2006

1.Project Title: Action Plan for Reintegration in 7 Shtatori neighborhood – Peja Municipality – Phase 2
Duration: 8 months (April – November 2006)
Location: Municipality of Peja
Implementing organization(s): Syri i Vizionit leading organization in partnership with Visioni 02 Istog and Helping People in Need (HPN) based in Rozaje, Montenegro
Budget: 32,935.00 € (24,995.00 + 7,940.00)
Donor: Kosovo Initiative Program (KIP) 24,995.00 and Danish Refugee Council (DRC) 7,940.00

Project Aim:

This project aims to ensure the sustainable return and reintegration of 25 RAE families to their places of origin in Kosovo, namely in the 7 Shtatori neighborhood in the Peja Municipality.

Beneficiaries:

Direct beneficiaries are 110 persons from 20-25 Roma and Egyptian displaced families living in Konik 1 camp in Podgorica, Montenegro willing to return to their place of origin in 7 Shtatori neighborhood. In addition, there will be organized meetings with groups from both returning and receiving community (youth, women and men) to help improve the image and diminish prejudices.

Project Approach:

The project mainly consisted of dialogue activities through training and of social activities in the field of advocacy and education and specific awareness-raising events in the local media. In addition, gathering of groups is made up to 6 people/participants maximum in 3 focus groups already selected during implementation of the previous project. Selections of these groups of people, is done for the fact that they articulated their commitment and readiness to cooperate and live with all the communities in 7 Shtatori neighborhood.

Results:

Increased collaboration, admission of the reality, strengthening of relations between the relevant institutions and community groups;
Developed cooperation methods with focus groups in both locations including youth, women and men;
Organized meetings and established contacts between focus groups within the respective location;
Reduced barriers and obstacles for putting mutual ideas in actions;
Undertook concrete actions to improve family hygiene by the action groups and inhabitants in the neighborhood;
Equipped children between age 5-7 with knowledge to enter regular primary school;
Decreased level of illiteracy rate by providing literacy courses door-to-door in the neighborhood;
Improved Community Center’s technical conditions.

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2. Project Title: KIP Network Year Meeting 2006 – Youth Development Component – Third phase
Duration: 2 months (July - August 2006)
Location: Montenegro
Implementing organization(s): Syri i Vizionit leading organization in partnership with the NGO OAZA based in Peje/Pec
Budget: 15,655.00 €
Donor: Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Kosovo Initiative Program (KIP)

Project Aim:

Organization of a three (3) day Network Meeting with all 17 KIP NGOs organization members. Such a cross-boundary meeting is the occasion to draft and finalize a detailed Action Plan in some key areas of interest identified by the network within the KIP Youth Development Component such as: 1. Networking with youth organizations/bodies outside of KIP network; 2. Youth participation: organization of debates in high schools with regards to return and reintegration, and 3. Youth empowerment & mobilization: establishment of a small Open Fund for high school students so as to better involve them in the return process and the completion of standards in Kosovo.

Beneficiaries:

Direct beneficiaries are 17 organizations of the KIP Network – two (2) representatives coming from each member organization, namely people that work in strengthening activities and partnership between the fieldwork and partnership within organizations. Furthermore, student groups from 10 secondary schools from Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro will participate in the training and other socializing activities.

Project Approach:

Within this project it is ensured a proper follow up of the strategic plans made by the KIP network member NGOs on the occasion of the first and second KIP phase meetings. Concretely, this Network meeting is organized with the aim to draft, with the technical assistance of professional trainers/consultants, one (1) comprehensive Action Plan to be implemented over the fourth year of KIP within the KIP Youth Development Component will be developed.

Results:

Determined activities from each group for Education/Networking and Small Funds;
Prepared a training/conference package;
Organized the Network Meeting over a period of three (3) days;
Prepared and submitted to donor and partners a finalized Action Plan;
Published information on KIP youth component as well as distributed in schools for information purposes.

