BCSDN organized the first national consultation meetings of The Global Standard for CSO Accountability that took place in Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and Serbia from the 17th till the 21st of October hosted by BCSDN members and partners in those countries.
The Standard has been created by nine CSO accountability initiatives from across the world including the Balkan Civil Society Development Network. It aims to connect CSOs with people, partners, supporters and donors in order to build trust and to leverage impact in times of shrinking civic space. It is a strong commitment to the public and an invitation to hold CSOs to account and get involved.
Local CSOs and networks had the opportunity to learn about the global CSO accountability initiatives; Participate to consultations and contribute to improving the current DRAFT 1 Standard and to stay informed on the development of the Standard and engage in aligning their own accountability policies and codes in line with the Standard.
The participants had the opportunity to contribute to the content of the Standard but also to give their feedback on the future use of the Global Standard in their countries and give suggestions of the possible ways of implementation. All CSOs from the region are invited to participate in the online consultation and provide their contribution to this global process.
BCSDN had also consultations with the members in the countries in line with the Standard and BCSDN draft Code of Conduct to be adopted in April 2016.