UNICEF & SwEPA: Improved air quality in the Western Balkans - SwEPA: Improved air quality in the WB UNICEF & Naturvårdsverket: Förbättrad luftkvalitet på västra Balkan The programme is a collaboration between UNICEF and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency that aims to address air pollution in the region by strengthening the capacities of national and local government as duty bearers with respect to air quality management and air quality data. It will also elevate the voices of children and youth as rights holders in order to change policy and social norms.
The programme will be implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Programmet är ett samarbete mellan UNICEF och Naturvårdsverket som syftar till att ta itu med luftföroreningar i regionen genom att stärka nationella och lokala myndigheters kapacitet som ansvarsbärare när det gäller luftkvalitetsledning och luftkvalitetsdata. Samtidigt ska programmet också lyfta barns och ungdomars röster som rättighetsinnehavare, för att förändra policy och sociala normer.
Programmet genomföras i Albanien, Bosnien och Hercegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Nordmakedonien och Serbien. The programme has a joint Theory of Change (ToC) with the overall objective to "support the countries of the Western Balkans by strengthening national and local government capacities as duty bearers with respect to air quality governance and air quality data, whilst also facilitating the voices and recommendations of children and youth as rights holders, to improve air quality policy and change social norms."

The focus of UNICEF will be on two outcomes relating to Children and Youth as Agents of Change and will strengthen youth-led air pollution advocacy efforts across the region.
The new proposal (Annex II) will in the amendment replace the Annex 2 (Explanatory note) in the agreement signed in August 2022.

Outcome 1: Increased education and awareness around key air quality issues is now formulated as "Education and awareness around key air quality issues improved"

For the phase 2 there are clear sub-objectives with an improved focus on systems strengthening: preschool, primary and secondary education curricula and teachers training. 

The sub-objectives are:
1.1 Climate change education, with focus on air quality, mainstreamed into the education systems and 
1.2. Green employability opportunities and eco-entrepreneurship skills of youth
increased.

The regional aspects are better developed for the second phase. UNICEF has during the first phase established contact or cooperation with e.g. EU4Green, European Training Foundation and the WB6 Chamber Investment Forum. There is even more clarity on UNICEF's efforts to support institutional development within the partner countries.

Outcome 2: Improved mobilization and coordination of action for children and youths on air quality is formulated as "Mobilization and coordination of action
for children and youth on air quality increased"

The sub-outcomes are defined as:
2.1. Youth capacities to raise awareness and mobilize public support for key air
quality issues strengthened and
2.2. Youth advocacy and participation in development and implementation of air
quality policies increased.

SwEPA, in close collaboration with the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) will focus on four outcomes supporting national and local authorities and institutions ambitions to fulfil requirements in the EU-accession process regarding air quality and emissions data, and public access to environmental information.

Outcome 1: Increased processing capacity for emissions data (in targeted institutions in Nort Macedonia and Montenegro)

In all countries of the region, there is a lack of data at the local level for developing emissions inventories, which are a critical prerequisite for action planning to improve air quality and a requirement under the Ambient Air Quality Directive. The project will together with 1-2 municipalities in the pilot countries develop a toolkit that enables municipalities to make better use of existing data and draw on pre-set data from EEA and other sources. The work will strengthen capacities of institutions at local and central levels to work with Emissions Inventorying and will improve the basis for making effective AQ action plans in municipalities.

Outcome 2: Partner institutions have improved their guidance for local self-governments regarding air quality management.

The Ambient Air Quality Directive requires countries to develop local AQ action plans when there are exceedances to set levels of air pollution. This obligation often falls on local governments. Capacities in AQ management at the local government level in the region are overall low, often with only a few individuals working with environmental issues. Dialogue with the Network of Local Authorities of South East Europe (NALAS) and national institutions in the region suggest that current guidance in AQ management mainly consists of the distribution of legislation and regulations. SwEPA will support the national level governments to increase and improve their guidance to municipalities in order to strengthen local governments possibilities to fulfill their obligations.

Outcome 3: Increased Public Access to air quality data and information (in Montenegro and North Macedonia)

All countries of the region are reporting AQ data to EEA on an annual basis using the Raven system. All countries have databases for storing their air quality data but only North Macedonia makes some of this data available to the public. Disseminating historical data online would allow the public, researchers, journalists and other interested parties to analyse developments and trends in AQ over a longer period and would also allow governments to show results of measures taken to improve air quality. The project will develop an open-source air quality portal that will enable MoE/EPA to improve their disseminate near real time and historical data from Raven through the institutions current websites. The project further aims to increase knowledge of the national institutions to improve accessibility of AQ information for different groups of women, men, girls and boys by discussing communication and accessibility in relation to the websites and by supporting practical capacity development.

Outcome 4: Inclusive regional dialogue on availability, acquisition and usage of Air Quality data established.

Component 4 aims to facilitate the establishment an inclusive regional dialogue on AQ Management and invites all countries of the region to participate, contribute to development in the program and to benefit from the outcomes. By including topics of gender equality and rights perspective in the agendas of the meetings, the network events are also expected to increased awareness and capacity among partner institutions, SMHI/SwEPA and on girls and boys perspectives in AQ management.