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Author: WeBalkans

Report notes poor progress in media freedoms in North Macedonia

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in News.

On 10 June, the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) presented its annual report on the level of media freedom and safety of journalists in North Macedonia. The report was prepared as part of the project Regional Platform of the Western Balkans, funded by the European Union.

 

The report measured three main indicators:

 

-The legal framework for media freedom

-The position of journalists in newsrooms

-The safety of journalists

 

Results revealed  no improvements in 2020 in the media sphere, with instead an increasing trend of attacks on journalists and a deterioration in their security situation.

 

According to AJM statistics, a total of 14 attacks and serious threats against journalists have been reported since the beginning of 2020, out of which more than half were against women journalists. In comparison, in the previous year only four such incidents were reported, indicating a three-fold increase.

Pandemic-proof local food shopping in Montenegro

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With EU and EBRD support, Montenegro’s Voli supermarket chain has launched the country’s first onlinegrocery service. Their easy-to-use platform now offers customers an array of more than 5,000 products for collection or delivery. This has made it easier for people to remain safe at home which is a crucial step in the fight against Covid-19.

 

Of course, shoppers were not the only ones who had reason to panic when the pandemic hit. When lockdown measures were introduced at the end of March last year, many farmers were left with tonnes of produce at risk of going bad because of restaurant closures. To help these businesses, Voli decided to partner with small Montenegrin agricultural producers and has since developed core supplier relationships.

 

Without Voli, it would have been almost impossible for these small local producers to reach consumers. The supermarket promotes a local system with fewer steps between grower and consumer. It is committed to paying a fair wage, is community-driven and diverse. The system also supports organic and sustainable farming and promotes transparency ‒ something extended supply chains cannot always do.

 

Voli received donor support from the EU-funded Western Balkan Enterprise Development and Innovation Facility(WBEDIF) combined with financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Innovative Western Balkans tech ideas join EIT Jumpstarter programme

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The EU-funded EU4TECH project announced that four Western Balkans Proof of Concept teams have been selected to join the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Jumpstarter programme. The Serbian Mito-Fert-Signature and Fungpack projects, both from the University of Novi Sad, and the North Macedonian Innopod and ‘Snail Mucus Products’ start-up projects will join a selected group of Jumpstarters who will be offered intensive support to bring their early stage technology ideas to market.
 
Jumpstarter is EIT’s cross-industrial, pre-acceleration flagship programme. With the unique know-how of best-in-class experts and the creative community, the action helps idea-holders turn their ideas into business. EIT Jumpstarter helps innovators and entrepreneurs build a viable business model around their innovative product or service idea. If their business idea is considered sustainable, the EIT Jumpstarter team encourages them to register their company. The programme has a special focus on helping talent from Central Eastern and Southern Europe to validate their business concept, develop a business plan and pitch their ideas to potential future investors.  
The EU4TECH WB PoC Project is funded under multi-country pre-EU accession funds (IPA) to provide hands-on support in taking 40+ promising inventions in the Western Balkans to market.

Feeling proud, more than once a year

Written by WeBalkans on . Posted in Stories.

Touching people’s hearts through activism to support one of the most discriminated community in Albania “Love is the vaccine against homophobia” was the slogan in use this year for the activities celebrating the diversity and pride of all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people in Albania. It was a call from the LGBTI community for understanding and acceptance following what the Alliance Against LGBTQI Discrimination describes as a difficult year, full of uncertainty, fear and isolation during the coronavirus pandemic. The Alliance is one of the lead organisations behind the activism marking the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) which takes place in the week of 17 May.   Xheni Karaj, the Alliance’s Director, has been a leading activist for more than a decade. This year’s initiatives are focusing on public appearances and artistic performances. “Our community needs to know that we are here to support them, and 17 May is the right occasion to come out,” says Karaj. “They shouldn’t feel embarrassed or guilty.”

“The family should be a safe haven [for LGBTQI people]. Through art we strive to win people’s hearts in order to change their minds.”

Among the highlights of the programme, there was a queer monodrama staged at a cultural centre in the capital, Tirana. The play tackled the biggest fears of LGBTQI people in Albania, including self-acceptance, and the importance of being accepted in the family. “The family should be a safe heaven. Through art we strive to win people’s hearts in order to change their minds,” says Karaj. She is the first member of the LGBTQI community in the country to publicly come out to reveal her sexuality as lesbian. Karaj gets motivated in her work by the courage of LGBTI people to challenge the conservative Albanian society. In parallel to raising awareness, the LGBT organisations have also engaged public institutions to commit to strategically ending discrimination against LGBTQI people countrywide. Research shows that twice as many LGBTQI people are targets of discrimination and exclusion compared to the rest of the population. With the support of a joint EU/ Council of Europe programme, the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey, civil society organisations such as the Alliance are able to better bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement institutions. An example of this is the State Police Directory that has appointed contact points with the LGBTQI community and has improved its protocols for reporting cases of hate crime. Occasions of dialogue between the community and police are fostered through the programme initiatives, in Albania as well as throughout the region. The Council of Europe has recently adapted and translated into Albanian a manual to guide police on how to respond professionally to such cases and has also organised activities to build capacity within the force. This manual triggers the setting up of a range of follow up initiatives that will address discrimination, inequality and strengthen inclusion within the police, and in the relation between police and citizens. These initiatives are guided by the EU and Council of Europe standards in respecting and promoting human rights.

