In September 2018, WFD launched the three-year Western Balkans Democracy Initiative to strengthen political parties, parliamentary practice and democratic institutions in the region. In Kosovo, we worked with political parties on a series of internal reforms in line with European standards.
Our programme of support followed on from a 2016 project, in partnership with the British Embassy in Pristina that worked with political parties.
Like many countries in the region, democratic reform in Kosovo is motivated by the European Union integration process, however the current pace of realising reforms is slow.
Support for democracy is a central focus of international assistance, but security and stability is often prioritised. This resulted in a political scene which is highly polarised with political parties having limited connection to ideology, frequent stalemates and lack of genuine democratic processes.
Political parties are central to the governance challenges countries face and their effectiveness can make-or-break reforms. In Kosovo, we are supporting political parties to meet European standards with regards to democracy, rule of law, transparency and ideology.
We will also work with the Central Election Commission to set up a new Political Party Office. This will help increase the credibility and authority of the Commission when it comes to working with political parties. Developing criteria and guidelines for new members of staff as well as coaching for office management will help improve compliance by political parties. Currently political party compliance with the Commission’s guidance is poor.
Around the globe, women are one of the most underrepresented groups in politics and decision-making. Even when women are equally or close to equally represented in politics this is due to special provisions such as quotas. While Montenegro has legally introduced an electoral gender quota for in 2012, the number of politically active women remains […]
In recent years, the development of coastal regions in the Republic of Albania has taken a priority for the government and the private sector. Often, such developmental plans do not consider the environmental impact they might have for the specific area and beyond. The affected communities and other stakeholders are not included in the consultation […]
Since the establishment of the Human Rights and Gender Equality Network of Committees (HUGEN) in the Western Balkans in 2019, more than 200 members of parliaments and 40 parliamentary staff members, from 8 participating parliaments, have been cooperating on improving human rights and gender laws and policies. Through HUGEN, a regional pilot process of post-legislative […]
