The first regional meeting of the Network Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE), which brought together representatives of member organizations from Southeast Europe, was held online on November 8, 2023. Elena Floriani, a Project&Research coordinator in the WAVE network moderated the meeting.
Following the discussion at the spring meeting of The Advisory Board in 2023, the WAVE network defined six regions to enable easier assessment of the WAVE support that might be provided to member organizations. The goal is to, through regional meetings, strengthen the liaisons between member organizations that work in the same region, encourage regional cooperation, and hear the voices of member organizations that are not so present at other WAVE network happenings.
The Southeast region includes 36 organizations from nine countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia).
Participants presented the current challenges and needs of their organizations and painted the situation in the protection from gender-based violence in their countries. What has been mapped as a challenge for the joint functioning of the region of Southeast Europe are the unequal positions of member organizations, which, due to the fact that some operate in the member states of the European Union and others do not, have different access to finances and different socioeconomic and political situations in which they act.
The next online regional meeting is planned for February 2024. and the first in-person meeting of the representatives of member organizations between June 2024. and May 2025.
