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Author: WeBalkans

Call for proposals to promote diversity and intercultural dialogue at the local level in Serbia

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The Council of Europe has opened a call for applications by civil society organisations (CSOs) and local government institutions who have project ideas focused on promoting the rights of national/ethnic minorities and LGBTI persons and their protection from hate speech and hate-motivated violence. Preference will be given to proposals which demonstrate strong collaboration and partnership between CSOs and local/municipal authorities.

EU supports the recovery of entrepreneurs and farmers in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

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The EU4Business Recovery project, worth €13.7 million, will secure more than 1,000 jobs threatened by the pandemic, and at least 100 new jobs will be created. The project will support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to continue in business and keep jobs, and will also focus on helping women entrepreneurs, young people and other vulnerable groups to start up their own businesses.

 

Alongside this initiative, the EU4AGRI Recovery project, worth €5 million, will provide direct support to farmers, businesses and rural tourism operators to develop long-term resilience in the sector, retain existing jobs and create new ones, especially for women and youth. The project will ensure the retention of more than 400 jobs, while creating at least 100 new jobs with a focus on the environment and sustainable agriculture. Additionally, the project will provide support for establishing 20 new innovative and environmentally responsible start-ups.

 

Grants for farmers and entrepreneurs will be provided through an open call for proposals.

The European Union continues to assist Serbia in the management of migration flow

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Refugees and migrants in Serbia will continue to receive support for accommodation, food, medical, and pedagogical services, as well as help in returning to their countries of origin, where appropriate, through the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Programme. The EU Support to Serbia for Migration Management for 2021 is worth €13 million, and is part of a programme of similar support extended over the last five years. Since 2015, when the increased influx of migrants to Serbia’s territory began, the EU has donated to Serbia over €130 million for migration management.

 

The ongoing EU Support to Migration Management in Serbia has proved to be a key and resilient programme during the COVID-19 pandemic when, at its peak in 2020, the number of migrants accommodated in reception centres and asylum centres exceeded 9,000.  In addition, the EU has supported Serbia with more than €28 million to control its borders efficiently, thus contributing to Serbian citizens’ safety, making border crossings safer and preventing criminal activities, while ensuring swift crossing of travellers and goods.

Serbia’s 83-year-old volunteer heroine

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Danica Šmic from Serbia contributes as a volunteer by staying in touch with older people who need help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Danica Šmic was born in Belgrade in 1937 and survived the city’s bombing by hiding in the basement of the building where she lived with her parents. She is a retired physics and mathematics teacher with two sons; she is also a volunteering heroine, with more than 50 years of charity work helping people in trouble.
“Volunteering is one of my great pleasures. I love visiting people who are living alone, so that they don’t feel lonely or forgotten,” says Danica, who completed a course to become a volunteer Red Cross nurse in 1970, and hasn’t stopped actively participating in public life ever since – during both war and peace. “If we want this world to be a better, more just and humane place to live, the first step is to volunteer, to help one another, not only during pandemics or floods. It should be an everyday part of our lives.” Danica has stayed active during the COVID-19 pandemic: she writes and publishes and stays in touch with older people who need help, or who feel lonely, scared or rejected by the community.  

“Older people are not a burden for society: society can benefit from them.”

During over half a century of activism and volunteering, Danica has been an advocate of older people’s rights: “Older people are not a burden for society: society can benefit from them, but intergenerational solidarity is especially important, and this has become evident during the coronavirus pandemic. Coronavirus didn’t stop us from helping each other, and we still managed to volunteer, but in a different way, and intergenerational solidarity helped us to contact each other and to learn from each other.” This volunteer says that everyone must find their “inner volunteer” and help people in their neighbourhood as much as they can. Family and school are particularly important when it comes to building these habits among children and young people: “I think that there should be lessons about volunteering and solidarity and that people should engage in these activities from an early age. We are a nation that loves, knows how to and wants to help one another, but we also tend to forget things very quickly.”

“I am so happy because of the photo, I’m speechless. With all kinds of success and praise comes even greater joy, but even greater responsibility. This inspires you, and it is an incentive for you to continue working.”

This project was funded through a larger-scale project, Priority Action for Gender Equality – implemented in partnership with UN Women and the EU Delegation to Serbia – which aims to strengthen administrative capacities for gender equality and achieve progress in implementation of EU and national gender equality commitments through gender mainstreaming.     Danica appeared in a photograph titled “At a bus stop – a volunteer on her way to visit a dependent elderly person” which won first prize in the Best EU Project Photo category in the Human in Focus contest organised by the EU Delegation to Serbia in partnership with National Geographic Serbia The photograph was submitted by a project called “Increased Participation of Older Women in Public and Political Life”, implemented by Citizens Association Amity in partnership with FemPlatz organisation. She says “I am so happy because of the photo, I’m speechless. With all kinds of success and praise comes even greater joy, but even greater responsibility. This inspires you, and it is an incentive for you to continue working.

