News Archive
RCC announces Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year for 2023
12 Mar 2024
Sarajevo - Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year for 2023 are: Rigerta Loku - Green Woman Entrepreneur; Ilda Humić - Social Star Woman Entrepreneur; Hana Qerimi - Young Woman Entrepreneur; Nikolina Kovačević - Tourism Woman Entrepreneur; Irena Chaushevska Danilovska - ICT Woman ...
Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year to be announced tonight
12 Mar 2024
Sarajevo – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is to present the 2023 Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year at a ceremony to take place this evening in Sarajevo.
Women’s economic empowerment is not a luxury
08 Mar 2024
“The most dangerous phrase in the language is “We’ve always done it this way”. It’s 8 March today, and the buzzword you are getting from all around is “Women’s day”. So, the note of ours on this day is on women. Women continue to face disadvantage ...
RCC: Nominations for Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2023 are open
01 Feb 2024
Sarajevo – For the third year in a row, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is pleased to announce that the nominations for the Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2023 have officially begun.
UN Women and RCC join forces to advance women’s empowerment in the Western Balkans
10 Mar 2023
UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) will join forces to advance the digital transformation in the Western Balkans to promote cooperation in the region, as well as advance women’s economic empowerment, and the green agenda.
RCC presents Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of 2022
09 Mar 2023
Tirana - Dhurata Thanasi Daneri, Snjezana Köpruner, Elki Shehu, Mirjana Babic, Zagorka Blazevska, Marijana Gligoric are Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2022, as presented at a ceremony organised by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in Tirana today.
RCC to present Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2022
08 Mar 2023
Sarajevo/Tirana – On the International Women’s Day, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is to present the Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2022, at a ceremony to be held on 9 March in Tirana.
RCC: Nominations for Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2022 open
03 Feb 2023
Sarajevo – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is happy to announce that the nomination process for the Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2022 has begun! The RCC launched this initiative last year in the framework of the Common Regional Market Action Plan 2021-2024 and ...
Bregu: To have wider choices, earn more, and live better - Choose STEM Future
18 Jan 2023
Sarajevo – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is launching a campaign dubbed “Choose STEM future” to encourage young women and girls to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) by bringing forth inspiring role models of successful women in STEM ...
All-inclusive regional cooperation and Common Regional Market deliver results
21 Oct 2022
Berlin/Sarajevo – The Western Balkans (WB) Foreign Ministers approved three regional agreements - on Freedom of Movement with Identity Cards, on Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications, and on Recognition of Professional Qualifications for Doctors of Medicine, Dentists and Architects ...
Bregu: Digitalisation necessitates an intergenerational approach
21 Sep 2022
Pristina – “Today is a great day for Pristina. It is the centre of gravity of one of the greatest Berlin Process initiatives – the Western Balkans Digital Summit. Pristina today bursts and radiates with the dynamism of so many start-ups, companies, experts and policy ...
Bregu: We hope Butterfly Innovation Award will shine a light on the regional innovation community and its undiscovered potential
28 Jun 2022
Tirana – “This spring we launched the first Regional Butterfly Innovation Award. ‘What is now proved was once only imagination’- this Blake’s quote fits perfectly the 154 ideas in six competing categories - largely exceeded our boldest expectations. Women led almost ...
Bregu: Support of Western Balkan citizens to regional cooperation remains stable at 76%
24 Jun 2022
Brussels – “While many things change, our public and business perceptions surveys remain a truthful source of sentiments across the region. At times, the results surprise us, sometimes they serve as a wake-up call, while on other occasions they confirm that our efforts are not in ...
Champion of Regional Cooperation to round off 14th RCC Annual Meeting
08 Jun 2022
Sarajevo/Thessaloniki – Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is to hold its 14th Annual Meeting on Thursday, 9 June in Thessaloniki. RCC Secretary General Majlinda Bregu will present the RCC Annual Report and major accomplishments and results of the organisation in the past year while putting ...
Bregu: When women engage, take responsibilities, grow and help each other they can be a rising tide that lifts all boats
11 Mar 2022
Tirana – “The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is launching today the first Regional Women in Entrepreneurship Network in the Western Balkans. We will not boil the sea right away. But sometimes the smallest act can lead to the biggest impact. We will engage ourselves not only ...
