“Corruption Free Universities in Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia” Project

Kick-Off meeting

Held on the 22^nd of February 2023, in Tirana

Today IDRA (Institute for Development Research and Alternatives) celebrates the inauguration of the newest project “Corruption Free Universities in Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia” a project that is operating in the framework of SMART Balkans initiative, with the financial support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the support of the Center for Civil Society Promotion (Centar za promociju civilnog društva - CPCD), together with partner organizations from Albania – Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) and North Macedonia – Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM).

The representatives of the respective partners (Mr. Misho Dokmanovic of ISIE- Institute for Strategic Research and Education (NMK), Mr. Auron Pasha of IDRA – Institute for Development Research and Alternatives, (Albania) and Mr. Bojan Klacar of CESID- Center for Free Elections and Democracy (Serbia)) signed a cooperation agreement at Hotel Plaza in Tirana, marking the start of a long and fruitful partnership in an effort to lay the foundations for future developments within this topical issue.

The region of Western Balkans and the targeted countries of the project (Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia) for a confined period of time have been dealing with the issue of corruption. For a limited time, the Western Balkans region and the project`s target countries have been grappling with the issue of corruption. Several efforts have been adopted during the last decade, but none have taken a more targeted approach to the specific sector of higher education.

Many representatives of student unions, youth organizations as well as university professors raised important questions and provided insightful suggestions and ideas regarding how the issue of corruption in higher education could be tackled and pointed to specific problems that occur amongst students and faculty in many universities, showing active engagement towards this regional, cross-border initiative.

The project will fulfill several objectives through a specific approach and tailored activities, including raising the awareness of all actors in the higher education system for the effective implementation of mechanisms, strengthening the capacities of the university administration, as well as students and student organizations, to implement corruption prevention mechanisms and promote the creation of a favorable environment for reporting corruption.

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