Reconciliation and entrepreneurship in the western Balkans

The key partners on this project are the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) and the South East European Youth Network (SEEYN). The Institut Français and the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ) will also be involved in certain activities. 

• The RYCO was created by the six government leaders of the Western Balkans in 2016 and is focused on strengthening ties between young people in the region. 
• The SEEYN is an NGO which aims to promote inter-cultural dialogue and boost youth employment levels in the region.

This project aims to provide new reconciliation opportunities in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) through social entrepreneurship. To achieve this objective, the project will involve rolling-out a regional social entrepreneurship support program for young people. 

The program has an ideation phase and an incubation phase, with the aim of empowering project leaders to develop innovative solutions to the challenges their communities face. The program will be run twice as part of two separate project cycles. 

The project will build the capacities of the regional ecosystem, by supporting six organizations to strengthen their support systems. It will also help to promote social entrepreneurship in the Western Balkans by using regional activities as a tool for economic inclusion and for strengthening social ties within and between each country. 

 

• A network of more than 216 entrepreneurs, six support structures and 24 mentors, created through the program
• Capacity-building of the six local support structures to meet the long-term needs of project leaders
• 72 teams involved in the ideation phases and 12 winners incubated, with the aim of developing innovative solutions
• At least 1,010 people, aged 15 and over, informed about social entrepreneurship through regional workshops and events