The European Commission and EU Member States are launching a global Team Europe Democracyinitiative, that includes the Western Balkans.
Speaking at the launch of theGlobal State of Democracy Report 2021, Commissioner for International Partnerships,Jutta Urpilainen, said, “As the world’s biggest supporter of democracy, Team Europe has a great responsibility as well as an opportunity. Together with our partners, including civil society, we can build an inclusive international alliance to promote democracy. We can invest in global efforts to increase the rule of law and accountability, supporting inclusive and transparent governance. And we can engage the world’s change makers: youth.”
Between 2014 and 2019, EU Member States and institutions spent €14 billion in support of democracy in partner countries. This makes Team Europe the world’s leading donor to democracy. The Team Europe Democracy initiative aims to provide a robust and coordinated response to key components of the global democracy deficit, which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated.
The initiative will operationalise an information exchange network and support global and local projects with research and expertise. It will help develop common approaches to transparency and accountability, and improve support to partners in transitioning to democracy.
The European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy have launched the Global Gateway, the new European strategy to boost digital, energy and transport links that are smart, clean and secure and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world.
The initiative stands for sustainable and trusted connections that work for people and the planet, tackling the most pressing global challenges – from climate change and protecting the environment, to improving health security and boosting competitiveness and global supply chains. Global Gateway aims to mobilise up to €300 billion in investments between 2021 and 2027 to underpin a lasting global recovery, taking into account partners’ needs and the EU’s own interests.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said : “COVID-19 has shown how interconnected the world we live in is. As part of our global recovery, we want to redesign how we connect the world to build forward better. The European model is about investing in both hard and soft infrastructure, in sustainable investments in digital, climate and energy, transport, health, education and research, as well as in an enabling environment guaranteeing a level playing field. We will support smart investments in quality infrastructure, respecting the highest social and environmental standards, in line with the EU’s democratic values and international norms and standards. The Global Gateway Strategy is a template for how Europe can build more resilient connections with the world.”
Through a Team Europe approach, Global Gateway will bring together the EU and Member States with their financial and development institutions, including the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and seek to mobilise the private sector in order to leverage investments for transformational impact.
Corridor Vc is a major transit road connecting Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina,and Croatia. Work hasnow started on the section in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from the Rudanka interchange to the exit tunnel Putnikovo brdo 2, another important part of the Corridor Vc and a precondition for construction of the bypass road around Doboj.
The construction of this very demanding 5.3 km section includes several major structures: the Rudanka Bridge over the Bosna river, the Putnikovo brdo 1 dual tube tunnel, and the Putnikovo brdo viaduct. This section also crosses the entity border which runs through the middle of the Putnikovo brdo 2 tunnel and is an example of successful cooperation between the public companies of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska.
A ceremony to celebrate the works was attended byStefano Ellero, Head of Cooperation of the Delegation of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina,Manuela Naessl, Head of BiH of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina local and central level authorities.
Estimated costs for this section are €190.9 million, financed through €37.9 million in EU grants through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), €150 million European Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan and €3 million in beneficiary contributions. The section is planned to be completed in 2024. WBIF is an EU-led donor investment platform that pools grants with implementing partner financing to support EU enlargement and socio-economic development in the region.
The second edition of the EU-supported Climathon Podgorica – a hackathon for solutions to climate change challenges – took place on 27 and 28 November in Montenegro’s capital. Entitled, “Turn green“, this year’s Climathon focused on sustainable mobility by exploring innovative ways to tackle transport challenges.
The event was organised by the NGO NEST, under the auspices of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro and in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, the city of Podgorica and other supporters from the public and private sectors.
The Climathon was opened by Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, Ambassador Oana Cristina Popa.
“One of the pillars of the European Green Deal is a transformation of the transport sector towards more sustainable and carbon-neutral solutions. At the same time, transport must be available and affordable for all. This is not an easy task, and that is why we rely on you, people who participate in initiatives such as Climathon, people full of new ideas and innovative ways how to implement them,” the Ambassador said.
