Swedes support urban sustainability NGOs working on urban sustainability in the Western Balkans can expect support from a four-year, EUR 4 million assistance programme launched by the REC and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). The initiative, kicked off at a signing ceremony April 11 in Belgrade, aims to promote vibrant and democratic environmental NGOs in order to nudge society towards the sustainable development of and improved living conditions in urban areas. Beneficiaries are civil society organisations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and Kosovo (territory under interim UN administration). The REC has a history of work with SIDA, whose environmental cooperation in South Eastern Europe (SEE) aims at poverty reduction and European integration through the Stabilisation and Association process. The new project, called “SECTOR: Supporting Environ-mental Civil Society Organisations in South Eastern Europe,” is built on lessons learned by the two organisations. “The project will be a milestone for the SEE civil society organisations,” said REC Executive Director Marta Szigeti Bonifert. “We are very grateful to Sweden for funding this significant regional project and look forward to cooperating with all the stakeholders of the SEE region.” For more information, email Robert Atkinson, director for civil initiatives at the REC.

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