Violence against women is a human rights violation, a consequence of the discrimination against women, in law and also in practice, and of the persisting inequalities between men and women. Up to 70% of women and girls experience physical or sexual violence from men in their lifetime. Domestic violence also remains one of the most prevalent forms of violence against women in Kosovo. As 46% of women living in Kosovo cited evidence of domestic violence in their neighbourhood, and 12% had witnessed a husband beating his spouse.2 However, more than half of the women suffering it did not report to the police.

On 27 November 2013, ECMI Kosovo and its partner organisations held the certification ceremony for successful participants of two key programmes implemented throughout 2013, aimed at mainstreaming community rights within civil service and empowering minority civil society. These programmes are an example of ECMI Kosovo’s dual approach of working to increase the capacities of government officials and institutions to effectively implement the extensive legal framework for the protection and promotion of minority rights in Kosovo, while also supporting communities to actively participate in decision-making and advocate for their interests and rights.

This publication presents ECMI Kosovo’s preliminary analysis of the results after the first round of the local elections, focusing on the Serb community. It also draws conclusions from the voter education campaign implemented throughout the pre-election period in 28 locations, as well as from the observation mission deployed on the day of the elections in 37 polling stations.

ECMI Kosovo has drafted an information bulletin on local elections to be held on 3 November 2013 throughout Kosovo. The elections will be the first ones to be organised under the Kosovo legal framework in northern Kosovo, in application of the 19 April agreement between Prishtinë/Priština and Belgrade. The information bulletin presents the number of candidates from minority communities running for the 2013 local elections throughout Kosovo, with a focus on Serb-majority municipalities. It also provides an analysis of the key issues related to the participation of the Serb community, both north and south of Ibër/Ibar river. Finally, it draws conclusions from the large-scale voter education campaign conducted by ECMI Kosovo during the month of October in nine Serb-majority municipalities, including northern Kosovo.

On the occasion of the Day of Bosniaks, 28 September, ECMI Kosovo issued a press release to celebrate Kosovo’s multi-ethnicity, reflect on the particular issues the Bosniak community faces, and call upon government institutions to increase and strengthen their work towards the protection and promotion of the rights and interests of the Bosniak community, as well as all non-majority communities in Kosovo.

This publication addresses the lack of adequate budget allocation to the Consultative Council for Communities (Council), a key challenge to its effective functioning, and provides recommendations.