Kosovo Human Development Report 2008

CMY

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT

Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations Development Programme or the Swiss Development Cooperation Office.

The Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 would not have been published without the generous assistance of the Swiss Development Cooperation Office, Liaison Office of Switzerland in Prishtinë/ Priština.

Schweizerische Eidgenossensch aft Confédération suisse Confederazione Svizzer a Confederaziun svizra

Swiss Cooperation Office Kosovo

Project Team: Faton Bislimi, Project Manager, Research and Policy Unit UNDP Kosovo

Mytaher Haskuka, Programme Analyst, Head of Research and Policy Unit UNDP Kosovo

Iris Duri, Statistician, Research and Policy Unit UNDP Kosovo

Translation into Albanian and Serbian: Conference Interpretation and Translation Services Prishtina, Kosovo

English Editor: Amanda A. Morgan (Morgan Editorial Services) USA

Production: Rrota: www.rrota.com (Prishtina, Kosovo) Layout: Ardian Veliu Korab Etemi Cover: Kushtrim Balaj Ilustrations: Agon Nitaj

Printing: Grafika Rezniqi (Prishtina, Kosovo) Authors

Mytaher Haskuka Human Development and Civil Society

Armend Bekaj The History of Civil Society in Kosovo

Hasnije Ilazi The Legal Environment for Civil Society in Kosovo

Shpend Ahmeti Civil Society and Public Policy

Dardan Velija The Government’s Vision of Civil Society

Mytaher Haskuka Perceptions, Image, and Participation in Civil Society

Elton Skendaj Creating Mechanisms for Cooperation between Civil society and the Government

Driton Tafallari Civil Society Coordination in Kosovo

Virtyt Gacaferi The Media and Civil Society

Shenoll Muharremi European Union Integration and Civil Society

Hajrulla Ceku Sustainability of Civil Society

Faton Bislimi The Role of Community-Driven Development in Shaping a New Kosovo Acknowledgements

The Kosovo HDR Team would like to specially thank the Swiss Cooperation Office in Kosovo for their important contribution to this report.

Many thanks also go to the following individuals and organizations for their assistance in preparing and reviewing the report:

Arjeta Byci Lleshi, SDC Armen Cekic, CLARD Kosovo Armend Muja & Burbuqe Dobranja, UNDP Communications Team Department for Registration and Liaison with NGOs Ekrem Gashi, UNKT Fidan Hallaqi, Kosovo Civil Society Foundation Kosovo Assembly Committee on Public Services, Local Governance, and Media Mao Kawada, UNV / UNDP Nora Ahmetaj Rrita Refeja Shqipe Pantina Staff of the Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) Vjosa Mullatahiri, UNDP Foreword

This is UNDP Kosovo’s 2008 Human Development Report on Civil Society and Development. The Kosovo Civil Society in general or Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in particular, have begun the process of transformation in a number of ways. Modus operandi has largely been established, and so have ways to work better with each other and with the government. However, they still have mostly their work defined by forces external to themselves. Among the challenges are: an unresolved legal status, internal tensions born out of competition for foreign funding, ethnic divisions that have only partially healed, public mistrust, and a lack of focus that has left all too many organisations willing to reshape themselves to donor priorities.

Nevertheless, civil society can fill a variety of roles as Kosovo’s economic and political institutions mature, from serving as a watchdog to giving input on policy to providing social services. CSOs also have much of value to contribute on Kosovo’s path to a prosperous and peaceful future.

This report brings together eleven authors for a multifaceted look at civil society’s place on Kosovo’s development agenda. It also draws on the Perceptions of Civil Society in Kosovo Survey.

After a close look at what we mean when we say “civil society” and what we mean when we say “development,” the report goes on to explore the history of civil society in Kosovo, its legal context, and ways it can influence public policy. Next, it looks at civil society through the eyes of the government and the general public, before discussing ways that CSOs can effectively work together with the government, with each other, and with the media, and ways they can influence and benefit from the European integration process. The final two chapters suggest improvements that CSOs should strive for and explore the potential of Community Driven Human Development in Kosovo.

Frode Mauring Resident Representative UNDP Kosovo Table of Contents

Executive Summary ...... 11 Abbreviations ...... 15 1 Human Development and Civil Society ...... 17 1.1 Human development ...... 17 1.2 Civil society ...... 18 2 The History of Civil Society in Kosovo ...... 35 2.1 Origins ...... 35 2.2 Civil society or civil resistance? ...... 36 2.3 Civil society after 1999: The “NGO boom” and its consequences ...... 39 2.4 Conclusion ...... 41 3 The Legal Environment for Civil Society in Kosovo ...... 45 3.1 Legal status of the non-governmental sector in Kosovo ...... 45 3.2 Lacking legislation for NGO sector ...... 47 3.3 Monitoring of NGO sector ...... 50 3.4 Citizens’ perceptions of NGO sector ...... 50 3.5 Partnerships ...... 53 3.6 Conclusions ...... 54 4 Civil Society and Public Policy ...... 57 4.1 Public policy ...... 57 4.2 Civil society and public policy ...... 58 4.3 The public policy cycle ...... 59 4.4 Conclusion ...... 66 5 The Government’s Vision of Civil Society ...... 69 5.1 Developing the social economy ...... 69 5.2 Vision for financial sustainability ...... 73 6 Perceptions, Image, and Participation in Civil Society ...... 77 6.1 Knowledge of civil society ...... 77 6.2 Participation in civil society ...... 78 6.3 Openness of civil society ...... 79 6.4 Impact of civil society ...... 80 6.5 Public image ...... 81 6.6 Role for civil society ...... 83 6.7 Holding government accountable ...... 83 Table of Contents

7 Creating Mechanisms for Cooperation between Civil Society and the Government .... 87 7.1 Public perception of the relation between NGOs and government ...... 90 7.2 The interaction of minority NGOs with Kosovo institutions ...... 93 7.3 CSO initiatives for meaningful interaction with Kosovo institutions ...... 94 7.4 Conclusion ...... 95 8 Civil Society Coordination in Kosovo ...... 99 8.1 Formation of civil society coordination ...... 99 8.2 Historical background ...... 101 8.3 NGO coordination in Kosovo today ...... 102 8.4 Conclusion ...... 106 9 The Media and Civil Society ...... 109 9.1 The media in Kosovo ...... 109 9.2 Links between media and civil society ...... 110 9.3 A special relationship ...... 114 9.4 Conclusion ...... 115 10 European Union Integration and Civil Society ...... 117 10.1 Civil society and the European integration process ...... 118 10.2 Kosovo and the European integration process ...... 121 10.3 European integration process instruments, mechanisms and structures ...... 123 10.4 How civil society can make a difference ...... 127 10.5 Conclusion ...... 128 11 Sustainability of Civil Society ...... 131 11.1 Civil society development in Kosovo ...... 132 11.2 Self-regulation and improved governance ...... 133 11.3 Financial sustainability ...... 136 11.4 Networking and coalition building ...... 138 11.5 Public image ...... 140 11.6 Conclusion ...... 142 12 The Role of Community Driven Development in Shaping a New Kosovo ...... 145 12.1 Key success factors ...... 146 12.2 Community Driven Development in action ...... 148 12.3 CDD in Kosovo ...... 149 Table of Contents - Figures

Figure 4.1 How issues are discussed in Kosovo ...... 59 Figure 4.2 ...... 62 Figure 4.3 How civil society can contribute to the public policy cycle ...... 65 Figure 5.1 Do CSOs protect the rights of the people from government? ...... 70 Figure 6.1 Manner of involvement in CSOs ...... 78 Figure 6.2 Volunteerism and work for non-profit and non-governmental organizations before and after 1999 ...... 79 Figure 6.3 Respondents who would like to work as a volunteer ...... 79 Figure 6.4 Benefits offered by CSOs to a person or a family ...... 80 Figure 6.5 Which of the following represents your interests the most? ...... 81 Figure 6.6 To whom do NGOs report? To whom should NGOs report? ...... 82 Figure 6.7 The role of civil society in relation to government ...... 83 Figure 6.8 Who holds the Kosovo government accountable? ...... 84 Figure 7.1 To whom do NGOs report their activities? ...... 91 Figure 7.2 To whom should NGOs report their activities? ...... 91 Figure 7.3 What role should CSOs play in relation to the government? ...... 92 Figure 7.4 Do civil society organizations cooperate with central and local government? ...... 92 Figure 7.5 Do any of these actors hold the Kosovo government accountable? ...... 92 Figure 7.6 Are NGOs in Kosovo specialised? ...... 93 Figure 9.1 Do civil society and the media hold the government accountable? ...... 111 Figure 9.2 Who would you trust more—government, civil society or business? ...... 114 Figure 9.3 In how many stories would you include civil society? ...... 114 Figure 11.1 NGO Sustainability Index ratings of Kosovo NGOs ...... 133 Table of Contents - Tables

Table 3.1 What role should civil society organizations have in relation to the state? ...... 51 Table 3.2 To whom should NGOs report on their activities? ...... 52 Table 5.1 Have you worked as a volunteer since 1999? ...... 72 Table 5.2 Whose requests get the highest priority in Kosovan CSOs? ...... 73 Table 6.1 Which of these groups belong to civil society? ...... 77 Table 6.2 Which of these characteristics belong to civil society? ...... 77 Table 6.3 Type of CSO participated in ...... 78 Table 6.4 Responses to the statement “CSOs are open for public participation” ...... 80 Table 6.5 Have you or any member of your family received any benefits from civil society activity? ...... 80 Table 6.6 What is the overall impact of CSOs on Kosovan society? ...... 81 Table 6.7 Do any of the current CSOs represent your personal interests? ...... 81 Table 6.8 Are CSOs accountable to the people? ...... 82 Table 6.9 How do Kosovan civil society organizations set their priorities? ...... 82 Table 6.10 Sectors chosen as needing support from CSOs, by gender ...... 83 Table 7.1 ...... 89 Table 7.2 Strategies for cooperation between civil society and government ...... 96 Table 9.1 Actors perceived as belonging to civil society ...... 112 Table 9.2 Journalists’ definition of the media ...... 113 Table 9.3 Journalists’ view of media characteristics ...... 113 Table of Contents - Boxes

Box 1.1 The human development concept ...... 17 Box 1.2 What is civil society? ...... 18 Box 1.3 United Nations’ definition of civil society ...... 19 Box 1.4 NGO acronyms ...... 23 Box 1.5 Civil society and private companies—recommendations ...... 24 Box 1.6 What is the human development case for democracy? ...... 26 Box 1.7 UNDP work with civil society ...... 29 Box 1.8 Basic parameters for CSO networks ...... 32 Box 3.1 Freedom of association ...... 46 Box 3.2 CiviKos on the Law of Freedom of Association ...... 47 Box 3.3 How active are NGOs? ...... 50 Box 3.4 Support for NGOs from the government ...... 54 Box 4.1 On the agenda: publicly owned enterprises ...... 64 Box 5.1 Elements of a national economy ...... 70 Box 7.1 Relation between civil society and government ...... 90 Box 9.1 Online “Media and Civil Society” survey methodology ...... 109 Box 11.1 Development of civil society in Kosovo ...... 133 Box 11.2 NGO regulation ...... 134 Box 11.3 What is accountability? ...... 135 Box 11.4 International NGO Accountability Charter ...... 136 Box 11.5 Financial resources for NGOs ...... 137 Box 11.6 The 1 percent law ...... 138 Box 11.7 Private philanthropy ...... 138 Box 11.8 Case study of an NGO collapse ...... 139 Box 11.9 Preconditions for successful NGO networking ...... 140 Box 12.1 Kosovo Community Development Fund ...... 149 Box 12.2 Community Development Fund implements CDD ...... 150 Executive Summary

In two short decades, civil society in Kosovo ter with each other and with the government. has experienced everything from brutal re- But they still have their work cut out for them. pression to intensive assistance that has some- Among the challenges: an unresolved legal times bordered on patronage. Now it is strug- status, internal tensions born out of competi- gling to find its own authentic, effective voice tion for foreign funding, ethnic divisions that in a newly unilaterally declared independent have only partially healed, public mistrust, nation that has many economic, social, and and a lack of focus that has left all too many political hurdles to overcome. As it masters its organizations willing to reshape themselves own development challenges, civil society will to donor priorities. be helping Kosovo to do the same. A skilled and confident “third sector” is essential to the Civil society can fill a variety of roles as Kos- functioning of a healthy democracy. ovo’s economic and political institutions mature, from serving as a watchdog to giving Kosovan civil society was born in an era of re- input on policy to providing social services. pression and dissent. It came into its own si- CSOs also have much of value to contribute multaneously with the “parallel institutions” on Kosovo’s path to European integration. created by Kosovo Albanians after Yugoslavia rescinded the then-province’s autonomous Sometimes CSOs’ relations with government status in 1989, and took on a range of respon- and business will have an adversary nature, sibilities from human rights to medical care and at other times they will support and be and poverty relief. Under United Nations ad- supported. But whatever the task and what- ministration after the conflict of 1999, Kosovo ever the role, their success will depend on saw a rapid influx of assistance, and home- increased professionalism, a more diverse grown organizations sprang up to work with and sustainable funding base, and a stronger foreign donors on an almost infinite variety sense of who they are and what they want to of projects. More recently, especially since achieve. What they have achieved already is the unilateral declaration of independence in remarkable. February 2008, donors are channelling more of their funds to the government and less to This report brings together eleven authors for civil society. Thus, the environment in which a multifaceted look at civil society’s place on civil society organizations (CSOs) must oper- Kosovo’s development agenda. It also draws ate, and the challenges they face, are chang- on the Perceptions of Civil Society in Kosovo ing once again, demanding new skills and Survey. new attitudes. After a close look at what we mean when we CSOs have begun the process of transforma- say “civil society” and what we mean when tion in a number of ways, from creating codes we say “development,” the report goes on to of conduct to searching for ways to work bet- explore the history of civil society in Kosovo,