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3. Project Title: Strengthening of youth cross-border, inter-ethnic and intercultural networking and dialogue – KIP Youth Component (year 4)
Duration: 5 months (August - December 2006)
Location: Kosovo and Serbia
Implementing organization(s): Syri i Vizionit leading organization in partnership with the NGOs Zavicaj za Povratak (ZzP), Kragujevac, Caritas Kosova, Mitrovica and Fisnikët, Prizren
Budget: 28,600.00 €
Donor: Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Kosovo Initiative Program (KIP)

Project Aim:

The project aims to develop sustainable cross-boundary linkages between youth groups, activists and high schools in Kosovo and Serbia through a twofold project with a focus on youth and return. The current project consists of two components: 1. Education & Youth Empowerment in high schools, and 2. Youth Micro-grants in support of the return and reintegration process

Beneficiaries:

Ten (10) high school student groups coming from Kosovo and Serbia will benefit directly from this meeting/training. Other direct beneficiaries will be one-hundred (100) students from 10 schools from cooperation with their leaders that participated in the meeting/training. Moreover, indirectly will benefit a number of other students expected to get involved during the implementation of the activities under Small Fund.

Project Approach:

The Education & Youth Empowerment in secondary schools component shall equip selected high school students in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro with basic skills in the field of conflict management, Project design, journalism and web-site design, as well as transfer to them a proper knowledge of the principles guiding the return process in Kosovo. This component will be implemented in the 10 different locations identified (5 in Kosovo and 5 in Serbia) and target up to 100 students, 10 per location in average. In terms of geographical intervention and approach, the project foresees a close cooperation with 10 high schools in the following municipalities: Peja, Istog, Klina, Prizren, and south and north Mitrovica, Belgrade, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, and Smedervska Palanka. While, the other component, Youth Micro-grants in support of the return & reintegration process, will support the development of a small-scale grant scheme within selected high schools in Serbia and Kosovo, with the aim to harmonize the efforts made by KIP NGOs with regard to the return process in Kosovo. Grants foreseen should not exceed 1,200 EUR (one thousand two hundred) in value and a maximum of 6 grants will be approved within this component.

Results:

Component 1: Education & Youth Empowerment in high schools:

Established a total of ten (10) Focus Groups with the participation of high school students in the ten (10) targeted municipalities in the region (see above);
Delivered a total of ten (10) training sessions, lasting 5 days each to a total number of 100 secondary school students on the topics listed above (50 days in total);
Developed a pilot Youth Volunteers Network Webpage to serve as an information-sharing resource;
Organized a short training session to the selected ten (10) Focus Group leaders with the aim to allow their volunteers to maintain and update the above-mentioned pilot webpage;
Facilitated a three days’ strategic youth exchange meeting between the selected ten (10) Focus Group leaders.

Component 2: Youth Micro-grants in support of the return & reintegration process:

Developed a small-scale grant scheme within selected high schools in Serbia and Kosovo, with the aim to harmonize the efforts made by KIP NGOs with regards to the return process in Kosovo;
Established a Grant Committee composed of KIP NGOs, functioning on the basis of transparent grant-giving procedures and in compliance with KIP guidelines;
Delivered grants to high school students (in 6 municipalities) involved in implementation of return initiatives.

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4. Project Title: Continuation of OWSEE Portal Network coordination for Kosovo and Albania
Duration: January – December 2006
Location: Kosovo
Implementing organization(s): Syri i Vizionit
Budget: 10,800.00 €
Donor: Through One World for South-East Europe

Project Aim:

This is the third year of cooperation and being representative of One World platform. The aim remains to support and promote the OWSEE Program Areas (projects and initiatives) with focus on specifically the content for the platform in Albanian language edition and networking management/representative for Kosovo and Albania of the OWSEE. The coordination of the activities will be through OW network in SEE Region.

