WESTERN BALKANS – The first workshop on the development of the Regional Volunteers Exchange scheme within the ROUTE WB6 project took place in Durres, Albania from 18 to 20 April 2021. Different units within RYCO were engaged in the workshops to offer their expertise in providing youth of the Western Balkans with the best regional volunteer experience.
This scheme comes as the result of the first program of this kind in the Western Balkans, designed by the young people for young people, with the three prototypes of the Regional Volunteer Exchange Program:
– ROUTE WB6 Mini
– ROUTE WB6 Midi
– ROUTE WB6 Maxi
These three schemes offer three different types of volunteer engagement periods: the first one up to one week, the second one up to two weeks, and the third one up to two months.
“It was quite challenging for us having in mind that this is the first project of its kind in the region that developed and is implementing this program. From the other perspective, the variety of all the young people that expressed their interest for this program is very inspiring. In the following weeks, we will launch the first exchanges and at the same time we are looking forward to the cooperation with all the stakeholders throughout the Western Balkans,” ROUTE WB6 Project Coordinator Ms Ines Bulajić stated.
The application for the Regional Volunteers Exchange Program is still open and we encourage all young people aged between 18 to 30 years old to register for volunteering opportunities across the region. The application form is not demanding and takes only a few minutes. All the interested young people can apply here.
The ROUTE WB6 project is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented across the Western Balkans by a consortium led by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) in association with Beyond Barriers, South East European Youth Network, Institute for Youth Development KULT, Lens, Youth Cultural Center Bitola, Association for Democratic Prosperity Zid and Young Researchers of Serbia.
The overall objective of the project is to empower young people from the region as drivers of reconciliation and societal reconstruction, enabling them to apply European values, initiate and lead intercultural dialogue as well as strengthen regional cooperation towards socio-economic and democratic development.