“The only time sexual orientation was mentioned during the general election campaign was when political opponents wanted to insult each other.”

  About the programme The action on “Promotion of diversity and equality in Albania” aims at strengthening discrimination mechanisms in the country, including by better promoting/protecting rights of LGBTI persons and combating hate speech, in line with the standards and recommendations by the Council of Europe. Activities also aim to support Albania’s accession negotiations with the European Union in the field of fundamental rights. The programme is financed under the European Union/Council of Europe Horizontal Facility II for the Western Balkans and Turkey (Horizontal Facility II) 2019-2022, a joint effort of the two organizations to meet beneficiaries’ reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards. As part of the fight for a free and equal society for all sexual and gender identities, the Alliance considers that the main institutional challenge is with political parties. Almost ten years ago, with the support of the Council of Europe, changes were proposed to two key laws that allow same-sex marriage and gender recognition for transexual persons. However, the Assembly has never taken these into account. “There is no political will whatsoever,” says Karaj, who seems disappointed but not surprised. The Alliance asked all parties taking part in the 2021 general elections about their plans to improve the position of the LGBTQI community, but with the answer was silence. As Karaj says, “The only time sexual orientation was mentioned during the general election campaign was when political opponents wanted to insult each other”. The NGO developed a public campaign pointing the finger at politicians who used such practices in the recent electoral campaign and over the past year. Such an atmosphere means that community members are put off when reporting abuse, bullying and domestic violence. Nevertheless, according to Xheni Karaj, LGBTQI people in Albania are a resilient community who remain active regardless of the great pressure in everyday life. The community has an online peer support service to provide counselling and legal support. Solidarity with people in need has grown during the pandemic, mainly with the help of donors. The message they all send is “Krenar”. In English it translates as “Proud”.

New call for Young European Ambassadors

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The Young European Ambassadors (YEA) network is launching a new call for applications for young people from the Western Balkans on 10 June. If you are aged between 18 and 29, and want to become a leader of change, make sure to apply!

 

The YEA network launched in August 2020 with 60 game-changers from Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The network promotes diversity and sharing a common vision: learning about one another and the European Union, pursuing creative projects, acquiring new skills, organising inspiring events – always guided by the idea that youth activism is the most powerful tool for social change.

 

The ‘YEAs’ are now a well-known network, sharing information with their peers about opportunities offered by the EU – from education and skills development, to travel, advocacy, and much more.  Hoping for a safer year ahead of us, we are looking forward to welcoming new young leaders, who will inspire change within their communities and across the Western Balkan region and the EU.

 

Applications are open from 10 June until 10 July 2021 and all information about the selection process can be found in the webpage:LINK

‘Green lungs’ driving environmental change in Albania

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Better data, better decisions – a first mapping of air quality carried out with EU support sheds fresh light on Albania’s pollution problem. Now it’s up to decision-makers to act. Albania’s capital, Tirana, is a vibrant city with 850,000 inhabitants, and growing every day. A limited public transport infrastructure prompts residents to drive cars ever more frequently, and the demand for housing has led to a construction industry boom in the last three decades. All this is taking a toll on the levels of air pollution. Without data, Albanians could only make assumptions about the quality of the air that they breathe. The environmental organisation, Milieukontakt, wanted to offer precise information so that better decisions could be made, based on data. Their plan was to measure pollution on a large scale – at over five hundred locations – and at the same time to involve as many people as possible in order to increase awareness of an environmental problem which is invisible but nevertheless makes such an impact.

“Everyone living in Tirana is aware of the poor air quality, but now we have the data to show exactly how bad it is.”

“Everyone living in Tirana is aware of the poor air quality, but now we have the data to show exactly how bad it is,” says Arion Sauku, Project Coordinator for Milieukontakt’s Green Lungs project which was the first to provide such comprehensive data on the problem. The project measured pollution with mobile meters in hundreds of locations across the capital, including the bustling city centre and the busy areas near schools, as well as at stops along Tirana’s longest bus routes. “The greatest air polluters are the transport and construction industries. The levels we’ve measured regularly exceed EU standards. In some cases, they are three to four times higher,” says Sauku. Over a three-year period, and with EU funding, Green Lungs extended its monitoring to three other large cities – Durrës, Elbasan and Shkodër. The results showed the same pollutants, caused by what is most in demand: housing and cars. The European Union has identified depollution, including of water and soil, as one of the main areas that need to be addressed within its Green Agenda for the Western Balkans. This is a new growth strategy aspiring to switch from a traditional economic model to a sustainable economy, in line with the European Green Deal.

