The project produces the analysis, mapping and dialogue that help the European Commission and the EU Delegations design better-informed support. Civil society organisations and independent media are partners in that work ‒ consulted, heard and represented ‒ not grant recipients: grants and capacity building are delivered in parallel by other EU-funded projects, with which Hajde4EU coordinates closely.
The project's analytical work maps where EU and other donor funding for civil society, including independent media, goes, assesses on a regular basis how far the commitments set out in the DG NEAR Guidelines have been met, and follows the legal, financial and political environment in which organisations operate, including the disinformation directed at them.
Because evidence carries only as far as the discussions it informs, the project convenes the spaces in which it is examined: a Regional Advisory Panel that reviews the analytical work as it is produced, Regional Forums that bring civil society, including the independent media, together with the European Union, and Thematic Dialogue Circles that sustain the exchange through the year. In each IPA beneficiary, Key Experts and Country Coordinators gather perspectives through interviews, surveys and consultations, and channel them into EU policy and programming.
Much of this work runs through the infrastructure that already supports civil society on the ground. The project meets with the EU-funded National Resource Centres in each IPA beneficiary to pool what they know ‒ trends, risks, tools, data ‒ so that support to CSOs across the region becomes more coherent and better informed. It brings the members of national Civil Society Councils, from both government and civil society, together to compare how the enabling environment is developing in each context and to learn from one another's practice. And it shares its analysis with the other EU-funded projects working on civil society and media ‒ in the region and in the Eastern Partnership ‒ so that findings on CSO needs and trends feed directly into their capacity building and grant-making rather than sitting in parallel.
The findings, and the opportunities they open, reach organisations, journalists and citizens through this platform and through campaigns, multimedia and practical toolkits produced for direct use.
Hajde4EU runs until December 2028. It is implemented by Archidata International Srl with Federazione Trentina della Cooperazione, GIZ and EURICSE, from a project office in Skopje.
See also
The European Union is represented in each IPA beneficiary by an EU Delegation, and in Kosovo* by the European Union Office, and EU-funded National Resource Centres support civil society organisations in each of them.
WeBalkans (opens in a new tab) is the European Union’s regional platform for the Western Balkans: what EU support funds, and where.