WESTERN BALKANS – ROUTE WB6 Project Coordinator Ms Ines Bulajić spoke in the online event of Young European Ambassadors, Colors of Volunteering: Painting youth solidarity. The main aim of the gathering was related to the experiences and opportunities for volunteering in times of pandemic.
Ms Bulajić congratulated the YEA initiative and highlighted the importance of youth activism in the region. She emphasized that during 2020, RYCO continued supporting 60 projects from all the WB6, and successfully launched and finalized the 4th open call for project proposals supported by the European Union.
She added that the activities of the ROUTE WB6 project partners have been very engaging as well, as the pandemic showed us that we need to create a better environment for volunteers and people that work with them.
“The project partners had given a great contribution on the policy level in this period; as with LENS in Kosovo*, the project worked on establishing the National Volunteering Service, while Beyond Barriers in Albania contributed to the amendments on the Law on Volunteering. Young Researchers of Serbia adjusted their traditional volunteering summer camps to the circumstances, while ADP-Zid from Montenegro awarded the price for the Best Volunteers. Our partner in Bosnia and Herzegovina, KULT, supported corporate volunteering, a new topic in the field. The accomplishment of the project partner YCC Bitola was updating the national report on Volunteering, which was a great opportunity to present our project and the Regional Volunteering Program,” Ms Bulajić concluded.
As a representative of RYCO and the ROUTE WB6 project, she also received questions from young people present in the event related to the program RYCO is organizing in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) “Western Balkans meet Japan: A Bridge into the Future”.
Ms Bulajić also presented the first Regional Volunteering Program designed by young people for young people. From the end of February 2021, the young people will have the opportunity to apply online on the project website for these exchange opportunities within the region.
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*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.