessed seven OGP countries in Central and Eastern Europe for relevant law and practices between 2017 and 2019. Many of these OGP countries have strong legal frameworks, but face implementation challenges around policing of events and lack standardized processes among authorities,
Read more →As a response to political and funding pressures, CSOs in many parts of the world are seeking to diversify their funding and strengthen their local support base. A growing number of international organisations and funders are supporting CSOs in this goal. ‘Domestic resource mobilisation’ is a key strategy. This report offers findings from a scoping
Read more →The right of citizens to form associations and receive funding to pursue their missions is enshrined in international human rights law. Yet over 160 laws in nearly 70 countries have been passed to restrict this right since 2012 (ICNL). These laws severely constrain the ability of CSOs to implement programs that serve their communities and
Read more →Our Member – Partners Albania for Change and Development has just published the latest Monitoring Matrix Report on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development. The report finds out that CSOs still face burdensome reporting procedures and formats; there is poor implementation of the consultation processes on draft laws and policies, especially at the central level
Read more →On June 9th, 2019, on the Thematic Forum of CIVICA mobilitas, more than 80 representatives of the CSOs’ representatives discussed the enabling environment for the development of Macedonian civil society in 2018. The Forum emphasized that the freedom of association, assembly, and expression were legally guaranteed and mainly respected and provided in practice, the Financial
Read more →The conditions for civil society in Serbia remain constrained, states the new CIVICUS Monitor update on Serbia. In an indication of this worsening situation for civil society, in the enlargement report, the EC recently highlighted Serbia’s failure to improve civic space. As previously covered on the CIVICUS Monitor, there has been a perceived increase in
Read more →Center for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO) presented the findings of the Report “Civil Society in Creating and Implementing Public Policies”. This Report contains the results of the research conducted by CRNVO in order to assess the involvement of NGOs and the general public in the policy-making process in 2018. The report states that
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