For this year’s International Women’s Day on 8 March, WeBalkans and the Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) teamed up to promote the #BreakTheBias campaign.They did this through reels and other social media content and street actions across the Western Balkans including in Banja Luka, Belgrade, Kumanovo, Niš, Novi Sad, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, and Tirana.

Over 1,500 women participated in street action activities aiming to break the bias of gender stereotypes. The included stopping women on the street and asking them to answer questions such as “Who am I as a woman in the Western Balkans?” and “How do you describe yourself as a woman?” and writing their answers on the totems placed by the YEAs on the street.

Some of the messages that women wrote on totems as part of the action, included: “I would like to see more equality”, “Wonderful”, “Never stronger”, “I am a woman in science”, and “Proud”.

The WeBalkans YEA network was launched in August 2020 as part of the Regional Communication Programme for the Western Balkans (WeBalkans), managed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR). The platform is a creative network of future young game-changers from across the Western Balkans. These 120 visionary young people are interested in learning about EU values and promoting the opportunities that the EU offers, but also advocate for topics such as gender equality, intercultural learning, environment protection and human rights.