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 11 Executive Summary

its legal context, and ways it can influence during the fall of communism, but was also public policy. Next, it looks at civil society shaped by the unique circumstances of Kos- through the eyes of the government and the ovo and the violent break-up of Yugoslavia. general public, before discussing ways that When Kosovo’s autonomous status was re- CSOs can effectively work together with the voked in 1989, civil society became part of government, with each other, and with the the resistance, cooperating closely with the media, and ways they can influence and ben- parallel government set up in defiance of efit from the European integration process. Belgrade and offering alternative health, wel- The final two chapters suggest improvements fare, and literacy services. The success of the that CSOs should strive for and explore the Movement for the Reconciliation of Bloods potential of Community Driven Develop- Feuds is just one example of the popularity ment in Kosovo. and strength of civil society during this era. Civil society faced a radical change after the Human development and civil society are NATO intervention in 1999, with the United both terms open to multiple interpretations. Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) focused Development cannot be measured purely on peacebuilding and reconstruction and a in terms of buildings and roads and power flood of foreign donors urging CSOs to play lines; even more important is whether it im- a major role but also sometimes, subtly or un- proves individuals’ well-being and ability to subtly, defining the parameters of that role. take charge of their lives. This is where it in- With the best of intentions, the sheer volume tersects with civil society, which encourages of support and the rapid pace of change have people to demand a voice in the decisions that created challenges CSOs are still struggling affect them. For all the debate about the exact to overcome. nature of civil society—does it include the media? churches? organizations that receive The legal environment for civil society in corporate or government subsidies? groups Kosovo is still unsettled. A major law on with racist or totalitarian beliefs?—probably NGOs was ready for UNMIK to sign off on the simplest way to think of it is as a third just before independence was declared in sector, lying between government and busi- February 2008. Now it has gone back to the ness, with the boundary sometimes blurred parliament for review, and NGOs would like in one direction or another. Recent changes, to see some changes in it. For the time be- from the fall of communism to the rise of the ing, NGOs still operate under a 1999 UNMIK Internet, have created a fertile ground for regulation. Even when the Law on Freedom its development in Kosovo and around the of Association in NGOs is passed, there are world. a number of issues that still need to be addressed. NGOs’ tax status is ambiguous, and The history of civil society in Kosovo is the law can make individual donations and part of the broader story of Eastern Europe voluntarism difficult. Civil society should

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT 12 Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 Executive Summary

have a part in drafting the laws that will gov- Public perception of civil society is mixed. ern it. One in five Kosovans participates in some way in a civil society organization, and vol- Civil society’s influence on public policy is unteerism has actually increased somewhat potentially profound. It can contribute at any since 1999. But only about a third of those of the five stages of policymaking: agenda polled told the Perceptions of Civil Society in setting, policy formulation, decision-making, Kosovo Survey that they believed CSOs were implementation, and evaluation. One of the open to public participation, and only about most powerful tools for getting an issue onto half felt that CSOs represented their personal the public agenda and influencing the subse- interests. CSOs scored relatively low on ac- quent debate is the media. Think tanks and countability, and many respondents felt their other CSOs can also influence the govern- decisions were driven by donors. Clearly ment directly or through political parties with there is room for improvement in civil socie- which they are sometimes associated. In Ko- ty’s outreach to the general public. Serving as sovo, the best route to government influence a watchdog, and providing services that the is sometimes through an international organi- government cannot provide, were the two zation or UN agency. At the implementation functions that poll respondents found most stage, CSOs can often play a role in carrying important for CSOs to carry out. out government-mandated services. And their role is key in evaluating policy outcomes. Cooperation between civil society and government needs formal mechanisms to help The government’s vision of civil society is it run smoothly. One problem has been that positive but not well defined, and coopera- CSOs have lacked an umbrella organization so far has been sporadic and too depend- tion to speak for them. Some CSOs maintain ent on individuals. Government and CSO of- ties with political parties that go back to the ficials are often invited to each other’s func- parallel-government era of the 1990s. It has tions, but there is a need for deeper and more been more difficult for ethnic-minority CSOs institutionalized cooperation. With some to interact with government institutions. A former government officials joining CSOs few CSOs have enthusiastically taken on the and vice versa, understanding between the watchdog function, but the government has two groups has grown. To the extent that not been receptive to their criticisms. Input CSOs are perceived as being driven by the from think tanks has been better received. agendas of their donors, however, their influ- CSOs with a solid specialty will be more cred- ence is weakened. Government could help ible with government than those that take a by providing capacity building for CSOs and “jack of all trades” approach. supporting them financially either through direct funding or by outsourcing the provi- Coordination between CSOs can make it eas- sion of government services. ier for them accomplish their goals by giving

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 13 Executive Summary

them strength in numbers, better access to infor strengthening CSOs. Based on the progress formation, more visibility, and more credibil- reports, each candidate country develops an ity with donors, by enabling them to cover a action plan for reforms. These plans can be an wider geographical area, and by easing some opportunity for civil society to enlist the EU’s of the administrative tasks on projects. Alli- support for specific reforms. ances between CSOs can be structured or un- structured, long-term or short-term. The Kos- Sustainability of Civil Society is all the more ovo Women’s Network is a good example of important given the key role that CSOs have a CSO network. Some networks form to meet played in helping some of Kosovo’s neighbours donor requirements, but networks are gener- join the European Union. Now that Kosovo ally more successful when they are need-driv- has declared independence, perhaps some of en rather than donor-driven. the energy that went into resolving its status can now be spent on strengthening civil soci- The media and civil society share a history ety. The decrease in donor funding is posing a that was heavily impacted by repression that challenge to CSO sustainability. Improved ac- followed the end of Kosovo autonomy in 1989 countability will go a long way towards mak- and the flood of aid money after 1999. Like with ing CSOs more credible. Civil society needs to NGOs, there was an explosion of new media find ways to become less dependent on fund- outlets. Journalists, surveyed in an online poll ing from foreign donors. The “1 percent law,” that supplemented the Perceptions of Civil Soci- pioneered in Hungary in 1996, is one option ety in Kosovo Survey on which most of this re- for channelling tax money to CSOs. More ef- port is based, said they felt the media and civil fective networking and better public outreach society served a similar purpose; many even are other essential goals. said that the media was part of civil society. Most journalists surveyed felt that civil soci- Community Driven Development is an ety was an important story to cover, but some approach to development projects, largely suggested CSOs needed to build credibility by funded by the World Bank, that is highly giving more reliable information. congruent with the goals and values of civil society. It focuses on involving communities European Union integration offers challenges in the projects that are meant to benefit them and opportunities to Kosovo civil society. The in ways that will both strengthen the commu- process is a complex and technical one, and Ko- nity and improve the project. CDD is not a sovo stands near the beginning of it. Progress magic wand—“communities” often contain towards acceptance into the EU involves an- competing interest groups, for example, and nual progress reports that assess, among other “participation” can be onerous for people things, the status of civil society. Kosovo civil already working long hours at low-paying society has repeatedly been assessed as weak, jobs. But when implemented carefully, it can but there is assistance available from the EU yield promising results.

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT 14 Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 Abbreviations

CDD Community Driven Development CDF (Kosovo) Community Development Fund CSO civil society organization EC European Commission EPAP European Partnership Action Plan EU European Union ICZM Integrated Coastal Zone Management IPA Instrument of Pre-Accession KACI Kosovo Action for Civic Initiative KAN Kosovo Action Network KEK Korporata Energjetike e Kosovës (Kosovo Energy Corporation) KFOS Kosovo Foundation for Open Society KHDR Kosovo Human Development Report KIPRED Kosovan Institute for Public Research and Development KMDLNJ Këshilli për Mbrojtjen e të Drejtave dhe Lirive të Njeriut (Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms) KODI Kosovan Research and Documentation Institute KWN Kosovo Women’s Network KYN Kosovo Youth Network LDK Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës (Democratic League of Kosovo) NGO non-governmental organization NPCG NGO Peacebuilding Coordination Group NRCG NGO Returns Coordination Group OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe PB, PBO public beneficiary PISG Provisional Institutions of Self-Government PTK Post and Telecommunications in Kosovo RAE Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian SAA Stabilisation and Association Agreement SAP Stabilisation and Association Process STM Stability Tracking Mechanism TAK Tax Administration of Kosovo UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNKT United Nations Kosovo Team UNMIK United Nations Mission in Kosovo UPSUP Independent Students’ Union of the University of Pristina USAID United States Agency for International Development

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 15 Human Development and Civil Society 1. Mytaher Haskuka Human Development 1. and Civil Society Mytaher Haskuka

1.1 Human development In recent years, the human development approach has placed increasing emphasis on ba- There are many definitions of development, sic political and human freedoms, to balance but they all use words like increase, growth, its emphasis on just and equitable social and progress, expansion or extension—words economic development. In this regard, be- denoting more of something. Development ing able to participate in decisions that affect can be defined as an incremental process of one’s life is an intrinsic component of human growth or progress. It does not always entail well-being, therefore increasing the chances revolutionary change, but it does involve a for participation in decision-making process- determined process that aims to improve the es is by itself a human development gain. In lives of all citizens. The concept of human de- a long-term perspective, participation is very velopment puts people and their needs and important as it leads to an internalization of wants at the centre of this process. processes, institutions and values that are the result of those processes. Genuine participa- Human development seeks to expand the tion expands communication, which could choices of the citizenry by expanding their well lead to improved social dialogue and capabilities and opportunities to lead long understanding. Thus it also decreases ten- and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to sions within society and may help to prevent have a decent standard of living, and to par- and resolve conflict. ticipate actively in community life. The process seeks to level the playing field and to cre- Box 1.1 The human development concept ate opportunities for all, especially the most The basic purpose of development is to enlarge vulnerable, so as to maximize every person’s people’s choices. In principle, these choices can be potential. infinite and can change over time. People often value achievements that do not show up at all, or not im- mediately, in income or growth figures: greater access According to this perspective, develop- to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, ment policy should not be based solely on more secure livelihoods, security against crime and generating more income. Instead, economic physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political growth should become a means to an end and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in rather than an end in itself. The human de- community activities. The objective of development velopment approach places due attention on is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives. the impact of development policies and how they translate into livelihood and welfare — Mahbub ul Haq, founder, Human Development improvements. Report

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 17 Human Development and Civil Society

1.2 Civil society vate sectors, where people can get together around shared values, norms and interests. Civil society is nothing if not conceptually It consists of associations that shape human colourful and heterogeneous. After centu- interaction outside the other two sectors. ries of discussion, no common, universally accepted definition exists. The concept has The boundaries of the sector are blurry and been debated and defined in many different difficult to define precisely. In everyday ref- ways throughout history, beginning with Ar- erence, the term is used to represent institu- istotle, who saw “civil” as meaning “of the tions such as voluntary associations and non- state”; thus, “civil society” referred to one’s governmental service organizations. Some collective interactions with the state as a citi- researchers extend the scope of the sector to zen of the polis. According to Socrates, public include the family, the church, informal social argument through dialectic was imperative groups, social movements and the media. to ensure civility in the polis and a good life for the people. It is commonly agreed that civil society is an arena of voluntary collective action around Today civil society is usually defined as a shared interests, purposes and values dis- third sector, in addition to the public and pri- tinct from family, state and profit-seeking

Box 1.2 What is civil society? Civil society is an unusual concept in that it always seems to require being defined before it is applied or discussed. In part this is because the concept was rarely used in discourse before the late eighties and many people are therefore unfamiliar with it. In part it is a result of an inherent ambiguity or elasticity in the concept. Perhaps the simplest way to see civil society is as a “third sector,” distinct from government and business. In this view, civil society refers essentially to the so-called “intermediary institutions” such as professional associations, religious groups, labor unions, citizen advocacy organizations, that give voice to various sectors of society and enrich public participation in democracies. But this does not solve every definitional question that the idea of civil society can give rise to. Many would hold that a free and vigorous press is an essential element in civil society. But most newspapers and TV stations in the U.S. are run as for-profit businesses. Should they be counted as part of civil society, of the third sector, or should they be seen as part of the commercial world? A second problem associated with the concept of civil society is this: Is it a strictly objective and descriptive term that, for example, treats the League of Women Voters and the Ku Klux Klan equally as “third sector citizen organizations”? Or does the concept of civil society imply other, related values: for example, a commitment to democracy and equal treatment of all citizens before the law? This would exclude the KKK, needless to say. Or, a more difficult question of values: Is the idea of civil society consistent with substantial state subsidies for a large number of third sector organizations, as occurs in parts of Europe? Is it consistent with substantial corporate subsidies of many third sector organizations, as occurs in America? Are there distinctively American and European (or French, Swedish, German, etc.) types of civil society? Reprinted from Civil Society International, What Is Civil Society? (www.civilsoc.org/whatisCS.htm)

