The Western Balkans Democracy Initiative (WBDI) works with eight parliaments, public institutions, political parties and civil society organisations across six countries to improve representation of women, young people and persons with disability in political processes that impact on their lives. WBDI will support political parties to make their internal structures more democratic and responsive to marginalised groups policy needs.
We have offices in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia that work at the national level to improve democratic process in the region. WBDI is based and managed out of Belgrade.
The breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s and the creation of six separate states exasperated ethnic tensions and nationalist rhetoric that to some extent still frame politics in the region today. As the region’s countries move towards European integration, well-functioning institutions that pass quality legislation, monitor the work of governments and, critically, represent and promote the interests of all citizens, is essential.
The overall aim of the programme is to:
In recent years, our institutional support across the Western Balkans has:
Our engagement and support to civil society has:
Our work with political parties has:
In North Macedonia, WFD is working with persons with disabilities (PWDs), a marginalised and underrepresented group in society, to ensure their needs are at the top of the policy agenda. This work is being done as part of WFD’s Western Balkans Democracy Initiative. Through the initiative, WFD has built partnerships with PWD advocacy groups to […]
Young people in Albania show little interest in engaging with the political life in the country, a new WFD study shows: Two thirds of the youth surveyed by WFD in Albania claim that they are not satisfied at all with the current political situation in the country. Similarly, they have low trust in the democratic […]
With the highest emigration rates in Europe, the Western Balkans face a range of economic and social consequences because of people leaving to find a better life abroad. What is more, young people are the most represented group among emigrants, so the future development of these countries will see more and more challenges. Westminster Foundation […]
