The Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) published their policy paper and on-line donor maps from their "Donors' Strategies and Practices in Civil Society Development in the Balkans" research. These are the first analysis and overview of major donors supporting civil society in the region.

The policy paper draws four major conclusions. First, as the most influential donor, the European Union has potential hegemonic power to determine the democracy promotion agendas and assistance. Secondly, donors are on the spot when civil society priorities are concerned, but when it comes to long-term core funding, major multi-lateral donors such as the EU need to make more efforts. Thirdly, major donors focus too much on building and bolstering organisations with existing capacities, instead of supporting smaller CSOs. Lastly, there are too many donors, congregating around a narrow set of issues and offering declining amounts of funding. The solution for this might be structuring donor cooperation with specialisation by donors, says the paper.

Both the policy paper and the on-line donor maps can be found at www.balkancsd.net/resources-and-links/publications/1005-balkan-civic-practices-8-donors-strategies-and-practices-in-civil-society-development-in-the-balkans-civil-society-lost-in-translation.html and www.balkancsd.net/policy-research-analysis/donor-strategies-and-practices/database.html.