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT 18 Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 Human Development and Civil Society

institutions. It is a particular space in a soci- and an independent media to provide the ety where people come together to debate, conditions necessary for development and associate and seek to influence the broader democracy to flourish.1 And it responds fre- society. Civil societies are organic human ar- quently to issues of social equity that are by- rangements shaped by numerous variables passed by profit-seeking institutions. and continue to evolve everywhere. As a manifestation of the way that citizens asso- The rise of civil society on the national and ciate in order to improve their lives, express global political scene constitutes one of the and pursue their interests, exchange infor- major developments of the last three dec- mation, mediate differences and create stable ades.2 While wide variations exist across social relationships, social institutions are as countries and regions, what lies at the heart diverse as the people who establish them. of this movement is a shift in the relationship between states and their citizens. When

Box 1.3 United Nations’ positively applied, it is often accompanied by definition of civil society an enrichment of the concept and practice of Civil society refers to the associations of citizens (out- rights. The causes for this dynamic are nu- side their families, friends and businesses) entered merous. Examples include the fall of dicta- into voluntarily to advance their interests, ideas and torships and the collapse of socialist systems, ideologies. the introduction of new technologies and — Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations- networking tools such as the Internet, and Civil Society Relations, appointed by the Secre- the successes of non-violent “people power” tary. Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/reform/ movements in countries such as Bulgaria, the civilsociety/panel.shtml Czech Republic, and Poland as well as global campaigns on issues such as banning land For simplicity, many academics, internation- mines. Advocacy movements are credited al donors, and development practitioners with influencing everything from multilateral treat civil society as emerging between the bodies such as the World Trade Organization household and the state, equated with a self- to local governance reforms. Civil society has initiated voluntary sector made up of freely also strengthened its operative capacity as an and formally associating individuals pursing instrument for better service delivery and for non-profit goals in religious bodies, founda- modernization by unburdening the state of tions, recreational clubs, professional associa- tasks that can be better handled by non-gov- tions, action committees, trade unions, social ernmental organizations. The increasing rec- movements and so on. ognition of civil society has been premised on the belief that people are citizens with rights In this respect, civil society can be seen as the and obligations protected by law rather than foundation on which social capital is built. It subjects dependent on privileges or entitle- complements the executive, the legislature, ments.

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Whereas the magnitude of tangible contribu- framework. They operate within boundaries tions can be debated, many scholars and de- defined by legislation and defend the public velopment professionals agree that a vibrant interest outside of the political realm. and organized civil society serves as a cor- nerstone of any modern nation-state. Simul- Most practitioners agree that the civil society taneously, however, this sector should not be sector is composed of entities that are: viewed as a panacea or a benign conduit to democracy and economic growth. Some re- • organizations—they have a structure and searchers also point to the negative role that regularity to their operations, regardless civil society organizations can sometimes of legal registration play; for example, they may increase the role • private—they are not officially part of the of informal associations as opposed to formal state mechanisms, and some organizations may • non-profit-distributing—they do not dis- pursue undemocratic or xenophobic goals tribute profits to shareholders or a set of or may operate for other immoral or illegal directors and are primarily not commercial purposes. When reviewing a social phenom- in activity enon such as the growth and activism of civil • self-governing—they are in control of their society, there are rarely single or conclusive own affairs answers but rather multiple and evolving re- • voluntary—participation is not legally responses depending on the context. And this quired or compulsory3 context involves environmental, institutional, relational, and other factors. CSOs do not operate in a vacuum. They are linked to social, political, economic and demo- Civil society organizations graphic conditions. The dynamics of political values, a young population, privatization, in- The organizations within civil society encom- creased participation of women in the labour pass a wide range of non-state and non-mar- force, and globalization are impacting pro- ket constituencies and vary according to their foundly on the nature and content of society purpose, philosophy, expertise and scope of and hence on the nature of CSOs. As a result, activities. Civil society organizations (CSOs) over the past two decades, there has been a sig- include organizations with a philanthropic nificant trend in the growth of sustainable de- or services orientation, community associa- velopment-oriented civil society organizations tions, associations reflecting special interests as opposed to charity or philanthropic organi- such as business, advocacy groups to defend zations. Another trend has been the emergence the collective benefit and professional groups of partnerships and contractual relationships such as syndicates. They are autonomous, vol- between non-governmental organizations untary, not-for-profit associations that have and/or the private sector and public authorities a structured governance and organizational in the service of long-term development.4

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Included within the category of CSOs are past 30 years. Russia has 277,000 NGOs. India non-governmental organizations or NGOs, is estimated to have between 1 million and 2 the entities most often associated with - for million NGOs. Dozens are created daily. In malized civil society.5 NGOs are usually de- Kenya alone, some 240 NGOs come into exis- fined as organizations that are not part of a tence every year. 8 government and do not benefit from regular government funding, and are therefore typi- The process of registering NGO in Kosovo cally independent of governments. Although is relatively short and it can be done by fil- the term can technically include for-profit ing a request and providing information to corporations, its use is generally restricted the Department for Registration and Liaison to social, cultural, legal and environmental with NGOs which is related to the Ministry advocacy groups with primarily non-com- Of Public Services. The requirements for the mercial goals. NGOs are usually non-profit registration requested of the NGO are the fol- organizations that gain at least a portion of lowing: their funding from private sources. The term non-governmental organization came into 1. The official name of organization use with the establishment of the United Na- 2. The description of organization (whether it tions in 1945 with provisions in Article 71 of is an organization or foundation) Chapter 10 of the United Nations Charter6 for 3. The address of organization a consultative role for organizations that are 4. The aims of organization neither governments nor member states. The 5. The names and addresses of founders vital role of NGOs and other “major groups” 6. The names and addresses and other infor- in sustainable development was recognized mation of delegates in Chapter 27 of Agenda 21, leading to re- vised arrangements for consultative relation- The similar procedure is applicable for inter- ships between the United Nations and non- national NGOs but with the edition require- governmental organizations.7 ment for the demonstration that the NGO is a legal organization or foundation in another Because the label NGO is considered too country. broad by some, many NGOs now prefer the term private voluntary organization. The Department for Registration and Liaison of NGOs has also the division for reporting A 1995 UN report on global governance esti- and monitoring which accepts and analysis mated that there were nearly 29,000 interna- annual reports with financial presentation of tional NGOs. The number in 2001 it was esti- NGO, monitors the activities of NGO in or- mated as 40,000. National numbers are even der to find out how much they respect their higher: The United States has an estimated 2 status and other obliged laws and it recom- million NGOs, most of them formed in the mends needed advancements, cooperates

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with other institutions, provides public ben- serious need to distinguish more clearly be- eficiary status, make decisions for suspen- tween the two. For instance, in some coun- sion of public beneficiary status, revoking tries of Europe and Latin America, political and deregistration of NGO. parties are struggling to maintain their voting base, thus they function traditionally in The information the description of the depart- competition with CSOs. Many political par- ment is transparent and it is provided in the ties in Western Europe have established their official website of department: http://www. own NGOs to further pursue their agendas. ks-gov.net/mshp/Departments.aspx. The website also contains the application forms and On the other hand, in some countries, like other materials and information in Albanian, Thailand and the Philippines, the laws in- English, and Serbian languages. Moreover, vite CSO representation in parliament, and the description of the department, in Alba- CSOs put up candidates for government of- nian, English, and Serbian, is available in the fice. The other option represents an issue in official website. According to latest statistics countries where society is more or less polar- provided by Department for Registration and ized, like in South-Eastern Europe. Another Liaison with NGOs there are 4917 local NGOs link between CSOs and political parties in registered and 447 international NGOs. this region is that many current politicians are former CSO leaders and many CSO lead- History ers are former politicians who were not re- elected and wished to stay publicly active or The development and proliferation of organ- visible.9 ized civil society organizations was experienced differently in developing countries. This What distinguishes civil society groups from was largely due to internal historical influenc- political parties is the aim for the control of es and political systems but was also, in part, power. CSOs are concerned with and act in a consequence of external influences such as the public realm and relate to the state with- Western aid money and ideology. Therefore, out seeking to win control over the state. On the majority of civil society organizations in the other hand, the purpose of political par- the developing world remain at the nascent ties is to win and exercise state power.10 stage of institutional maturity. They have not yet fully consolidated their identities independent of their international supporters. According to the Perceptions of Civil Society CSOs and political parties in Kosovo Survey only 3% of Kosovans think that CSOs and political parties relate and overlap political parties belong to significantly. In many countries, there isa civil society.

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Box 1.4 NGO acronyms On the other hand, there are defining differences between the two sectors, most visibly Among the acronyms for different types of non- that the former is non-profit and the latter governmental organizations are the following: • INGO—international NGO is for-profit. Private-sector goals, activities, • BINGO—business-oriented international services and products are oriented to the NGO profit of individual owners or shareholders. • RINGO—religious international NGO On the other hand, at least in theory, CSOs’ • ENGO—environmental NGO goals, activities, services, and products are • GONGO—government-operated NGO not intended to financially benefit the leaders (which may have been set up to qualify or the board or create profit for the organiza- for outside aid) • QUANGO—quasi-autonomous NGO tion but to benefit the society in which they An example of a QUANGO is the International operate—though some researchers point out Organization for Standardization, which is not that this may not always be true. In most cas- purely an NGO since its members are nations, not es CSOs do not sell their products and serv- individuals. ices, while businesses do. Summarized from NonProfitExpert.com, “NGOs: Non-Governmental Organizations,” Another difference between the two sectors www.nonprofitexpert.com/ngo.htm is that CSOs’ main input into the process is volunteerism and social activism, which cre- CSOs and the private sector ates social capital or collectivism, while businesses’ main input into the process is profes- Civil society organizations and private-sector sionalism and market pricing, which most (business) organizations have many similari- often potentiates private capital and individ- ties. For example, both belong to the non- ualism. state sector, are based on voluntary action and individual entrepreneurship, can change CSOs are thought of as more transparent to their structure, personnel and area of focus the public in that they are usually held ac- very quickly, provide services, and lead to countable to donors, beneficiaries and other development. CSOs. On the other hand, business organizations are not required to be transparent to the public, and they are accountable only to their owners or shareholders. According to the Perceptions of Civil Society According to the World Civil Society Forum, in Kosovo Survey only the relation between the private sector and 4 % of Kosovans think that NGOs has five characteristics: private sector is part of civil society.

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1. The relationship is balanced through CSOs and accountability confrontation and elaboration. 2. Creation of partnerships between the two is not enough to bring corporate social responsibility. Civil society in Kosovo is 3. Relations are based on voluntary accountable only to donors initiatives. and only if they request” 4. Relations are based on NGOs and trade focus group participant unions. 5. Civil society should monitor companies in It can be argued that CSOs lack the account- a range of fields, including human rights, ability mechanisms of voting and electoral working conditions, patents, access to campaigns and programs that political par- 11 medicine and the right to food. ties have. In a similar vein, membership in political parties is usually much larger than in CSOs; this is especially true for South- Some NGOs in Kosovo Eastern Europe. But when interacting with act as private companies the state and the business sector, it is as- as they are interested more sumed that CSOs officially represent the in- on personal gains than for terests of society and the voice of the people. public good” focus group This, too, raises the issue of CSO account- participant. ability.

Box 1.5 Civil society and private companies—recommendations Civil society organizations should play an active role in monitoring the operations of private companies. Information regarding private companies should be more widely accessible to civil society organizations. Civil society organizations should influence the definition of criteria and the assessment of corporate behaviours. Decentralization of the assessment process of corporations should be ensured. Civil society organizations and national bodies have a critical role to play in this matter. Direct relations between civil society organizations and the private sector should not be detrimental to the regulatory role of governments and the public sector. Civil society organizations should increase their influence over the public and private companies by maximizing communication from all sides such as the media, education, academia, campaign heroes, strategic alliances and networks. Civil society organizations should require that the private sector respects cultural diversity in its approach to development. Civil society organizations should pressure northern and southern governments to reinforce their social and environmental criteria in the fields of foreign direct investments, public purchase policies, and other economic relations.

Reprinted from World Civil Society Forum, “Executive Summary: Working Group on Private Sector,” www. worldcivilsociety.org/REPORT/EN/06/18-jul-02/exec_summ_wg_private_sector.html

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The notion of accountability is particularly ing, non-discriminatory practices complex for CSOs, because of the multiplic- • have clear conflict-of-interest guidelines ity of actors with whom civil society engag- • have a code of ethics for staff es and to whom it is therefore accountable. • publish an annual report and audited fi- CSOs may have three directions of account- nancial statements ability. There is “upward” accountability to • be non-profit, non-party political founders, donors, governments or other ex- • foster justice and equity, alleviate poverty ternal actors, and “downward” accountabil- and preserve cultural integrity ity to community groups, activists or other • endeavour to enhance the total environ- beneficiaries.12 Some researchers also speak ment—physical, biological and human of “horizontal” accountability in the relation- • have a fair wage structure, with a credible ship between civil society actors, who see scale between highest and lowest paid worker themselves as part of a public process, unlike • be truly with people and not impose their the competitive culture within the business agendas on them community. Therefore, it can be argued that, • base all their work on the resources avail- when properly functioning, CSOs could be able to the people, their expertise, existing just as accountable as political parties. institutions, culture and religions; be self- sufficient while remaining open to the as- Ethical codes of conduct for CSOs sistance offered by their various partners • avoid being corrupted both materially and In many international forums and conferences spiritually the necessity of ethical codes and principles for • facilitate people’s efforts civil society organizations has been stressed. • share information with all members; set It is argued that certain ethical and account- up necessary mechanisms to gather able agreements need to be acknowledged in and exchange experiences; and get ac- order to build up the constituency base for tively involved in environmental education CSOs, and to contribute to and to truly serve (awareness-building) and training the people within the community and society. • articulate a broad political framework and According to one code of conduct for NGOs: code of ethics to guide their internal operations and their work with community The National and local NGOs (both in North groups and people’s organizations, as well and South) should: as their relations with the South, NGOs and the North • be rooted in issues at home • ensure the highest levels of accountability, • have some definable constituency or starting with their own constituencies— membership the people (this includes uncompromising • have open democratic working systems, evaluations involving the participation of 13 gender parity, consultative problem-solv- the local populations)

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Civil society and human development participation and partnership by encouraging dialogue on governance and economic prosperity. CSOs encourage participation in Biggest impact of NGOs on policy formulation, planning, implementa- human development was in tion, monitoring and evaluation of develop- education through literacy ment programmes, and this usually improves projects” focus group public service delivery, governance and over- participant. all participation.

