United States Agency for International Development
Bureau for Humanitarian Response
Office of Transition Initiatives
Kosovo Transition Initiative
Prishtina, Kosovo (871-761) 363-620 (381-38) 590-173

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

USAID/OTI's Kosovo Transition Initiative (KTI) is designed to maximize Kosovars' participation in democratic processes. The program encourages political diversity, increased citizen participation in political and community affairs, and moderate voices in leadership.

The major part of KTI's portfolio consists of assistance to communities in forming and organizing Community Improvement Councils (CICs). These Councils support Kosovars in the process of rebuilding their communities while preparing them for the challenges of democratic self-governance. KTI also promotes the development of an independent media and a strong civil society. The KTI program is implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

COUNTRY SITUATION

On Monday, August 14, KFOR troops took over the Zvecan lead smelter in northern Kosovo and placed it under UNMIK control. The smelter produced extremely dangerous pollution levels, resulting in cases of lead poisoning in the surrounding population. The take-over produced an angry reaction from Belgrade loyalists who previously ran the smelter.

KTI lost a vehicle when it was set on fire by an angry mob in Skenderaj on August 24. The attack was precipitated by frustration over long traffic delays that were caused by a police search of IOM vehicles, following a car-bomb threat received by IOM headquarters earlier in the day. No one was injured in the incident.

Attacks on Serbs throughout the region have increased during the month of August.

A leading member of the LDK political party in Peja was abducted and murdered at the end of July. In June, the president of the LDK branch in Ferizaj also received death threats, and has not appeared in public since. These incidents have highlighted tensions forming along party lines, and have posed new challenges for international and local policing efforts.

Illegal construction has been a growing problem over the past months. While civil authorities in Prishtina are ignoring much of it for the moment, the municipal board in Ferizaj has decided to begin demolishing illegally raised buildings. Eight kiosks built illegally on municipal land were destroyed last week.

USAID/OTI HIGHLIGHTS

A. Narrative Summary

KTI staff and OSCE's Office of Democratization have completed a jointly organized ‘Voter's Voice' public opinion interview project with all seven KTI regional offices. The initiative gathered representatives from KTI's most active CIC members to discuss and prioritize issues of importance to their respective communities. The OSCE will analyze and distribute this information to political parties to help them develop platforms before the October elections. The project involved approximately 500 KTI CIC members from across Kosovo. The OSCE has praised the collaboration and the depth of KTI's contact with community members. The project was particularly useful as it stimulated surprisingly frank political debate between rival party supporters. Of equal importance, the project laid a constructive foundation for future KTI-OSCE collaboration.

On August 10, OTI together with the International Research and Education Exchange co-hosted a conference for thirteen local radio stations. The conference served as a networking and election-programming training forum. KTI also introduced a competition for election-related radio programming. The station producing the best election program will receive an equipment upgrade award. The Gallup International public opinion survey was launched on August 21. The survey will provide insight into the issues most important to Kosovar communities and will assist KTI in its future work on PSAs.

B. Grants Activity Summary

Resource leveraging

During the month of August, KTI has leveraged $350,000 from other international donors and $150,000 from local communities. Further, over the past five months UNDP has funded six CIC-identified projects in the Peja region, valued at almost $300,000.

Policy leveraging

The International Medical Corps (IMC) in Ferizaj has requested CIC assistance to introduce their health workers to the surrounding villages. The health workers will explain their role to the CIC members, who will then organize community meetings to explain what resources will be available to the villages through this IMC initiative.

The UNMIK Police in Ferizaj have requested the assistance of CICs to organize community meetings so that local police can explain their role to each village. The goal is for the local police to develop personal relationships with members of each community to increase the level of trust and cooperation, and to develop future projects.

D. Program Appraisal

The internal evaluation of KTI implementation to date is complete. Some of the preliminary findings show that involvement in the CICs was the first experience of its kind for most of the members, and was a greatly valued opportunity for all. Another finding was that participation of women in the CICs remains difficult, and requires more support. However, village leaders in Lower Sllatina (Viti municipality) emphasized that through KTIs' work in the village, women are participating more in the decisions affecting the village.

Nearly all projects were successfully completed and are being used as envisioned by the local communities. The level of local contributions is increasing over time, as is the amount of resources leveraged from other international donors and implementers.

NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES

The development of election programming is one of the top priorities for the next period. This includes, but is not limited to, the production of Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for both radio and television outlets, organizing local debates, producing newspaper supplements, supporting poster campaigns and organizing a Get-Out-The-Vote campaign, specifically targeting women.

Points of contact:

In Kosovo: Jason Aplon, Deputy Country Director, Tel: (381-38) 590-174, E-mail japlon@usaid.gov.

In Washington: David Costello, Balkans Team Leader, Tel: (202) 712-5231, E-mail dcostello@usaid.gov.