Dear Friends,
Dear Partners,
As we are approaching the end of a successful year, it gives me a special pleasure to share this message with all of you.
During this year the Western Balkans Fund became a reality, fully operational institution that started to fulfill its own objectives: enhancing regional cooperation processes, supporting the overall human mobility and strengthen the people to people contacts in our Western Balkans Region!
On 22 December 2017, the First WBF Call for Regional Project Proposalswas closed. The results from the call surprised all of us.
We received around 360 project proposals, meaning that we have actively increased cooperation among about 1.300 civil society and nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, universities, cultural, business, artistic, sport associations, etc, from all over the region. The average number of partners per project is 3.7, which show we succeed to reach WBF main goal and core objectives.
Projects they have presented to us are focused various field of work such as culture, education, research, sustainable development, environment protection, sport, etc.
The number of project applications and such a high number of involved organizations is another clear sign that our societies in the region are ready and willing to cooperate!
This approach confirms the willingness to implement the decision of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of WB6 to establish the WBF, as a ground breaking instrument aiming to facilitate and to support this cooperation.
Now, the main task of WBF Secretariat and WBF Committee of Senior Officials is to ensure a very transparent, fair and professional project evaluation process, where awarded projects it is expected to start with the implementation in the year of 2018.
In the name of WBF I would like to assure you, that we will do our best in this regard!
On this occasion, in the name of WBF Secretariat and personally, let me wish all of you a beautiful and prosperous New Year 2018!
Let it be a year of successful people-to-people contacts, regional projects and fruitful collaborations!
Happy New Year Dear Friends!
Looking forward to continue our cooperation in the next year!
Dr. Gjergj Murra
Executive Director
Western Balkans Fund