Beneficiaries:

Beneficiaries of this undertaking are all those countries accessing through internet OWSEE webpage and thus gain fast insight about the developments occurring in the area of OW coverage, and in the languages covered by the specific-country readers.

Project Approach:

This project is based on providing mutual publicity and acknowledgement of each other - through online and print materials - regarding areas of direct cooperation and strategic alliances. In addition, the OWSEE enables the readers to gain information about various social, economical and political developments in the area covered by the platform (including Kosovo). Furthermore, the communications between members of the network is based on partnership between each organization and based on exchange of information and materials for coordinated distribution.

Results:

Covered over 150 various issues and published in Albanian language. The same information was further translated into languages of counties covered by OWSEE;
Engaged on regular basis three (3) persons (networking manager in Kosovo and two (2) editors, one in Kosovo and one in Albania);
Increased diversity of information provided to other countries covered by OWSEE.

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5. Project Title: Advocacy Newsletter – Kasneci
Duration: 9 months (June 2006 – February 2007)
Location: Peja region (Peja, Klina, Deçan and Istog municipalities)
Implementing organization(s): Syri i Vizionit
Budget: 17,955.00 €
Donor: USAID/RTI

Project Aim:

Through the publication of a series of newsletters, this project aims to raise awareness of the local government and the public in the Peja/Pec region. It also aims to improvement of quality and effectiveness of civic action, consequently, the accountability and performance of the Municipal structures.

Beneficiaries:

Direct beneficiaries from this undertaking are those whose concerns are put forward and result in improvement of their, whether living or infrastructural conditions are improved. Moreover, all those target such as youth and elderly persons benefit from the vigor of the information provided. More widely, the inhabitants of Peja region, (including Peja, Deçan, Istog and Klina) gain information from another perspective provided by the civic groups as opposed to the official ones. In addition, the young and talented individuals have the opportunity to participate by writing for the Herald.

Project Approach:

The Herald is comprised of activities such as collection of information, editing, designing of the Newsletter content, distribution, etc and it is published in Albanian and Bosnian-Serbian languages. In addition, it assists in linking citizens with municipal structures through the support of existing monitoring, advocacy activities and the creation of new formal and informal networks in municipality of Peja and wide Kosovo. The Herald is distributed for free in all above-mentioned cities.

Results:

Published 9 editions of the Herald twelve (12) pages each in Albanian and Bosnian-Serbian languages, 5000 in total (4000 in Albanian and 1000 in Bosnian-Serbian);
Covered over 200 issues, concerns and solutions during this period;
Employed six (6) journalists constantly;
Increased volunteerism among youth groups interested in writing articles (over 50 youngsters engaged in one or another way);
Increased reaction from Municipal officials as a result of articles written in the Herald.

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6. Project Title: IDP Booklets
Duration: 6 months (August 2006 – January 2007)
Location: Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro
Implementing organization(s): Syri i Vizionit and SDF Belgrade
Budget: 5,640.00 €
Donor: Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Kosovo Initiative Program (KIP)

Project Aim:

This project aims to provide information on returning process in Kosovo, in Albanian and Serbian languages for municipalities of Klina, Peja, Prizren and Istog. The process entails collection and dissemination of data in order to enable proper planning on return progress. The gathered information is printed in a brochure and distributed to all stakeholders including displaced persons and hosting community, as well as published online.

Beneficiaries:

Direct beneficiaries are four (4) municipalities and IDPs currently residing outside Kosovo will gain a brochure with the most upt to date information on the returns process.

Project Approach:

Project includes research, information gathering, design, printing, editing, and distributing of brochures. In addition, it includes a variety of other activities to undertake such as, conducting regular meetings with municipal officials to gather information, covering Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro.

Results:

Printed two thousand (2000) copies of the brochure in Albanian and Serbian, separated for each municipality and language;
Held regular meetings with relevant municipal institutions in Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro in order to gain most recent information on return process.