Kosovo: Civil Society & Inclusive Governance

Kosovo: Civil Society & Inclusive Governance

© Tereza Hronová

We support civil society to play a key role in social, economic, and democratic development in our target countries. We provide opportunities for civil society actors to develop the technical skills and mechanisms to become more effective governance and development actors.

We support civil society to engage with government actors to advance participatory democratic processes and develop inclusive public services. Specifically, our work targets a range of civil society actors, including youth and those representing marginalised communities, to ensure that government policies and services represent their needs. In parallel, we promote active citizenship, empowering individuals to exercise their rights, engage in democratic processes, and hold government officials accountable.

Our main areas of focus:

Empowerment of Civil Society Actors: Locally-driven, adaptive approaches to support the organisational and technical development of civil society, including civil society organisations, informal civic groups and grassroots activists. In our civil society development programming, we coordinate and—wherever possible—share expertise with our Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

Inclusive Governance of Public Services: Participatory development and monitoring public services, including Social Services, Education, Water, Sanitation and Public Health.

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Ongoing aidORPast aid programmes

Humanitarian aid during the refugee crisis in the Balkans

Humanitarian aid during the refugee crisis in the Balkans

Locality: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Romania, North Macedonia
When: Since 2021
Donors: PIN Club of Friends

People in Need helps during the ongoing refugee crisis in the Balkans, where currently 140,000 migrants live in local legal and illegal refugee camps in very poor living conditions. Together with the non-profit organizations ComPass 071 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fokus Plus in Kosovo, Legis in Northern Macedonia, and the Romanian Logs Association - Social Initiatives Group, we provide humanitarian aid in the form of medical assistance, clothing, food, legal and social counselling, and psychological support.


 
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Education for All – Fulfilling the Rights of Children and Adolescents with Special Needs and Vulnerable Communities

Education for All – Fulfilling the Rights of Children and Adolescents with Special Needs and Vulnerable Communities

Locality: Pristina, Obiliq/Obilic, F.Kosove/K.Polje, Gracanica/Graqanice, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Lipjan/Lipljane municipalities
When: Since 2020
Donors: European Commission

This project commits to increasing the social inclusion of children with special needs, as well as members of marginalised social groups such as the vulnerable Roma Ashkali and Egyptian  communities, in the formal education system. The project focuses on the development of teachers’ capacities regarding inclusive education, and works at the national level with the Ministry of Education in order to provide a unified approach to inclusive education (IE). The project contributes to the development of the education sector in Kosovo, especially through the implementation of IE for children with common mental health problems and learning difficulties and children from vulnerable communities. In addition, it is building the capacities of our local partner CSOs, The Ideas Partnership and Autizmi Flet, for the purposes of ensuring sustainability and the continuation of the training for IE in Kosovo. The support will include piloting the improvement of school-based services in selected municipalities in Kosovo by offering interns as teachers’ assistants, and also offering psychologists, pedagogues and speech therapists to schools.

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Amplifying Local Voices for Equitable Development

Amplifying Local Voices for Equitable Development

Locality: Kosovo and Serbia
When: Since 2020
Donors: Conflict, Stability and Security Fund
At the beginning of 2020, PIN launched a new project in Kosovo and Serbia, in partnership with the Peaceful Change initiative, Gradjanske Inicijative, Peer Educators Network, and Aktiv, to ensure that residents in both places are better able to empathise with one another’s perspectives, play active civic roles in society, and celebrate diversity. PIN and its partners will carry out activities designed to enable non-majority communities in Serbia and Kosovo to more effectively advocate for the local-level services to which they are entitled, as well as to strengthen participatory approaches to local service delivery to enhance inclusivity and partnership between civil society and municipalities. To these ends, PIN and its partners will provide capacity-building for grassroots civil society organizations, engage young people in cross-community activities, conduct awareness-raising campaigns, and provide grants for local-level organizations and institutions to improve service delivery and inter-community cooperation.
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Support for People with Disabilities during Isolation

