Projects of 2004
During 2004, the organization developed the activities started in 2003 and expanded to other activities that basically aimed to strengthen the KIP network. This year, the activities based on journalism, information and advocacy continued successfully: maintaining the Oneworld portal, publishing “Kasnec” now entirely on its own, and the continuation of the journalism school.
In 2004, work was done on strengthening the KIP network, creating a strategy and coordinating work among member organizations for future projects. With these activities that have been held in an extension outside of Kosovo, the future youth leaders have been well identified, not only within the project, but also to lead the ongoing projects. While the activities related to journalism increased the number of young people and members involved in the work of the organization, activities within the KIP raised the capacities of the organization and created partnerships with very active organizations in the region.
Within the framework of the RrRP in the Youth Initiative for Reconciliation project, several activities were developed: the Campaign against AIDS, the Campaign for Tolerance, the Campaign for the 2004 Elections, a multi-ethnic camp, suppression of the informant, etc. In the training for trainers held in Kotor, 17 RrRP trainers who created the Network Trainer Unit were certified. This unit has participated in the activity of youth assemblies of different municipalities of Kosovo, which was organized by OSCE in Zhablak, Montenegro. With 240 young people from the municipal assemblies, these trainers held trainings on the topic of Value-Based Leadership.
Unlike previous years, when information and youth were the main sectors of the organization’s activities in 2004, engagement in the community in a broader sense was in the first place, creating the basis for the following years to intervene directly in the community and influence the authorities on behalf of the community.
In January 2004, a partnership was established with the organization “KACI”, for the implementation of the project for Monitoring the Municipal Assemblies of Peja and Istog. During 2004, all the work of these two assemblies was monitored and reports were made on all sessions of municipal assemblies and public meetings held by these institutions.
Syri i Vizioni has participated in the project of SHHB “Mother Teresa” from Kosovo and the Center for Regionalization from Novi Sad for the continuation of the civil dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
In August 2004, there was a reaction in the form of a protest for holding elections with closed lists. Our organization had a platform on what the government elections should look like in 2004, but this did not find support from the bodies, even though they were explained the need for the electoral lists to be open.
Ten radio debates in order to raise civic awareness of society's problems
Project Title: Ten radio debates in order to raise civic awareness of society's problems
Duration: 3 months (March-May 2004)
Place: Municipality of Peja
Implementing organization(s): Eye of Vision in cooperation with OSCE
Budget: through the OSCE
The purpose of the project: To influence the opinion about the importance of the various problems that afflict the Kosovar society in that period, to raise awareness about the ten main problems and to influence the authorities for activation in these sectors.
Beneficiaries: The beneficiary of the project is the broad citizen opinion that, through these debates, has been informed about the existing problems and the work being done to solve them, namely the non-governmental organizations that, in confrontation with the authorities, have presented their work to the municipal authorities and to the general public. . Realization of the project: The project was realized through a series of radio debates that were held in the studios of Radio Peja. "Eye of Vision" has arranged a debate every week in which the authorities are confronted with citizens, civil society in order to debate the current problems and search for their solution. Debates were held on the topics: democratization, women's rights, security, freedom of movement, etc
Activities and Results:
• Ten debates have raised the most current problems of society.
• The authorities have been informed about the work that is being done in these sectors and about the demands that the citizens have for solving these problems.
• Civil society organizations and the community have not presented their demands in the security, equality, etc. sectors.
• The general public has been informed about the commitment to the functioning of the municipality with other bodies, as well as the coordination of work to solve problems
Advocacy newsletter - Kasneci/Glasnik
Project Title: Advocacy newsletter - Kasneci/Glasnik
Duration: 12 months (May 2004 – April 2005)
Country: Region of Peja (municipalities: Peja, Klinë, Deçan and Istog)
Implementing organization(s): Eye of Vision (within the Youth Network)
Budget: €20,000
Donor: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
The purpose of the project: Through the publication of a series of newsletters, this project aims to raise the awareness of the public and the local government in the region of Peja. Also, it measures the improvement of the quality of life and the efficiency of civic actions, as a result, the accountability and performance of municipal structures.
