News and updates from BCSDN and the region
The European Movement in Serbia and TACSO People2People are jointly organizing the following conference: “Civil Society and Beyond: A Joint Dialogue on the European Path” in Belgrade, on 25-26 February 2016. This event will focus on three themes: 1) Dialogue between civil society and public authorities in the accession process (including mechanisms for participation such
Read more →Regional Research Promotion Programme (RRPP) Western Balkans is organizing a fully-funded comprehensive training on social science research methods tailored for junior researchers in the Western Balkans. The Research Academy, which will take place on 11-18 April, 2016, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is designed as a summer school composed of several linked one-day modules. During
Read more →The United States Embassy in Montenegro, acting through the Public Affairs Office, announced an open competition for assistance awards for the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program. The US Embassy in Podgorica supports specific projects and initiatives that facilitate the development of democracy and democratic institutions in Montenegro through grant awards of up to USD 24,999.
Read more →The EU Office in Kosovo announced Call for proposals with the specific objective to increase the ability of the Kosovo institutions to effectively coordinate and implement the efforts in overall fight against the trafficking in human beings. The Contracting Authority will award one grand only and any grant requested under this call for proposals must
Read more →On 3rd-4th December, 2015, the 17th EU-NGO Forum on Human Rights, organized by the European External Action Service (EEAS), European Commission and the Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN), took place to discuss the issue of shrinking space for civil society in the world and EU response to this growing phenomenon. The Forum, which was
Read more →Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán backed down Thursday in a long-running dispute between his government and Norway over development aid and agreed to end to all investigations into work being done in Hungary by CSOs supported by Norway. Norwegian aid to Hungary, part of a EUR 1.8 billion package delivered by the European Economic Area
Read more →All over the world, human rights defenders and CSOs are facing increasing challenges with both state and non-state actors seeking to silence them. This was evident in the CIVICUS report earlier this year which showed that core civil society freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly were violated to a significant degree in 96 countries
Read more →BCSDN is proud to announce that the study “Economic Value of the Non-Profit Sector in the Countries of the Western Balkans & Turkey” has been published. This is the first study ever that gives an overview of the current situation with the non–profit sector-related data collection, analysis and presentation in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo,
Read more →At the occasion of the visit of the current UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai at the European Parliament for a round table discussion with MEPs, EEAS and DEVCO representatives and civil society actors, ACT Alliance and CIDSE published a briefing paper based on their
Read more →For his next report to the Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai will explore the subject of fundamentalism and the intolerance that it can spur, leading to violations of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. The report will explore many variations of fundamentalism – market, nationalist, political and cultural fundamentalism
Read more →After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many countries saw the importance of defending civil society. Today, however, many countries are defunding civil society. Using all sorts of pretexts, governments that feel threatened by such organizations impose restrictions on them, writes Douglas Rutzen, CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL). These governments are
Read more →On 1st December and as a response to the Syrian crisis, the EU Regional Trust Fund adopted a package of 4 programmes totaling EUR 350 million the single biggest EU measure in response to the Syrian refugee crisis to date. The aim of the programmes is to help up to 1.5 million Syrian refugees and
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