TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

EDITION NO. 59

“Creating an enabling environment and capacity building for the development of civil society organizations in Albania”

In this edition: - PA launches the findings of the Monitoring Matrix on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development, Country Report for Albania 2015 page 1

-The NPO Academy 2016 -Consultative meetings on the monitoring of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation - Busan Partnership page2

-LEVIZ Albania project -The Albanian Crowd, an interactive platform of Albanian NPOs and SEs page 3

-PA launches the call for GREEN IDEAS 2016 page 4

-International debate on SEs in framework of the U-Impact project page 5

-Social enterprises conference in Glasgow -Youth Bank Hub page 6

-Making the labor market work for young people in Albania page 7

-Monitoring of philanthropic activity in Albania page 8

-Urban Governance/Integrity Building in South East Europe Urban Partnership Program Phase II (UPP II) -Better local governance through increased transparency and accountability of municipal councils

MARCH 2016

Partners Albania organized on March 2nd, 2016 the National Conference "“Creating an Enabling Environment and Enhancement of Capacities for CSOs Development in Albania”. During the conference, the findings and recommendations of the Monitoring Matrix on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development, Country Report for Albania 2015 were presented. The Monitoring Matrix measures the legal and practical environment for civil society development, based on international principles and standards. The report findings highlight some of the positive developments that happened during 2015 related to the drafting of a legal and regulatory framework on the cooperation between the state and NPOs, such as the approval of the law on the National Council for Civil Society and start of the work for its establishment. Since several months now, ASCS has initiated the process of selection of candidates representatives of civil society in this Council. These developments are a concrete result of Partners Albania’s efforts in coordination with the sector and the Task Force on the Enabling Environment for Civil Society. The findings highlight as well some problems and challenges the NPO sector faces as regards the registration process, fiscal treatment, access and transparency of public funds etc. Participants in this event were representatives of government and state institutions, donor community and civil society organizations in Albania and Slovakia. The conference was addressed by Mr. Stefano Calabretta, Programme Manager for Civil Society and Human Rights in the EU Delegation to Albania, Ms. Plejada Gugashi, Local Programme Manager of The Olof Palme International Center in Albania and Mr.Andi Kananaj, Director of ASCS, who discussed on the issues addressed in the monitoring report. Mrs. Karolina Mikova, Director of Partners Slovakia, shared with participants the experience of the National Council of the Slovak NGOs, a cooperation structure between government and civil society in Slovakia, as part of a project funded by SlovakAid.

page 9

-Participatory budgeting at local and central level page 10

Announcement

This is the third year that Partners Albania is conducting the monitoring of the enabling environment for civil society development, as part of a regional initiative in seven countries of Western Balkans and Turkey. The findings and recommendations of each country will serve as a basis for monitoring the Guidelines for EU Support to Civil Society in Enlargement Countries 2014 - 2020, as well as for the implementation of advocacy initiatives to improve the enabling environment for civil society development in Western Balkans countries and Turkey, at national and European level.