The Monitoring Matrix and Toolkit on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development have just been published by the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) in collaboration with ECNL and ICNL.
The Matrix defines principles, standards and indicators that can be used in monitoring of the progress in creating an enabling environment for civil society development. It has been designed to respond to the needs of the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey.
ECNL provided overall strategic support and expertise to the expert team during the development of the Matrix. ECNL also authored the Toolkit and brought in a wider international and legal perspective so that the Matrix and the Toolkit can potentially be used in countries beyond the Balkans.
The documents were developed under ICNL’s Legal Innovation Fund, supported by USAID and PACT.
The Matrix presents the main principles and standards that have been identified as crucial to exist in order for the legal environment to be considered as supportive and enabling for the operations of CSOs. It underscores the fact that enabling environment is a complex concept, which includes various areas and depends on several factors and phases of development of the society and the civil society sector.
The Matrix is organized around three areas, each divided by sub-areas. The main areas are:
- Basic Legal Guarantees of Freedoms;
- Framework for CSOs’ Financial Viability and Sustainability;
- Government – CSO Relationship.
The areas are defined by key principles which are further elaborated by specific standards. In order to enable local CSOs, donors or other interested parties to review and monitor the legal environment and practices of its application, the standards are further explained through descriptive indicators.
The indicators aim to guide interested parties (CSOs, governments and donors) in understanding better the legal and policy environments and its practical implementation against the international standards and practices. The goals is to help them to draw lessons as to what are the areas that require further reform, how to address the challenges and to help them prioritize the issues for reform.
Finally, the development of the Matrix is based on ECNL’s framework to assess and measure enabling environment in various countries. The full description of each level and component is available from ECNL.
Monitoring Matrix on Enabling Environment and Toolkit