Western Balkans: RCC to present ‘Women Who Launch – Regional Network of Women in Entrepreneurship’
08 Mar 2022
Sarajevo/Tirana – Instead of happy 8th of March, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is announcing the launching of the Western Balkans (WB) Regional Network of Women in Entrepreneurship, at an event taking place this Friday (11 March) in Tirana. The Launch will gather a number of ...
RCC to recognise Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year
12 Feb 2022
Sarajevo – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) has a pleasure to announce that we are launching the Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year initiative, one that will hopefully become a tradition, to recognise women who have started and developed their own business and contributed ...
Bregu: It will take 257 years to close the current gender gap worldwide
14 Dec 2021
Sarajevo – “Women in the Western Balkans account for only 27.5% of business owners and just 14.2% of companies’ top managers are females. Despite an evolving ecosystem of start-ups and innovation hubs in the Western Balkans, the number of women start-up entrepreneurs remains ...
Bregu: Being Europeans is not written in DNA but what you believe and fight for
25 Nov 2021
“It’s not breaking news any longer that our youth is leaving the region. One out of 3 youngsters, age 18-24, in the Western Balkans confirms that they are ready to leave their homeland. We should understand the message – their choice of destination shows what’s missing ...
Bregu: Balkan Barometer reveals human uncertainty and vulnerability are main concerns followed by some goodish news on benefits of regional cooperation
24 Jun 2021
Tirana – “This, seventh in a row, Balkan Barometer shows human uncertainty and vulnerability are the main concerns followed by some goodish news which is the consciousness about the benefits of regional cooperation. For 49% of Western Balkan citizens, unemployment is the biggest ...
RCC to Present Balkan Barometer 2021 - Public and Business Viewpoints on Situation in our Region
22 Jun 2021
Tirana – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is to present the 2021 edition of Balkan Barometer on Thursday, 24 June 2021, starting at 10:00, in Tirana. This is the 7th edition of annual public and business opinion survey commissioned by the RCC which examines Western Balkan citizens ...
Bregu: 2020 was difficult, but a real progress and achievements have been made for development of our region
16 Jun 2021
Antalya – “Last year, ruled by the pandemic has definitely showcased the extent of our interconnectivity and interdependency and demonstrated that in cooperating, we boost our strengths and resilience. It is clear that regional socio-economic integration is crucial for regional ...
Bregu: Regional cooperation with clear, targeted goals and meeting deliverables is more urgent than ever
19 May 2021
Sarajevo/Tirana–“Regional cooperation with clear, targeted goals and meeting deliverables is more urgent than ever. Establishing a Common Regional Market which will attract investors, support real added value of industries, promote innovation, ensure digitalization and bring the ...
Bregu: Men outnumber women in the region’s labour force by more than a million
15 Apr 2021
Sarajevo/New York – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched today the Regional Network of Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) as part of a RCC-UNDP joint initiative on Women Economic Empowerment ...
Bregu: 77% of Western Balkans citizens agree that the relations in the region are better than a year ago
11 Mar 2021
Sarajevo/Tirana – “The months since our last meeting in October have been difficult with the onset of new Covid-19 waves and new variants of the virus turning things topsy-turvy with a downward spiralling. In terms of regional cooperation, the big good news was the success of the ...
RCC’s “WE’’ Campaign Continues: Only once you are authentic, can you truly bring your best into the business!
08 Mar 2021
Sarajevo/Tirana/Belgrade – “Business world is harsh for young people, especially women in Western Balkans, where they account for only 27.5% of business owners, and just 14.2% of companies’ top managers are female. Gender prejudices are not vanished yet, but there are always ...
Bregu: Hire women, promote women and invest in women - that is our future
11 Dec 2020
Sarajevo/Tirana/New York - "What we are launching today is a platform which will allow us all to strategise on how to best contribute to unlocking women power in the region. The reasons are obvious. Prior to pandemic, almost two-thirds of working-age women in the Western Balkans were either ...
RCC, UNDP to launch ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment: Areas for joint actions in the Western Balkans’ initiative
10 Dec 2020
Tirana/Sarajevo - The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will be launching an initiative, 'Women’s Economic Empowerment: Areas for joint actions in the Western Balkans', aiming to enhance collaboration among different stakeholders ...