The Formation of the Regional Team of Public Advocates

The second phase of the RECOM Process – the Institutionalization of the RECOM Initiative (the transfer of the Initiative from the civilian to political levels) began with the formation of the Regional Team of Public Advocates (RTPA) in October of 2011. At the invitation of the Humanitarian Law Center, the team members were nominated by the partner organizations which had taken an active part in the three-and-a-half year long process of consultations about RECOM’s mandate. The RTPA’s primary task is political advocacy for the establishment of RECOM.

The RTPA is composed of: Zdravko Grebo, professor at the University of Sarajevo Faculty of Law (B&H), film director Dino Mustafić (B&H), theatre director, Dženana Karup-Druško, journalist (B&H), Žarko Puhovski, philosophy professor at the University of Zagreb (Croatia) Adriatik Kelmendi (Kosovo), Dragoljub Vuković (Montenegro) and Dinko Gruhonjić (Serbia), journalists, human rights activist Nataša Kandić (Serbia) and prof. dr. Židas Daskalovski (Macedonia).

Biljana Vankovska, philosophy professor at the University of Skopje (Macedonia), resigned from the RTPA in November of 2013, citing lack of success in her work on public advocacy in Macedonia. Journalist Igor Mekina (Slovenia) ended his engagement with the RTPA and the RECOM Initiative in January of 2014.