BiH assumes chairmanship of the Western Balkans Fund

(Patria) - The official marking of the start of Bosnia and Herzegovina's one-year chairmanship of the Western Balkans Fund (WBF) in 2024 was held today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of BiH.

The host of the meeting was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, Josip Brkić, with the presence of the Fund's Executive Director, Gjergj Murra, and representatives of the Fund's Council of Senior Officials.

In addition to representatives of civil society organizations from BiH as beneficiaries of the Western Balkans Fund, the meeting was attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps in BiH, ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions of EU member states and contracting parties of the Fund, based in BiH, as well as Japan, Switzerland, and Norway, and the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH, along with other representatives of international organizations.

In his address, which opened the meeting, Brkić emphasized that the event was organized with the aim of strengthening the visibility of the WBF, so that more civil society organizations and young people in BiH become acquainted with the Fund's work and the possibilities for financing their ideas and projects.

- Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the chair of the WBF in 2024, also wishes to promote the significance of the Fund in the wider international community - added Brkić.

Gjergj Murra presented the Fund's work results to date and its vision for further development. He emphasized that there is room to do more, as reality shows how similar we are in this region.

Representatives of a number of civil society organizations from BiH, previous grant beneficiaries of the Fund, shared their positive experiences with the attendees and presented projects they had implemented in the past period through WBF financing.

At the end of the meeting, Brkić presented grant award certificates to representatives of civil society organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina whose projects were selected in the WBF's last public call.

The contracting parties of the WBF are the Western Balkan six, and the Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs is the main body of the WBF. The primary goal of the WBF is focused on strengthening reconciliation and mutual cooperation in the region.

The Fund finances civil society projects in the areas of promoting cultural cooperation, research and cooperation in education, scientific exchange, and sustainable development.

Public calls for projects are published once a year, and the value of individual projects is up to 15,000 euros.

In addition, the WBF awards MOVE grants, which enable individuals to participate in research or conferences in one of the contracting parties.

When awarding grants, equal geographical distribution is taken into account, so that organizations and institutions from our country always receive one-sixth of the approved projects.

The Fund is financed by contributions from the contracting parties, as well as donations from partner countries and organizations.