Most development practitioners agree that CSOs’ contribution to human development human development is closely related to the can also be attributed to successful projects rights to associate and participate. Civil socie- that improve living conditions or promote ty can strengthen human development by en- sustainable use of the environment. What larging opportunities and access to resources. distinguishes CSOs’ contribution to human For example, through creating mechanisms development from that of the state and pri- to give voice to vulnerable groups in public vate sectors is that CSOs can play an impor- policy debates, CSOs can help create an en- tant role in regulating unfair market prac- vironment whereby people can participate in tices, advocating against state policies that the life of the community, an important as- neglect vulnerable people, and mobilizing pect of choice and opportunity for inclusion public opinion for change. Thus, CSOs can into development processes. help eradicate poverty, support Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and advocate for At the same time, civil society organizations equal rights much more effectively than other contribute to human development through sectors of society.

Box 1.6 What is the human development case for democracy? A human development approach identifies three arguments in support of democracy. First, respecting human dignity involves considering people as active subjects of their own destiny, however materially poor they might be. Being able to participate in decisions that affect one’s life is an intrinsic component of human well-being. Second, democracy is instrumental in promoting other components of people’s well-being. If a government fails to provide adequate health care to all, political participation of those who are left out, or representation of their voices, is crucial to reform social services provision. Amartya Sen has famously argued that famines are caused by the irresponsiveness of governments to people’s claims rather than by food shortages. Democracy is also instrumental in deciding on policy priorities and choices, given limited resources and financial constraints on promoting all dimensions of human development. The third reason is the constructive role democracy plays in value formation. It clarifies and constructs a society’s values and priorities, for example a society built around the value of tolerance or social equity. Reprinted rom Séverine Deneulin, “What Does a Human Development Approach Say About Democracy?” HDRO-HD Insights, Human Development Report Office, September 2007 (accessed 26 September 2008 from: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDInsights_Sept2007.pdf).

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Over the last decade, CSOs—including tant force for conflict prevention and peace NGOs, people’s movements, trade unions, building. By providing a means for social women’s federations, formal and informal groups to participate and communicate con- associations, grass-roots coalitions and in- cerns, they perform a watchdog function for digenous people’s organizations—have both the public sector and the market, chan- emerged as a powerful force for social justice nelling the voices of constituents and con- and equity across and within borders. This is sumers. largely a result of the impact of globalization on the intergovernmental system, the chang- It is also argued that civil society can play a ing role of the nation state and the growing crucial role in human development by facili- impact of the information age. CSOs have tating the access of communities and individ- mounted successful campaigns that are ef- uals to information, decision-making, justice, fectively shaping the content of national and security, and resources. international agreements—on issues ranging from landmines and debt cancellation to CSOs and human rights affordable medication for HIV/AIDS—and have helped to bring about new institutions, including the International Criminal Court According to the and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Is- Perceptions of Civil Society sues. They have also laid the groundwork for in Kosovo Survey around local and global discussions on alternative 55% of Kosovans associate policy choices—from local “citizen hearings” civil society with protection on poverty and AIDS to parallel NGO forums of human rights. at United Nations conferences, people’s as- semblies and social forums—to exchange experiences and debate and propose economic CSOs play an important role in promoting and social alternatives. human rights in the developing world and, in turn, deserve to have their own rights and In summary, civil society and human devel- freedoms upheld. Their responsibilities in opment are linked in several ways. Civil so- upholding rights are three-fold. They support ciety provides services to populations and the setting of standards and pressure their areas that states and private businesses fail to national governments to ratify important reach. They support people’s rights to assem- human rights treaties; they document viola- ble, express their views, and engage in public tions of these treaties and other human rights dialogue. In the long run this acts as a secu- abuses; and they create and monitor enforce- rity valve by encouraging society to address ment mechanisms.14 Their rights include, but issues before they reach the critical point. In are not limited to, the rights to: undertake col- this regard civil society can be a very impor- lective action, be recognized as a legal entity,

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decide on membership, pursue lawful objec- women, in a country’s economic and political tives without undue intrusion from the state, life, including by persons belonging to minor- express themselves freely, maintain their pri- ity groups, is fundamental to a vibrant and vacy, and use and dispose of property.15 durable democracy”16. Upon its drafting in June 2000, the Community of Democracies in- The creation of a positive and enabling legal cluded all countries of the Commonwealth of and regulatory framework for civil society Independent States, including Russia, and the and its respective organizations is of extreme Caucasus. When the third ministerial meeting importance because it protects basic human of the Community was held in Santiago, Chile rights. Most famously, the Universal Declara- in April 2005, CSO participation and discus- tion of Human Rights (1948) proclaims, “Eve- sion were the main themes of the event. ryone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.” The Universal Dec- The United Nations Development Programme laration is not a treaty but a resolution of the (UNDP), by adopting a human rights-based General Assembly of the United Nations and view of human development, acknowledged thus is not legally binding. There are other that it shares obligations related to human important international covenants that per- rights with the governments. In this regard, tain to protecting the rights of an independ- CSOs have legitimate entitlements, codified ent civil society, including the International in international conventions, covenants and Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural laws. People have a right to act as claimants Rights (1966) and the International Covenant on and monitors of UNDP policies and ac- on Civil and Political Rights (1966). tions, alongside, with and through governments as complementary duty-bearers.17 It is also worth noting the Community of De- mocracies, comprised initially of 110 govern- On the other hand, a rights-based philosophy ments, as possibly playing a role in promot- of development challenges CSOs, particu- ing human rights. The Warsaw Declaration larly intermediary NGOs, to reflect on their serves as a set of rights-based principles for own obligations. Some CSOs claim a role in the member states of the Community. The policymaking because they represent and are Warsaw Declaration text draws directly from accountable to certain groups. Others base international practices and laws, including the their claim on their expertise and interest. In Universal Declaration and the aforementioned their efforts to influence policy, a core issue international covenants. It boldly proclaims for CSOs is accountability based on expertise; that member state signatories will promote, they should not attempt to act as representa- not merely tolerate, civil society and an inde- tives unless they can demonstrate that they pendent media in their exercise of democratic have a constituency that gives them a man- rights. It continues to note that “informed par- date and effective control over the policy po- ticipation by all elements of society, men and sitions they have adopted.

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Box 1.7 UNDP work with civil society The United Nations Charter gives UNDP a powerful mandate to work with civil society organizations. Also, the UNDP’s goal of sustainable human development, which places people at the centre of development, cannot be achieved without the robust engagement of civil society. Given the collective power of CSOs in building social, economic and political agendas, both locally and globally, it is clear that strengthening partnerships with CSOs is crucial for UNDP to remain a relevant and effective development player. At the Millennium Summit in 1999 it was stated that the partnership with CSOs is central to delivering the promises of the Millennium Declaration. CSOs are a crucial resource, constituency and partner for UNDP in advancing sustainable human development goals and principles. UNDP has made significant progress in both broadening and deepening its interaction with CSOs at all levels of its work. In particular, UNDP has developed a valued niche in creating the space with governments for CSO perspectives to be heard and incorporated into policy and programmes. In so doing, UNDP recognizes that CSOs are not a substitute for government, but are central to sustainable governance. UNDP collaborates with CSOs whose goals, values and development philosophy correspond to its global mandate. UNDP also engages with CSOs concerned with (inter-)national public policy and governance. The partnership with CSOs, particularly at the country office level, is rooted in informed analysis and assessment of the country situation, including the role, competencies and needs of CSOs. In May 2000, the UNDP CSO Advisory Committee was formed, interfacing directly with the UNDP Adminis- trator establishing formal status arrangements with CSOs. The expressed intention of this step was to ensure that the organization becomes more open and sensitive to the agendas within civil society. The UNDP CSO Advisory Committee proposed the following priority themes for collaboration:

• Poverty reduction and sustainable debt • Inclusive globalization—democratizing trade and finance • Conflict prevention and peace-building • Human rights and human development • Private sector engagement

Based on the experience of the advisory committee at headquarters, some country offices have set up national advisory committees. Botswana was the first to do so (2003), followed by Brazil (2004). UNDP actively promotes and supports civil society advisory committees at the country level as mechanisms for policy advocacy and debate, as well as advice on UNDP policy direction, and a means for UNDP to tap into local knowledge and expertise.

Why does UNDP engage with CSOs?

UNDP interest in forging partnerships with CSOs stems from many considerations. Improving the condition of the poor and excluded is the ultimate justification for the existence of UNDP as a development agency. Collaboration with CSOs that articulate the needs and aspirations of the poor is a sine qua non of good practice.

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Governments in developing countries cannot on their own fulfil all the tasks required for sustainable human development. This goal requires the active participation and partnership of citizens and their organizations. While external support can help, improved governance must ultimately come from within and be owned by a country and its citizens. CSOs therefore have vital roles to play as participants, legitimizers and en- dorsers of government policy and action, as watchdogs of the behaviour of regimes and public agencies, and as collaborators in the national development effort. From the human rights perspective, UNDP, along with member governments, bears duties and obligations towards the poor and excluded who are denied internationally recognized entitlements. To fulfil these obligations, the organization must engage with and involve a range of civic actors in its programmes. UNDP positions, public support, work and success in the future are dependent on multiparty trust. Why do CSOs engage with UNDP? CSOs’ interest in engaging with UNDP depends on the extent to which such collaboration generates mutual added value. From a CSO perspective, some factors that warrant engagement with UNDP are: • At the country level, the relationship of trust between developing country governments and UNDP, and the ability of UNDP to broker space for government-CSO dialogue and engagement • The human development paradigm as a critical entry point and foundation for dialogue, action, joint advocacy and campaigns with civil society • The broad mandate of UNDP, which is not only more holistic compared to other sectoral, issue-specific agencies, but also more in line with the interrelated manner in which many CSOs look at issues of development and conflict • The coordinating role of UNDP in the United Nations system and the United Nations Develop- ment Group, both globally and at the country level • The potential of UNDP as an ally and source of resources for CSO human development initiatives • UNDP potential to differentiate itself intellectually from conventional policy advice with the aim of promoting inclusive globalization

Summarized from UNDP and Civil Society Organizations: A Practice Note on Engagement.

Defining best practice development, especially the 1995 and 2000 and challenges to CSOs UN World Social Summits on Development. These meetings stressed that the distribution Successful development interventions by of knowledge through networking and part- civil society have promoted the notion of nerships was essential for sharing the best CSO best practice in poverty alleviation and practices for civil society organizations. in other civil society activities. Global events have also helped set new agendas for the The United Nations Educational, Scientific propagation of the best practice concept in and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) main-

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tains that there are four characteristics of best big organizations, most CSOs do not have practice, especially in poverty and social ex- more than two or three active members; clusion: usually there are no membership fees. 2. Political and legislative environment: 1. Best practice cases are innovative, devel- There remains a huge gap between the oping new and creative solutions to com- intentions stated in the political discourse mon problems. and the reality on the ground. Civil soci- 2. They make a difference. A best practice ety is rarely, if ever, considered an equal project demonstrates a positive and tangi- partner in the initial drafting of plans, and ble impact on the living conditions, quality participation is usually limited to con- of life or environment of the individuals, sultation sessions. The authorities and groups or communities concerned. international organizations focus attention 3. They have a sustainable effect. A best on civil society’s role in service provision, practice contributes to sustained eradica- and sometimes advocacy, but watchdog tion of poverty or social exclusion, espe- functions that support civic and democrat- cially by the involvement of participants. ic development are viewed with suspicion. 4. They have the potential for replication. A 3. Internal issues: These include vague and best practice serves as a model for gen- multiple missions, lack of democratic prac- erating policies and initiatives elsewhere. tices within organizations, poor technical In hindsight, it appears common sense in capacity of staff, and top-down relation- development terms to provide models of ships between CSOs and their constituen- success that can be replicated or utilized cies. Frequently, these are symptoms of for the purpose of scaling up to serve inexperience, but they result in a low level larger numbers of beneficiaries. of public trust in CSOs and limit their ability to influence government policies. While On the other hand, research in developing so- there is evidence of much greater profes- cieties and states indicates that there are sev- sionalism, especially within business asso- eral challenges in the development of CSOs: ciations, development-oriented NGOs and advocacy groups, there is a need overall to 1. Financial viability and membership: Most upgrade skills. Very rarely do CSOs evalu- CSOs do not have financial sustainability ate and measure the overall impact of their and are highly dependent on donors. In the work; and if they do, it is seldom that their case of Kosovo, all donors are international findings inform future strategy. This lack of organizations, as the private sector is not vision for the future is also due to financial developed and does not finance or partici- hardship, which impacts on the ability to pate in civil society initiatives. At the same assess achievements and plan forward. time, membership in these organizations Their function as monitors of government is an issue of concern. Apart from a few or private sector activity is still very limited.

