News and updates from BCSDN and the region
EqualiTECH is a regional hackathon designed to engage the technological potential of young people in the Western Balkans for the fight against injustice and inequality. The event is centred around themes such as access to legal services for marginalized communities, identifying friendly places for minority groups, identifying the challenges for human rights organizations, and addressing
Read more →The Globsec programme intends to support the Western Balkans’ democratisation and reconciliation process by engaging young professionals and journalists from the region. The programme will hold activities to train young leaders in democracy promotion, media literacy, negotiation, and policy-making. The aim is to establish a network of young Western Balkan ambassadors who will continue to
Read more →United People Global Sustainability Leadership aims to mobilise people and organisations to support positive citizen leadership on sustainability. The 1-week experience offers training for 500 participants on an island in the USA, the Hurricane Island Centre for Science and Leadership, to work for sustainability and citizen leadership. The training is open to people aged 18
Read more →The Aspen Institute has set up a program that aims to support non-profit policy organizations to improve their understanding of Germany, German policies, and German Western Balkan policies and meet with Berlin-based organizations and policymakers. The applications are looking for independent policy research organizations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia,
Read more →The Swedish Institute has launched a new scholarship programme to develop global leaders who will contribute to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The scholarship is looking for candidates with academic and leadership experience ready to take on a full-time one-year or two-year master’s program starting in the upcoming autumn semester. Read more
Read more →EJA Kosovo is calling for nominations for the 2020 Democracy Award, which will recognise outstanding contribution to the development of democracy in Kosovo. The award is intended to evaluate the contributions of individuals, unregistered initiatives and nongovernmental organisations in various fields, who have contributed to the democratisation of Kosovar society through their work and dedication.
Read more →BCSDN is glad to present the 2019 edition of the Monitoring Matrix on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development, examining developments in the Western Balkan countries. In 2019, the Western Balkans experienced socio-economic and political challenges that remained unfavourable towards civil society development. While the freedom of association continues to be legally guaranteed in the
Read more →The Serbian government has abolished the Office for Cooperation with the Civil Society, which has existed for the last 10 years seeking to improve the enabling environment for civil society development. This decision has alerted Serbian CSOs who were already conscious of the deterioration of the civil society enabling environment in their state. Over 70
Read more →In the fifth edition of the magazine “Citizens for change”, Civica Mobilitas presents the challenges with which were faced the CSOs in North Macedonia, as well as the adjustment to the new circumstances. The CSOs have continued their activities in response to the COVID-19 crisis by providing services to the target groups they serve. They
Read more →A policy paper, published by IDSC, the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” – Skopje, finds that the Western Balkans are a compelling place for the EU to begin exercising the role of a strategically autonomous actor. The COVID-19 crisis has provided EU member states with a new-found sense of solidarity, with initiatives such as “Corona
Read more →In the first study of its kind, Tectonica and GQR surveyed 150 progressive organizations fighting for social, environmental, and economic justice across Europe. The organizations provided answers to questions, such as: How can we define digital organising? How well is it understood? What do digital organising practices look like? How much are they utilised in
Read more →The human rights experts addressed their concerns about using surveillance powers by the Serbian government to obtain banking and financial information on transactions of over 50 NGOs, media associations, and individuals. In a statement, they noted that the unjustified use of the Serbian Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism
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