“There is plentiful information for decision-makers to act on – we’ve generated data, illustrated maps and narratives to indicate hotspots.”

About the programme The Green Lungs project designed and implemented a platform for monitoring air quality and noise pollution, and evaluating the service provided by urban greenery. Green Lungs was supported by the EU-financed Civil Society and Media programme in Albania which is designed to strengthen cross-sector cooperation between the government and civil society, and to develop the capacity of civil society organisations. Green Lungs’ online database means that anyone in the project cities can identify the air quality hotspots in their neighbourhood and the project has also educated young people about this issue in schools. In addition to air quality measurements, the platform established by Green Lungs also monitored human-made noise pollution and urban greenery. “There is plentiful information on all three components for decisionmakers to act on – we’ve generated data, illustrated maps and narratives to indicate hotspots,” says Sauku.

Basic journalism training for high school students in Kosovo

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BIRN Kosovo is inviting students from Kosovo’s public high schools interested in media production, media literacy and tackling fake news to apply for training sessions on basic journalist skills. This activity is part of the EU-supported ‘Solidifying the Resilience of Kosovo’s Current and Future Journalists’ project. It will include ten training sessions for 200 high school students in a programme that aims to nurture young talent by mentoring students to produce videos, photos and articles.

 

At the end of each training session, youngsters will pitch their journalistic ideas, which the BIRN team will assess before selecting a minimum of 60 video and article pitches that will be published on the online platform KallxoRinia. The production process for all these articles will be overseen by a team of BIRN Kosovo editors.

 

There is currently a promising generation of high school students in Kosovo who have the talent, creative ideas and willingness to engage in investigative journalism. However, the media lacks a specific platform to provide these students with the chance to express their writing and community reporting skills. The main goal of the activity is to lay the path for increased independence, transparency, accountability, and civic engagement for these young people.

EIDHR launches a series of documentaries, “Do We Resemble the EU”

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How have EU Member States been dealing or dealt with the challenges that North Macedonia’s citizens are facing in exercising their rights: as workers, as consumers, as people with disabilities, as members of the LGTBI community…, or simply as individuals entitled to full legal and health protection, including clean air?

 

Documentaries produced with help from the EU are trying to find answers on the spot and to inspire action at home – bearing in mind that respecting human rights is fundamental.

 

This series of ten documentaries “Do We Resemble the EU” is taking a closer look at what living in the EU is like, and how EU countries have overcome or are dealing with some of the same challenges facing the citizens of North Macedonia.

 

Produced by NGO Konfidens from Skopje and its production Balkon3, with the help of the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), the series attempts to detect those pieces of the puzzle that the country is missing, in order to narrow the gap with the EU when it comes to the respect of human rights. The documentaries are being broadcast as of 1 June, on Alsat-M TV in North Macedonia every Tuesday and Friday.

Street performance against corruption in Podgorica

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The Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) organised a street performance in the Montenegrin capital on 2 June to raise awareness about the damage caused by corruption. The event, ‘Whistle or the end!’ is part of an educational and information campaign under an EU-funded regional project –  ‘Breaking the Silence: Enhancing the Whistleblowing Policies and Culture in the Western Balkans and Moldova’.  
The project aims to help the government and non-governmental sector of the beneficiary jurisdictions to improve the disclosure channels and protection mechanisms for whistleblowers; strengthen the capacity of civil society to support whistleblowing; and, enhance public awareness about the importance of whistleblowing in the fight against corruption.

EU funded research shows polarised public trust in the media in BiH

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The EU-funded regional project ‘Resilience: Civil Society for Media Free of Hate and Disinformation,’ recently published results of an opinion poll analysing media trust and media gender issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Conducted by IPSOS, the report reveals a strong polarisation amongst the public in BiH in relation to trust in the media – half of the respondents claimed to not trust the media, while nearly as many claimed the opposite.

 

Results also demonstrate that trust in specific media outlets and public service broadcasters is polarised along ethno-national and political party lines. Results also point to the lack of media and information literacy skills among the respondents, underpinning the need to find systematic solutions for the introduction of media literacy into formal education.

 

The Resilience project is carried out in the Western Balkans and Turkey by a consortium of media development organisations led by South East European Network for Professionalization of Media (SEENPM). The report is part of a series of publications on media trust and gender issues based on research conducted in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey (all available on the SEENPM website).