Implemented with the support of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), this project aimed to strengthen the youth sector in the Western Balkans by updating the regional mapping of Youth Policies and identifying systemic gaps that limited youth development, inclusion, and financial sustainability. The main purpose of the project was to provide a clear, up-to-date overview of youth policy frameworks while examining structural weaknesses, particularly in the financing of youth actions across the WB-6 region, and to support long-term sector advancement under a regional cooperation lens.
To fulfill this purpose, the intervention successfully delivered: an updated regional mapping of youth policies based on desk research of strategies, legislation and action plans from 2020 onward; a financing-gap analysis identifying key budgetary, institutional and donor-alignment challenges affecting youth programming; and a participatory stakeholder engagement cycle including structured interviews with youth-affairs officials, consultations with youth organizations, donor coordination, focus groups, surveys, case studies, comparative policy reviews and policy-network influence analysis. These results generated the first consolidated regional evidence base linking policy gaps to financing bottlenecks, strengthened cooperation pathways, and provided RCC and regional actors with validated strategic directions for the continued development, accountability and sustainability of the youth sector in the Western Balkans.