European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting

❗ The USAID freeze not only jeopardises the existence of CSOs worldwide but also risks creating space for greater Russian influence, especially in Eastern Europe. In this POLITICO Europe article, ECNL’s Executive Director, Katerina Hadzi-Miceva Evans, highlights that it is in EU's security interest to partner with and invest strategically in civil society to ensure their stability and security, as well. 👇 Click here to read it: https://lnkd.in/dwfYQXJt #USAID #CivilSociety #CSOs #EU #Security #EasternEurope #Democracy #HumanRights #EUForeignPolicy #Nonprofits #Stability #Geopolitics European Commission, CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies), Belarusian National Youth Council RADA, Project 64, POLITICO

🚨 SLAPP lawsuits are a growing problem across Europe, targeting journalists and activists with expensive legal battles to silence them. As part of the European dialogue on civic space and media freedom, this event will explore how national laws can push back against these abusive lawsuits. With the EU’s new Anti-SLAPP directive in place, what’s next for European countries? 🗓 March 18 ⏰ 11:00–12:30 CEST 📍 Online event Join us to hear from experts at the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL), Index on Censorship, and The Coalition against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE). 🔹 Speakers: Emma Bergmans (Free Press Unlimited & CASE), Jessica Ní Mhainín (Index on Censorship) 🔹 Moderators: Paul Braithwaite (OGP), Francesca Fanucci (ECNL), Tim Hughes (OGP) 📢 Be part of this important discussion! 🔗 Register now: https://lnkd.in/eKm69Cp3 #MediaFreedom #CivicSpace #AntiSLAPP #OpenGovernment #Europe

💡 #ECNLatRightsCon - 27 February 2025. Wrapping up the 13th RightsCon with the hot topic of Generative AI and their underlying technologies like foundation models or large language models. 🔵 GenAI, LLMs, COMO & TS: where do human rights and communities fit in today’s hottest acronyms? 🤝 11:30-12:30 CST. Join ECNL's Marlena Wisniak, along with Lindsey Andersen of BSR and Aliya Bhatia of Center for Democracy & Technology to explore how these systems are deployed in the global majority, where considerations of local language, context and cultural nuances are critical to build inclusive models. Learn more about ECNL at Rights Con here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dPNkHQyF #RightsCon #RightsCon2025

📝 Public consultation: The UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, Michel FORST, invites you to comment on the Guidelines on the Right to Peaceful Environmental Protest and Civil Disobedience. These guidelines will be key for States and stakeholders to respect and protect the right to participate in decision-making, and to ensure that others act in line with international human rights treaties and standards. We are grateful to Michel Forst for leading this critical initiative and honoured to have contributed to the process. 📅 Please add your comments by 31 March 2025. #EnvironmentalHumanRightsDefenders #Right2Participate #HumanRights #Consultation

💡 #ECNLatRightsCon - 26 February 2025. Building on insights from day one, we are expanding our focus to GenAI, global collaborative frameworks for digital governance and online environmental advocacy. 🔵 Lessons learned from public human rights assessments (HRAs) of generative AI. 🤝 Hosted by BSR | 11:30-12:30 CST. Join Marlena Wisniak, along with Lindsey Andersen of BSR, Betsy Popken and Vyoma Raman of Human Rights Center, UC Berkeley School of Law to reflect on their experiences conducting #HRAs of generative #AI. They will discuss the key findings of their assessments, what they reveal about the future of generative AI, and how to better integrate human rights across the responsible AI field. ⚪ The precarious future of the global multi-stakeholder model for cyber and digital governance. 🤝 Hosted by Global Affairs Canada | Affaires mondiales Canada | 16:30-17:35 CST. Come join ECNL's Karolina Iwańska , along with Larisa Galadza of Global Affairs Canada | Affaires mondiales Canada, Ellie Mcdonald of Global Partners Digital and Konstantinos Komaitis, PhD of Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) to convene stakeholders to map the ways—both overt and less obvious—through which actors are reshaping the international technology governance to the exclusion of civil society and other partners. It is also an opportunity for the international community to explore what we can collectively do to combat this trend. 🟢 Who’s watching whom? Online disobedience and digital surveillance in climate activism - this session is hosted online! 🤝 Co-hosting with Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and Universal Rights Group | 17:45-18:45 CST. Join ECNL's Francesca Fanucci joined by Michel FORST, UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders United Nations, Chido Dunn of Global Witness, Hugo Jabini from the Saramaka Community and Disha Ravi, Youth Climate Activist to learn about the latest global and regional trends and empower participants to engage in international mechanisms to protect activists from state repression. Learn all about our sessions at Rights Con ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dPNkHQyF #RightsCon #RightsCon2025

