The British Council has been awarded a two-year extension worth €1.8 million to deliver the EU Scheme for Young Professionals in the Western Balkans.
The project aims to build professional capacity and prepare the next generation of public administrators and policy makers in six Western Balkans countries; Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. It also aims to promote the regional cooperation element of the EU integration process at a civil service level.
Over the course of the project, 60 early career civil servants will receive enhanced training in the areas of management and public policy formulation by attending a four-week, intensive and tailor made training programme, split between two institutions: Sciences Po in France and College of Europe in Belgium. The ultimate aim is to improve the capacity of national administrations to modernise and implement Stabilisation and Association Agreement provisions and negotiate accession chapters.
After the training programme, each of the civil servants will spend two weeks in the public administration of a neighbouring beneficiary country. This regional cooperation element of the project will facilitate peer review, learning and sharing of good practices, and help participants to understand neighbouring countries better, thus contributing to reconciliation efforts in the region. For more information on the project, visit www.eu4wb6.com