Prishtina, 15 May 2023
Today, a reception was held upon invitation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, to celebrate the annual award from the European Union for the integration of Roma communities in the Western Balkans and Turkey by the Office for Good Governance, along with the Organization for Socio-Economic Stability, also awarded by the EU for their work with the community. In attendance were Deputy Prime Minister Emilija Redžepi, accredited ambassadors, minority community member and deputy Erxhan Galushi, as well as leaders of international organizations and civil society groups.
“Communities and diversity are Kosovo assets, but we are aware of the challenges that exist for our fellow Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian citizens. We are committed to overcoming these challenges together with civil society and international partners in order to fully realize the rights of communities. Particularly, I am delighted about the Strategy for the Advancement of the Rights of the Roma and Ashkali Communities, which our government approved last year. Thanks to the dedicated work of the Office for Good Governance, there is a greater chance of realizing this strategy due to the allocation of budget for all activities – which has not been done until now,” said Prime Minister Kurti.
The Prime Minister stated on this occasion that in this Government initiative, special focus has been given to language against hatred and discrimination, and with the opening of the platform www.raportodiskriminimin.org, we have demonstrated the government’s commitment to monitoring cases of discrimination and resolving them.
Additionally, the Prime Minister stated that this year we have also awarded scholarships to students from the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities, as well as 200 thousand Euros for educational centers where children from these communities learn.
Having identified employment as one of the main challenges for the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community, Prime Minister Kurti said that for this reason we have created the inter-institutional team for the promotion of the employment of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities and we are grateful to director Habit Hajredini and his team for making this mechanism functional.
“We have were successes with a number of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians who have benefited from training at the Professional Training Centers; last year 104 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians benefited from this training – an increase from just 34 the year before. “We are also happy with the previous round of recruitment, where only one member of the Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities was accepted as a police officer. Since the last recruitment, we have made progress with 3 women and 6 men from these communities,” added Prime Minister Kurti.
The director of the Office for Good Governance within the Office of the Prime Minister, Habit Hajredini, was awarded a prize by the European Commission for the Integration of Roma in Western Balkans and Turkey at the end of last month. This is the first award given to a high-ranking officer as a civil servant in the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.
Mr. Hajredini coordinates the government’s work for the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. Some of the most notable engagements of recent years include his contribution to the drafting of the Strategy for the Advancement of the Rights of Roma and Ashkali, the creation of the platform for reporting discrimination against Roma, www.raportodiscriminanim.org and the opening of a mini-library in the Roma language inaugurated by the Prime Minister last month.
Prime Minister’s full speech:
Honorable Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Ms. Emilia Rexhepi,
Dear Ambassador, Head of the EU mission in Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog,
Dear Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Jörn Rohde,
Dear Chief of UNICEF, Nona Zicherman,
Dear Director of Roma Active Albania, Mr. Adriatik Hasantari,
Honorable Deputy Head of the Council of Europe, Mr. Tankut Soykan,
The honorable MP in the Assembly of the Republic Mr. Erxhan Galushi,
Dear staff of the Office for Good Governance in the Office of the Prime Minister and other institutions of the Republic,
The honorable ambassador, head of the OSCE in Kosovo, Mr. Michael Davenport,
Dear representatives of the Organization for Social-Economic Stability and other representatives of the civil society,
Dear international partners,
Ladies and gentleman,
Since 2014, the European Union has awarded an annual prize for the integration of Roma communities in the Western Balkans. This award has never been given to a civil servant, so we are very pleased that for the first time, it is happening with us in the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and it is a special pleasure and honor to participate in an event like this.
Together with our partners in this ceremony, we are celebrating the work of the Office for Good Governance within the Office of the Prime Minister, as well as the work of the Kosovar Organization for Social and Economic Stability.
Communities and diversity are Kosovo assets, but we are aware of the challenges that exist for our fellow Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian citizens. We are committed to overcoming these challenges together with civil society and international partners in order to fully realize all the rights of communities. Particularly, I am delighted about the Strategy for the Advancement of the Rights of the Roma and Ashkali Communities, which our government approved last year. Thanks to the dedicated work of the Office for Good Governance, the chances of realizing this strategy are high, as a budget has been allocated for all activities, something which has not been done so far.
In this government initiative, we have also made it a specific focus to combat hate speech and discrimination. With the opening of the platform www.raportodiscriminimin.org we have witnessed the government’s commitment to monitoring cases of discrimination and resolving them.
We have allocated as the Government of the Republic 500 scholarships for students from the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities and 200,000 Euro for educational centers serving these communities. We are also addressing the existence of early marriages that cut short the education of many girls in the community, and are planning various forms of cooperation at the municipal level to address this harmful phenomenon.
We acknowledge the importance of registering communities during the people Census process which will start in September this year, and the Statistics Agency is working closely with community representatives to ensure the most accurate representation of the communities in their registration.
Employment is a major challenge for the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community. For this, we have created the inter-institutional team for the promotion of the employment of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, and I am grateful to director Habit Hajredini and his team for making this mechanism operational. “We have were successes in increasing the number of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians who have benefited from training at the Professional Training Centers; last year 104 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians benefited from this training – an increase from just 34 the year before. We are also happy with the previous round of recruitment, where only one member of the Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities was accepted as a police officer. Since the last recruitment, we have noted progress with 3 women and 6 men from these communities.
Both the Government and the civil society have contributed in this direction, for which I would like to thank in particular the Organization for Social-Economic Stability for their work and commitment, with special emphasis on women and girls, who are contributing to the empowerment of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, so the award given today is more than deserved.
I wish everyone for the joint contribution for the good of communities in Kosovo. We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us because we have many challenges in the present, but together we know that we can achieve the best for a society with opportunities for all, without discrimination and leaving no one behind.
Thank you and once again congratulations.
Last modified: May 18, 2023