Step up efforts for sustainable development of rural areas with implementation of LEADER

ROADMAP PROGRESS

The 2025 GARI reports that progress on the LEADER approach remains at an early stage and that the IPARD accreditation process for the LEADER measure has not formally commenced in any jurisdiction of the WB6, although 2025 brought tangible preparatory steps. In Albania, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) provided technical assistance in November 2025, including a capacity-building seminar for registered Local Action Groups (LAGs), domestic guidance materials and a LEADER Readiness Assessment; only two LAGs are formally registered with the Ministry of Agriculture. In Montenegro, FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture held a two-day training for the IPARD Managing Authority and Paying Agency in September 2025; Measure 5 under LEADER is included in the IPARD III programme but is not yet accredited, and no LAGs have been formally established, with five informal initiatives operating outside the IPARD framework. In Serbia, 21 approved partnerships covering approximately 373,000 people remain largely inactive following the expiry of their local development strategies in 2023, and capacity building for potential LAGs is to be taken forward through Measure 9 on technical assistance. In Kosovo*, 30 LAGs have been established on a municipal basis since 2014 and are funded through the domestic Agricultural and Rural Development Programme, although, according to the most recent regional assessment cited by the Report, a significant share remain inactive. In North Macedonia, awareness-raising activities are planned under IPARD technical assistance, while the temporary suspension of IPARD payments announced in November 2025 has introduced uncertainty. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, IPARD institutional structures remain unestablished, which continues to preclude access to the LEADER measure; two registered LAGs operate in the Republika Srpska entity, while none exist in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity.

Note: Action 49 of the original Green Agenda Action Plan (2021–2030) is retained in the Revised Action Plan (2025–2030) as Action 33, maintaining the focus on strengthening sustainable rural development through the implementation of the LEADER approach and broader community-driven local development initiatives.