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4. Networking: There are some networks, Box 1.8 Basic parameters for CSO networks but these remain loose and limited in time, CSO networks are only as strong as their mem- are reliant on outside donor initiatives and bers. Instituting a code of conduct for members funding, and usually remain unofficial. In increases credibility. Kosovo, the few networks that were cre- The content and focus of the network should be ated in the past were usually part of a member-driven. project financed by international donors The institution housing the network should serve and functioned only while the project was as a facilitator and not attempt to directly man- active. As they do not evolve into official age its members. Management of network activi- networks with a mandate and goals, they ties is best done through an elected board. stop functioning once the funding ends. Strong communication structures (including face- 5. Social and cultural environment: One to-face meetings, forums, CSO directories, publi- serious problem is the absence of a cul- cations and electronic discussions) are required to sustain the network and keep members active ture of voluntarism, a visible manifestation and engaged. being low participation rates from youth.18 The network should make the work of its mem- Another deficiency is a poor understand- bers more effective and avoid burdening them ing of the value of collective work. Inter- with extra tasks. group ventures are not in great evidence, Connections with other international networks nor are partnerships sufficiently exploited. are important sources of support and learning.

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CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 33 The History of Civil Society in Kosovo 2. Armend Bekaj The History of 2. Civil Society in Kosovo Armend Bekaj

2.1 Origins trajectory of development. In the late 1980s, the first civil society organizations began to The origins of civil society in Kosovo can be appear, mainly organized by young people, seen from two different viewpoints: a broad especially students, and writers and journal- look at socio-political change in South-Eastern ists. The birth of civil society raised the hope Europe or a closer focus on Kosovo in the late that Yugoslavia would enter a new era of po- 1980s and early 1990s. The birth of civil soci- litical plurality and tolerance. There was op- ety, as an alternative and balancing power to timism, as the communist monopoly crum- the political establishment, was a common bled in Yugoslavia and elsewhere, that civil phenomenon in the final days of the commu- society organizations would fill the vacuum, nist bloc. Here one should take into account providing peaceful and creative alterna- the general political changes that were sweep- tives.20 However, events in Kosovo in the late ing Central and Eastern European countries 1980s—followed by the escalating crisis in the in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The fall of rest of the former Yugoslavia—disappointed communism and the Berlin Wall, the politics these hopes. Whilst such a peaceful transition of Solidarnost in Poland, and the Velvet Revo- from totalitarian and one-party rule to plural lution in Czechoslovakia, were preceded and and democratic regimes, buttressed by civil partly caused by the eroding and liberating ef- society contributions, was made possible in fect of civil society movements. These move- much of the communist bloc, Kosovo’s civil ments sent reverberations throughout the con- society experienced a different kind of devel- tinent, including the former Yugoslavia.19 The opment. underlying philosophy of these movements was linked with the notions of autonomy and With a closer focus on Kosovo, the origins of self-organization, with grassroots initiatives its civil society are intrinsically connected to for offering alternative and critical thinking. political developments in the former Yugo- They added colour and diversity to the oth- slavia in the late 1980s—in particular, the po- erwise monolithic political landscape of Cen- litical crisis in Kosovo triggered by Belgrade’s tral and Eastern Europe, and as such began to annulment of its autonomy in 1989 and the undermine the system from within and below. escalating repression that followed. It was Of course, such independent initiatives were during this time that international NGOs first looked at with suspicion and hostility, as they began to display an interest in Kosovo. How- were bound to challenge the ruling regimes. ever, their first projects were mainly focused on raising inter-ethnic awareness among lo- Civil society in the former Yugoslavia, and cal K-Albanian, K-Serb, and other communi- by default in Kosovo, was part of the same ties by organizing workshops and trainings,

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facilitating literacy programmes in villages, parallel structures that were emerging at the setting up health centres for women and chil- same time. The Kosovo parallel government dren, and so on.21 Such initiatives, however, was led by the pacifist Democratic League did not have the desired effect of alleviating of Kosovo or Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës the mounting discord, and as such seemed (LDK), the main political body amongst Kos- misplaced and out of context, considering that ovo Albanians. Due to the common challeng- the overall socio-political situation in Kosovo es they faced, such as the deteriorating po- was worsening daily. For this reason, civil so- litical and economic conditions and the gen- ciety emerged in Kosovo, gradually taking eral plight of Kosovo Albanians, the LDK-led the form of a non-violent civil resistance. political establishment collaborated closely with civil society. They formed a united front 2.2 Civil society or against the Serbian regime, providing guid- civil resistance? ance to the rising civil resistance. However, this close collaboration meant that the delin- In his book Civil Resistance in Kosovo, Howard eating line between the political movement Clark sums up the rising parallel structures and civil society was often blurred. in Kosovo during the 1990s: “While the [Ser- bian] regime had established its monopoly For example, one of the first independent over state structures, Kosovo Albanians organizations created in Kosovo was the counterposed their own self-organization Council for the Defence of Human Rights and self-activity.”22 This statement places the and Freedoms—Këshilli për Mbrojtjen e të rise of civil society in Kosovo in the second, Drejtave dhe Lirive të Njeriut (KMDLNJ). more local context described above. It con- Formed in December 1989, this organization cerns the first civil society organizations that played a major role in monitoring and docu- were independently created in Kosovo. Their menting human rights violations and police birth would galvanize Kosovan society in the maltreatment throughout the 1990s. In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Their words of one of the group’s leaders, KMDLNJ strength and uniqueness stemmed from their was “part of the general resistance” but not authentic, grassroots nature, born out of a part of politics; however, the circumstances natural instinct and need to assist the society were such that it “could not be indifferent to in Kosovo. They seemed to have in common politics around it”.23 KMDLNJ distributed the a focus on civil resistance and non-violent information it gathered to national and inter- protests against the regime in Belgrade, civil national media to draw attention to human disobedience, solidarity with the K-Albanian rights violations. In theory, it was also open population. to K-Serbs and other ethnic communities, but in fact it became a civic body through which A unique element of civil society organiza- Kosovo Albanians could express their griev- tions was their cooperation with the political ances.

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Another very important NGO, formed soon reconstruction efforts. In June 2002, Mother after KMDLNJ and LDK on 10 May 1990, Teresa transferred full responsibility for the was the Mother Teresa Association, which remaining poor to the Ministry of Welfare became the backbone of the K-Albanian par- of Kosovo’s interim government, the then- allel healthcare and welfare system. It was an Provisional Institutions of Self-Government independent humanitarian organization that (PISG).26 tried to remain above party politics. It played a central role in providing medical services Solidarity with the population and civil re- and distributing food and other forms of hu- sistance against the Serbian regime were the manitarian aid to all parts of Kosovo, espe- overarching principles of civil society or- cially rural areas. The organization relied on ganizations. Another driving force was the the support and solidarity of the population idea of volunteerism and empowerment of during the 1990s. It was funded by private marginalized and disenfranchised groups. businesses and donations inside Kosovo, and Such was the work of the organization Mo- later also by foreign donors, beginning with trat Qiriazi, led by Igballe and Safete Rogo- Caritas. For a very long time, Mother Teresa va. It began in 1990 as a literacy program on conducted a no-cash policy, urging donors to the outskirts of Pristina and soon expanded give only donations in kind. The absence of into 64 field offices throughout Kosovo. ready money mitigated the risk from raids by Besides offering language courses, Motrat the police.24 Qiriazi worked with the local community in the southern region of Has to open a library The association managed to expand its work- and secondary schools and organize cultur- load particularly because of the solidarity al events.27 contribution of 3 percent of wages by the Albanian diaspora. The first Mother Teresa At certain times, civil society organizations medical clinic was opened in Pristina on 30 reached such a momentum and mobilized so March 1992. Its network expanded rapidly, so many people that it seemed that conditions that by 1998 there were more than 90 clinics were becoming ripe for a widespread social throughout Kosovo. The organization em- movement.28 The initiative for reconciliation ployed more than 7,000 volunteers, who dis- of blood feuds amongst Albanians in the ear- tributed humanitarian aid to around 350,000 ly 1990s took on the proportions of a social people across Kosovo.25 During the NATO movement. The Council of Reconciliation, bombing campaign in the first half of 1999, led by the respected professor Anton Çetta, Mother Teresa played a key role in distribut- was instrumental in abolishing the tradition- ing food supplies. After the conflict, the asso- al practice of revenge in Kosovo Albanian sociation continued to distribute food supplies ciety. The campaign enjoyed huge support, as to the poor, thus assisting the government solidarity amongst K-Albanians grew in the and the international community in their face of the external threat personified by the

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regime in Belgrade. This led to the creation of The close cooperation between political and a Pan-National Movement for the Reconcilia- civil society organizations blurred the line tion of Blood Feuds, which resulted in more between the two. Kosovo civil society in the than 2,000 families being reconciled.29 This 1990s did not aim to challenge the work of the was an authentic civic initiative with wide- LDK-led establishment. Instead, its role was spread grass-roots mobilization of the popu- to complement, supplement, or substitute lation and concrete results. for the parallel government wherever necessary. Moreover, NGOs remained entrenched Later in 1997, the Independent Students’ within their ethnic divides and served their Union of the University of Pristina (UP- communities accordingly. SUP) began organizing non-violent protests against Belgrade’s usurpation of university In the late 1990s, however—for example premises. This movement represented a tip- in the UPSUP protests described above— ping point of patience of Albanian students, dissent was not just addressed towards Bel- having studied in private houses throughout grade; civil society became increasingly criti- the 1990s, without access to the university cal of Pristina’s inability to produce results premises and other facilities. These protests using passive resistance. Other organizations also gained such a momentum within Kos- founded during this time included the Kos- ovo and abroad that they could potentially ovo Helsinki Committee, the Association of galvanize the whole society. Although they Independent Trade Unions, various women’s targeted Serbian repression, they also repre- groups that sprang out of the Women’s Fo- sented a rebellion against LDK’s passive re- rum of the LDK, the Centre for the Protection sistance, which was gradually losing favour of Women and Children, and the ethnically with the people. diverse Post Pessimists. The latter maintained a working relationship with its counterpart Although civil society’s relations with the so- office in Belgrade. Civil society made other called parallel institutions became increas- attempts to move away from ethnic segrega- ingly acrimonious, in the beginning civil tion. During 1997-98 countless meetings and society was almost an integral part of the workshops took place between UPSUP stu- LDK-led government. Indeed, the first NGOs dent leaders and their colleagues from Bel- were clearly involved in more than just ad- grade University. vocating for civil rights against a repressive state; they were almost quasi-governmental Other NGOs that predated the 1999 conflict organizations.30 Both Mother Teresa and KM- and that were open to interaction across eth- DLNJ became the bedrock of civil society as nic lines included the Kosovo Action for Civ- well as part of the parallel system of govern- ic Initiative (KACI), Riinvest, and the Kosovo ance, prior to the conflict, thus stretching the Foundation for Open Society (KFOS). They definition of civil society. did not, and could not, have large popular

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followings like Mother Teresa and KMDLNJ, society organizations young and old were and they maintained a critical stance towards suddenly ushered into the political main- LDK throughout the 1990s. stream and viewed as an indispensable part of post-conflict peace building efforts. The 2.3 Civil society after 1999: process of this transformation “necessitated The “NGO boom” and its a radical shift of focus for civil society organi- consequences zations from the politics of resistance to a politics of reconstruction and state-building”.32 The immediate post-conflict period in Kos- ovo was marked by an unprecedented mush- The old civil society organizations were able rooming of NGOs, both local and internation- to come out of the underground and make al. Kosovo became a rich experimental terrain dramatic changes to their approach. KMDLNJ for planting the seeds of peacebuilding and expanded its remit in K-Serb-inhabited areas reconciliation. The first few years after 1999 and included minorities in its ranks. Its work were prosperous times for the so-called NGO was diversified and compartmentalized into boom. Civil society was one of the first sec- several categories, including lobbying and tors to be regulated by law. On 15 November defending human rights and minority rights, 1999, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo as well as giving input to human rights leg- (UNMIK) promulgated Regulation 1999/22, islation.33 On the other hand, Mother Teresa On the Registration and Operation of Non- became closely involved in civic and inter- Governmental Organizations in Kosovo. Sec- ethnic dialogue and infrastructure-building tion 8 of this regulation emphasized that the with the United Nations High Commission overarching principle of all NGOs should be for Refugees (UNHCR).34 to maintain political autonomy, and stated, “NGOs may not engage in fundraising or Kosovo experienced a two-tiered government campaigning to support political parties or after 1999. NGOs had to act as the balancing candidates for political office, nor may they power not only to the PISG but also to the propose, register or in any way endorse can- executive authority of UNMIK. Besides creat- didates for public office.”31 ing an unfair power play, such an anomalous equation meant that often civil society strug- Whilst the 1990s were associated with civil gled to pinpoint the right address to advocate resistance and social movements, civil soci- for its interests. In short, the additional level ety after 1999 underwent a rapid and neces- of governance (UNMIK) opened space for di- sary transformation in outlook and approach. vergence and evasion of responsibility. NATO’s focus on humanitarian intervention was replaced by the UN-sponsored language Furthermore, as noted in Blair et al.’s Kosovo of peacebuilding, reconstruction, reconcilia- Civil Society Assessment,35 one of the main tion and multi-ethnicity. In this new era, civil priorities and major sources of international