A total of ten teams took part in the competition. Their task was to come up with creative, viable and sustainable service or product solutions which could be marketed either through a business or an NGO. At the end of the competition, a panel of judges named the top three teams. They won cash prizes and an opportunity to develop their ideas further with support from experts in relevant fields, who will mentor them to support the further development and implementation of their ideas.
The EU-funded regional programme on ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey held its third regional forum on 1 and 2 December 2021. Under the headline, “Integrated Policies, Inclusive Partnerships”, the event aimed to accelerate the implementation of international and regional commitments on ending violence against women.
This year, the forum addressed issues including work with perpetrators to protect women and children; shifting social norms to tackle violence against women; and leveraging data to prevent and respond to cases of femicide, especially with the needs revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the inequalities it has exacerbated. The forum also discussed better implementation of the standards and provisions outlined in the Istanbul Convention.
The forum was convened in cooperation with the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations – DG NEAR, the Council of Europe, and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Agency for Gender Equality. It brought together stakeholders within national governments, civil society, and regional institutions on gender equality.
Personal assistance becomes a permanent service for people with disabilities in Serbia’s Mačvan district with EU support.
Dragana Marković Matić lives in the town of Šabac, in western Serbia’s Mačvan district. She lives with rheumatoid arthritis, which has led to reduced mobility over time, and the need for support to perform daily activities. “I can’t function independently, I can’t move. My movements get more and more limited with age,” she says. The deterioration of her disease brought the need for a regular carer who would assist her most of the day. Family and friends were there to support, but in her words “this was a full-time job: being my arms and legs”.
The need for personal assistance is of course not exclusive to Dragana: other people in Šabac with disabilities have a similar problem. Families try to help, but cannot always be there as much as is needed. An alternative solution is to hire a personal assistant, but this is a financial burden that most families cannot really afford. Such personal assistants also need to be professionally trained on moving a person in a wheelchair, transferring them to bed or into a car, as well as helping with dressing and maintaining personal hygiene. “Someone who has never had contact with disabled people has to be trained in assisting them so as not to inadvertently injure themselves or the person they’re caring for,” says Dragana.
“The most important thing was to create a framework for training and train the first people who were interested in providing personal assistance services for people with disabilities.”
A ten-year journey
Dragana is a member of the Mačvan District Association of Paraplegics, which took the initiative to solve this problem through local institutions a decade ago. Back then, the association managed to include the need for an independent life for disabled people into the Šabac social policy strategy. Policymakers’ acknowledgement of disabled people’s needs was an important achievement but as there was no financial or other support, it took almost ten more years of struggle to see a tangible result of the policy.
The light at the end of the tunnel became visible in 2018 when an EU-funded ReLOaD (Regional Programme on Local Democracy) programme stepped in with support. “The most important thing was to create a framework for training and train the first people who were interested in providing personal assistance services for people with disabilities,” says Slaviša Savić who heads up the Mačvan District Association of Paraplegics.
With the support of the EU, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, the Association identified people who were interested in providing a personal assistance service and trained and licensed them. As part of the same programme they also managed to initiate a pilot support project where five people with disabilities were provided with personal assistance for eight hours a day and four others with four hours a day of support.
“Getting the cost of personal assistants for people with disabilities included in the municipal budget was a huge leap and great success for us and we could not have done it without the support of the EU-funded ReLOaD programme,”
About the programme
The Regional Programme for Local Democracy in the Western Balkans (ReLOaD) is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United National Development Programme. The programme’s aims include strengthening participatory democracies and EU integration in the Western Balkans by improving the legal, financial and wider environment to empower civil society.
