Prishtina, 07 October 2022
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, attended the conference on the allocation of resources with special benefits for non-majority communities, organized by the Office for Community Affairs and the Office for Good Governance within the Office of the Prime Minister. The National Platform for Protection from Discrimination for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Communities was introduced at the conference.
On this occasion, Prime Minister Kurti said that this conference is important in bringing central policies closer to the citizen, whom we have to serve.
“We all know the importance of this connection, while I recently observed it during my visit to a center of the Roma, Egyptian and Ashkali communities,” said Kurti, emphasizing that the staff of this center supported young mothers and children to benefit from the maternity and child allowance scheme.
In addition, Prime Minister Kurti said that about 200 families have benefited from these schemes thanks to the initiative of this center. “This is just one of the good examples of cooperation between government policies and the work of civil society,” underlined Prime Minister Kurti, adding that “this is also a proof of how you who are present today, whether from the municipalities or from civil society, are a necessary link in the translation of government initiatives for the benefit of citizens.”
Further, Kurti stated that he sees social progress as closely related to the continuous progress of our citizens without distinction and that in order to achieve this, the paths of opportunity should be opened to all.
“Therefore, I thank you for your role in the involvement of citizens from the communities, and I confirm that we are open to further communication about ways of support,” stated Prime Minister, concluding that the Government sees them as a communication channel not only from the central to the local level, but also vice versa, from the local to the central level.
Full speech of Prime Minister Kurti at the conference on the allocation of resources with special benefits for non-majority communities:
Thank you Elizabeth,
Honorable Minister of Local Government Administration, Mr. Elbert Krasniqi,
Honorable Director of the Office for Good Governance, Mr. Habit Hajredini,
Honorable representatives of municipalities, civil society and the media,
I am happy to be here with you today, as you have already started the conversation about resources that can be of benefit to the communities that live in Kosovo.
I see this discussion as an important opportunity to bring central policies closer to the citizen, whom we must serve.
We all know the importance of this connection, and I recently observed it during my visit to a center of the Roma, Egyptian and Ashkali communities. The staff of this center have supported new mothers and children of surrounding families to benefit from the maternity and child allowance scheme launched by the government.
This non-governmental organization has offered mothers the opportunity to go to their center and register on the e-kosova platform with the help of the organization’s staff.
Through the initiative of this center, there are now about 200 families who have benefited from the scheme and are part of nearly 200 thousand children and over 20 thousand young mothers who have benefited from this scheme throughout Kosovo.
This is just one of the good examples of cooperation between government policies and the work of civil society. This is also a proof of how you who are present today, either from the municipalities or from the civil society, are a necessary link in the translation of the government’s initiatives for the benefit of the citizens.
In the same way, I believe that there is great power in this hall, which ensures that our policies for economic support will reach all citizens, especially those who need it the most.
We have allocated EUR 150 million for the Anti-Inflation Package, through one-off payments to pensioners, students and employees of public enterprises, an additional payment of EUR 50 for public sector employees and reimbursement of 50 percent of the salary increase for private sector employees. Especially for the latter, we hope that through the media, information will reach all businesses, even those with owners or employees from non-majority communities, so that all our citizens can benefit without distinction.
So, when a business raises an employee’s salary, half of this raise is subsidized by the Government under this Anti-Inflation Package.
This package also includes a reward for saving electricity. If the bills of any month of this autumn or winter show savings compared to the bills of the same month last year, we will reward citizens by subsidizing double the value. Thus, we will double the savings that you made this year compared to 2021. Meanwhile, we all know that unemployment remains a challenge and is especially marked for the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. Hence, during the summer, the Government approved the decision to establish an inter-institutional team, headed by Director Habit Hajredini, for the employment of these three communities.
We believe that our policy of every family having an employee or the “Government for Families” policy as we have called it, is an opportunity to support these communities. We hope that all organizations from these communities that collaborate with them will encourage the unemployed and jobseekers to register with the Employment Agency where they will be given priority if they have none of the family members employed.
With such initiatives and cooperation, we can achieve the economic transformation of our country, making sure that it is a fair transformation that benefits all our citizens.
We see our social progress as closely related to the continuous progress of our citizens without distinction, and to achieve this, the paths of opportunity must be opened to all. Therefore, I thank you for your role in the involvement of citizens from the communities, and I confirm that we are open for further communication on ways of support. We see you as a communication channel not only from the central to the local level, but also vice versa, from the local to the central level.
We are interested in hearing about the needs you see at the local level and in communities and to make sure, through you as a bridge, that the next policies respond as best as possible to the priorities in the field. We consider the promotion, respect and guarantee of human rights and the rights of communities in our work every day and in every decision we make. We are committed to the advancement of human rights in our country and their full respect. Therefore, we are grateful for your work, and we are glad that you are where the citizens need you.
I hope that new proposals and initiatives will emerge from this conference on how our policies and our cooperation will be as fruitful as possible and reach each and every citizen of our country.
Thank you!
Last modified: October 10, 2022