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funding remained the promotion of good re- Many have suspected that the true inten- lations between K-Albanians, K-Serbs, and tions of NGOs are profit-driven; accusations other minorities. In addition, considering of corruption and favouritism have also the high rate of unemployment (around 60 been linked to some organizations. percent), civil society maintained a special responsibility for offering a voice to youth. Another issue is whether local NGOs can Given that about 60 percent of the Kosovo be self-sustaining. Of course, the presence population is 25 years or younger, this task is of large international NGOs has been con- particularly challenging.36 ducive to capacity-building for local NGOs. However, one should be wary of the possi- The rise of NGOs has also been accompanied ble development of patron-servant relation- by a feeling of public scepticism, not to say ship, whereby international NGOs obtain a paranoia, about their true nature. There con- large share of the grants in the name of em- tinues to be a fear that civil society organiza- powering local civil society.38 Indeed, with tions are not driven by authentic and deep- the gradual decrease of international aid, seated needs but embark on projects to please some authors have raised concerns that civil foreign donors and meet their requirements. society organizations “may tear down their The quote below sums up these concerns: previously-adopted agendas for something more radical and divisive”,39 or may indeed just crumble away, due to lack of sustainability and consistency of programmes. There is Alongside imposition, [UNMIK] a valid concern that donor dependency may uses enticements through erode civil society’s bottom-up approach. privileges and money—money Furthermore, it has been argued that this in particular, which in Kosovo “Darwinian approach to NGO develop- continues to be poured relentlessly ment” has created an environment condu- towards those channels which cive to NGO entrepreneurship, particularly seek the destruction of Kosovo during 2001 and 2002. This businesslike Albanian identity and the promotional marketing of civil society may creation of the co-called civil have led to a “squandering of funds on rela- society without an identity or tively irrelevant and low-impact projects”.40 a transplanted one. All NGOs in Kosovo … are financed for The post-1999 period has seen several suc- this reason: that Kosovo’s new cessful campaigns—such as “Boll Ma!” (Al- society is not projected through banian for “Enough!”), organized in May Kosovo’s eventual independence, 2001 by The Forum. The campaign’s aim but that its status is made relative was to initiate a public debate on domestic through a tolerant society and an violence and increase cooperation of the lo- abandoned identity.37

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cal population with the police in combating society has exemplified professionalism crime, and it attracted a lot of media atten- and serious research capacities among lo- tion. In November 2003, the Kosovo Action cal staff. KACI has taken a leading role in Network (KAN) launched a petition cam- the area of education. In 2002 the Kosovan paign called “We Are All Missing Them”, Research and Documentation Institute which called upon power brokers to resolve (KODI) took the initiative to document the fates of people missing from the con- and archive evidence of war crimes in Ko- flict. The campaign gathered 230,000 signa- sovo, and later opened a public dialogue tures.41 on the applicability of transitional justice in the Balkans. In recent years it has ex- Civil society was put to a serious test when plored local governance reforms with mu- the riots of March 2004 plunged Kosovo into nicipalities across Kosovo. The Kosovan wide-spread unrest. A number of organiza- Institute for Public Research and Devel- tions rebuked UNMIK for its cumbersome opment (KIPRED) continues to provide handling of the peace process. The Associa- policy briefs on current political topics as tion of War Invalids and the Students’ Union well as to conduct training courses. Think issued stark anti-UNMIK statements. On the tanks have established a working rela- other hand, civil society became the subject tionship with the government and other of harsh criticism by some international or- institutions, enabling the latter to benefit ganizations. The International Crisis Group greatly from their expertise. The interac- accused NGO representatives of being too tion between civil society and government hesitant in condemning the assailants and still has a long way to go, however, in the of aligning themselves behind ethnic lines. intensification and professionalism of their Old grievances had made them “slow to ac- working relationship.44 knowledge the horror of what the ‘protests’ had quickly turned into”, the International 2.4 Conclusion Crisis Group said.42 However, in an immediate response to the riots, 57 Kosovan NGOs Civil society in Kosovo witnessed a drastic convened an emergency meeting to set up change in its role after 1999. In the 1990s, a forum of NGOs and issue a statement the underlying issue was civil resistance, condemning violence and calling for peace. bordering sometimes on social movements, In their Joint Declaration of Kosovan Civil with the capacity to galvanize grassroots Society on 19 March 2004, the participant support in massive numbers. It often coex- NGOs agreed to act as a forum for conflict isted in solidarity with the parallel struc- prevention for potential future crises.43 tures and was mostly divided along ethnic lines. It was largely born out of the neces- On a more positive note, the development sity for resistance and was authentic in of a think tank component to Kosovo civil character.

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In 1999, with the ushering in of the “NGO term funding from foreign donors. Most are boom” era, it seemed necessary that the role small and lead a haphazard existence. They of civil society should change. There has often go into a lull or reawaken depending been a development away from civil resist- on whether a foreign donation is forthcom- ance, with fewer protest-like expressions ing. It is also the European Commission’s as- of dissent and dissatisfaction.45 Instead, the sessment that “overall, civil society remains civil society agenda quickly became domi- weak”, whilst the government “does not nated by programmes on institution-build- have a strategic approach for its interaction ing, reconciliation and reconstruction, hu- with civil society organizations”.48 man rights and good governance. Other studies have identified shortcomings There is an argument to be made that civil so- that can be detrimental to civil society de- ciety is currently faced with another change velopment. The public continues to have a in direction, following the declaration of in- low level of acceptance of NGO work, large- dependence in Kosovo on 17 February 2008. ly because of misconceptions about their This is because civil society is expected and reason for being. Further, the expected in- encouraged to take a more proactive role in crease in responsibilities of the government furthering projects that are deemed impor- after independence has had an effect on the tant by donor organizations. There are capac- performance expectations faced by civil ity-building grants made readily available to society,49 which is largely ill equipped to ab- ministries and NGOs by international donors, sorb additional responsibilities. standing ready to support local institutions that have the desired expertise and experience. Civil society has come a long way since However, it has been argued that civil society 1999. It is no longer focused on civil resist- is suffering from a lack of capacity to absorb ance and is much less ethnically segregated. grants and implement projects successfully.46 In the new political landscape, the NGO This problem seems to be a protracted one. agenda has shifted to promotion of human rights, inter-ethnic dialogue and democrati- In Kosovo 2008 Progress Report, the Euro- zation. However, crises such as the one not- pean Commission paints a bleak picture of ed above have shown that they need further civil society and its ability to sustain itself.47 consolidation of their overriding principles. Although there are more than 4,600 civil Their proactive role in reaching across eth- society organizations currently registered nic lines, as well as their authentic grass-root with the Ministry of Public Services, most initiatives, have helped create a formula for of them remain overly dependent on short- their continued development.

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This chapter drew on interviews with the follow- • Luan Shllaku, Kosovo Foundation for ing people: Open Society, Pristina, 17 October 2008. • Ibrahim Makolli, formerly of KMDLNJ, • Naim Rashiti, International Crisis Group, Pristina, 10 November 2008. Pristina, 29 October 2008. • Igballe Rogova, Kosovo Women’s Net- • Zef Shala, Mother Teresa Association, work, Pristina, 31 October 2008. Pristina, 30 October 2008.

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 43 The Legal Environment for Civil Society in Kosovo 3. Hasnije Ilazi The Legal Environment 3. for Civil Society in Kosovo Hasnije Ilazi

3.1 Legal status of the gal status for the NGO sector. The UNMIK’s non-governmental NGO Registration and Coordination Unit sector in Kosovo was established as an implementing mechanism for this regulation. The development of the civil sector in Kosovo in the period since the conflict of 1999 has not Two years later, in September 2001, UNMIK moved ahead in parallel with the develop- issued Regulation No 2001/19 on the Execu- ment of the country’s institutions. Although tive Branch of the Provisional Institutions of 1999 may appear to be the point at which Self Government, which presented the legal both government institutions and civil socie- basis for the establishing and functioning ty organizations started from zero, a number of the country’s governmental institutions. of non-governmental organizations and asso- As per this regulation, the Ministry of Pub- ciations, local and international, were already lic Services was responsible to “assist in the active before and during the conflict. administration of policies related to civil documents, vehicle registration and NGO 50 After the NATO forces entered Kosovo, fol- registration”. lowed by the UNMIK establishment and international donors, a huge expansion of In July 2004, the Ministry of Public Services non-governmental organizations occurred enacted Administrative Instruction MPS in almost every area of social life. In some 2004/6, which established the NGO Division areas the non-governmental organizations within the Department of Registration Servic- even took the role of substitutes for missing es. Upon its enactment, the responsibility for institutions. Civil society organizations dur- NGO registration, monitoring and coordina- ing this time developed much faster than tion was handed over to national institutions. government institutions, although not all of In March 2006, aiming to allot increased insti- them at an equal pace. tutional capacities for provision of services to NGOs, the NGO Division was elevated to the Until November 1999, civil society organi- Department for NGO Registration and Liai- zations operated in a legal vacuum, which son (Decision 01/97, MPS). presented considerable obstacles to their development. On 15 November 1999, UNMIK The Department for NGO Registration and Li- issued Regulation 9/22 on Registration and aison is responsible for registering civil society Operation of the Non-Governmental Organi- organizations, and it maintains a register of sations in Kosovo, which was the first step more than 4,600 NGOs, both local and interna- towards setting up an institutional and le- tional. The department monitors 280 civil so-

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ciety organizations that have public benefici- the Law on Freedom of Association in Non- ary status and are entitled to financial support Governmental Organizations. Building on from the Kosovo consolidated budget. the foundation of Regulation 99/22, the law was drafted with the participation of over 200 Freedom of association is guaranteed in the June non-governmental organizations, all of Kos- 2008 Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. ovo’s political parties, and all communities living in Kosovo. On 23 February 2005, the Box 3.1 Freedom of association Assembly of Kosovo approved the law with The freedom of association is guaranteed. The some changes. However, the law was never freedom of association includes the right of every- promulgated by UNMIK, so it never entered one to establish an organization without obtaining into force and Regulation 99/22 continued to any permission, to be or not to be a member of any be the binding legal document for NGOs. organization and to participate in the activities of an organization. After Kosovo’s declaration of independence, — Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, Section 44 this law and a long queue of other laws that had been approved by the Assembly of Ko- The regulation of the NGO sector after the sovo but not promulgated by UNMIK were conflict of 1999, Regulation 99/22 had the “pur- returned to the parliament for additional re- pose of regulating non-governmental organi- view by the respective parliamentary com- zations in Kosovo”51 and creating a favourable missions. As this document went to press, the environment for the development of NGOs Law on Freedom of Association was still un- and civil society in general. It set the rules for dergoing review by the Parliamentary Com- registration of local and international non-gov- mission for Public Services, Local Adminis- ernmental organizations, their status, internal tration and Media. governing principles and dissolution procedures. At the time this regulation was drafted, The law has as its purpose to “create a legal it was considered one of the best NGO legal environment which strengthens and devel- frameworks in the region, because it provided ops civil society and which implements the for fast registration of non-governmental or- right to freedom of association”.52 It includes ganizations and it helped to prevent undue in- conditions and procedures for NGO regis- fluence by the state in the civil society sector. tration, obliges the appropriate institutions to create an NGO register, and regulates the As the situation evolved, mainly due to the internal governance, status and financial re- shift of the Kosovan society from the so- porting requirements of NGOs. called “emergency situation” towards an established institutional environment, the need The law’s return to parliament for review emerged to amend the legislation to reflect has created an opportunity for civil society the new reality. During 2004, PISG drafted to make new comments and suggestions. In

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a letter sent to parliament, representatives of for the new environment and does not meet over 100 NGOs gathered around Platform the requirements of civil society. Consider- CiviKos raised their concerns on the law. ing there are currently over 4,600 civil society There are ongoing debates on issues such as organizations registered by the Ministry of completing the legal framework with addi- Public Services, this presents serious prob- tional laws that ensure better functioning of lems not only to the functioning of civil so- the civil society sector. ciety organizations but also to the functioning of government institutions in relation to Box 3.2 CiviKos on the Law of the NGO sector. In addition to the Law on Freedom of Association Freedom of Association in NGOs, there is These statements set out CiviKos’s proposals for the an urgent need to enact or amend laws that Law on Freedom of Association in NGOs. regulate specific issues relevant to the NGO Every person in Kosovo enjoys the right to associate with sector, such as voluntarism, donations, and an NGO. especially taxation. Every person, regardless of race, belief, nationality, gender, etc., has the right to register NGO in compliance The outdated, unclear and incomplete legal with the conditions set forth in this law. No person shall framework continues to present a serious ob- need to register NGO in order to be able to use the right stacle to the functioning of NGOs. It has led to associate. to an ambiguous situations and erratic inter- No person shall be obliged to associate against his/her pretations that have hurt NGO activities in will and no person will be discriminated in any way due Kosovo. For example, NGOs granted public to his/her decision to associate or not to associate. beneficiary (PB or PBO) status by the Minis- — Platforma CiviKos, Open Letter to the Members of try of Public Services were later required to the Kosovo Parliament, 15 September 2008 pay taxes by the Ministry of Finance and the Tax Administration.54 3.2 Lacking legislation for NGO sector At the operational level, the issue of NGO financing and donations is probably the main Despite the fact that freedom of association is problem that needs to be addressed through guaranteed in the Constitution, the lack of leg- legislation. At present, NGOs in Kosovo have islation supporting this right is evident. This two options for funding: self-financing (“in- fact has been noted in the European Commis- come generated from any lawful activities sion’s Progress Report for Kosovo 2008.53 undertaken by the NGO with its property and resources”55) and donations (“cash, se- The Law on Freedom of Association in curities, and in-kind contributions; bequests; NGOs, as discussed above, has not yet been membership fees; gifts; grants; real or - per approved by the parliament of Kosovo, and sonal property”56); the latter are not defined the existing legal framework is inadequate precisely by the law.

