Civil society in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe confronts daunting challenges. The sector remains poorly funded, legally precarious, and is often the target of disinformation campaigns. 

This is especially true of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals who engage with security-related issues such as police accountability, human rights abuses, penal conditions and reform, and anti-corruption monitoring that are sensitive issues across the regions. 

DCAF held a webinar to discuss the challenges confronted by civil societies in this region and offered to create a platform for exchange in opinions and experiences. 

The conference proceedings reflect the main points and conclusions drawn from the event. During the webinar, the participants identified outstanding needs and challenges for their organizations. 

Despite their different contexts, NGOs working on confidence-building in Central Asia, the Cau­casus, and Eastern Europe share similar needs. Some of them include

• the need for the devel­opment of common plan or vision on confidence-building;
• the reinforcement of political dialogue and sectoral engagement;
• the provision of formal and informal peace education to support effective confidence-building;
• the expansion of grass-root initiatives;
• the es­tablishment of regional and neutral platforms that could facilitate exchanges of informa­tion, confidence building, and act as a mechanism through which feedback to donors can be provided.