Sustainable Donors' Strategies and Practices
in Civil Society Development in the Balkans

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Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN)

Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) is a regional network of 13 local civil society organizations (CSOs) from 10 countries in the Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia).

BCSDN vision

Sustainable peace, harmony and prosperity of societies in the Balkan region.

BCSDN mission

The empowerment of civil society in the Balkans through sharing and developing local practices, concepts and strengthening civil society actors.

BCSDN strategic goals are:

  1. Increase the role of civil society by strengthening its voice in policy- and decision-making on national, regional and EU level;
  2. Strengthen communication, coordination and cooperation between civil society actors in the Balkan region;
  3. Promote civil dialogue between civil society actors, state institutions and the European Union in order to influence public choices;
  4. Develop civil society by increasing knowledge and skills of civil society actors as a base for higher quality of their work; and
  5. Promote intercultural dialogue and a culture of resource-sharing as a base for efficient exchange and networking.

History

The network was initiated in 2001 and functioned as an informal network of civil society development organizations in the Balkan region between 2003 and 2007. Its focus was on exchange of capacity-building resources, knowledge and information between its member organizations, CSOs devoted to civil society development in their country and the region. Through a process of strategic planning, the network has reoriented since 2007 towards advocacy and lobbying of national and international stakeholders working in the area of civil society development and civil dialogue. The network held its Founding Assembly in Skopje on 6th July, 2009 and is a legally registered entity since 30th September, 2009. After its formalization, primary focus in 2009-2010 was devoted to strengthening civil dialogue, i.e. practices, institutions and mechanisms for cooperation between national Governments and civil society, as a way to strengthen the influence of civil society in public policies in a systematic manner. Besides, national Governments, the policy work mostly focused on the EU policies (i.e. IPA Civil Society Facility) and institution as the most important determinant of reform and development in the Western Balkans.