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The Regulation on Registration and Opera- Customs, requiring the recipient organization of NGOs permits all NGOs to engage in tions to pay the same taxes that would be ap- lawful economic activities to fund their not- plicable to regular imports.60 The regulation for-profit activities, as long as the profits are is outdated in view of UNMIK’s diminishing used to support legitimate NGO objectives role. It is also very restrictive and even dis- and are not distributed to the benefit of the criminatory to NGOs in that exemptions of directors or other NGO officials. Still, almost donations from VAT do not fit NGOs as this regularly, organizations are asked to provide is reserved in most part to only UNMIK and their tax registration certificates (Value Add- to government institutions: ed Tax - VAT certificates) or, at a minimum, their tax completion certificates, before they can become eligible to provide services to the Imports, intra-FRY inflows government and to public enterprises. or supplies funded from the proceeds of grants made to Under current tax law, up to 5 percent of a cor- UNMIK or through UNMIK poration’s taxable profit may be allowed57 as for Ministries and Departments expenses and it may be donated for “human- (Provisional Institutions of Self- itarian, health, education, religious, scien- Government) and Directorates tific, cultural, environmental protection, and of the Interim Administration sports purposes”58. There are no tax benefits by governments, government for donations by individuals. Donations to agencies, governmental or non- an NGO are considered to be income subject governmental organizations in to taxation. The problem with the regulation support of humanitarian and lies in its inconsistent interpretation by the reconstruction programs and Tax Administration of Kosovo (TAK), which projects in Kosovo;61 usually errs on the side of over-taxation. There have even been situations when gov- The latest Administrative Instruction on Tax ernment institutions that received donations Treatment of the NGOs with Public Benefi- were asked to treat the donations as income ciary Status, issued on 14 July 2007 by the and implement regular tax rates and proce- TAK, unfortunately only continues, and may dures.59 Clarification of the issue of financing even worsen, the unclear and arbitrary inter- is essential to the functioning of NGOs. pretation of the laws on which it is supposed to be based. In it, among other things, TAK In practice, it can be extremely difficult for gives itself the right as being “…entitled to an NGO to receive donations, especially perform audit and establishes that an NGO is non-cash donations, from organizations or working in accordance with its public benefit businesses outside the country. Donations status”62, although TAK is not the institution in goods have been stopped at the border by that granted that status in the first place and

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has no authorization to perform such controls Here, the instruction clearly contradicts itself on behalf of the institution that does grant and reveals that TAK has no right to dismiss it—namely, the Ministry of Public Services. the PBO status which can be granted or not only by the NGO Registration Office, an en- The following paragraph uses particularly in- tirely different institution. Nevertheless, the teresting wording: “It is a possibility that any TAK decision will affect the NGO status im- NGO that has certain amount of profit has not mediately, regardless of the appeal procedure operated in accordance with its public benefit that the NGO may undertake. status.(TAK believes that an NGO has the right to have certain amount of profit if that profit has Registration can also be a problem. There are been used for other purpose, and has not been used only two types of entities that can be regis- for the benefit of the Director or NGO officials or tered in Kosovo, NGOs and businesses, and for the purpose of having very high63 salaries by experience has shown the need for additional the officials or NGO employees.)”64. Defining the sub-types. For example, there is no option of threshold for “certain amount of profit” and registering a private non-profit organization, “very high salaries” is left to the discretion of an issue which has become apparent with the the individual TAK inspector. The document proliferation of private educational institu- further states: tions. These organizations would fit very well within the private non-profit status.66 But they can not register as such, because there If TAK establishes that an NGO is no provision in either the business or NGO is not operating in accordance legal framework for this type of organization. with its Public Benefit Status, Hence, in most cases, they end up registering then TAK will issue a notice to as a business, or sometimes, as in the case of the NGO in effect, informing IPKO [“Internet Project Kosova”]67, even as her that will be subject to tax on both business and NGO. the profit, from the date when the notice has been issued. TAK There is also no provision for voluntarism in will send a copy of this notice to the laws of Kosovo. Under current law, a vol- the NGO Registration Office. unteer or an intern must be issued an employ- Through this notice the NGO ment contract, subject to the discretion of vari- can also be informed for the right ous labour and tax inspections, or the organi- to appeal against such decision zation could become subject to heavy fines. at the NGO registration Office, where then the decision can be The clarification of its legal status is highly reviewed and confirmed whether important to the NGO sector. The current the status will be still continued ambiguities hinder NGO functioning at eve- or will be revoked.65 ry stage.

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3.3 Monitoring of NGO sector 3.4 Citizens’ perceptions of NGO sector The legal framework does not provide institutions with the instruments to monitor and Public opinion in Kosovo is not sufficiently evaluate the functioning of the NGOs, particu- informed on the existing legal basis for non- larly those striving for or already enjoying the governmental organizations. Research con- public beneficiary status. Only NGOs with PB ducted during October 2008 shows that 38 status are required to submit yearly reports to percent of respondents do not have knowl- the Department for NGO Registration and Li- edge of the legal basis for the NGO sector, aison. Other NGOs are not required to be au- while 50 percent do not know whether cur- dited or submit financial reports. The law does rent legislation meets NGOs’ needs. not clearly specify either the right of the state to monitor the work of all NGOs or the proce- A large number of the respondents to the dures that any monitoring should follow68—for survey (40.5 percent) said they do not be- example, whether there should be advance no- lieve that Kosovo has all the legislation it tice of any inspections and what the reporting needs in the civil society area. When asked requirements should be. The lack of legal clar- why, 33.5 percent blamed a lack of political ity creates a risk that, if officials at an agency will, small interest groups and individual such as the Tax Administration interpret the interests (28.1 percent) and obstacles from law loosely enough, an NGO could be accused UNMIK and international organizations of violating the law. In addition to protecting (15.5 percent). A smaller percentage (10.4 NGOs, effective regulation must also ensure the percent) said that lack of determination from right of the state to monitor the work of NGOs civil society itself is one of the factors. There to prevent financial mismanagement, money were considerable differences in responses laundering and other activities that could harm along ethnic lines. While the majority of K- the public interest. Monitoring and evaluation Albanians and non-Serb minorities saw lack of NGOs could also help the government iden- of political will as the main reason for the tify appropriate partners to help it offer public lack of legislation, K-Serb citizens saw per- services and implement policies. sonal interests and special interest groups as the main reason. Box 3.3 How active are NGOs? Civil Society in Kosovo lacks administration. Associa- Most of the respondents (88 percent), regard- tions, sports organizations, unions, all get registered as NGOs. Although they are high in number, most of less of ethnicity, agreed that NGOs should the NGOs are not active. They have registered in times be regulated by law. where donations were distributed and some of them are closed, sometimes without fulfilling obligations. More than half of the respondents (53.5 per- participant at the Kosovo Human Development Re- cent) said they did not know if there was port 2008 focus group meeting cooperation between the central govern-

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ment and civil society, while 28.8 percent Table 3.1 What role should civil said that cooperation exists. In relation to society organizations have local government, a greater number (46.3 in relation to the state? percent) said they did not know the level of N Percent Percent cooperation with civil society; 29.4 percent of Cases said that there was no cooperation, and 24.3 Serve as 415 20.1 33.2 watchdog percent said that there was cooperation. Un- Provide 465 22.5 37.2 like respondents from the K-Albanian ma- services that jority, those from the K-Serb minority said government cannot provide that civil society has better cooperation with local government than with the central gov- Monitor 312 15.1 24.9 government ernment. This result is not surprising given performance that the K-Serb community cooperates, in Conduct needs 211 10.2 16.9 general, at the municipal level more than assessments with the central government. However, the Serve as a 169 8.2 13.5 position of respondents from the K-Albani- communications medium an majority is a bit of a surprise, since it is between citizens considered that local government should be and state closer to the citizens and have cooperation Be an 252 12.2 20.1 implementing with them and with local partners from civil partner with society. government Don’t know/no 245 11.8 19.6 When it comes to the role of civil society in answer relation to the government and government Total 2,069 100.0 165.4 institutions, opinions are split: 22.5 percent think that civil society should offer services Citizens’ views on the relation between the which the government does not have capac- state and the civil society can be found in ity to provide, 20.1 percent regard the role of their responses to the question: To whom do civil society as serving as a watchdog, 15.1 NGOs report on their financial and develop- percent see civil society as a monitor of the ment activities? Here, 47 percent of respond- government’s performance. In fourth place ents said that NGOs report to the donors, 17.8 with 12.2 percent is the opinion that civil percent said that reports go to the appropri- society should be a partner in implement- ate institutions, while 10.4 percent said that ing government policies, while 10.2 percent international organizations get the reports. consider that civil society should conduct Only 4.9 percent said that NGOs report to the research and evaluation on government government, and 4.7 percent said they report needs. to the citizens.

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The responses differed among the differ- that NGOs should report primarily to citizens ent community groups. All agreed that in and donors, non-Serb minority respondents the first place NGOs report to the donors. In said that reports should go to the government second place, according to respondents from institutions: to the government (65.7 percent) the Albanian majority and non-Serb minori- and to the parliament (52.8 percent). ties, came the institutions, while respondents from the K-Serb minority put citizens and the The research makes clear that there is a lack government in second place. of information among the citizens of Kosovo on the role of civil society, the laws that regu- On the question of to whom NGOs should late it and its relation with government in- report, answers differed from the answers stitutions. Despite this, citizens share a com- about the actual situation. The highest per- mon opinion that the relationship between centage (22.7 percent) said that NGOs should government institutions and civil society and report to citizens; 21.3 percent said to donors the responsibilities of each should be clarified and 20.5 percent said to government. While by law and that the cooperation between the K-Albanian and K-Serb respondents agreed two should be at a much higher level.

Table 3.2 To whom should NGOs report on their activities? K-Albanian K-Serb Other Total

Donors Number 429 46 104 579

% within ethnicity 49.4% 22.5% 58.4%

Respective institutions Number 291 11 23 325

% within ethnicity 33.5% 5.4% 12.9%

International organizations Number 144 18 14 176

% within ethnicity 16.6% 8.8% 7.9%

Citizens Number 478 87 50 615

% within ethnicity 55.0% 42.6% 28.1%

Government Number 407 31 117 555

% within ethnicity 46.8% 15.2% 65.7%

Parliament Number 226 94 320

% within ethnicity 26.0% .0% 52.8%

None Number 1 1

% within ethnicity .0% .0% .6%

Don’t know/no answer Number 106 11 25 142

% within ethnicity 12.2% 5.4% 14.0%

Total Number 869 204 178 1251

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3.5 Partnerships was a step forward in building a long-term partnership based on clear responsibilities Despite the development of the civil society and obligations between the government in- sector and the clear progress in the develop- stitutions and civil society organizations. The ment and functioning of the state’s democratic purpose of the memorandum was “to estab- institutions since 1999, cooperation between lish a framework for cooperation between the the government and civil society organiza- Government of Kosovo and the civil society tions is insufficient. During the last years a organizations which will result in building more positive approach by government in- the Government of Kosovo’s strategy for co- 70 stitutions towards the civil society organiza- operation with civil society organizations”. tions has been noted, but the cooperation has The coalition of non-governmental organiza- been fragmented and erratic. tions CiviKos has offered also the Platform for partnership between the government and The focus of the institutions was mainly on civil society, but neither the Platform nor the including civil society from time to time in Memorandum has found a practical imple- drafting or debating public policies. But this mentation yet. has been done more on individual basis, engaging people from civil society as subject Unlike in the countries with developed de- matter experts, rather than at the organi- mocracies where government institutions zational level. Civil society representatives work in partnership with both civil society have also been included in decision-making and the private sector in areas such as draft- through their inclusion on the boards of gov- ing and implementing public policies, offer- ernment agencies and public enterprises. ing public services to the citizens, and assisting with social and economic problems, in In most cases, cooperation between the insti- Kosovo this potential has yet to start being tutions and civil society has occurred in spe- fulfilled. cific sectors, with individual ministries and agencies, mainly because they were behind Non-governmental organizations in Kosovo in offering and contracting services. The Eu- are still considered the opposition, as if their ropean Commission’s Progress Report for Kos- activities were focused almost exclusively on ovo 2008 stated: “Government does not have a monitoring the work of government institu- strategic approach for cooperation with civil tions and pointing out and correcting their society organizations”,69 and this reflects the mistakes. essence of the problem. In order to establish basic conditions for a Signing of the Memorandum of Understand- meaningful partnership between the state ing between the Government of Kosovo and and civil society, political representatives the Platforma CiviKos in November 2007 need to understand that public policymaking

