As part of the International Civil Society Week 2019, taking place from 8-11 April in Belgrade, BCSDN is organizing the workshop “Protecting Civic Freedoms – Our Stories of Resilience”, together with FOND Romania (organizer of the Black Sea NGO Forum) and European Civic Forum, with the support of the Balkan Trust for Democracy. Following the Bridges track of ICSW 2019, the aim of the workshop – taking place on the 9th of April in Belgrade Youth Center – is to inspire and learn from each other; to reaffirm the collective voice in the joint struggles and encourage coalition building across regions.
The anti-NGO law in Hungary, the Law on Freedom of Association in NGOs in Kosovo, SLAPPs in France, new “uncivil society organizations” rising in Serbia, Poland and elsewhere… All these phenomena contribute to a shrinking civic space. However, by limiting the freedoms and spaces, governments face a growing resistance in Europe. The workshop share stories of CSOs actions in times of shrinking civic space in the Balkans and the wider Europe. It will tackle how CSOs counteract the negative trends, gauge where actions of resilience come from, and offer joint paths to explore in the future. The aim is to inspire and learn from each other, to reaffirm the collective voice in the joint struggles and to encourage coalition building across regions.
International Civil Society Week (ICSW) 2019 is the biggest global civil society event, organized by CIVICUS and Civic Initiatives as local hosts, and BCSDN as regional hosts, for the first time in the Balkans. Under the theme “The Power of Togetherness”, more than 1000 participants at the #ICSW2019 will explore ways that individuals and organisations around the world can work together to protect civic space and help ensure the resilience and sustainability of civil society locally and globally. Read more about event and register on the following link.