News and updates from BCSDN and the region
NGOs in Serbia have adopted a joint document aimed at preserving the civil society and its freedoms in the EU candidate country, after seeing a growing number of physical assaults on their activists and verbal abuse in pro-government media. The NGO sector also warned that Serbia’s EU accession process was not being used for essential reforms. The representatives
Read more →Governments in the Balkans are chipping away at transparency laws to make it harder for journalists and activists to hold power to account. According to an anti-corruption activist, access-to-information is often an extremely exhaustive and time-consuming process, especially when authorities are silent and avoid responding to requests. Read more here. Source: BIRN
Read more →Persons with disabilities are among the most excluded communities worldwide. The right to participate equally in political processes – to be voters, candidates, campaign staff, observers, political candidates and elected leaders – is especially important for persons with disabilities. Based on standards established in international commitments, these Guidelines to Promote the Political Participation of Persons
Read more →On March 11, World Movement for Democracy submitted a general comment on Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), outlining the rights of peaceful assembly and association established by international law and regional norms. The World Movement’s response focuses on the right of individuals and associations, including civil society activists
Read more →In continuation of its efforts to support the development of social entrepreneurship in Albania, Partners Albania has translated in English the legal package on social…
Read more →In a joint statement, 26 NGOs estimated that the proposed amendments to the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Classified Information are not in accordance with international standards. The NGOs urge the Government of Montenegro to withdraw the Draft Law from the procedure, to organize a public hearing and harmonize this document with
Read more →“Monitoring the Right to Free Assemblies – Report Albania 2017-2018”, prepared for the second consecutive year by Partners Albania, presents an analysis of the legal…
Read more →In Europe, today, we are increasingly witnessing barriers to access fundamental rights. Austerity measures and shrinking social policies, as well as a distorted idea of democracy that does not include social justice hamper civic actors from fully playing their role. Moreover, in some countries, civic actors are being stigmatized, oppressed or even criminalized precisely because
Read more →Civil society from across the world are calling on all UN Member States to demonstrate their support to environmental human rights defenders. At its current 40th session, the Human Rights Council is discussing a draft resolution on environmental human rights defenders. This is a timely and important initiative as UN agencies, human rights organisations and the media have
Read more →Governments across the world are increasingly attacking CSOs by creating laws that subject them and their staff to surveillance, nightmarish bureaucratic hurdles and the ever-present threat of imprisonment. Amnesty International’s new report: Laws Designed to Silence: The Global Crackdown on Civil Society Organisations reveals the startling number of countries that are using bullying techniques and
Read more →According to the 2016 EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy, civil society’s contribution is essential for state and societal resilience. However, civil society space is shrinking more and more worldwide. On the second day of the 11th edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum (12 – 14 November 2018, Brussels) two interactive sessions
Read more →The UN’s NGO committee has again deferred a substantial number of applications from national and global organisations seeking to gain UN accreditation. Many of these organisations do vital work supporting the UN’s ambitions, from sustainable development to universal human rights, and are seeking accreditation in order to monitor and influence proceedings at UN headquarters. The
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