Network POINTPULSE enhanced with two new members

The regional network of civil society organizations POINTPULS is expanded with two more members from March 2016  – Analytics from Skopje and Institute for Democracy and Mediation in Tirana.

New members of POINTPULSE network consider that strengthening public confidence in the police through the fight against corruption and the promotion of responsible work is very important for the Western Balkans.

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The point of POINTPULSE network is to support the efforts to reform the police in the region, in order to facilitate its transformation in citizens service through a variety of activities, says IDM researcher Besjana Kuci.

“Research shows that the police are one of the institutions with the lowest rate of trust among citizens in the Western Balkans. In this regard, the establishment of an effective dialogue between civil society, the police and other relevant participants is essential for the POINTPULSE network to achieve a greater impact on the fight against corruption and improving the integrity of the police, and finally to increase the trust of citizens, “said IDM researcher.

Regional association further helps in proposing and advocating for solutions that strengthen the integrity of the police, because concerted in such way is recognized as a serious partner with credibility, believes Analytics researcher Andrew Bogdanovski.

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“It was natural to join POINTPULSE network because it is the only network in the Balkans which deals with the integrity of the police and Analysis have been working on reform of the security sector in Macedonia for the previous eight years. I think that we will definitely learn a lot from colleagues from the region, what is the situation in each country, which are the best practices and what is bad, “says Bogdanovski.

To further improve the functioning of the POINTPULSE network, Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) organized a workshop from 7 to 9 March 2016 in Belgrade. During the three days of intensive dialogue the joint activities in the coming period were discussed. As a potential new priorities in the network few of activities were singled out, such as monitoring compliance with police procedures and police powers in the Western Balkans, but also dedicating more attention to the work of border police during the migrant crisis.

On the occasion of International Women's Day, during the second day of the workshop was organized a panel discussion “Women in Police” in Belgrade Media Centre. Representatives of POINTPULSE network concluded that women as police officers, in the region, don’t have equal opportunities for career advancement and that there are still many prejudices with which they face at work.

Regional POINTPULSE network was initiated by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), and members of the network are Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) from Belgrade, Centre for Security Studies (CSS) from Sarajevo, Institute Alternative (IA) from Podgorica, the Kosovo Centre for Security studies (KCSS) in Pristina, Analyses (Analytik) from Skopje and Institute for Democracy and mediation (IDM) from Tirana.

Activities of POINTPULSE network can also be followed through social networks Twitter and Facebook.

Workshops and conferences were organized within the project Western Balkans Pulse for Integrity and Trust – POINTPULSE. The project is supported by the European Union through the program “Civil Society Facility” under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The content is the sole responsibility of the BCSP and the expressed views are not necessarily those of the EU.