Prishtina, 12 December, 2023
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, participated in the donors’ conference for the provision of stable housing for 60 families of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities returned to Kosovo. This event was organized in the Government building.
In his speech, Prime Minister Kurti emphasized the gratitude that today we have a way to provide a long-term solution for 60 families to sleep peacefully and warmly, feeling that they are at home.
“Housing for the most vulnerable families of Kosovo is a priority of our government. This year we have allocated funds to over 380 families from non-majority communities to benefit from housing improvements.” Prime Minister Kurti added.
The success of this commitment comes as a result of the work of the government, especially through the Ministry of Communities and Return and the Ministry of Local
Government Administration, the municipalities, but also thanks to the close and continuous cooperation with our international partners.
“In my visits to these construction projects and my meetings with the families who benefit, I have seen how the investment affects not only their material situation, but also their sense of hope, belonging and their ability to contribute to the community and their country. I am convinced of the transformative power of what we can do together for the 60 families we seek to support today.” said Prime Minister Kurti.
He emphasized that today we will also see the plans for how these families can be housed properly, with access to services, education and the labor market, as well as discuss the costs of ensuring these conditions for these families.
“From the 2.5 million euros needed, our government will make a financial commitment and we will hear from Minister Rashiq about the support that his ministry will provide in particular and I am extremely grateful to you, our partners. With your presence here today, you have shown your willingness to be part of the solution, together with us,” concluded the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Kurti’s complete speech:
Your excellency ambassador Michael Davenport,
Your excellency ambassador Nicholas Abbott,
Your excellences ambassadors of North Macedonia Shpresa Jusufi, of Montenegro Mr. Çobaj, of Luxembourg Mr. Dietz,
Honorable Deputy Prime Minister Emilia Rexhepi, Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rasic, Minister Elbert Krasniqi,
Dear Consul General Taulant Hodaj,
Dear members of Parliament, Erxhan Galushi and Deputy Mayor Lulzim Aliu, Deputy Mayor Leonora Morina Bunjaku,
Dear Mr. Damian Browne of the Danish Refugee Council,
Representatives of the German Embassy, Swiss embassy, IOM, UNCHR, GIZ and the Office of the Prime Minister and representatives from the ministries of our Government,
Many thanks for coming together today to help find a joint solution for sixty of Kosova’s most vulnerable families.
It was last year that I saw a picture of one of these families on social media. They had returned to Kosova but were without housing. Instead, they created a makeshift tent on agricultural land. Adults and children were trying – against the odds – to find a way to live with dignity. I offer many thanks to the civil society activists who drew attention to this case. And I’m glad that after I shared the desperate needs of this family with my advisor, she immediately visited the family to understand more about their case, as well as the short-term and long-term help that was needed.
The family had already benefited from the standard six-month package of support offered by the Ministry of Communities and Returns. But they had been unable to find a sustainable housing solution when that support ran out. After my advisor’s initial visit, she returned with representatives from the Ministry for Communities and Returns, who were able to find additional temporary support for the family. Together, they also collected data on others who had returned to Kosova with the family I’d seen in that Facebook picture. The aim was to understand the complex situation in which all these families were struggling to secure shelter for themselves and a sustainable home back in Kosova.
Sometimes a situation can be both very complicated and very simple. The facts of how this group of families had fallen into their desperate situation involved responsibilities at the international, national and local levels. It also involved a network of agencies called on to help through different mechanisms. These mechanisms are not simple to navigate or coordinate. But the situation can also be reduced to one very simple fact – that here, in our country, there were children and parents who were spending their nights sleeping in a field.
I am deeply grateful for the humanity of the agencies who worked to change that simple fact, even while we all liaised to address the more complicated issues to ensure a sustainable solution. I am deeply grateful that those children and their parents quickly obtained shelter so they were no longer sleeping in a tent, and that today we have a way to secure a long-term solution for 60 families to sleep safe and warm, feeling that they are at home.
Housing for Kosova’s most vulnerable families is a priority of our government. This year we have allocated funding for over 380 families from non-majority communities to benefit from improved housing. This includes families who have received building materials from the Ministry of Communities and Returns, as well as funding for new homes from this Ministry.
Families from non-majority communities have also received funding from the Ministry for Local Government Administration, for the renovation or building of homes. On my visits to these building projects and my meetings with the families who are benefiting, I have seen how the investment impacts not only their material situation, but their sense of hope, their feeling of belonging, and their ability to contribute to their community and country.
So I am convinced of the transformational power of what we can do together for the 60 families we are looking to support today. And I have seen how collaboration is necessary to achieve these positive changes for such families. Many people helped us to get to this point — the point where we are now able to offer a sustainable solution for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian families returned from North Macedonia and Montenegro. In particular, we have benefited not only from the work of the Ministry for Communities and Returns, but also from the engagement of municipalities who have shown leadership at local level and given their commitment to finding a sustainable solution for these families in need.
We have benefited from the engagement of UN agencies both through work in the field and financial support. We have had offers to help from the EU Office in Kosova. We have benefited from the personal commitment of Ambassador Nicholas Abbott and his team at the British Embassy who have, through UNDP, funded the Danish Refugee Council to undertake a detailed survey of the needs of these returnees.
I hope today’s conference will show that we can achieve so much when these stakeholders, and others, all come together. In this room, I believe we have all that is needed to ensure housing not only for the single family I was first alerted to, but every one of the families from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities that have returned to Kosova from North Macedonia and from Montenegro.
These families have waited far too long. They have been caught between the complicated facts relating to their return and the simple fact of not having a roof over their heads. We will see today the plans for how they can be properly housed, with access to services, to education and to labour market. And we will discuss the costs of providing this dignity to these families.
Of the 2.5 million euros needed, our government will make a financial commitment, and we will hear from Minister Rasic about the support his ministry will offer in particular and I am enormously grateful to you, our partners. By your presence here today, you have shown your willingness to be part of the solution, together with us.
It’s a cold day today — weather wise — a day that makes us feel grateful for having a home and a shelter. I hope that, by the end of our conference, we will be able to ensure that all the families we are gathered to support will have a place to be safe and warm, and a base to rebuild their lives in Kosova with dignity — just like the rest of us, just as they deserve.
Thank you very much.
Last modified: December 13, 2023