European Policy Centre – CEP, in cooperation with partner organizations from 6 Western Balkan countries and Europe, held the regional kick-off meeting of the joint EU-funded project "Western Balkans Enabling Project for Civil Society Monitoring of Public Administration Reform (WeBER)“.
Six think tanks from Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are gathered within the Think for Europe Network. In the framework of the WeBER project, the network of partner organizations will jointly implement activities, aiming to enable civil society and the media to improve their understanding of the importance of reforms and monitoring of the reform process in the context of EU accession and building of modern and efficient public administrations in the region. The participation of the European Policy Centre (EPC), a renowned think tank from Brussels, in the project will additionally increase visibility and publicity of the project results at the European level.
The WeBER Project, supported by the European Union with 1.3 million Euros, is dedicated to the strengthening of competences and participation of the civil society and the media in the public administration reform process and public policy dialogue, including enhancement of the media reporting on PAR in respective countries.
"European Commission’s Enlargement Strategy highlights public administration reform as one of the three pillars of fundamental reforms in the early in the enlargement process. This is the reason why this project is so relevant for all participating countries, especially having in mind common challenges faced by civil society, media and governments in the region during the public administration reform process", said Milena Lazarević, Programme Director in CEP.
The WeBER regional kick-off meeting was dedicated to the different implementation issues, including planning and prioritization of activities, development of project communication and monitoring processes, financial management and development of the project's visibility plan.
The project will last three years and is supported by the European Commission within „The Civil Society Facility and Media Programme 2014-2015 – Support to Regional Thematic Networks of CSOs". The membership of the Think for Europe Network, besides CEP, includes European Policy Institute (EPI), Macedonia, Institute Alternative (IA), Montenegro, Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), Albania, Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Group for Legal and political studies (GLPS), Kosovo and European Policy Centre (EPC), Belgium.