News and updates from BCSDN and the region
From 22 February- 2 March 2021, through seven online consultation meetings with the Western Balkans and Turkey IPA beneficiaries, EU TACSO 3 presented and received feedback to the draft version of the Guidelines for EU Support to Civil Society in the Enlargement Region for the period 2021-2027. Over 300 CSO representatives, public authorities, donors, and
Read more →On 25-26 February 2021, Think for Europe Network – TEN organized the WeBER 2.0 conference to enhance the dialogue on creating and implementing inclusive and transparent policies, taking into consideration citizens’ needs. The event, which is one of the 10 initiatives supported by Sida through BCSDN’s Regional Civil Society Development Hub, strived to facilitate greater
Read more →The Presidents of the European Commission, European Parliament, and Council have signed the Joint Declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), agreeing to “open a new space for debate with citizens to address Europe’s challenges and priorities” so people all over Europe can “have their say on the future of Europe”. The “citizens-focused,
Read more →ECNL, Civil Society Europe, and other civil society partners call on the European Commission to strengthen the rule of law mechanism by including stronger civic freedoms and civil society protection. Some of the recommendations that the future MSs rule of law reports should contain are: Revised methodology to set a clear link between the respect of
Read more →COVID-19 has accelerated the erosion of democratic values across the world, including the Western Balkans. Among the other states in the region, North Macedonia, trying to keep pace with the pandemic’s human rights challenges, has reinforced severe restrictions. The pandemic expanded the current gap between legislation and reality in human rights protection in the country.
Read more →After the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering sent an official request to all commercial banks in Serbia to provide information and documentation concerning the accounts and financial transactions undertaken by 57 CSOs, media, and individuals, Serbian CSOs have been particularly concerned about the use of oversight powers to target the financing of terrorism
Read more →On 24 February 2021, together with the CSOs representatives, the Commission of Legal Issues, Public Administration, and Human Rights of the Assembly of Albania organized a hearing session on the draft law “On the registration of Non for Profit Organizations”. Even though CSOs positively welcomed the new law initiative, they noted that the process was
Read more →The Resource Centre for Civil Society in Montenegro presents the report on the citizens’ views about NGOs in Montenegro. The first chapter introduces the findings on the familiarity with NGOs’ work and citizens’ sentiment towards them. In the second chapter, citizens’ sentiment is complemented by the level of public trust in NGOs and citizens’ specific
Read more →On 10 March 2021, MCIC organized a workshop for the creation of a Code of Ethics for Macedonian CSOs. The event was followed by more than 20 CSOs representatives of the informal platform for transparency and accountability. In the first part of the event, Maria Marinakou, team leader of the Social Modernization Project of the
Read more →As an informal network, the National Network Against Homophobia and Transphobia (NNHT) in 2020 participated in a program and received support for improving its internal functioning, transparency, and accountability towards the LGBTI movement and general public. NNHT representatives attended a Transparency and Accountability workshop organized by BCSDN. On that occasion, they were introduced to the Global
Read more →Marking the International Women’s Day, Accountable Now alludes to the embraced change and the dynamic and inclusive processes that provide power to those who have traditionally been refused in society’s decision-making process. It highlights that the fight for gender equality is not over, and civil society cannot underestimate the forces that stifle progress to maintain
Read more →Faced with Covid-19 challenges, NGOs and donors explored new ways to work for the communities by increasing their responsibilities. The article suggests that the donors will place the pandemic as its top priority, but addressing Covid-19 and its impact will not become a cross-cutting theme across all projects. In opposite, donors will demand a special
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