Support for People with Disabilities during Isolation

Locality: Kosovo
When: Since the year 2020 until the year 2020
Donors: PIN Club of Friends
PIN has been providing continuous support for children with disabilities in Kosovo through the provision of virtual psychosocial services including education, rehabilitation and awareness-raising regarding COVID-19. This has been achieved in cooperation with Kosovo Disability Forum, the umbrella organisation for the Kosovo Association of the Blind, Kosovo Association of the Deaf, HandiKos, Down Syndrome Kosova, Handicap Kosova, OPFAKOS – Organization of Parents of Children with Disabilities in Kosovo, Autism Association and Deshira Club – People with Mental Disabilities. The objectives of the project are psychosocial support, rehabilitation, and awareness-raising  to protect children with disabilities  from COVID-19. We  created an educational brochure which uses clear illustrations to inform children with disabilities about the Covid-19 virus, ways to protect themselves, and initial symptoms of the virus, as well as the steps to be undertaken in case they become infected with COVID-19. Finally, the project has also provided financial support for 50 families of children with disabilities.
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Partnership for Social Inclusion

Partnership for Social Inclusion

Locality: F.Kosove/K.Polje, Gracanica/Graqanice, Obiliq/Obilic, Lipjan/Lipljane municipalities
When: Since the year 2017 until the year 2019
Donors: Czech Development Agency
The aim of this project was to contribute to the inclusion of socially vulnerable persons in Kosovo by improving their quality of life. Teachers in schools and Learning Centres (LC) specialized in inclusive education methods received support to integrate children from diverse backgrounds into the respective schools and LCs, and provide lessons using a Montessori methodology. Furthermore, social workers visited families at home and supported them on an individual basis. More than 700 families were visited and supported. Also, a mechanism was established to continuously strengthen the capacity of the trainers of visually impaired persons in reading braille, developing IT skills and supporting impaired persons’ spatial orientation abilities. In the future, the established social enterprise will be further supported to become a financially self-sustaining entity. In the context of integrating persons with disabilities (PwD) into society, People in Need supported research into the plight of PwD in Kosovo and the creation of awareness-raising materials on the rights of PwD, and provided direct support in helping PwD get employed.
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Introducing New Approaches to Civic Education

Introducing New Approaches to Civic Education

Locality: Prizren municipality
When: Since the year 2017 until the year 2019
Donors: National Endowment for Democracy
This cross-border project contributed to the enhancement of media literacy among youth in Serbia and Kosovo, and introduced new educational approaches and methodologies through the use of audio-visual materials to combat disinformation, fake news and propaganda. This was achieved by building the capacities of current and future teachers in selected regions who were equipped with innovative teaching methods, copyrighted documentary movies, audio/visual materials and other tools that enhance media literacy and critical thinking among youth. The partner for this project was the NGO DokuFest from Prizren.
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Enhancing the Employment of Vulnerable Groups

Enhancing the Employment of Vulnerable Groups

Locality: Prishtina, Ferizaj and Prizren Municipalities in Kosovo
When: Since the year 2015 until the year 2018
Donors: European Commission
With this project, PIN supported people with disabilities (PwD) in the transition from dependence on social assistance to employment or entrepreneurship. We supported the social inclusion of 138 people with disabilities through the development and implementation of innovative labour market measures, and increased cooperation with governmental actors, NGOs and businesses in three regions of Kosovo. From the group, 13 PwD started new businesses or scaled-up their existing business, and 33 PwD were employed. Besides this, PIN has established one of the first social enterprises in Kosovo with an aim to employ PwD and support them in vocational education. In addition to PIN’s work, the local NGO ‘Plus Me’ has supported youth and people from vulnerable communities to compete in the labour market in Kosovo. PIN’s partners for this project were the NGOs Handikos and Kosovo Association of the Blind.
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Integration of Visually Impaired Individuals and Prevention of Visual Impairment in Kosovo

Integration of Visually Impaired Individuals and Prevention of Visual Impairment in Kosovo

Locality: Prishtina, Peja and Prizren Municipalities in Kosovo
When: Since the year 2015 until the year 2017
Donors: Czech Development Agency
This  project contributed to increasing the integration of the blind and visually impaired in society in Kosovo. To that end, the project focused on two different objectives. The first objective focused on improving the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases among children and adults in the regions of Prishtina, Peja, and Prizren. Public Health Centres in these regions were provided with necessary modern medical equipment while their staff received relevant medical training. The second objective supported the increased access of persons with visual impairments to employment and income-generating activities, through the introduction of new vocational training and the establishment of the social enterprise for at least two new specializations for the blind and visually impaired. At the same time, systematic advocacy efforts were made for the integration of persons with disabilities in the labour market and education system, and an awareness-raising campaign targeting employers in particular was conducted.  The project substantially focused on the transfer of know-how from the Czech Republic in reaching both of these objectives.
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