The inaugural ceremony of the “Support to the promotion of Civil Society regional actions in the Western Balkans,” a regional project co-funded by the European Union, through IPA – Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, and implemented by the Western Balkans Fund (WBF), was held today in Tirana.

During the ceremony, the EU Ambassador to Tirana, H.E. Luigi Soreca, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, H.E. Olta Xhaçka, the  North Macedonia Ambassador to Albania, H.E. Dancho Markovski, and the WBF Executive Director, Gjergj Murra delivered keynote speeches.

In his remarks, Mr. Soreca emphasized the importance of regional cooperation for the future of the Western Balkans. “The action that we kick off today is indeed designed to increase the participation of grassroots organisations in the regional cooperation, in view of good neighbourly relations and reconciliation. We consider civil society in the region as an essential and reliable partner, and we recognise the multiple roles civil society plays”, underlined Mr. Soreca.

The Western Balkans Fund has currently opened the application through its webpage https://wbfportal.org/applicant/. Eligible subjects from the WB6 can be awarded up to €15,000 in grants.

Civil Society organisations are the primary beneficiaries of EU/WBF joint action, but eligible potential grantees include associations, foundations, not-for-profit organisations, regional networks, local and regional public entities, or business associations. In four years of its existence, the Western Balkans Fund, as a regionally owned body created by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the region, has become a home for aggregated data and evidence that demonstrate the impact and value of regional cooperation on the communities it assists.  In the previous regional calls (2017-2020), the WBF attracted 890 applications from CSOs and other stakeholders, directly including 3,430 organizations, reaching out to more than 10,000 citizens.