Influencing Regional Policies

In 2022, WBF starts with the implementation of the new element of support Diversified Grant Portfolio (DGP) towards joint initiatives that impact regional cooperation in the Western Balkans. Through the diversification of its grant-making, WBF aims to fill some of these gaps and meet more of the growing appetite for people-to-people links, by providing additional opportunities for funding beyond the annual calls. This will enable the Fund to support various types of actors engaging in regional exchange and cooperation, to pursue meaningful opportunities and respond to the demands of civil society and constituents in the Western Balkans. Moreover, with the implementation of Diversified Grant Portfolio, WBF provides access to various actors looking to collaborate and learn on a regional level, in a way that is needs-driven and strategically responsive.

The main objective of the Diversified Grants Portfolio (DGP) is to provide meaningful and consistent access to tailored support programs to civil society, educational, cultural and other actors who engage in regional collaboration, to strengthen the regional social infrastructure for cross-border people-to people cooperation and advance regional interdependence, thus contributing to reconciliation, peace, and stability in the Western Balkans. This objective is backed by the Fund’s theory of change and is rooted in the belief that through direct support to a broad variety of stakeholders and a variety of tools, the Fund creates and mobilises both the capacity and the demand for closer regional cooperation and partnership. Thus with the growing scale, visibility and acceptance of successful regional initiatives, coupled with a growing awareness that project support, in part, comes from the Contracting Parties themselves, the notion of regional cooperation will be normalised and celebrated.