WeBER2.0 (Western Balkan Civil Society Empowerment for a Reformed Public Administration)
In December 2019, the EU granted support for the continuation of WeBER – the Western Balkans Enabling Project for Civil Society Monitoring of Public Administration Reform, a three-year project that was implemented from 2015 to 2018, funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Guided by the SIGMA Principles, WeBER has pioneered an evidence and civil society-based approach to monitoring progress of the region’s governments in public administration reform (PAR) based on EU requirements. It has also built bottom-up demand for reform by creating the regional WeBER Platform for dialogue on PAR and by empowering civil society organisations (CSOs) through capacity building and consultation events and meetings. This has laid the foundations for the continuous involvement of civil society in PAR, relying on a regional approach to the topic and on producing regionally-comparable WeBER monitoring results.
Under the refreshed name, “Western Balkan Civil Society Empowerment for a Reformed Public Administration”, the design of WeBER2.0 relies and further builds on the results of the previous WeBER cycle and products, most notably the PAR Monitor reports, the regional consultative WeBER Platform and the Small Grant Facility for Support for Civil Society Monitoring of Public Administration Reform at Local Level. WeBER2.0 will last until December 2022.
As in the previous cycle, WeBER2.0 will be implemented by six organisations from the Western Balkans (WB), members of the Think for Europe – TEN Network (including the European Policy Centre – CEP Belgrade, the Institute for Democracy and Mediation – IDM Tirana, Institute Alternative – IA Podgorica, the Foreign Policy Initiative – FPI Sarajevo, the Group for Legal and Political Studies – GLPS Pristina, and the European Policy Institute – EPI Skopje) coordinated by the European Policy Centre – CEP. Moreover, the European Policy Centre – EPC Brussels is also a partner in the project.
This project will enhance CSO engagement in PAR by advancing evidence-based monitoring of PAR in line with EU requirements. It will also strengthen CSO-government dialogue at the regional, national, and local levels based on the established WeBER Platform, which will be further enhanced, particularly by introducing online consultations. WeBER2.0 will also improve CSOs’ capacities to engage in PAR and to ensure their constructive relationships with governments through joint training on citizen consultations, addressing the challenge of bringing the administration closer to citizens.
