Со задоволство го претставуваме и Ве покануваме на завршниот настан на мрежи на граѓански организации кој ќе се одржи на 30 март (вторник) 2021г. од 11:00 до 12:45 часот на ЗООМ платформа. Цел на настанот е да го споделиме искуството од спроведените проекти на 5 мрежи на граѓански организации кои во рамки на програмата: „Одржливо граѓанско општество – државно финансирање на ГО“ ги унапредија своите капацитети за транспарентно и отчетно работење. Програмата „Одржливо граѓанско општество – државно финансирање на граѓански организации“, ја спроведува Македонски центар за меѓународна соработка (МЦМС) со Балканската мрежа за развој на граѓанското општество (БЦСДН) и Центар…
Author: anja
As part of the Regional Civil Society Development Hub activities, BCSDN is proud to announce the 10 successful grantees awarded under the first Call for proposals for regional multi-country action grants. The aim of the Hub is strengthened regional cooperation in promoting the civic space in the Western Balkan region, by supporting activities that will contribute towards more effective, transparent and accountable work of the CSOs. With the funding of this Call, provided by Sida, the following networks are supported: Western Balkans Regional Platform for advocating media freedom and journalists’ safety, TEN, ARYSEN, ERA, Youth Initiative for Human Rights, ConWeb, SEENET, Balkan Network for Local Democracy, SIGN, and…
On 3 March 2021, BCSDN Executive Director Biljana Spasovska participated in the EESC Section for External Relations meeting “Western Balkans, in the contest of the EU-Western Balkans relations and the Covid-19 pandemic”. The meeting brought prominent speakers from the EU institutions to provide their views and debate on EU’s commitment to enhance the accession process ahead of the preparation of the EESC Opinion REX/533 – “Enhancing the accession process – A credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans” that should be adopted at the EESC plenary on 24-25 March. Biljana presented the state of play with the civil society in…
From 22 February- 2 March 2021, through seven online consultation meetings with the Western Balkans and Turkey IPA beneficiaries, EU TACSO 3 presented and received feedback to the draft version of the Guidelines for EU Support to Civil Society in the Enlargement Region for the period 2021-2027. Over 300 CSO representatives, public authorities, donors, and other stakeholders provided recommendations on improving civil society’s definition in the documents, strengthening the relevance of grass-root organizations and civil society’s involvement at the local level. They have also provided input on improving specific indicators in measuring progress on fundamental freedoms and civil society inclusion…
On 25-26 February 2021, Think for Europe Network – TEN organized the WeBER 2.0 conference to enhance the dialogue on creating and implementing inclusive and transparent policies, taking into consideration citizens’ needs. The event, which is one of the 10 initiatives supported by Sida through BCSDN’s Regional Civil Society Development Hub, strived to facilitate greater bottom-up demand for better administration in the Western Balkans while complying with the EU accession process’s top-down requirements in the PAR area. The event’s speakers, panelists, and participants, including civil society representatives, researchers, academia, the media, high-level officials from the European Commission and SIGMA/OECD, government…
The Presidents of the European Commission, European Parliament, and Council have signed the Joint Declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), agreeing to “open a new space for debate with citizens to address Europe’s challenges and priorities” so people all over Europe can “have their say on the future of Europe”. The “citizens-focused, bottom-up exercise” is an opportunity to enhance critical conversations about the modern drivers of transformation (e.g. inequality, climate change, digitalization, aging societies, global power shifts) in a post-COVID-19 world. According to EPC, the Conference should address several gaps in the Joint Declaration to be successful,…
ECNL, Civil Society Europe, and other civil society partners call on the European Commission to strengthen the rule of law mechanism by including stronger civic freedoms and civil society protection. Some of the recommendations that the future MSs rule of law reports should contain are: Revised methodology to set a clear link between the respect of the rule of law and the existence of enabling civic space; Integrate civic space indicators in the periodic monitoring exercise by recognizing civic space as a rule of law pillar; Identify and adopt a framework for assessing civic space realities; Include civic space in its…
COVID-19 has accelerated the erosion of democratic values across the world, including the Western Balkans. Among the other states in the region, North Macedonia, trying to keep pace with the pandemic’s human rights challenges, has reinforced severe restrictions. The pandemic expanded the current gap between legislation and reality in human rights protection in the country. Besides the increasing obligations to implement international standards, the enforcement on the national level lags behind. The national system’s preparation for their application has been slow, particularly in gender equality, children’s rights, the rights of persons with disabilities, and the adoption and implementation of the…
After the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering sent an official request to all commercial banks in Serbia to provide information and documentation concerning the accounts and financial transactions undertaken by 57 CSOs, media, and individuals, Serbian CSOs have been particularly concerned about the use of oversight powers to target the financing of terrorism to obtain banking information and information of all targeted stakeholders. The UN Special Rapporteurs expressed their concern, including the FATF, which responded with a strong statement. To provide an in-depth background of the situation, BCSDN member Civic Initiatives and ECNL provided a brief, covering all information regarding the…
On 24 February 2021, together with the CSOs representatives, the Commission of Legal Issues, Public Administration, and Human Rights of the Assembly of Albania organized a hearing session on the draft law “On the registration of Non for Profit Organizations”. Even though CSOs positively welcomed the new law initiative, they noted that the process was exclusionary towards the sector. They explain that the consultation process does not guarantee inclusiveness, transparency, and good faith discussion. Considering the importance of the CSOs’ involvement in drafting the Law, CSOs have also provided recommendations to the Assembly, alluding to not approve the proposed draft…