Updates

State security raided independent trade unions and arrested their leaders in Belarus.

The Media Law introduces new concepts and increases state control and regulation of the media, raising serious concerns about its compliance with international human rights standards.

Despite a low level of risk of terrorist financing in the CSO sector, new recommendations threaten to burden CSO operations. A new draft law proposes measures that would limit freedom of expression.

Brief summary of the new initiatives to support the right to participation and increase transparency.

Summary of the developments affecting the environment in which civil society works, even during martial law (update as of March 25).

CSOs adapt their work to help refugees fleeing Ukraine amid new emergency measures and bodies introduced.

Overview of recent legal measures to uphold an enabling environment for CSOs.

Based on findings from our CSO Meter monitoring, ECNL submitted its input to inform the upcoming UN Special Rapporteur report on CSOs’ access to resources, including foreign funding.

The report reveals that public participation is in many cases not implemented in practice and identifies areas where the implementation of the OGP National Action Plan needs to be accelerated.

The report finds that while an enabling legal framework for public participation is generally in place, there is considerable room for improvement when it comes to practical implementation.

CSOs are now required to provide more details in their bank payment orders.

The re-introduction of a problematic article in the Criminal Code is extremely troubling in light of the 300 CSOs that have been involuntarily liquidated by state decisions.