Bosnia and Herzegovina Factograph
This factsheet provides a brief overview of the key milestones of the EU integration process and facts and figures on EU-Kosovo relations and support.
Author: WeBalkans
Albania Factograph
This factsheet provides a brief overview of the key milestones of the EU integration process and facts and figures on EU-Kosovo relations and support.
Serbia Factograph
This factsheet provides a brief overview of the key milestones of the EU integration process and facts and figures on EU-Serbia relations and support.
A friendly chat in times of need
An EU-funded project helps an online counselling centre in Serbia.
The National Children’s Line (NADEL) is a helpline centre and an integral part of the Centre for the Protection of Infants, Children and Youth in Belgrade, and was established as one of the mechanisms to prevent violence against children. Calls to the phone number 116-111 are free and are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. NADEL has been supporting children and their parents since 2005 and in the past decade, NADEL advisors have talked to more than a million callers, offering help, advice, or practical guidance, helping them find answers to questions and solutions to their problems. Perhaps most of all, the line has helped by offering someone who can listen.
However, the pandemic has brought new challenges and crises. Research during the pandemic showed that young people feel afraid. Some have retreated into isolation, while many missed socialising with friends at school. Despite these challenges, the number of calls to NADEL during the pandemic declined.
“A logical explanation for us was that because of lockdown, the whole family was together 24/7. There was no privacy and many did not have the opportunity to pick up a phone and talk to anyone outside of the family, including on the NADEL line.”
This paradoxical situation caught the attention of Unicef in Serbia who had been long-term partners and supporters of NADEL. Vesna Dejanović is a child protection specialist with Unicef. She shares her analysis: “A logical explanation for us was that because of lockdown, the whole family was together 24/7. There was no privacy and many did not have the opportunity to pick up a phone and talk to anyone outside of the family, including on the NADEL line”.
With this in mind, in February 2021 Unicef, with the support of EU, initiated a project that would help young people be in contact with NADEL even in situations with no privacy, thanks to an innovative online chatbox support function that would run in parallel to the traditional phone line. They supported NADEL with the development of the software for the chat line, purchasing some additional equipment and also providing funds for the salaries of additional counsellors to manage the chat line.
Vesna explains that they have supported them also with capacity building, which included training for all counsellors, including both senior and new ones, and other service providers such as small NGO social workers – all service providers who might be in the position or already have the potential to engage in online counselling to share that knowledge. “In terms of capacity building, we provided them with the logistical support and modest financial contribution for the development of training manuals. The training was provided by the NADEL staff as they have extensive experience and very competent training personnel,” says Vesna.
“As a result of the social media campaign, the number of chat counselling sessions was three times larger than the previous month and the total number of visits to the NADEL website was larger than the overall number of contacts in the period from January to May.”
About the project
This initiative was possible thanks to the financial support of the European Union through the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), and in partnership with the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, and the Centre for Protection of Infants, Children and Youth Belgrade.
The innovative online chat support for NADEL was launched with the support of the Programme for Mitigating the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Lives of Children and Families in the Western Balkans and Turkey. The Programme is a two-year initiative launched in 2021 by the Unicef regional office and the European Commission.
The purpose of the initiative is to strengthen national health, education, early childhood development, and child protection systems to ensure core services for vulnerable children and their families in the immediate and longer-term recovery response to COVID-19. Through this €5 million programme, 490,000 children and parents across the programme area are expected to have better access to public services that promote early childhood development, education, health, and protection as part of the COVID-19 recovery.
In addition to this support, Unicef, throuth and EU funded project, also supported NADEL to increase their visibility with awareness-raising about the existence of the service. Over the years NADEL had organised awareness-raising actions by visiting schools and sharing posters. However, according to Vesna, this strategy had not worked recently, as children now need to be reached through the social media that they regularly use.
The social media campaign was launched in June this year and the number of calls and other type of communication increased threefold as a result of the campaign.
Marina Bogdanović, a consultant on the Protection of Children from Violence, and Child Marriage Prevention with Unicef, explains that apart from the increase in contact with NADEL, the campaign was also a learning experience for them and for their partner on how to improve and innovate the programme. “As a result of the social media campaign, the number of chat counselling sessions was three times larger than the previous month and the total number of visits to the NADEL website was larger than the overall number of contacts in the period from January to May,” she says.
