News and updates from BCSDN and the region
Under the Europe for Citizens Program 2014 – 2020, strand “Democratic Engagement and Civic Participation”, EU issued a call for proposals with a deadline set on March 1st 2016. The aim of this call is to foster European citizenship and improve conditions for civic and democratic participation at EU level, encourage democratic participation of citizens
Read more →On 8th January, on invitation by The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Biljana Spasovska, BCSDN’s Policy and Advocacy Officer, participated at the Hearing in the framework of EESC opinion on “EU Enlargement Strategy”. The aim of the hearing was to gather experts from DG NEAR and other institutions and think tanks and CSOs from
Read more →This year CRNVO is launching four resource centers in four Montenegrin municipalities with the help of the CSOs that are already recognized in their communities…
Read more →A strong dialogue between government and civil society provides a sound foundation for open government reforms in Croatia. The adoption and implementation of commitments aimed at strengthening public consultations in policy-making responds to long-term priorities of both government and civil society. There is visible progress in citizen participation, as well as in the number of
Read more →CSOs all over the world are under significant pressure. Armed with smart phones and connected like never before, civil society actors have found new ways to organize, demand greater government accountability, and inject their voices into policy debates. As citizens’ voices have grown louder and more influential, many governments have responded by cracking down on
Read more →Within the Balkan Public Policy Fund, the association ZAJP from Banja Luka, BiH, with the support of CPCD, published and promoted the policy paper “Establishing Cooperation between the BiH Government and CSOs”. The paper was presented at a round table, organized on 24 November, 2015, which aimed to discuss issues relevant for establishing institutional cooperation
Read more →On 8th January, on invitation by The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Biljana Spasovska, BCSDN’s Policy and Advocacy Officer, participated at the Hearing in…
Read more →A new Law on Amendments to Corporate Profit Tax Law, adopted on 29th December, 2015, by parliament members in National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, now ensures the equal treatment of CSOs – social care service providers. This comes as a result of long advocacy efforts for legislative changes by CSOs in Serbia, led by
Read more →This report, published by WAN-IFRA and prepared by Centre for Civic Education (CCE) – Montenegro, catalogues the forms and maps the extent of soft censorship by Montenegro’s state and public institutions against media outlets and media practitioners. This is done primarily through the lens of finances, which is the dominant means of soft censorship in
Read more →Perhaps no quality captures more effectively the distinctive character of non-profit institutions and related voluntary citizen behaviour than the quality of resilience—the ability to withstand significant shifts in fortunes and challenges and find ways to persist in the pursuit of their missions. This past year has certainly demonstrated this quality of the non-profit and citizen
Read more →In the OECD bi-annual statistical report How’s Life?, describing the essential ingredients that shape people’s well-being in OECD and partner countries, one chapter analyses the importance and features of voluntary work – i.e. the time devoted to unpaid non-compulsory activities whose concern is the common good. The study suggests that volunteering produces benefits not only
Read more →A new GPF working paper, jointly published with Brot für die Welt and MISEREOR, examines the role and impact of philanthropic foundations in development. It addresses the impacts and side effects of philanthropic engagement by taking a closer look at the priorities and operations of two of the most prominent foundations, the Rockefeller Foundation and
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