The implementation of the pilot programme gave the association a stronger case to convince the municipal authorities of how crucial the personal assistance service is for people with disabilities. As the result of continuing lobbying efforts, the municipal assembly finally included this support in the list of regular services that the municipality provides. The service is already included in the budget for 2021 and the salaries of personal assistants are now covered, and will be covered in the future, by the municipality.
“Getting the cost of personal assistants for people with disabilities included in the municipal budget was a huge leap and great success for us and we could not have done it without the support of the EU-funded ReLOaD programme,” says Slaviša.
Dragana and other people from Šabac living with disabilities feel more relaxed as they have secured a personal assistance service for a lifetime. “The quality of my life has visibly improved. With a personal assistant, you are independent,” says Dragana.
The EU-Balkan “What is Europe?” forum, funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, gathered 88 young people and mentors from each of the 27 EU Member states and the six Western Balkans economies. Participants came together for five days in Rome to discuss common issues, meet with policymakers and mobilise for new initiatives and fresh perspectives on both the EU and Balkan integration.
Following a welcome speech from Nicola Minasi from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Minister for Youth Policies,Fabiana Dadone, five working groups worked for three full days to prepare statements and conclusions on topics related to issues that policymakers face on both the EU and Balkan integration.
The working groups were facilitated also by Young European Ambassadors Teodora Cekić, Suhel Ahmeti and Dona Srdikj Lazarevska. Participants also had the opportunity to hear from Adrienn Kiraly of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), and Elina Hakonen-Medding of the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (REGIO) on EU enlargement policy, foreign policy and internal integration. Finally, for the closing day of the conference, the participants had the opportunity to present the results of their three-day work to the European Commisson’s Vice President Dubravka Šuicaand Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.
The Forum was organised by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in partnership with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), the Centro Studi Politica Internazionale (Rome) and Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (Trento), while the representatives of the Young European Ambassadors initiative from DG NEAR supported the youth engagement process.
Eris Çunaku is a Young European Ambassador from Kosovo. Eris grew with YEA into a bright, enthusiastic young game-changer interested in a broad range of topics. With a diploma in Management of Web and Mobile Development and a minor in Public Policy, Eris is passionate about youth activism and the protection of our environment, as he believes these two topics are crucial towards ensuring an active civil society and a safe world to live in. He also hosted an inspiring talk on creative expression and activism through photography with Meeri Koutaniemi during the Power of the Hashtag WeBalkans event in April 2021. Eris, we are confident that the best is yet to come – so we are looking forward to your future initiatives and creative ideas. Well done!
On your bike! How an NGO from Montenegro is pushing pedal power into the mainstream, with EU support.
Situated on a plain, with an area of around 100 square kilometres and a borderline Mediterranean climate, Podgorica – the capital of Montenegro – has all the ingredients needed for making an urban cycling haven. However, the city lacked even the most basic of infrastructure for proper cycling until grassroots civil society organisation Biciklo.me introduced cycling as a mainstream culture in the city in 2013. “We really wanted to turn Podgorica into a city that is good for cycling, and safe for cycling, and we want to make that visible also for people who do not use bikes – yet” says Sonja Dragović, one of the members of the organisation.
In the spring of 2012, the first Bike-Up was organised: people were invited via social media to get together and celebrate Earth Day by going for a bike ride. The turnout inspired new initiatives and soon the small group of cycling enthusiasts started organising regular monthly Critical Mass rides in Podgorica. On a sunny day, these would attract several hundred cyclists of all ages and background. In a city of around 200,000 inhabitants, with almost no cycling infrastructure, that was already a positive start.
“Back in Vienna and Copenhagen I learned how to cycle in urban settings, thanks to the amazing cycling infrastructure these cities have developed. When I came back to Podgorica, I thought “OK, now I need to get a bike and I also need to get together with these people from Biciklo.me”
Having a say in urban mobility
Sonja Dragović became part of Biciklo.me after she got her master’s degree in urban studies, which included periods of study in Vienna and Copenhagen. Before that, she used to cycle occasionally, but during her studies she started to use her bike as a regular means of transport. In the meantime, she had been following Biciklo.me on social media. “Back in Vienna and Copenhagen I learned how to cycle in urban settings, thanks to the amazing cycling infrastructure these cities have developed. When I came back to Podgorica, I thought “OK, now I need to get a bike and I also need to get together with these people from Biciklo.me” says Sonja.
