Balkan caravan – Journey through the Western Balkan region

The regional network of social service providers – the IRIS network organized the Balkan Caravan from July 8 – 13, 2024 in six countries of the region – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo*, North Macedonia and Serbia.

The purpose of the Balkan Caravan is the promotion and exchange of good practices in the field of human rights and social inclusion in the Western Balkans. In each of the countries, a Mini Festival of Human Rights is organized by the host organizations and partners of the IRIS network. The festival consisted of: promotional actions, sales stands, workshops, video presentations, local visits, exhibitions and other cultural and entertainment content.

This event brought together other members of the IRIS network from six countries, representatives of local institutions, the civil sector, the business sector, the media and interested visitors who had the opportunity to enjoy various contents in their country, socialize, learn and contribute to the visibility of the event and further development of the social services sector in the Western Balkans.

The route of the Balkan Caravan was as follows: Mostar (BiH), Nikšić (Montenegro), Elbasan (Albania), Skopje (Northern Macedonia), Pristina (Kosovo*) and Novi Pazar (Serbia).

The host organization in Mostar was the Sensus Association, in Nikšić the host organization was SOS Nikšić, in Elbasan the host organization was Useful to the community, in Skopje the host organization was the Center for Youth Activism – KRIK, in Pristina the host organization was the Down Association Syndrom, and in Novi Pazar the host organization is the Association of Psychologists Novi Pazar.

The IRIS network is a regional network of social service providers that gathers more than 200 member organizations from six countries of the region – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo*, North Macedonia and Serbia. This activity, the Balkan Caravan, took place within the framework of the project “Strengthening the capacity and policy of engagement of service providers in the community – IRIS PROGRESS”, funded by the EU. The project partners are ASB (Germany), Center for labor rights (Albania), CDI (North Macedonia), Alfa Center (Montenegro), Center for independent life (Kosovo*) and LIR CD (Bosnia and Herzegovina).