VIENNA, 5 February 2012 - The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger, today strongly condemned an incident in northern Mitrovica involving assailant throwing a hand grenade at a house, injuring two children.

“A series of troubling security incidents have affected people living in northern Kosovo over the past few days. This latest act resulted in the injury of a three-year-old boy and nine-year-old girl, which is completely unacceptable,” said Schlumberger, in Vienna for his regular report to the OSCE Permanent Council.

A two-week training course organized by the OSCE Mission on child protection and prevention of juvenile delinquency for 13 police officers concluded on 21 December 2012 at the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety in Vushtrri/Vučitrn.

The training focused on basic causes of juvenile delinquency and preventive measures, child- and youth-related violence and victimization, and investigation of criminal cases involving minors as victims, offenders, witnesses or information providers.

DUBLIN, 6 December 2012 - Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Minister Delegate for European Affairs of France Bernard Cazeneuve issued the following statement today:

Despite policy framework improvements, security incidents continue to affect returns process in Kosovo, concludes OSCE report

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 1 November 2012 – Despite encouraging developments in the policy and institutional framework for the protection and promotion of the rights of displaced persons and returnees, security incidents at a number of returns sites continue to negatively affect the returns process, concludes an OSCE Mission in Kosovo report issued today.

A series of two training workshops on systematic data collection and development of databases on returnees and repatriated persons for 19 municipal officers for communities and returns from Gjilan/Gnjilane region concluded on 12 October 2012 in Gjilan/Gnjilane.

The three-day workshops were organized by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo to help municipalities obtain and organize reliable and up-to-date information about the numbers of returnees and repatriated persons, their demographic characteristics and assistance they received.

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 24 July 2012 – Vulnerable communities in Kosovo face difficulties with civil registration which continue to hinder their social inclusion, says an OSCE report issued today.

While Kosovo institutions in recent years have improved the legislative framework and have increased the number of civil registration offices, inadequate allocation of financial, logistical and human resources limits proper functioning of the mechanism. Language barriers and a lack of guidance on documents required for civil registration pose further obstacles.

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 19 July 2012 – Despite an advanced legislative framework in place to protect and promote the rights of communities in Kosovo, only limited progress has been made in its implementation since 2010, says a report published today by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 11 July 2012 - The OSCE Mission in Kosovo calls for increased co-operation between independent oversight institutions and the Assembly of Kosovo in a report launched today on the status of their relations. At a conference in Prishtinë/Priština, the OSCE discussed its findings with the heads of independent institutions, senior representatives of the Assembly, members of civil society and international community representatives.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo concluded a one-week training course on witness protection for 20 Kosovo police officers on 15 June 2012 in Vushtrri/Vučitrn. The training focused on legal provisions and appropriate procedures and protection programmes that can be offered to witnesses.