Biciklo.me started as a free association initiative, involved only in organising the mass cycling rides to contribute to the visibility of cyclists in Podgorica. In 2013, an opportunity to obtain some funding for improving cycling conditions presented itself, so the initiative registered as an NGO, and successfully implemented its first project – installing the first proper bike racks for bicycles to be parked in 18 locations in Podgorica.
Since then, they have developed and managed numerous small projects that have improved the city’s cycling environment. “Basically, we are working along several different but interconnected paths: improving infrastructure, traffic and mobility-related policies, and educating the public on the benefits of sustainable urban mobility,” says Sonja.
Fuelled by the success of the bike racks, other projects swiftly followed either run by or advocated for by the NGO – from the introduction of the first bike lanes in the capital and the first sustainable urban mobility plan by the city council, to research studies on improving transport and the cycling environment and creation of educational material for primary and secondary school students.
“This and future support from the EU are very important. Not only for the money, but more the fact that when the EU supports an action, it becomes easier to convince local authorities to do so too.”
About the project Biciklo.me has been supported by the EU through the Regional Programme on Local Democracy in the Western Balkans (ReLOaD) which aims to strengthen participatory democracies and the EU integration process in the Western Balkans by empowering civil society to take an active part in decision making. Other EU-funded projects that supported Biciklo.me are “CSOs in Montenegro – from basic services to policy shaping – M’BASE” which is funded under the instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA), the “Better traffic, better city” project and a project called “Enhancing capacities for better living environment in Montenegro”.
The EU supported four of these projects – studies on traffic and mobility conditions in Podgorica, drafting proposals for legislation improvements, awareness-raising campaigns in Podgorica high schools on the benefits of cycling, and the introduction of bike racks in three towns in the northern part of the country. “This and future support from the EU are very important. Not only for the money, but more the fact that when the EU supports an action, it becomes easier to convince local authorities to do so too,” says Sonja.
Several kilometres of cycling paths have been built in Podgorica, and even though the quality of both the design and the maintenance could have been better, it is evident that this safe cycling space has attracted new users and encouraged people to get out and cycle.
For Sonja, what’s important now is for the city to establish proper procedures for planning and building cycle paths, and to invest in educating city planners on the most recent trends and best practices concerning cycling infrastructure. “The more people cycling in the street, the better it is for everyone. As people who cycle are not using cars, they are also not producing pollution and noise. This makes the city a better environment for everyone,” says Sonja
Ten instructors for training the trainers for demining received internationally recognised certificates on 19 November at the premises of the Demining Center in Grocka Serbia . The certificates were handed to them by the Ambassador of the European Union to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, and Predrag Bandić, general and acting Assistant Minister for Defense Policy.
Ambassador Giaufret stated that Serbia is a major and reliable contributor to the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions. “Thanks to this EU funded project, ten students from the Serbian armed forces and the Mine Action Centre will be awarded for upgrading their capacities in humanitarian demining. This project strengthens our effective cooperation in the CSDP and Serbia’s alignment with international standards in the demining field. Serbia is the EU’s valuable partner in the area of security and defence policies,” said the Ambassador.
The training was provided as part of the EU funded project “Strengthening the capacity of the Republic of Serbia in the field of demining and destruction of unexploded ordnance” which is being implemented within the cooperation of the Demining Center with the Ministry of Defense.
The €600,000 project contributes to strengthening the capacity of the Republic of Serbia in the field of humanitarian demining. With this project, the Republic of Serbia and the European Union continue to intensify cooperation in the field of Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP).
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