At the WBF, the visibility and impact of our actions is of a crucial importance.
Promoting regional cooperation is a crucial component of the Fund’s mission. We believe that an enhanced visibility is very important for creating the de-facto solidarity that will support wide-scale cooperation and the reconciliation process in the Western Balkans Area.
As a matter of fact, since the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, consecutive Chairmanship-in-Office of the Fund have turned visibility into a top priority of their agendas.
This emphasis has supported a more inclusive, and ever-more present Fund in the Region. In the reporting period of this annual report, we have experienced important growth in all the key visibility parameters.
In the social media, in 2025, our reach has surpassed 5 million, which is an exponential increase compared to around 1.2 million reported in the previous report.
This number is divided in a reach of 4.4 million in Facebook, over 880K in Instagram and almost 150K in Linkedin.
PUBLIC EVENTS
During the 2025, an unprecedented number of grants resulted in a sharp increase of regional activities.
The unprecedented number of Call for Proposals also generated a sharp increase in the Regional Informative Sessions, Fairs or Info Days that the Fund organized in many locations.
Furthermore, new flagship initiatives, like the EU co-funded Regional Networking and Dialogue Sessions, the Regional Impact Lab and the cooperation with the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation (AICS) in the framework of the “Culture and Creativity for Western Balkans” project, brought the Fund to many new locations in our Region.
Another important type of event has been the participation at opportunities Fairs, most for example the EU projects fair in Belgrade and Tirana.
In total, over 1,000 stakeholders and individuals have been included directly by events organized directly by the Fund, with more in relation to the WBF-supported events.
COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
The reporting period has been remarkable in terms of the growth of our communicating channels.
57,000 individuals have visited our website since last year, an increase from around 48,000 individuals of the previous year.
Most of the visitors browsed the different opportunities shared by the Fund, or received different information, such as the one about our success stories, our EU, etc.
On social media, we continued to grow. The fastest growing channel is our professional channel in LinkedIn, where we share unique information about the job opportunities, our grants or success stories.
In Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube and X channels, where we are also present, we also recorded growth during the reporting period.
With over 35k followers in the social media combined, the Western Balkans Fund ranks in the top list of similar regional organisations and likeminded regional partners.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
Public events, selected projects and success stories have been transmitted in the mainstream media, including regional televisions, news portals, televisions, magazines, radio, etc.
Often, the content of the stories is focused around the concrete projects that have been under implementation in a specific region.
Our work was singled out by WeBalkans, the dedicated EU portal.
Moreover, the media has been present in the conferences and other events organized directly by the Fund, as well as different initiatives where we have participated as funders or speakers.
An important part of this effort has been also the participation of selected members of the staff at different talk formats or podcasts.
Among the media that have shared our content are the national public televisions, Radio Free Europe, N1 Network, Vijesti, etc.
WBF REPRESENTATION AND NETWORKING
The Western Balkans Fund has successfully participated or monitored in field the absolute majority of the grants.
There have been over 70 representative or monitoring visits in all over the Region in this reporting cycle.
However, this chapter is focused only on the most important international events and meetings with institutional stakeholders or likeminded partners.
PARTNERSHIP PLATFORM
At the Western Balkans Fund, we take pride in being more than a grant-awarding institution. We are also a proactive facilitator of regional partnerships, a role we have embraced with growing determination.
Our WBF Partnership Platform on Facebook, with over 3,500 active members, has already contributed to the formation of hundreds of partnerships, many of which successfully applied for and received WBF grants.
This simple, community-driven space has proven that targeted matchmaking across borders is not only possible, it is deeply needed.
Building on this success, we have now completed a dedicated, professional online platform that will further strengthen regional cooperation.
The upcoming platform aims to become a comprehensive partnership hub, serving not only WBF Calls for Proposals, but also the wider ecosystem of civil society organisations, public institutions, educational entities, and individuals across the Region.
As part of this work, WBF has conducted in-depth research on similar matchmaking platforms, examining both successful models and common pitfalls, in order to define the most suitable design.
Technical consultations, specification drafting, and preliminary negotiations with service providers have also been carried out.
Although the platform will not be operational during the two Calls foreseen in Joint Action Phase II, it is expected to be completed and fully functional before the end of the Action.
Once live (in January 2026), it will enable users across the Western Balkans to connect, collaborate, and co-create regional initiatives with greater ease and long-term potential.
This new development reaffirms our long-standing belief: cooperation begins with connection and WBF remains at the heart of it.
