Grants and Grantees / Program Statement and Guidelines / Pivotal Place: Western Balkans Guidelines

Western Balkans Guidelines: Albanian Translation
Western Balkans Guidelines: Serbian Translation
Western Balkans Guidelines:  English (PDF)

The Fund pursues its three program interests—Democratic Practice, Sustainable Development, and Peace and Security—in a variety of geographic contexts. In addition, the Fund has identified several specific locations on which to concentrate cross-programmatic grantmaking attention. The Fund refers to these as RBF "pivotal places": subnational areas, nation-states, or cross-border regions which have special importance with regard to the Fund's substantive concerns and whose future will have disproportionate significance for the future of a surrounding region, an ecosystem, or, indeed, the globe.

While there are many places in the world that might be considered pivotal, the selection of RBF pivotal places is guided by both the Fund's program interests and grantmaking history. These are places where the Fund judges that because of its experience, knowledge, and program interests, its grantmaking could be particularly effective, and where the Fund generally makes a long-term commitment. The Fund's engagement in these places is multidisciplinary, involving two or more RBF program interests. It is also responsive to local needs and priorities; indeed, the Fund may pursue its broad programmatic goals in different ways within each RBF pivotal place.

WESTERN BALKANS

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which has been engaged in grantmaking in the Western Balkans since 2001, will continue to focus primarily on this area, while reserving flexibility to support exceptional regional and cross-frontier efforts.

With limited resources to address complicated and long-term challenges and on the basis of lessons learned in our work to date, the Fund now concentrates its grantmaking in the region on two of its three programmatic themes: Democratic Practice and Sustainable Development. This reflects the Fund's assessment that helping to build tolerant and pluralistic democracy and to promote sustainable development in the region represents top priorities and opportunities for significant impact.

DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE

Goal: Improving the Performance, Accountability, and Transparency of Government through the following strategies:

Strategies:

• Supporting the development and implementation of internal reforms in select government institutions.

• Assisting government officials, parliamentarians, and emerging public sector leaders to acquire the skills necessary for effective governance.

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Goal: Strengthening Constituencies of Citizens Actively Engaged in Building Democracy through the following strategies:

 Strategies:

• Supporting public education and communications activities that promote a deeper understanding of the responsibilities and benefits of open societies and equip citizens to participate in democratic processes.

• Promoting civic engagement of youth, including leadership development activities and efforts to insert fresh ideas into public life at all levels of society.

• Strengthening civil society as an essential component of a robust democratic political culture.

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 

Goal: Supporting Efforts to Nurture Economically, Ecologically, and Socially Sustainable Urban and Rural Communities through Processes that Actively Engage Diverse Stakeholders through the following strategies:

Strategies:

• Fostering experimentation with urban, rural, and regional planning processes that actively engage the public.

• Promoting inclusive collaborations to promote the wise use of natural and cultural resources.

• Assisting efforts to integrate into formal education and life-long learning the knowledge, values, and skills needed for sustainable development.

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