Walter Veirs is a program officer for the Foundation’s Central and Eastern Europe program area, which is part of the Civil Society program. He works from Mott’s London office and oversees grantmaking in the Western Balkans. In the following Q&A, Veirs discusses the Foundation’s work in this region with Mott Communications Officer Maggie I. Jaruzel.
Mott: How does Mott’s grantmaking in the Western Balkans fit with the Foundation’s Civil Society program goals?
Walter Veirs (WV): At the broadest level, our grantmaking in this region follows through on the Foundation’s original commitment to support the transition of Central and Eastern Europe from communism to democracy.
It helps integrate the region with Europe and the West, and helps strengthen democracy overall in this region. One of the last stages of that process is making sure that the region is stable, democratic and peaceful.
Mott: What are Mott’s primary objectives for its work in this region?
WV: The first objective is to promote processes that strengthen public participation in decisionmaking that impacts societies and people’s lives. As part of this, we are trying to develop local resources – financial resources – to support ongoing participation at local levels.
There are three approaches under that objective. The first is community and civic mobilization at local levels, which means helping people become involved in decision making at the level in which they live, at the grassroots community level. We support organizations that are providing know-how and skills to community mobilizers.
The second approach is supporting indigenous grantmakers. These are grantmaking organizations that are locally run by staff and boards that are made up of people living in that society. Because they are much closer to the ground and know the situations better, they can be more responsive and strategic. We also hope that they would be around for the long term.
The final approach under this objective is to support efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to work together in networks and coalitions. Many issues facing this region are also the same issues facing each country. It is very important for NGOs to work across borders on issues, and to share experience and pursue joint advocacy—at the European level or at the regional level with one or more governments.
Mott: What are some of Mott’s additional grantmaking strategies in the region?
WV: Promote processes and initiatives that build stable and strong inter-communal relations and reduce the likelihood of violent ethnic conflict. Mott’s focus is on dealing with the past. We try to support bottom-up processes that help people deal with the legacies of violent conflict and human rights abuses that took place during the 1990s.
One group of grants that we have made relates to the development of research and documentation centers. There is one center in Bosnia, another in Serbia and Montenegro, and one in Croatia. Their goal is to collect documentation related to human rights abuses and war crimes that took place in the region and to make it accessible to people interested in using it.
The conflicts in the former Yugoslavia were very much of a regional nature. As a result, information that might be important to a person in Bosnia could be located in Serbia. It’s extremely important for these documentation centers to share information. Supporting efforts to deal with the past is critical to consolidating democracy in the Balkan region.
Mott: Discuss Mott’s partnerships with other funders in the region.
WV: Our emphasis on collaboration with other donors has allowed us to achieve more than we could have by ourselves. It has allowed us to be more responsive to the dynamic and changing environment in the Western Balkans.
Two examples illustrate this. One is our collaboration on the Balkan Trust for Democracy with the German Marshal Fund and USAID. The Trust now includes a range of other European and U.S. donors. Together, we have created a fund that will be in the region promoting civil society—democracy and good governance—for at least 10 years and probably longer.
The other example is the International Commission on the Balkans, which is a joint project of the Robert Bosch Foundation, the German Marshall Fund, the King Baudouin Foundation, and the Mott Foundation. The Commission published a report in April 2005, and it is advocating for the recommendations that were made. The Commission’s work has contributed significantly to the current policy debates in the EU and the international community related to the Balkans.