ECMI - European Centre For Minority Issues Kosovo

Support to Minority Communities during the Kosovo Status Transition Period
Background
While Kosovo has adopted extensive legislation protecting the rights and interests of minority communities, implementation has been impeded by lack of coordination in the governmental approach to communities. The creation of the Office for Community Affairs (OCA) within the Office of the Prime Minister in July 2008 has been advanced as a solution to resolve this issue. The mandate of the OCA includes responsibilities to coordinate and oversee the implementation of legislative provisions pertaining to minority communities by governmental institutions, contribute to the resolution of high-level cases and address the needs of communities through small-scale targeted projects.

ECMI Kosovo Activities
The project’s activities focus on supporting the establishment and operationlisation of the OCA, including:

Publishing an analysis of the central-level institutional system for communities Strengthening the Institutional System for Communities in Post-Independence Kosovo, which identifies the overlaps between mandates and will helps the OCA in establishing cooperation with other institutions.
Creating the EthnoPolitical Map of Kosovo (www.ecmi-map.com) the first comprehensive database on Kosovo communities, providing information on the national and municipal level, including geographical spread, main concerns faced and contact details of relevant institutions and organisations, which will serve as a crucial tool for the OCA to pursue policy and provide information to a wide audience.
Assisting the OCA in drafting its strategy for 2009-2011, including defining its vision, mission, strategic objectives and the means to accomplish them, and supporting the implementation of this strategy.
Providing expert support in the conduct of a study on the employment of minority communities’ members within Kosovo public institutions and publicly owned enterprises, which will enable the OCA to ensure the implementation of the legislative provisions pertaining to this issue.

Expected Impact
The OCA will possess knowledge of the institutional system for the protection and promotion of community rights, the concerns faced by communities’ members, as well as a clear plan of action to tackle these issues. Consequently, the OCA will be in position to endorse its responsibilities and to take a leading role in supporting the implementation of community rights and addressing the needs of communities’ members.

Funding
ECMI Kosovo would like to thank the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs for its support in the implementation of the project Support to Minority Communities during the Kosovo Status Transition Period.

Contact
Gaëlle Cornuz, Project Manager
cornuz@ecmikosovo.org
Tel. +381 (0)38 224 161
Mob. +377 (0)44 919 012

Support to the Legislative and Constitutional Drafting Processes
During the status negotiation process, ECMI held that commitments made regarding the rights of minority communities needed to be entrenched into constitutional law. ECMI worked to ensure this was accomplished through its support to the Kosovo Delegation, through the ad hoc Consultative Councils for Communities. ECMI also supported the inclusion of community rights in the drafting of the Kosovo Constitution, specifically the “Rights of Communities and their Members” chapter and the Draft Law on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Communities and their Members. Through its involvement, ECMI’s priority was to ensure the inclusion of communities into the legislative drafting process to establish laws that were reflective of real community needs and to build communities engagement with the Kosovo Government.

Standing Technical Working Group
ECMI began providing support to the Kosovo Standing Technical Working Group (STWG) in 2001, funded by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), The STWG enabled civil society actors to gain influence in policy-making and the delivery of good governance in Kosovo. The ethnically inclusive STWG formed six expert committees to address key areas of policy:

These committees formulated detailed recommendations for legislative and policy actions and engaged the Provisional Institutions of Self-Governance in Kosovo to guide the concrete implementation of these recommendations. ECMI provided trainings and technical assistance to STWG members to formulate and advocate for thee recommendations. The final of the series of training seminars for this project was held in March 2005 in Brussels, Belgium, focusing on advocacy methods, networking and providing information on EU institutions. During 2006 ECMI began phasing out its support to allow the STWG to increasingly administer its own affairs and supported the transformation of components of the STWG to become the CCC.

Accelerated Good Governance Initiative
The Accelerated Good Governance Initiative (AGGI) produced high quality legislation and accelerated the drafting and processing of laws into government procedure from an average of one year to five months. This was carried out with five ministries, each led by a different party, including ethnic Serbian and Turkish parties. After the 2004 elections and the constitution of the new commissions and other bodies, the Kosovo Assembly resumed its normal legislative function by late-February 2005. After that all five laws of the AGGI were either passed or reached the assembly readings procedures. After adoption by the Assembly, the laws should were then promulgated by UNMIK’s SRSG (the procedure that all laws then underwent after being passed in the Kosovo Assembly in order to enter into force).

Prime Minister’s High Level Initiative
At the beginning of 2004, ECMI was approached by the then Prime Minister, Mr. Bajram Rexhepi, to support the implementation of the ‘Standards for Kosovo’. The Prime Minister Initiative was subsequently developed with the aim of supporting the Kosovo Government, through the Prime Minister’s Office, with the process. The Kosovo Standards Implementation Plan (KSIP,) a general UNMIK document, underwent a process of ‘fine-tuning’ and in December 2004 a more shortened and straightforward document focusing on areas of human and minority rights was presented. Following the elections of 2004 and the formation of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj’s Government, ECMI established relations with the new government swiftly. In December 2004 ECMI Director Dr. Marc Weller met with PM Haradinaj to confirm the commitment of the Prime Minister to the “High Level Initiative”, to identify further needs and to discuss the strategic approach to Standards implementation. The PM endorsed a Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier between his office and ECMI and signed another invitation letter to ECMI to continue supporting his office and the Government in human and minority rights aspects of the KSIP. After PM Haradinaj’s indictment and subsequent resignation, ECMI Director met with the next PM Bajram Kosumi, during which the PM showed appreciation for the past work of ECMI and further invited ECMI to support his office and the government in providing strategic and expert level support in areas of human and community rights.

Government Assistance to Returns
The Government Assistance to Returns (GAR) project aimed to support the process of sustainable return of displaced minority members to their place of origin in Kosovo. The project was financed by the Kosovo Government and guided by United Nations Development Programme. Central to the project was close partnership and cooperation. Partnerships with key Kosovo bodies were formed, as well as with local and international agencies, such as the Danish Refugee Council and other NGOs. ECMI was engaged with this project at two levels: at the strategic level, ensuring the development of sound structures addressing returns issues, and at the practical local level, in the capacity-building of key local structures involved in the returns process.

Since the end of conflict in Kosovo, establishing a secure environment for the return of refugees and displaced persons remained a priority. The GAR project was intended to provide the necessary resources to bridge the gaps in the returns strategy, ensure coordination and cooperation between the different initiatives, provide beneficiary families with housing and socio-economic assistance as required, promote community development and reconciliation and enhance the credibility of all partners, so that the number of returns would continue to grow. Specifically, the project aimed to address needs for reconciliation and dialogue facilitation, housing requirements of returnees, socio-economic assistance of returnees, community projects accompanying the returns process and capacity-building, both of returnees and of the different actors within the returns process. The initial strategy on returns was developed in Kosovo in 2003. The process that lead to its development was internationally led in accordance with the changing political landscape. As the 2003 strategy became no longer relevant given massive political changes, ECMI was later asked by the UNMIK Office of Returns and Communities and PISG Government Coordinator on Returns to support the process of updating the strategy. Consequently, ECMI developed a project to update the return strategy in two stages: consultations with local and international stakeholders, followed by the revision of the strategy in accordance with the findings of the consultation process. Through this, ECMI continued to ensure that inter-ethnic dialogue and inclusion occurred at every level – particularly in relation to the difficult area of returns. In addition to this high-level policy project, ECMI also engaged in a capacity-building project targeted at returns officers at the municipal level.