Our purpose
We work towards a Kosovo in which people from all communities can exercise their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and access education, employment and public services on equal terms.
Working from a problem to a solution
Our work starts with a concern that people experience. We examine it with those affected, identify who can act and develop a workable response. That may involve working with a ministry, supporting a municipal procedure, assisting communities, strengthening a local organisation or producing guidance that people can use.
Research is a substantial part of this work. School visits, interviews, community discussions and institutional engagement help us understand problems that may otherwise remain overlooked. Legal and policy analysis helps identify obligations and options. We use the findings in advocacy, dialogue and implementation, and bring experience from that work back into research.
Our origins
ECMI Kosovo’s work began in 2001 as the Kosovo office of the European Centre for Minority Issues, the German-Danish institution based in Flensburg. Since 2009, it has been a Kosovo-registered non-governmental organisation with its own board, management and programmes.
An organisation built across communities
Our staff bring together people from different communities, and women hold key leadership and professional roles. Working across communities and languages is part of the organisation’s everyday practice.
Our experience in Mitrovica North and sustained engagement with Serbian-speaking communities connect local concerns with wider institutional processes. Work with Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, Bosniak, Turkish, Gorani and other communities brings different experiences and priorities into that engagement.
A place for learning and cooperation
ECMI Kosovo has long been a meeting place for students, researchers, community organisations and others working on minority issues. Our active internship programme combines contributions to research and programmes with learning through practical work. We share experience, handbooks and institutional knowledge that other organisations can use.
Our office is in central Prishtina. Our doors are open to people and organisations interested in discussing community concerns, exchanging knowledge and developing cooperation.
From legal foundations to everyday access
ECMI Kosovo has been closely involved in building the legal and institutional framework for community rights. During the status negotiations led by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari, the organisation helped prepare the Kosovo side’s positions on community rights. It went on to contribute to drafting the community-rights provisions of the Constitution, prepared the draft Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Communities and Their Members, and helped draft the Law on the Use of Languages in 2005, before its adoption in 2006. ECMI also supported the establishment of the Consultative Council for Communities and the Office for Community Affairs. We also contributed to the reform that established the Office of the Language Commissioner in 2012.
This foundational work sits alongside continued engagement on education, diploma verification, civil documentation, women’s rights, community-based legal assistance, livelihoods and environmental inclusion. Individual projects and studies belong to their own periods; the knowledge, relationships and commitment to these issues continue through ECMI Kosovo’s work.