News and updates from BCSDN and the region
As part of its “Rejuvenating politics” initiative the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will invite one young person per member State to: come to Strasbourg (France) to take an active part, as a youth delegate, in its 38th (17-19 March) and 39th (27-29 October) sessions develop their own grass-roots
Read more →MCW Global’s year-long flagship program is for participants between the ages of 18 to 26, who are prepared to become leaders of positive change in their communities by obtaining tools and skills needed to transform passion into action. The program is based on 3 phases: Summer Program. The program begins with an intensive, 10-day summer
Read more →Three decades after it began, the democratic transformation of Central and Eastern Europe has ground to a halt. From within, the region is challenged by ruthless power politics, political polarization, weak institutions, beleaguered civil society and media, reform fatigue, and a return of traditional nationalism and phobias. Given these mounting challenges, the region and its
Read more →The Policy Leader Fellowship of the School of Transnational Governance provides a unique opportunity for policy professionals from around the world to further develop their policy work and professional skills whilst participating in workshops, training and skills development sessions, conferences and other events, in addition to interacting with the other fellows, policy makers and the
Read more →GlobalGiving is seeking applications from nonprofit organizations for its 2020 Giving Season Accelerator in order to build skills, access tools, and grow their base of supporters to achieve crowdfunding success. GlobalGiving is the largest global crowdfunding community connecting nonprofits, donors, and companies in nearly every country. They help nonprofits from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe (and hundreds
Read more →The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) published the 22nd edition of their Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index (CSOSI) for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, covering developments in 24 countries in the region during calendar year 2018. BCSDN has partnered with USAID and FHI 360 to produce the CSOSI for Macedonia, examining the
Read more →The report, based on the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices, an index produced by International IDEA aims to inform the global democracy debate with evidence and data and provide a nuanced analysis of how opportunities and challenges to democracy play out in different ways around the world, shaped by regional and country contexts. The
Read more →The CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE) and the Task Team on CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment held a joint session on Inclusive Development Partnerships amid Shrinking Civic Spaces: Can CSOs be both watchdogs and partners of governments? on inclusive development partnerships at the Stockholm Civil Society Days 2019, happening on November 19, 2019.
Read more →The new BiEPAG brief offers recommendations on Overcoming the enlargement deadlock: An action plan for the incoming EU enlargement policy appears to have reached a deadlock. Following years of stagnation and relative neglect, the EU Commission’s attempts in 2018 to reinvigorate the EU’s engagement with the Western Balkans and to provide a credible enlargement perspective
Read more →People and countries across the globe have unequal access to political decision-making, often resulting in discriminatory laws, symbols or policies and shrinking civil society space. Reducing inequalities is a complex issue that demands a systemic that looks beyond traditional development cooperation to address the other EU and Member States’ policies that have a significant impact
Read more →Rhetoric that attacks civil society’s fundamental freedoms and the rights of excluded groups – such as women, LGBTQI people, migrants, refugees and minorities – is increasingly adopted and promoted by political leaders, and anti-rights groups are claiming civic space at the domestic and international levels. Civil society that defends rights is under attack. CIVICUS research
Read more →The last half-year has seen a startling cluster of protests around the world. Large-scale mobilizations have taken place in a staggering number of places. There is a major problem, however, with the attention that such protests attract, especially at the international level. In the heat of revolt, local people’s involvement is high in energy and
Read more →