Within this project, the Center for Civil Society Promotion (CCSP) conducts monitoring of the enabling environment for the development of civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina on an annual basis. Monitoring results in a Monitoring Matrix Report that is published annually and is available to the public.
As IPA countries lack consolidated legislation, practices, and implementation standards as a basis for the functioning of democratic institutions and processes, and in particular citizen participation in policy-making and decision-making processes, it is necessary to work on a supportive environment for civil society development.
In 2012, BCSDN (Balkan Civil Society Development Network), with the support of its members, partners, and the European Center for Non-Profit Law, developed the Civil Society Development Monitoring Matrix and Toolkit aimed at defining the Civil Society Aquis.
A Matrix is a tool developed to measure the legal, regulatory and financial environment in which civil society organizations (CSOs) operate. It was created as a result of the collective effort of CSOs from the BCSDN network and partners and focuses on the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey.
The principles and standards contained within the Monitoring Matrix have been identified as crucial for the legal environment to be considered enabling-stimulating for the work of CSOs. The matrix does not address all issues concerning the enabling environment for the development of civil society, but those that experts considered to be most important for the countries from which they come.
Therefore, the standards and indicators are formulated by the current state of development and diversity among the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey. They are based on the experiences of CSOs from these countries in legal regulation and practice and the challenges in their implementation.
The indicators in the Matrix are descriptive. The indicator aims to compare the legal environment and practice in the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey with international standards.
The Monitoring Matrix includes principles and standards in three areas:
The developed principles, standards, and indicators have been developed by internationally guaranteed freedoms and best practices at the level of the EU and European countries. The goal of the Monitoring Matrix is to find findings on which area needs further reform, how to deal with challenges, and be able to prioritize them.
The main activities are implementation of monitoring at the national level, preparation of the study Economic value of civil society, implementation of campaigns, preparation of the study Donor Strategy, and distribution of small grants for the implementation of advocacy activities.
The annual reports are available at the following links:
Monitoring Matrix 2013
Monitoring Matrix 2014 Final report for 2014
Monitoring Matrix 2015 Final report for 2015
Matrix monitoring 2016
Donor strategies
The economic value of civil society
ZAIP – Establishing cooperation of government institutions with civil society organizations
Policy brief – BPPF grants
ADI – Agreement on Cooperation between the Government of FBiH and NGOs – Situation Analysis and Recommendations