UN Volunteers just published a global research study on trends and lessons in the development of supportive volunteerism policies and legislation developed by ICNL and ECNL. An overall review was conducted in 7 regions, complemented by country-specific case studies. The study analyzes considerations in drafting and implementing volunteerism laws and policies, and highlights the need to tailor them to specific local, national, and regional contexts.
Since the International Year of Volunteers (IYV) in 2001, governments, the UN system, civil society partners, and other stakeholders have increasingly recognized that volunteerism makes significant contributions to peace and development.

USAID released the13th edition of the NGO Sustainability Index, a key analytical tool that measures the progress of CSOs in CEE and Eurasia region. USAID tracks the progress of the NGO sector in 29 countries in CEE and Eurasia. Contained in the 13-year collection is a historical record that provides a wealth of data on each country. ECNL's affiliate ICNL is one of the managers of this project.

On July 6th, 2010, Civic Initiatives, in cooperation with the Belgrade Agency for Cooperation with NGOs, hosted a presentation of the recently enacted Law on Volunteering.

On July 1, ECNL's affiliate partner ICNL participated in a meeting of the Community of Democracies Working Group on Enabling and Protecting Civil Society. At a session of the High Level Meeting, following introductory remarks presented by the Foreign Minister of Canada, ICNL made a presentation on legal constraints confronting civil society around the world. On July 3, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented a keynote address where she highlighted these issues and recognized the Working Group on Enabling and Protecting Civil Society.

On July 1, 2010, the Serbian Government approved the draft Law on Foundations and Endowments and sent it to Parliament for its consideration. This development marked the culmination of efforts to create a more enabling legal environment for endowments and foundations in Serbia.

Together with the Spanish NGDO Platform, Coordinadora de ONGD-España, CONCORD organized a conference on CSO Development Effectiveness in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

On June 24 26, 2010 ECNL signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova. The memorandum was signed by the Minister Alexandru Tanase and ECNL's Executive Director Nilda Bullain. The overall objective of the document is to create synergies and enhance efforts for enabling environment for NGOs. By signing the document, the parties agreed to cooperate and share information on the legal initiatives concerning NGOs over the course of the three-year Moldova Civil Society Strengthening Project.

European Movement Estonia (EME) has bestowed the title “European of the Year 2010” on Mall Hellam, Executive Director of the Open Estonia Foundation and Supervisory Board Member of ECNL.

On June 23, 2010 ECNL in cooperation with CReDO organized a workshop on "Public Benefit Amendments – International Experience and Local Implementation". The workshop was organized within the framework of Moldova Civil Society Strengthening Program implemented by ECNL in cooperation with the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law ( BCNL) in cooperation with ECNL organized a meeting of some 20 experts from 9 countries of the Black Sea region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine). The meeting was held on 3-4 June, 2010 in Nessebar, Bulgaria.