News and updates from BCSDN and the region
On 19 October, the Alliance for EU Integration (A4EU) presented to the EU Ambassador to BiH Lars-Gunnar Wigemark the civil society’s report titled “Alternative Responses to 716 Questions from the EC Questionnaire for BiH”. The responses were prepared by CSOs from the entire country, with the support of TACSO in BiH. Wigemark welcomed the report,
Read more →An Istanbul court on 25 October ordered the release of a group of leading Turkish human rights campaigners and two foreign co-workers in a surprise softening in Turkey’s yearlong prosecutions after a 2016 coup attempt. The decision was an interim ruling, and the case against the 11 human rights workers will continue. But eight of
Read more →As part of the intensifying crackdown on civil society groups despite growing international criticism, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called on Hungary’s spy agencies to investigate a ‘Soros empire’ of NGOs that criticize his policies. The latest move comes months ahead of Orbán seeking for a fourth term as Hungary’s prime minister. He said on national
Read more →Representatives of eight major CSOs in Macedonia, including BCSDN’s member MCIC, have developed a Draft-Roadmap for civil society development in Macedonia for the period 2018-2020. All interested CSOs are invited to actively participate in the Roadmap development by commenting on the proposals encompassed in the document. After the commenting phase, consultations will be organized around
Read more →The Draft Strategy for an Enabling Environment for NGOs 2018-2020 does not contain clear strategic directions of government action and key measures that can encourage…
Read more →Civil society is facing a sustained, multi-faceted, global onslaught. According to the CIVICUS Monitor, fundamental civic freedoms are being severely restricted in an unprecedented number of countries. The operating environment for CSOs is becoming more hostile across the world and the organised bits of civil society – including in the biggest INGOs – are looking
Read more →The EU could take a generation to meet the 0.7%ODA/GNI target at the current rate of growth, reveals the CONCORD AidWatch Report 2017. While 2016 saw a substantial increase of 27% in development spending, there has also been a relatively dramatic increase in reporting of inflated aid, such as in-donor costs or debt relief. Over
Read more →It is a commonplace that corruption is the major stumbling block to aid effectiveness: in the U.S., the average response to the question “how much aid ends up in the pocket of corrupt officials?” is 60 percent, while in the UK, more than half of people surveyed said corruption is the single most important reason
Read more →After the open call for an Executive Director during October, the Board of BCSDN has elected Ilina Neshikj for the position of BCSDN Executive Director. The…
Read more →Alongside 185 representatives of civil society, Anja Bosilkova-Antovska, BCSDN’s Information and Communication Officer, was representing BCSDN at the Civica Mobilitas networking meeting, taking place on…
Read more →BCSDN, as part of the activities of the Western Balkan CSOs for Global Development project, has published two country papers on Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, analyzing the state of play with the civil society and the environment in which it operates in both countries. The country papers give background on the countries’ socio-economic situation and recent
Read more →Respect for freedom of expression and assembly is one of the key indicators of a government’s respect for human rights, and one of the pillars of modern participatory democracy. When people exercising their freedom of expression challenge or criticise government, or demonstrations are organised to oppose government policy or leaders, or even powerful non- state
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