The Fund Refocuses its Western Balkans Program Guidelines

The Fund has revised its Western Balkans grantmaking guidelines to reflect the results of a midterm impact assessment of its work and the program’s evolution since the guidelines were last revised in 2010. The guidelines have been streamlined to express one goal: supporting the successful integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union, with four strategies, which correspond to the Fund’s three thematic programs (democratic practice, sustainable development and peacebuilding):

  • Supporting civil society efforts to improve practices, performance, transparency, and accountability in governance.
  • Advancing sustainable development, focusing on an efficient regional energy sector based on renewable energy resources.
  • Strengthening constituencies for reconciliation and enduring peace.
  • Encouraging the development of indigenous philanthropy and corporate social responsibility to support participatory democracy and models of sustainable development.

The Fund has also decided to increase its grantmaking in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, the revised guidelines emphasize attention to regional initiatives and efforts to strengthen the relationships among the program’s core countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. The Fund’s work in the region began in 2001, and the pivotal place program was established in 2003.

View the revised Program Guidelines

Albanian [PDF]  |  Serbian [PDF]