The digital economy: an opportunity during a crisis

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Young people in Kosovo and Montenegro launch social innovation and enter the digital economy with the support of an EU-funded project. Global and national virus containment measures, from social distancing to business shutdowns, have reduced household incomes and consumption, triggering an economic crisis all over the world. The Western Balkans are no exception in this regard: the World Bank’s Western Balkans Regular Economic Report: Fall 2020, predicted that economic activity in the region will contract by 4.8 per cent overall in 2020, causing a more severe recession than the most recent global financial crisis. At the same time, the pandemic has also opened up new opportunities. A brief on e-commerce in the time of COVID-19 published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development identifies how the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated an expansion of e-commerce towards new firms, customers and types of products. A promising initiative that could turn into a big business Miloš Laković, 27, is a high school teacher and part-time entrepreneur from Montenegro. He is one of the visionaries who saw the pandemic crisis as an opportunity. Miloš had a business idea for an online platform that would connect providers and users of services. The idea was there for some time, but the pandemic made him think more seriously about it and take the initiative to launch it. “As a schoolteacher, I know that many of my colleagues provide private courses after working hours. The situation imposed by the pandemic made me think ‘why not promote and provide these services online?’ and I decided to develop this idea further,” Miloš says.

“As a schoolteacher, I know that many of my colleagues provide private courses after working hours. The situation imposed by the pandemic made me think ‘why not promote and provide these services online”

As time went on, Miloš and his team came up with more types of services – beyond private teaching – that could be marketed through the platform, from art sales to cosmetics. They are now at the final stage of their market research and will soon start work on the development of the platform. Miloš explains that a lot of the credit for further developing this initiative goes to the support that he received from participating in the workshops provided by the EU-funded project, Self-Employment and Social Entrepreneurship for Youth. “By participating in these workshops, we managed to develop the idea further and take it to a level of real entrepreneurial initiative,” he says.

“By participating in these workshops, we managed to develop the idea further and take it to a level of real entrepreneurial initiative”

The Self-Employment and Social Entrepreneurship for Youth project is implemented within the IPA 2014-2020 Cross-Border Cooperation Program Montenegro – Kosovo, funded by the European Union. The project is being implemented by the civil society organisations Association for Democratic Prosperity – Zid, Lens, Liberal Democrat Centre and Creative Skills’ Center. The project started back in January 2019, and it is expected to end at the beginning of 2021.
I2 Space – a place of innovation
The purpose of the project is to improve access to the labour market for young people in Montenegro and Kosovo. The core of the project idea is the establishment of physical environments in a format known as Hackerspace –equipping these spaces with the necessary tools, and providing training and mentorship for young people on social innovation and digital technology. The project established two such spaces: one in Peja/Peć in Kosovo and another in Podgorica, Montenegro. The spaces were named I2 Space.  
During the two years of the project, more than 200 young people have benefited from I2 Space activities both in Peja/Peć and Podgorica. A number of them have already started to earn through employment or by providing freelance services. The project provided courses and mentorship programmes on coding and web customisation, 3D Printing and electronics, digital marketing, graphic design and photography.  
Božina Stešević is a project manager at the civil society organisation Association for Democratic Prosperity – Zid, the lead partner of the project from Montenegro. He says that one of the main achievements of the project is the conception and effective functioning of the I2 Space community itself. “There is this inner circle of I2 Space users who cooperate among themselves and do this in a common physical space. Then there is the circle of all young people who have participated in the training; and last, but not least, there is a wider circle which connects young people from both sides of the border who are already cooperating in exchanging ideas and business perspectives and also on breaking down prejudices.”  
One-to-one mentorship was one of the crucial components of the project. As part of this, the participants were expected to develop innovative business start-up prototype ideas that have the potential to develop further. To date, applicants of the program have prototyped 23 start-up ideas, including the brainchild of Miloš.

