On Thursday, June 20, 2024, the third Info Day about the project "Establishment of the Network for Rural Development of Herzegovina - HeRuDNet" was held in the hall of the Bileća municipality. This project is co-financed by the European Union with the aim of supporting the development and activism of civil society organizations through a participatory approach and strengthening the dialogue and implementation of development policies.
Mr. Veselin Vujović, mayor of the municipality of Bileća and Danijela Salatić, manager of the Agricultural Cluster Stara Herzegovina, addressed and greeted those present. Activities, goals, and planned results were presented to the participants by Bojan Grahovac on behalf of PK Stara Hercegovina and Ivica Sivrić on behalf of Redah, who are partners in the project together with the Linnovate Livno Foundation.
After the end of the presentation, a discussion was opened with those present from the public, non-governmental and private sectors, through which they were given answers and clarifications for certain planned activities. Through the coordinated action of civil society actors, various public institutions, the private sector and government bodies, this project will improve the participation and efficiency of civil society in public debates and dialogues, and build the capacity of CSOs to influence policies and decision-making processes on important local, regional, but also national and EU integration issues concerning the development of rural areas and agriculture in Herzegovina and BiH.
The general goal of this action is to stimulate and strengthen weaker and local CSOs in Herzegovina that deal with rural development and agriculture, to include them in the Network where they will cooperate, exchange knowledge and experience, be trained to analyze, advocate and monitor key reforms, and improve the provision of support and services to rural businesses and the population. This will mainly strengthen its activism and commitment to representing the problems of various groups of the rural population and the development of support in solving these problems through the process of dialogue with the public sector at the local and regional level.
The project will last three years (2024-2027), with a total value of 662,133 Euros, of which the EU finances 90% of the project value (595,800 Euros).
