WFD Western Balkans

A new round of "Do we hear each other?" mock elections for youth in Serbia is coming! Election day simulation and workshops on democracy and importance of the right to vote will happen in: Subotica, Sombor, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Valjevo, Cacak, Sjenica, and Nis. See you soon!

Bila je ovo veoma uzbudljiva nedelja za mene i moju porodicu - dolazak u #Beograd, preuzimanje dužnosti #UK ambasadora #uSrbiji, prvi intervju… Pogledajte ovaj kratki film. Želim da gradim moderne i pozitivne odnose između 🇬🇧&🇷🇸 i voleo bih da čujem vaše mišljenje o tome.

Last week, the PM’s Trade Envoy to the WB, Mr. Martin Vickers MP visited BiH and together with HE Julian Reilly, joined our policy development dialogue with members of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH and met with Prime Minister of the Sarajevo Canton, Mr. Nihad.

The report provides an overview on the perspectives of gendered political financing and good practices found around the world, and analysis the current legal framework in Albania and combines provisions for political financing and transparency rb.gy/xous6

Democracy requires constructive & respectful dialogue between all parts of society. Last night I met 🇧🇦 politicians to discuss the challenges of #hatespeech & deteriorating public discourse. 🇬🇧 is working with @WFD_Democracy to build democratic resilience. #UKCSSF @WBDemocracy

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, our mentorship and networking programme brought together 40 women leaders. Thanks to participants, as of 2023, registration of small businesses will be free in the Tuzla Canton. #30YearsOfImpact Read more in our annual review: wfd.org/annual-review-…

MP Morton and the 🇷🇸-🇬🇧 friendship group discussed areas for strengthening bilateral parliamentary cooperation between the UK and Serbia. Science, education, gender equality, and infrastructure were recognised as some of the fields to which parliaments can jointly contribute.

@morton_wendy met the 🇷🇸 Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlic and representatives of the parliamentary 🇷🇸-🇬🇧 friendship group. Future interparliamentary relations' advancement and previous cooperation through this Group and the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for 🇷🇸 were discussed.

@HouseofCommons MP @morton_wendy visited Belgrade 🇷🇸 this week. MP Morton, accompanied by @WFD_Democracy ’s team in Serbia, met with parliamentary officials, HM Embassy staff, and UK-Serbia relations experts.

WFD Regional Director for ECA Christopher Levick visits North Macedonia and met with the SAO Auditor General Maksim Acevski, and deputy Ohran Ademi who shared work on public visibility, transparency and the accountability. WFD and SAO will continue their cooperation in the future

The debate served to facilitate a discussion on the proposal by the Union of High School students, gathered the recommendations of students and institutions and will be followed by a working group that will develop the law.

High-school organizing should be guaranteed by law. This is one of the conclusions of yesterday’s debate in the Parliament or RNM, organized by the MPs Club for Youth Affairs and Policies. 🇲🇰🇬🇧

The service is available at: facebook.com/profile.php?id… You can find out more about the problems deaf people face and the initative for sign language accessibility in this article by 360 Stepeni: 360stepeni.mk/video-da-chuja…

For the first time, deaf people in 🇲🇰 will get access to health care with sign language, thanks to the service Moe Zdravje. This is the result of successful advocacy by a group of students from “Partenija Zografski”, with WFD and 🇬🇧 support.

What can be learnt from the delivery of local services to citizens during the pandemic and how can municipalities be more resilient to future crises? These topics were discussed at the event organized by the State Audit Office in North Macedonia 🇲🇰, with WFD and 🇬🇧 support.

MPs Monika Zajkova, Marija Petrusevska, Marija Kocovska, Jovan Jauleski and Darko Kaevski took part in visits with mayors of Strumica, Bosilovo, Vasilevo and Novo Selo, the culture-information centre Bosilovo and Europe House Strumica, to see local youth policies first hand.

Тhe needs of young people were in the focus of the meetings of the MPs members of the parliamentary Club on Youth Affairs from 🇲🇰 held with the mayors and young people in the Strumica region. The MPs cooperate to ensure representation and advocacy for young people in Parliament.

The School is organized by the Presidential Centre for Political Education in North Macedonia, with support from WFD as one of the participating organisations, alongside KAS, FES, IRI, NDI and Foundation 2025.

We congratulate the participants of the School of Policies hosted by President Stevo Pendarovski for completing the programme. We sincerely hope that these young leaders will remain socially active and contribute to the advancement of democracy.

“As an MP I want to change the lives of young people in the country, to improve conditions, to reform education and health care, improve representation of women in the legislative, executive and judiciary” - MP Fisnike Bektishi Shaqiri #WorldParliamentDay 3/3