ECNL and its partners have just launched the second phase of the CSO Meter project running until the end of 2023, in which we monitor and advocate for the improvement of the environment in which civil society organizations (CSOs) operate in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries.
What is the CSO Meter?
The CSO Meter is a unique tool that measures law and practice in key areas that affect civil society in the EaP region, from freedom of association and assembly, through participation in decision-making to access to funding and right to privacy. Based on a set of standards and indicators, the CSO Meter then assesses the countries’ compliance under each area. The CSO Meter’s strength lies in the fact that it has been developed through a highly consultative and collaborative process and as such, is a result of a true local effort that covers issues that partners identified as relevant for their country contexts.
How is the CSO Meter used?
The CSO Meter provides a holistic picture that helps understand the context and identify priorities. The country reports from the first phase (2017-2020) have allowed partners to have a clear plan of progressive law reforms needed. The reports formulated over 270 recommendations for future advocacy to improve civic space, many of which partners have already started implementing. During the 4-year program partners engaged in 20 advocacy actions and ECNL provided technical assistance to 11 initiatives. As a result, 7 CSO laws and policies were adopted or initiated based on issues identified by the CSO Meter.
What’s next in phase 2 of CSO Meter?
In the next 3 years, ECNL together with the country partners will update the tool and introduce a scoring model to allow for a more nuanced comparison between areas, countries and years.
We will also expand the CSO Meter so that it includes new emerging topics, such as the use of artificial intelligence or digital technologies, to assess their impact on civic groups in the countries.
Last but not least, we seek to reach out to more organisations and empower a broader group of CSOs and activists to exchange strategies, use the CSO Meter for monitoring and use its evidence for advocacy in their countries.
To see what the CSO Meter has achieved so far and what's next, check out this video:
ECNL's project partners:
Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center (Armenia) | MG Consulting LLC (Azerbaijan) | Civil Society Institute (Georgia) | Promo-Lex Association (Moldova) | Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (Ukraine)