Coming together and eating together in Prizren, Kosovo

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A group of organisations from Kosovo are introducing innovative ways to present cultural heritage as a contemporary experience to be lived and enjoyed. Prizren is considered the cultural capital of Kosovo because of its history and abundance of cultural heritage. The city has a rich traditional food heritage too, including leqenik cornbread, local cheese, and meat-based dishes such as tavë, and sarma. Yet these delicious foods are not accessible for most visitors. They are part of a regular home menu for families in Prizren but are rarely found in the restaurants. A group of civil society organisations has taken the initiative to present this delicious hidden treasure even to visitors who don’t have friends in Prizren. The idea is simple: an online app presenting a range of traditional food and the households where this food can be tasted in return for a fee. In this way, apart from tasting the traditional food, the visitor will also be able to glimpse traditional family life and enjoy the interior décor of Prizren’s historic houses.

“The idea of the hub is to gather from various sectors the organisations that are active in the field of cultural heritage, and to create synergies”

This is just one of the projects coming very soon from a group of organisations who are part of a heritage co-creation hub. The hub was initiated by the EU-funded ILUCIDARE project with the aim of bringing together local cultural organisations to facilitate knowledge transfer, experimentation, and cross-sector collaboration. The project also aims to influence the economic and social development of the city by highlighting its cultural and artistic potential. Erëmirë Krasniqi is the Executive Director of Oral History Kosovo, one of the hub’s members. “The idea of the hub is to gather from various sectors the organisations that are active in the field of cultural heritage, and to create synergies” she explains. Making intangible heritage tangible Prizren has remarkable architectural gems, and its heritage sites are testimony of diverse cultural influences and traditions. However, the city also has a very rich intangible heritage – notably its crafts (in particular dowry embroidery,[tapestry and filigree ), music and gastronomy. “We are used to seeing Prizren as old mosques and churches, but we have very little guidance for enjoying other things such as music, food, and filigree. Our idea is to enable people to understand cultural heritage not only as something from the past but as a contemporary thing that you can touch, taste, experience and enjoy,” Erëmirë says. Erëmirë also explains that one of the goals of the heritage hub is to capture this type of local momentum. “If there is an idea or an opportunity we can support and boost it and use the hub as a sort of a lab where the ideas pour in, are tested, and further developed with our collaboration and professional support.The ultimate vision is to magnify the voice of cultural heritage organisations, and increase our presence and the volume of the projects in the field of cultural heritage,” she says ILUCIDARE is a three-year project funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. The project is led by the University of Leuven (Belgium) and brings together eight international partners The project aims to promote heritage-led innovation and heritage-led international cooperation.

“We are really in constant dialogue; we are co-creating ideas, and I think that is important.”

The project is being implemented across four continents, with locations including Western Europe, the Western Balkans, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South America. The project wants its long-term impact to be establishing the first global network of practitioners promoting heritage-led innovation and international relations worldwide. Promoting heritage-led international cooperation across the globe The Cultural Heritage without Borders NGO is the project’s partner in the Western Balkans. As well as the heritage-led innovation coming from its hub, their project has an initiative focused on heritage-led international cooperation. Specifically, they are mapping and recording the kullas (traditional stone houses) in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro and preparing a case for them to be included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Dr Aziliz Vandesande is a postdoctoral researcher at the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation at the Catholic University of Leuven and is the project’s technical coordinator. She explains that in developing the project they wanted to embrace a new concept of international relations. “What fits much better is the idea of knowledge exchange. We are really in constant dialogue; we are co-creating ideas, and I think that is important,” she says.

‘Peace Highway’ moving forward with EU support

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Earlier this week, Serbia agreed an additional €85 million loan with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the construction of the Niš – Pločnik part of the “Peace Highway”. The highway will connect the cities of Niš in Serbia and Pristina (Kosovo), further promoting and improving regional integration in the Western Balkans.

 

Sem Fabrizi, EU Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, said: “I welcome the signing of the loan with the EBRD as another concrete step in the realisation of this important project. The “Peace Highway” is one of the bridges for the peace and reconciliation in the Western Balkans. It will boost economic cooperation and recovery and make the region more prosperous by delivering better connectivity between people.”

 

The EU has already mobilised substantial financial resources for the construction of this highway by providing a €40.6 million grant for lot one of the Niš – Pločnik section, as well as a €9.6 million grant for the preparation of project documentation through the Western Balkans Investment Framework. In addition, the construction of the Niš – Pločnik section is co-financed with a €100 million preferential loan by the European Investment Bank.

 

With the latest loan of up to €85 million from the EBRD, construction of the section between the cities of Niš and Pločnik is moving forward. The first works tender for this section is to be launched in December 2020 while the tender for supervision services is ongoing.

 

The “Peace Highway” is one of the flagship investment projects within the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans. The plan supports major road and railway connections in order to create a better connection between the economies of the Western Balkans and with the EU.

