KOSOVO

INTERSOS has been active in Kosovo since the summer of 1998, preceding the NATO intervention in Kosovo and Serbia. INTERSOS’ initial activities included assisting the displaced population, and then expanded to camp management of Kosovo refugees in neighbouring countries, assisted return of refugees to Kosovo, emergency distribution, and reconstruction of houses and infrastructure. Demining activities in Kosovo by INTERSOSalso facilitated landmine clearing of public structures before most of the population returned in 1999.

In the seven years INTERSOS has been operating in Kosovo, it has undertaken 30 projects mostly in Western Kosovo, in the sectors of Education, Food security, Health, Infrastructure, Repatriation & Resettlement, Community services, Water & Sanitation, Demining Activities, Cultural Heritage and Dialogue.

Seven years after the end of the conflict, Kosovo, working its way toward a more democratic structure in the European and global arena, is still in need of support from international community to lower tension and build confidence, leading to the peaceful co-existence of peoples. Due to the emerging necessity of social projects in post-conflict environments, INTERSOS, with more than a decade of experience in emergency relief and rehabilitation, developed a Program for Kosovo which brings previous experience and all the essential elements of social reconstruction and rehabilitation together, to facilitate more effective and cohesive future work.

INTERSOS Kosovo’s strategy is currently based on the “Social Well-being Program”, and it is acting in the general framework on Intersos’ principles and values. Dialogue, empowerment of local potentialities, and the preparation of communities for returns and final status, are the main issues taken into consideration. Grass-roots level dialogue all over the western region of Pejë/Pec (where the mission is based) has been developed and designed not only to establish a mutually confident relationship between diverse cultures, but also to prepare them for future returns, and to improve their potentialities in order to have long-term and sustainable results. All projects and activities have been implemented and designed to match with the Social Wellbeing Program. Since Intersos works with a balancing approach and a physical exit strategy in mind, this method pays special attention to sustainable management practices for the long-term independent interests of the community.

Currently Kosovo is living through a crucial phase of its recent post-conflict history. On October 24, 2005 the UN Security Council expressed its positive vote for the beginning of talks for Kosovo’s final status, as an independent state or a province of Serbia. Intersos’ presence at this crucial moment is important, as INTERSOS is working toward the improvement of intercultural dialogue, empowering civil society, preparing the conditions for IDP and refugee return, and recovery of Kosovo’s shared cultural heritage.

INTERSOS Kosovo currently focuses its activities on the recovery of Cultural Heritage and Dialogue activities for conflict transformation between separated communities. Physical reconstruction has been accompanied by the promotion of dialogue, through the protection and rehabilitation of the cultural heritage, which is a common interest to various ethnic groups. In recent years, INTERSOS has focused its work in western Kosovo, rehabilitating the Bajrakli Mosque, Kurshumli Mosque, the Pec Patriarchate, The Monastery of Decan, the Haxhi Beu Turkish Bath and Shabanaj Mill. In collaboration with the Italian Central Institute for Restoration and the Ministry of Culture in Kosovo, the projects have trained local operators and created spaces for inter-ethnic dialogue aimed to re-create the condition for peaceful coexistence. The use of cultural heritage as a tool to build dialogue, the constant attention to train local communities and to empower their potentialities, dialogue activities for the communities representing all cultures in Kosovo, are all elements that rarely are simultaneously developed by other organizations. Such an integrated approach, focused on the middle-term result of preparing communities for sustainable returns, has already shown its effectiveness. Further, INTERSOS Kosovo has contributed to the development of an NGO network and facilitated ongoing activities and dialogue within and between Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, Bosniac, Ashkalije and Egyptian communities.

The current project in Kosovo is:
Cultural Heritage and Dialogue Project, funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Entitled: Protection of the Cultural and Artistic Heritage as a tool to promote development and dialogue among people in Kosovo (arts and dialogue)