On 31 March, in Gračanica/Graçanicë ECMI Kosovo held a final conference for the project “Diversity is Opportunity: Promoting Tolerance as a Means of Reconciliation and Democratization”, funded by the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo. In this conference, ECMI Kosovo presented the activities that were developed throughout this project as well as the results achieved. Participants had the chance to express their opinions and talk about their experiences during this project. Furthermore, a booklet that contains a photo reportage that participants took was also presented during the conference.

The Manuals for Municipal and School PRTANs were drafted in cooperation with UNICEF and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) within the framework of the joint education programme “Enhancing Access to and Retention in Education for Vulnerable and Disadvantaged Children”. The Manuals serve to support the implementation of the Administrative Instruction (AI) 19/2012 which foresees the establishment and functionalization of PRTANs in each municipality and school in Kosovo. The concrete mechanisms and tools entailed in the Manuals help the teams to exercise their role and mandate in prevention, response and treatment of drop-out and non-enrolment in education and thus contribute to the overarching aim to ensure equity in education for all. Finally, the Early Warning System (EWS), the key part of the tools, has been integrated as an additional module within the Education Management Information System (EMIS) at central level. The PRTAN Manuals can be found also on MEST’s website.

This report presents the key findings of this pilot phase of monitoring the Law on the Use of Languagesthrough the use of indicators, which focused on the work of the Assembly (Article 5). It seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the situation in this area and to identify challenges and potential recommendations to address them, in order to contribute to improving compliance with the Law within the work of the Assembly of Kosovo and ensuring the adequate use of official languages and other community languages in Kosovo.

This guidebook emphasizes the importance and need for evidence-based policy-making and outlines relevant regulations (including the legal procedures regulating Kosovo institutions when contracting companies or engaging external experts to provide data and information) and methodological issues, with a particular focus on community issues. It is intended to be a useful tool for Kosovo government institutions mandated to conduct research and develop policies related to community rights in Kosovo. This guidebook was prepared under the project ‘Supporting Effective Governance for Minority Communities in Kosovo’, funded by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).

This report documents the repatriation and reintegration process in Kosovo. Repatriated persons are often not aware of the services allocated to them due to a lack of awareness about the process. Since 2012, steps have been taken to raise awareness; however, issues still exist at central and local levels. Hence, this report addresses the institutions within the government that assist with repatriation at both local and central levels, as well as policy instruments adopted, such as the Strategy for the Reintegration of Repatriated Persons, the Action Plan on the Implementation of the Strategy for Reintegration of Repatriated Persons and the Regulation on Management of the Programme.

The 2013 edition of this guidebook, with information on communities in Kosovo and their rights, aims to serve as a starting point for anyone working on communities in Kosovo, both to increase knowledge and awareness on communities, and as a practical handbook for government and other organisations working on communities in Kosovo. It contains background information on communities in Kosovo and a breakdown of the major issues faced by those communities. This analysis is supported by statistics relating to geography, demographics, employment and economics. The guidebook also provides information on political representation and legislation. Reflecting ECMI Kosovo’s first-hand experience in the development and implementation of community rights standards in Kosovo, it offers a comprehensive overview of the legal foundations of community rights in Kosovo, and of the institutions available to communities for the protection and promotion of their rights.