💡 SIDE EVENT at RightsCon : Technology and the future of protests - 25 February 2025. 🤝Co-hosted with Gina Romero, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and the University of Southampton | 13:30-15:30 CST. The use of digital technologies in peaceful protests raises several human rights concerns. To address this, the UN Special Rapporteur mandate has issued detailed guidance to help law enforcement use such technologies to facilitate protests online and offline. Join us with ECNL's Francesca Fanucci for a dialogue with tech innovators, activists, policymakers and CSOs to develop ideas on how they can all step up to promote these principles and tackle challenges during implementation. Find out more - https://lnkd.in/dPNkHQyF #RightsCon #RightsCon2025 #FreedomofAssembly #Protest #ECNLatRightsCon

💡 #ECNLatRightsCon - 25 February 2025. We kick off ECNL's first day at the 13th edition of RightsCon in Taipei, Taiwan with incredible sessions that delve into the realm of #AI governance! 🔵 Fit for purpose: does the UN’s #AI governance regime ensure a #RightsRespecting approach? 🤝 Co-hosting with Global Partners Digital (GPD) | 11:30-12:30 CST. Come join ECNL's Marlena Wisniak, along with Nighat Dad of Digital Rights Foundation and Ian Barber of GPD to take stock of the UN’s revamped AI governance landscape, asking whether it is fit for purpose from a human rights perspective. ⚪ The evolution of digital trust and safety and the role of industry standards in Asia-Pacific and around the world. 🤝 Hosted by Digital Trust and Safety Partnership (DTSP) | 12:45-13:45 CST. Join ECNL's Marlena Wisniak with David Sullivan and Farzaneh Badiei, PhD of DTSP to seek feedback from the RightsCon community about the Digital Trust and Safety Partnership trust and safety best practices. Learn more ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dPNkHQyF #RightsCon #RightsCon2025 #TrustAndSafety #APAC

👏 #Moldova 🇲🇩 took important steps for CSO enabling environment in its EU accession journey! The Government publicly consulted the Roadmap for Democratic Institutions and the Roadmap for Rule of Law. The implementation of these documents is a condition of opening the negotiation chapters. Several outcomes of the roadmaps target civil society's operating environment, resonating with CSO Meter recommendations. Read more in the #CSOMeter update via Asociația Promo-LEX: https://lnkd.in/dN7sA2u7 #CivilSociety #PublicParticipation #HumanRIghtsDefenders #FreedomofAssembly #FreedomofAssociation #MediaFreedom

❗ A strong civil society is essential for democracy and stability in the #EasternPartnership region! 🚨 In an environment with already limited funding, further funding cuts endanger critical activities, such as election monitoring, independent journalism or the promotion of human rights and civic space. 🔎 How can donors step in and step up at this crucial moment? Read our 4 strategic recommendations based on years of monitoring efforts in the countries in this #CSOMeter blog: https://lnkd.in/gWHHdZfU #CivilSociety #HumanRights #democracy #Armenia #Azerbaijan #Belarus #Georgia #Moldova #Ukraine

🤔 How can #CivilSociety influence the implementation and enforcement of the #AIAct? 📽️ Break down this question in our new video explainer on ECNL's Learning Center! 📽️ ECNL's Karolina Iwańska, Ella Jakubowska of European Digital Rights (EDRi), Caterina Rodelli of Access Now and Nikolett Aszódi of AlgorithmWatch unpack the EU AI Act through the lens of #Biometrics, #Migration, and new #Transparency tools, and outline how civil society can use the AI Act to hold AI use to account. Check out the video: https://lnkd.in/dG2H2EuM And visit the Learning Center to know more: https://lnkd.in/dTtuA-zg #LearningCenterECNL #EUAIAct #FundamentalRights #DigitalRights