Beneficiaries: The direct beneficiaries of this undertaking are all those who express their concerns, whose voice is heard (from all communities), and which, as a result, can result in the improvement of both infrastructural and living conditions. Also, all those targeted like the young and the elderly benefit from the information provided. More broadly, the citizens of the Peja region (including Peja, Deçan, Istog and Klina) benefit from information provided from a different perspective (of civil society) than what they are used to receiving from official sources in this region. Moreover, young and talented individuals have the opportunity to participate in this publication by providing their writings.
Realization of the project: The publication of "Kasnec" is made possible by the collection of information and the drafting of articles by the team of journalists, and after editing and designing, the newspaper is distributed free of charge to citizens in more than 100 frequented points in cities and villages. The newspaper was published in the Albanian and Bosnian-Serbian languages. Kasneci has helped to create bridges between citizens and municipal structures through support, monitoring, advocacy activities and the creation of formal or non-formal networks in the municipality of Peja. With two pages for minority communities and bilingual publication, "Kasneci" has helped inter-ethnic dialogue and mutual contact between communities. Kasneci has engaged professional journalists from this stage. The editorial policy was based on three lines: the functioning of the institutions, the activities of the civil society and the reflection of the life of the citizens.
Activities and Results:
• Publication of 12 issues of "Kasnec" of 12 pages each in Albanian and Bosnian-Serbian language (4000 per issue in Albanian and 400 in Bosnian-Serbian);
• In each issue, the publication of about 30 articles that deal with problems of citizens' lives, the functioning of institutions and the activities of civil society
• Two-page coverage with 3-4 articles for each municipality of Pejë, Deçan, Klinë and Istog and two pages for minority communities
• Employing eight journalists continuously
• Raising issues and advocating for various community issues. There have been many cases where articles in the newspaper have prompted action by the authorities
• Raising volunteerism among youth groups and writing articles
• Publication of a page with citizens' letters
Creating youth leadership for return
Project Title: Creating youth leadership for return
Duration: 4 months (July - October 2004)
Country: Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro
Implementing organization(s): "Syri i Vizioni" in partnership with "Group 484" from Belgrade, Serbia
Budget: €15,000
Donor: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark through the Kosovo Initiative Program (KIP)
The purpose of the project: This project was carried out in order to create communication between groups of young people from Kosovo and Serbia. This would be achieved through joint meetings and joint activities aimed at changing the climate for return to facilitate the return process. The project was designed to help create multi-ethnic and tolerant societies in both regions.
Beneficiaries: Direct beneficiaries are young activists who generate ideas and work to strengthen other groups. These groups of young people were from Peja and the villages around it, as well as from groups of refugees from this area who lived in Serbia. The project creates 12 groups in Kosovo and Serbia, specifically in Peja and Belgrade.
Implementation of the project: The project contained activities such as the creation of two groups of young people aged 16-23: 24 young people from the host community and 24 young people displaced in Serbia. In addition, a survey was organized involving 200 young people from both regions (100 per region); for the 12 focus groups from Kosovo and Serbia some trainings/workshops on peace, tolerance, coexistence and communication; and a common camp.
Activities and Results:
• Raising awareness of the importance of the return of displaced persons;
• Organization and holding of trainings with 12 groups from Kosovo and Serbia on the high-marked topics;
• Help in creating networks between Albanian and Serbian youth in the work towards integration and return;
• Familiarization of 48 young people from the host community and returnees on similarities and differences between cultures;
• Raising cooperation between communities;
Coordination of the OWPSEE network for Kosovo
Project Title: Coordination of the OWPEJL network for Kosovo
Duration: 12 months (January – December 2004)=
Country: Kosovo
Implementing organization(s): Eye of Vision
Budget: €11,700
Donor: Unimondo/Hivos
The purpose of the project: Support and promotion of OWPEJL's program areas (projects and initiatives) with a focus on creating the content of materials for publication in the Albanian language as well as network management/representation for Kosovo of OWPEJL. Coordination of activities will be done through the OneWorld network in the Southeast Europe region.
Beneficiaries: Beneficiaries of this undertaking are all those countries that access the OWPEJL through the Internet and are thus notified quickly of developments occurring in the region covered by OWPEJL as well as in the particular languages of the readers of these countries.
Project implementation: This project is based on the provision of support through the exchange of information and online and printed materials related to the areas of direct cooperation and public information. In addition, OWPEJL enables readers to obtain information about various social, economic and political developments in the countries it covers. Communication between network members is based on partnership, where each organization exchanges information and materials for coordinated distribution.
