Prishtina, 30 September 2022
The Office for Community Affairs within the Prime Minister’s Office today held a donor conference on issues identified by Kosovo’s non-majority communities as priorities for donor support. The conference was attended by representatives from the Austrian Development Agency, the Council of Europe, the EU, IOM, OSCE, the UN family, USAID, and 12 Embassies active in Kosovo. Participants heard from the Prime Minister’s cabinet of advisers for non-majority communities about the issues facing their communities and about the most common types of support requested by minority community NGOs in their applications for the 1.5 million euro budget allocated by the Office for Community Affairs for grants this year.
Advisers shared examples of effective donor projects – for example, those with “multiplier effects” where each person benefiting also took responsibility to pass on the benefit they had had. This was transformational in the case that was shared of an Egyptian woman in Fushe Kosove/ Kosovo Polje who was given a sewing machine and then used it to sew reusable face masks which she distributed for free in her community, or the hairdresser who was supported to set up in business and then offered free home hairdressing services to clients who were disabled and unable to attend her salon.
In the applications submitted to the Office for Community Affairs, the priority area identified was education and the communities from which the greatest demand for support had come were Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian. Recurring themes were also respect for minority language rights, employment and infrastructure projects, not only for their practical benefit but also for the long-term impact on a sense of belonging
Participants thanked the government for this opportunity for donor co-ordination in this important field and expressed their interest in further meetings of this type. One participant commented that “the spirit of the Prime Minister’s speech was hope” and that the meeting led to new motivation to identify the most effective ways to support Kosovo.
Prime Minister Kurti’s speech:
Dear ambassadors,
Dear colleagues,
Looking around this room I get an extraordinary feeling of support. I am reminded of the meetings I have had with many of you and your colleagues, but also – and perhaps more importantly – the evidence I have seen of your organisations’ work in the field during visits I have made in my capacity as Prime Minister. And also the ways I have seen my country develop from the viewpoint of a Prishtina resident and a Kosova citizen.
The great architect, Christopher Wren, designed and built much of what is beautiful in the London landscape. After the great fire of London in 1666, he rebuilt 52 churches as well as founding the great scientific association called the Royal Society. One of the most spectacular churches he worked on was St Paul’s Cathedral, and it is there that he is buried. On his tomb there is no statue to Wren but the inscription written in Latin on his tomb translates as ‘if you are seeking his monument, look around you.’ You, the donor community, have worked with us as architects of Kosova, after the great destruction we suffered, and like Christopher Wren, the best evidence of your huge support to Kosova over more than two decades is not represented in this room or in the reports and conferences I get to read and attend, but in what changes on the ground for Kosova’s citizens. I look around and see the evidence of the designs and the constructions that the people of Kosova have worked on with you to ensure our citizens live fuller, freer, more prosperous lives, with their basic rights respected, and the chance to choose their path and to contribute to our society and the wider world.
As I look around me, I see this monument to your work with Kosova’s citizens and institutions and your investments. I see improving education, from early childhood onwards, and support for better health. I see new opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship in training programmes and business start-ups. I see better infrastructure, from the houses and schools that have been built, to the neighbourhoods that have been better lit, and at national level the transformations we are starting to make in our renewable energy generation capacity. I feel proud of the government’s partnership with you in making these things a reality.
But I also see the areas where the developments are uneven and where our government needs to do more, or do things in new ways, and ask for new kinds of help for Kosova. I visit neighbourhoods where the streets are not asphalted and not all the children are in school. I know there is poverty which sends old people and babies to bed cold and hungry. I hear of citizens unable to exercise their basic rights because of discrimination. I hear of cases of corruption and the despair that comes with it.
My whole political career has been based on fighting for social justice, and my government programme is focused on changing the preconditions necessary for our society to transform – those preconditions are jobs and justice. And we will only have achieved that goal if we achieve it for all.
We are committed to deep reforms in the legal framework on anti-corruption and the vetting process. We submitted to the Assembly the file of documents for the vetting. Faith in justice includes faith in the state, which is at the service of the citizens.
We were ranked first in Western Balkans on the “World Justice Project” index for 2021 and we upgraded for 17 places on the Transparency International Index and World Press Freedom Index.
We have increased fight against corruption, which so far has resulted with over 780 police operations against economic crimes and corruption, over 2200 people arrested. 68 criminal groups are destroyed, while around 300 state and public officials are arrested for corruption and abuse of power.
We closed 2021 with 10.7% economic growth, 4.87% of GDP in first quarter of 2022; with 83.6% increase in exports, 31% increase in budget revenues, and we have added over 25.000 new jobs to the economy.
Kosova is shaping a success story that proves that economic development and qualitative democracy go hand in hand. Because as we know, there are some powers and super powers in the world who want to show that autocracy is better for economy. We are not a big country, but a great example of the opposite. That democracy and economy go hand in hand.
Today’s conference organised by the Office for Community Affairs in the Office of the Prime Minister is a chance to talk to you as fellow architects of the next stage of Kosova’s developments. We have heard from communities who have not always been included in the progress that Kosova has made: they have told us what they want built – sometimes quite literally in infrastructure projects, but more often in opportunities that can be constructed. We are looking at ways that we can respond to the needs that have been identified, but we know that your expertise can be transformational in making these communities’ plans and dreams a reality.
This is not a traditional donor conference because we are not asking you for money for the government to spend. We see that sometimes we can play a more powerful role in articulating the needs we have seen and heard from our citizens, especially when we believe our processes give us unique access and insights. We might not be able to respond to all of these needs ourselves, but we want to be active and responsible in making sure that all those who can contribute to solving the problems identified, do have the information to address the priorities effectively.
We hope that the information exchanged today will be helpful for your programming, and will enable change for minority community citizens who need it most.
We would like to keep this kind of communication with you going so that today is just the beginning of a co-ordinated conversation which begins with what Kosova’s non-majority communities identify as their priorities, and continue with us being able to evaluate honestly together how we are going to respond to those needs: how we are focusing funds, creating synergies, and avoiding duplication.
I know there will be interesting insights shared today by the Office of Community Affairs and the advisers from my Cabinet who have contributed to this event. I know they are then keen to hear from you about what you want to see from the government. I’m sorry that I can’t be with you until the end of this event, but I have asked my Cabinet to brief me on the feedback they get from you, and I hope that this is the starting point for the next stage in building a fair and prosperous Kosova for all.
Thank you very much.
Last modified: October 1, 2022