YEAs join EU beach clean-up activities in Albania
Young European Ambassadors from Albania joined the EU Beach clean-up 2022 activities organised by the EU Delegation in Albania. YEAs Mariglen Qorri, Olta Shehu and Stjuart Islamaj participated in the River Clean-Up activity which included cleaning of the Qerek area followed by an open discussion on environmental topics. As part of the discussion, YEAs had an opportunity to talk with the ambassadors of EU countries as well as with the ambassador of the European Union Christine Hohmann about how to protect the environment and mitigate the pollution of the soil.
The #EUBeachCleanup campaign is a global clean-up initiative, co-organised by the EU and the UN, together with the Smurfs, to protect the ocean. The event takes place annually in September around World Coastal Clean-up Day, and is key for awareness-raising and taking action to tackle marine pollution.
In 2022, the fifth edition of the #EUBeachCleanup campaign targets youth, under the European Year of Youth umbrella. Within the overarching theme, “United against marine litter”, the future generation, international organisations, national leaders, and NGOs are working hand-in-hand to combat this problem.
Kosovo YEAs meet Sustainability Leadership Kosova
Last month, Young European Ambassadors from Kosovo had a meeting with Sustainability Leadership Kosova (SLK), a local NGO whose main area of work is sustainability. At the premises of Europe House in Pristina, SLK presented the #MoseMerrMalin campaign and showed their work and their upcoming plans.
The YEAs’ interest in sustainability and particularly in preventing Kosovo’s deforestation made the training particularly attractive. Engagement from the YEAs and SLK led to generating a range of solutions to the concerns raised.
At the end of the meeting YEAs had the chance to sign the #MoseMerrMalin pledge, and committed to participate, engage, and promote the movement.
European Union and Council of Europe conclude the regional Block the Hatred, Share the Love campaign with an event in Pristina
On 9 October in Pristina, the European Union and Council of Europe (CoE) concluded a joint Block the Hatred. Share the Love campaign that has run in the Western Balkans since December 2020 aiming to combat various forms of hate speech that target specific communities and individuals. Through public outreach activities and social media channels, the campaign reached hundreds of thousands of people.
The event held at a public playground in Pristina gathered young people, No-Hate-Speech Ambassadors, local officials and NGOs, as well as Young European Ambassador Amina Kaja from Kosovo, and EU and CoE representatives to share messages of love, equality, and solidarity.
The event included speeches, a game of basketball in wheelchairs and the writing of notes of love and anti-discrimination on the campaign banners.
EU4 Youth Days activities in Kosovo
As part of the EU4Youth Days activities, Europe House in Pristina organised a number of events. One of the events was the “What’s the future you want to see” panel discussion focused on the vision of young people in the Western Balkans, and how that vision must not only be articulated, but also heard and considered.
The panel also informed the participating students and other young people on what the EU is doing for Kosovo and the others of the six Western Balkan countries, and opened discussion on how young people can contribute to the EU integration process. Young European Ambassador (YEA) Albin Bushi participated as one of the speakers while other YEAs Endit Tasholli and Desantila Muriqi were part of the audience.
Another feature of the EU4Youth Days was online participation at the EU4Youth Days conference in Brussels. The conference was live streamed for young people and NGOs at Europe House in Prishtina. Participants from Europe House had the opportunity to ask questions of the key speakers and panellists during the conference.
EU4Youth Days at Europe House Tirana
Tirana joined the EU4Youth Days 2022 events by gathering to Europe House young activists and representatives of civil society organisations focused on youth. As part of the activities, Europe House in Tirana organised an open day which included presentation of more than 20 EU-funded programmes offering opportunities for young people. Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) had a dedicated stand at this event where they had an opportunity to meet young people who expressed interest in learning more about the YEA programme.
Another event organised as part of the EU4Youth Days was the online participation at the EU4Youth Days Conference in Brussels. Two YEAs from Albania, Edona Haklaj and Olta Shehu, joined the event and participated with other civil society activists in the discussion panel about the challenges faced by Albanian youth in times of crisis, such as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
YEA participates in presentation of the mapping of responses to hate speech in Bosnia and Herzegovina
On 12 October, Dragana Vučković, a Young European Ambassador (YEA) for Bosnia and Herzegovina, participated in the event to present the mapping of responses to hate speech and the adopted action plan for the equality of LGBTI persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dragana was there also in the position of one of the Council Of Europe’s No Hate Ambassadors of as part of the “Block the Hatred, Share the Love” campaign.
Both events happened at the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and were organised by the European Union Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Council of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees. Representatives from these institutions, and representatives of partner government institutions and civil society organisations gathered together to discuss these two important topics for society.