Activities and Results:
• Maintenance and coverage of the Albanian language portal of OWPEJL
• Publication of more than 100 topics/issues and publication in the Albanian language. This information is further translated into the languages of the countries where OneWorld is located;
• Regular engagement of a person (network manager) and editor;
• Increasing the diversity of information provided for the countries covered by the OWPEJL platform.
School of journalism in Peja
Project Title: School of Journalism in Peja
Duration: 12 months (May 2003 – May 2004)
Place: Municipality of Peja
Implementing organization(s): "Syri i Vizioni" in partnership with "ZOOM" Youth Center in Peja
Budget: €5,863 (2,500 + 1,200 + 2,163)
Donor: "Trentino con il Kossovo" and contribution from participants
The purpose of the project: Through training, this project has offered opportunities to learn the profession to those young people who aspire to be involved in journalism. The project consisted of the theoretical and practical part and was carried out by professional journalists with experience in journalism from Kosovo and Italy. The topics covered during this training period were news development, report preparation, investigative journalism and the code of ethics.
Beneficiaries: Direct beneficiaries are 25 young people who attended these courses. in a broader sense, journalism and informing citizens in the region of Peja benefits.
Realization of the project: This project included the organization of a comprehensive series of journalism trainings by experienced journalists from Kosovo and Italy. The project was carried out in several stages. Initially, for the students of the school, there was a four-month general journalism course to create the concept of classical journalism, there were lectures from news to reportage, to then continue with seminars and trainings from different branches of journalism such as journalism cultural, economic, television with lecturers from various Kosovar media. After that, with trainers from Kosovo and Italy, they were introduced to modern journalism, which was also known as the stage of journalistic exchange. The course continued with computer journalism, where mainly work was done on a journalistic website. After the end of the course, the continuation of the project was done with the publication of the newspaper "Kronika" by the journalism students themselves, which was continued as a project in 2005.
Activities and Results:
• Organization and training of two groups with a total of 25 participants aged 17-35;
• Raising the level of knowledge in journalism for all those interested in working in journalism;
• Creating employment opportunities for these participants;
• Publication of four issues of the "Kronika" newspaper by course participants
• Long-term employment of at least 4 participants after following the training in daily newspapers, TV and Radio.
Development of the Youth Strategy for 2005
Project Title: Development of the Youth Strategy for 2005
Duration: 1 month (September 2004)
Country: Montenegro
Implementing organization(s): Syri i Vizioni leading organization in cooperation with "Youth Initiative Mitrovica" (YIM)
Budget: €21,376
Donor: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark through the Kosovo Initiative Program (KIP)
The purpose of the project: In the framework of this project, in cooperation with "Youth Initiative Mitrovica", a three-day meeting was organized in Montenegro with the representatives of KIP's partner NGOs. This meeting provided an opportunity to develop a one-year strategy for the KIP component - "Youth Development" that was drafted with the help of professional trainers. This technical support has helped the KIP members to strengthen the links in the Network between the partners in the cross-border context and to prepare them for the activities coming in 2005. More specifically, this three-day meeting gathered the ideas and the exchange of experiences among KIP members, as well as provided a formal training in order to develop the above-mentioned strategy for 2005. During the meeting, a documentary film was shot and a bulletin was published that helped to raise of the visibility of the activities of the KIP Network.
Beneficiaries: The total number of participants was 44, including 2 representatives or youth leaders from each of the 17 organizations of the KIP Network and 10 support persons (1 translator, 2 trainers, 2 assistant trainers and 5 people to coordinate the project and help in working groups).
Realization of the project: The project was an activity for the drafting of the Youth Strategy for the year 2005, as it was discussed and decided by the members of the KIP Network. The project included training and coordination among network members for a better synchronization of activities. Until the organization of this meeting, each participating organization has pledged to define the idea to be included in the Strategy. Each KIP partner organization had selected a permanent staff person with proven experience in the field of youth development and a volunteer.
Activities and Results:
• Drafting and delivery of the Youth Strategy to the donor and network members;
• Strengthening coordination and responsibilities within the network and in relation to stakeholders;
• Preparation of a documentary film with materials from the meeting sessions;
• Preparation and publication of the Bulletin of 28 pages in Albanian, Serbian and English.