Bridging the digital divide for the most vulnerable children in Serbia

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The “Bridging Digital Divide for Most Vulnerable Children” project was launched today by the Head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Sem Fabrizi, the Serbian Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development, Branko Ružić, and UNICEF Representative in Serbia, Deyana Kostadinova.

 

COVID-19 has caused significant disruption to education, affecting an entire generation of students. For this reason, the Ministry, the European Union and UNICEF have joined forces to bridge the digital divide for some of the most vulnerable children in Serbia through education system support, the provision of open-source educational resources and technical equipment, and through school-based activities aimed at improving children’s learning outcomes. The EU-funded project is worth €2 million and will be implemented in 30 municipalities across Serbia.

 

In the opening remarks of the event, EU Ambassador to Serbia, Sem Fabrizi said: “The EU stands ready to continue helping Serbia to address the most urgent needs caused by COVID-19. Education is for us a priority. We need adapting the education system to the needs emerging from a distance and online learning and avoiding no one is left behind. The most pressing need is to ensure equal access to education, particularly for the underprivileged students who are affected the most in this emergency situation.”

 

The project is an essential element in the response to bridging the digital divide. By supplying 30 schools in Serbia with 1,800 tablets, as well as with other educational resources and support, this project will help the education system to adapt to the new challenges posed by COVID, and build the necessary digital resilience for the future.

 

The project will ensure that at national level there is further development of an inclusive e-learning system and institutions’ strengthened capacity for its delivery, management and monitoring. This includes further development of the technical capacities of the distance learning platform and supporting the development of its content.

EU Delegation joins global campaign for the elimination of violence against women

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The Delegation and other official buildings and landmarks in Skopje lit up orange on 25 November, sending a message about a future without violence. This year, the traditional UN campaign on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women started amid reports that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased domestic violence across the world. The situation was alarming enough before the lockdown measures: one in three women in Europe had experienced physical and/or sexual violence, which went largely unreported. In much of the world, safety and protection measures for victims are limited and legislation on violence against women remains insufficient.

 

According to UN data, 45% of surveyed women and girls in North Macedonia stated that they had experienced some form of violence.

 

The campaign aims to highlight that the scale and true nature of this issue is often hidden, and to call for action since, as the EU Ambassador to North Macedonia David Geer stressed in his video message, “violence against women is violence against all”.

 

The start of this year’s campaign saw another important step on the part of the EU to tackle the issue – the launch of the new EU Gender Action Plan, an ambitious agenda for gender equality and women’s empowerment in the EU’s external action.

 

“Change is possible, but it requires action, commitment and determination. The EU is committed to continue to work tirelessly with its partners to investigate and punish acts of violence, ensure support for victims, and at the same time to address the root causes and reinforce the legal framework,” the European Commission and High Representative / Vice-President Josep Borrell said in a joint statement on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Happy first birthday, Europe House!

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Over 100 in-house events, with more than 3,400 participants and over 120 guest speakers – these are some of the achievements of the first year of Skopje’s Europe House. Designed as a place for young people to get together, network and develop ideas on how to shape a better future for themselves and North Macedonia, Europe House’s success has inspired the Delegation to open similar hubs in other towns.

 

Musicians performing jazz, painters creating live art, and mime artists telling stories without words… This is how Europe House’s window displays entertained passers-by and a huge audience on Facebook on the occasion of its first birthday, in a time of pandemic.

 

On 4 November 2019, European Parliament President David Sassoli inaugurated Europe House with the message: “Young people, this is a place for you to get together, exchange ideas and connect with other people so that you create fresh opportunities for yourselves and your country.”

 

One year later, Europe House has every reason to be proud of what it has achieved. In addition to many in-house events and those outside its premises (such as visits to high schools and environment clean-up campaigns all over the country), Europe House has organised online debates, live streams and podcasts as a way to maintain its work during the pandemic.

 

Obviously, COVID-19 also defined the format of the birthday programme. The full-day programme was not confined to performances as part of Europe House’s window displays: a mobile application was launched. Called “Virtual Europe House” it was designed for young people to organise, share or take part in events they were interested in. Ambassador David Geer and the recently selected ten Young European Ambassadors from North Macedonia also debated the challenges of the new generation. The programme wrapped up with an online night party with a local DJ.

 

Europe House plans to celebrate its next birthday in more premises, with even more activities and opportunities for young people. Following the overwhelmingly positive feedback to the work of Europe House in Skopje, it is planned to open Europe Houses in Kriva Palanka and Strumica shortly.