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and implementation are not exclusive rights Box 3.4 Support for NGOs from and responsibilities of government institu- the government tions. Although there is no established mechanism for the government to provide sustainable financ- Active and coordinated engagement of the ing to NGOs, there have been several initiatives civil society should emphasise: by individual ministries to finance NGOs. The Department of Youth of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, jointly with some donors, each • The important role of civil society in draft- year has supported around 30 youth centres ing, revising and implementing public poli- and around 150 NGOs that work with youth. For cies, which are important and could impact 2008, 92 percent of the Department’s budget is the everyday lives of the citizens and other planned for financing civil society and is being groups affected directly by those policies spent through NGOs to implement projects in • Capacity to offer professional services compliance with youth development policies. • Readiness for meaningful partnership in Author’s interview with Mr. Fatmir Hoxha, Director of the process of achieving important objec- the Department of Youth (DoY), 2008 tives for overall progress 3.6 Conclusions This requires increasing the capacity and professionalism of the civil society organiza- Meaningful cooperation between the govern- tions, but also a higher cooperation between ment and civil society starts with defining the organizations in the civil sector itself. the rights and responsibilities of each sector The respective institutions, on the other hand, through a legal framework that formalises should create conditions for a meaningful the cooperation. The following actions are partnership, which include: proposed:

• Enacting and implementing the related • Government institutions should create a legislation legislative framework that ensures a fa- • Giving higher financial support to NGOs, vourable environment for the functioning offering tax incentives and dedicating a set of civil society organizations. percentage of the government’s budget for • Civil society should insist on drafting leg- the civil sector islation that will enable it to participate in • Higher participation of NGOs in decision- formulating and revising policies, monitor making government institutions, participate in de- • Initiating the offering of public services cision-making, offer services, and ensure through the civil society sector sustainable funding for the functioning of civil society organizations.

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Meaningful cooperation between the two Long-term and sustainable cooperation be- sectors is based on “recognition of shared tween the state and civil society must be car- values, acceptance of shared responsibili- ried out with a strategic approach for coop- ties for respective issues and in sharing each eration. The following actions are proposed: other’s financial and human resources”.71 The following actions are proposed: • Government institutions should implement commitments undertaken in the Memo- • Government institutions should review randum of Understanding signed with civil their role as the exclusive provider of society organizations (Platforma CiviKos public services and identify activities that 2007), which includes drafting a strategy could be performed by the civil society for cooperation. sector and by the private sector. • Civil society organizations should work • Civil society organizations should work to more to inform the public about civil soci- build their capacity and professionalism. ety and to improve cooperation within civil society organizations themselves.

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 55 Civil Society and Public Policy 4. Shpend Ahmeti Civil Society 4. and Public Policy Shpend Ahmeti

Public policy is one of the youngest sciences icy “everything that a government chooses to in the world. Think tanks—civil society or- do or not to do”.73 Everything that a govern- ganizations whose goal is to influence pub- ment does affects the lives of citizens living lic policy—are one of the youngest types of in that country. It is very important that the non- governmental organizations. Yet the citizens have a say in the choices that govern- number of think tanks around the world, ments make. It is not enough that citizens do from autocratic countries to the most demo- this by voting in elections. It is very important cratic ones, has increased exponentially, and that their voices are heard throughout the their influence on the public policy process process of interrelated decisions that Jenkins has been astonishing. This chapter examines talks about. Civil society has the responsibil- the influence of civil society on public policy, ity to be the voice of citizens who sometimes opportunities in Kosovo to achieve that influ- cannot be heard in this process. ence, and the effects that this could have on the process in Kosovo. This chapter looks at the public policy process in theory, its different stages and how 4.1 Public policy civil society can be active in the process, but it will also look at how that theory applies in Several definitions of public policy are used practice in the case of Kosovo. in textbooks. One of the most comprehensive definitions was given by William Jenkins, There are many examples of civil society in- who said that public policy is a “set of inter- fluencing public policy around the world. In related decisions taken by a political actor or the United States, there are daily examples in a group of actors concerning the selection of the press of different representatives raising goals and the means of achieving them with- their voices to persuade the government to in a specified situation where those decisions tackle a particular issue and influence how should, in principle, be within the power of the government will solve it. Some civil soci- those actors to achieve”.72 This definition sees ety organizations are so close to governments public policy as a process that has different and political parties that the latter rely on stages and involves a lot of decisions. The them for ideological support. other important aspect of the definition is its reference to political actors, who are not al- This influence is not present only in demo- ways the government. cratic countries. Many of the reforms in transition countries of Central and Eastern In a simpler definition and possibly the first Europe were initiated by civil society organi- one ever given, Thomas Dye called public pol- zations. There are hundreds of stories of suc-

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cessful civil society organizations as promot- United Nations Security Council Resolution ers of change in these countries.74 1244, which effectively put Kosovo under the governance of the United Nations Mission 4.2 Civil society in Kosovo. Kosovo also had the Provisional and public policy Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), local leaders who were elected in central and mu- Before 1999 nicipal elections.

Kosovo is not an island, and the role of civil This made the process of policymaking a dif- society has been crucial throughout recent ficult one in which there was no clear place history. We do not need to go back long in for civil society. The Special Representative history to look at the importance of the Moth- of the Secretary General was responsible for er Teresa Association. Founded in 1990 in re- enacting legislation, but could also agree on sponse to the difficult political situation, in initiatives taken by PISG. For many of the big less than five years this organization had a problems, PISG would pass on the respon- network of more than 7,000 activists working sibility to the United Nations, and UNMIK in more than 40 branches all around Kosovo, would also look towards Kosovo leaders making sure that assistance was delivered to when civil society was looking for answers. the poor. Even in though in small numbers, public pol- The nature of civil society in the period prior icy was being influenced at different stages. to the conflict was more one of emergency The Law on the Access to Documents, food aid delivery and survival. Influencing public inspection regulations at the local level, and policy was not a priority for the small number elections legislation were among the areas of civil society organizations that were ac- where civil society was key in pushing for tive in that period. Communicating with the change in public policy. government was not an option, and working with the media was not an option, since the However, there are a lot of things to wish for independent media were not allowed to op- in the future. Many of the issues that civil erate. society was pushing for were donor driven, because financing in large amounts came After 1999 from donors. Sometimes the most difficult, unpopular issues were not tackled at all as After the end of the conflict in Kosovo, more a result of financing problems. Mechanisms than 4,000 organizations registered as non- to work and influence the government were governmental organizations. However, the not in place. Civil society was fragmented, governing structure was different from the and coalitions were rarely built around is- rest of the world. Kosovo was governed under sues.

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With the ratification of the Kosovo constitu- in society while others are dropped. This is tion, there is now a clear role for civil soci- where, in the case of Kosovo, we decided to ety, and the policy process is becoming stabi- discuss pensions for the elderly and drop the lized. With that comes new responsibility for discussion of the rights of stray dogs in the Kosovo organizations—to speak for citizens cities. who cannot be heard, to offer solutions and not just criticize, and to educate the Kosovo In the early stages of the policy cycle, there public about policy problems and potential are formal and informal mechanisms for get- solutions. There are different models around ting issues onto the agenda. There have been the world as to how this could be done. This several studies of these mechanisms, and is a learning process for everyone, and if Ko- there are no definitive answers, just ideas. sovo is to become a democratic country with Obviously, issues get on the agenda if they the goal of prosperity and development for are discussed by the key actors in a society. all, everyone has to play a role. Sometimes, the media is instrumental in focusing attention on an issue and getting it on 4.3 The public policy cycle the agenda. Sometimes, politicians initiate a policy process, sometimes special interest The public policy process in theory follows groups, and sometimes it is the experts who a rational model. There are different models, start talking about a certain issue. but most are based on a rational form of creative problem solving: we identify the prob- In the more developed countries, these mech- lem, consider all possible options, choose a anisms are more developed, and usually solution, implement it, and then evaluate the there is a clear set of options for influencing results. Although politics influence policy at what gets to be discussed. In less developed every stage, most experts agree there are five stages in every policy process: Figure 4.1 How issues are discussed in Kosovo

Media 1. agenda setting 2. policy formulation Politicians and Academia 3. decision-making Political Parts 4. policy implementation

5. policy evaluation Agenda Setting - Important Issues in the Society Agenda setting

International Civil Society Agenda setting is where every policy starts. Actors This is the stage at which some issues are Interest Groups chosen for discussion by the different actors

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countries such as Kosovo, the mechanisms This pattern is described in convergence the- are much more informal and have developed ory.75 Civil society organizations in Kosovo, in an ad-hoc maner. looking at countries at a similar stage of development, should be able to predict what Civil society organizations seeking to un- issues will come along and prepare better to derstand how issues can be placed on the influence public policy. agenda and what issues will arise can draw on several theories. Issue-attention cycle

Convergence theory Other experts believe that every issue gets on the agenda because attention created by the Obviously, Kosovo cannot be that different media and other actors in a society compels from other countries at the same stage of de- the government to react.76 This is particularly velopment and transition. That is why, very true in the case of Kosovo, where, in a young often, Kosovo looks at neighbouring countries society, politicians from all parties are reactive for options for policy discussions. There are to public opinion. This is why the media has numerous cases in which Kosovo society has enormous power to push issues up and down relied on insights from the former Yugoslavia on the agenda—and why NGOs and think and Albania, because of the widespread be- tanks sometimes direct their work towards lief that these countries are passing through the media, hoping the publicity will create the same stage of transition. This also influ- the demand for policy solutions in which the ences policy choices at this very early stage NGOs could play a greater role. Without the of the cycle. media, NGOs in developing countries would have a difficult time influencing policy. For example, an issue will often get on the agenda if it is being discussed in a neighbour- In the United States, the success of a think ing country. In every country transitioning tank is measured by the number of times its from communism, a common set of issues has work is cited in newspapers compared to the been discussed in a very similar fashion in al- size of its budget. NGOs’ influence is meas- most the same chronological order. Those is- ured by how much they influence the media. sues include privatization, representation, access to public documents, pensions, opening Ideological alliances of communist-era files and, especially in the Balkan countries, war veterans’ benefits. These In many developed countries, NGOs in the are all issues that are inevitably found on the area of public policy, especially think tanks, public agenda regardless of the country’s civil are closely linked to certain political par- society and politicians, since in a normal tran- ties, or more importantly to ideologies; think sition process, the public demands it. tanks may be left wing, conservative, or lib-

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eral. Such think tanks in countries such as the the government to include the issue on the United States, United Kingdom, Germany agenda. and other European Union (EU) countries are also numerous. In inside initiation, interest groups with special access to government promote an issue, When a political party that shares the same but they are not very keen to put it up for ideology is in power, think tanks use their public discussion. direct links with the party to influence the government’s choices of issues to address. The case of Kosovo Following the recent elections in the United States, many left-wing think tanks are either Applying these theories to events in Kosovo, working with the new administration to de- we can draw the following conclusions. fine the agenda or making sure that they are prepared for the agenda to come. On the oth- Civil society is only one of the actors that can er hand, more conservative think tanks are influence the choice of topics to be discussed getting ready to work more with the media in a society. In Kosovo, the media have been and with public opinion to make sure that very influential in the agenda-setting stage of the issues that they believe are important are the policy process. This is because the politi- not forgotten by the new administration. cians care a lot about their public image, and media in Kosovo have a strong influence on Mobilization, outside initiation the public. As a result, big headlines about an and inside initiation issue in newspapers and in the electronic media are usually a sign that the politicians will Another model77 categorizes the three ways address it. that issues can get on the agenda as mobilization, outside initiation and inside initiation. Because of the specific situation that Kosovo In totalitarian and undemocratic regimes, is- has been in since 1999, international actors sues are put on the agenda through mobili- have also played a big role in agenda set- zation, which is when the government puts ting, usually being the key decision makers an issue on the agenda, without any public on specific legislation. Academia has usually discussion or demand, and tries to promote not been very active, unlike in more devel- the issue and convince the people that it is oped countries; and special interest groups important. have usually been grouped around business interests. Outside initiation is when a group outside the government structure articulates an is- If civil society is donor driven, then agenda- sue, attempts to promote it to other parts of setting also becomes donor driven. However, the population and then creates pressure on civil society in Kosovo has developed over

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the years, and in recent history, many grass- Obviously, many of Kosovo’s issues are also roots civil society organizations have become regional issues. Most of the countries in the instrumental in getting issues on the agenda. region have gone through the same stages and discussed the same policies. Civil society in Kosovo has successfully influenced the agenda in three ways: The role of the European integration process

1. Direct communication: A number of civil The goal of each country in the Balkans is society organizations have excellent con- European integration. Each country is in the tacts with the political parties and the integration process, although at a different government. They usually use these con- stage. This is probably the main determinant tacts to influence decision makers to give of policy issues in each country; based on the certain issues priority. This also opens convergence theory, Kosovo will likely face the the door for these organizations to offer same issues. solutions at a later stage. This has usually primarily involved the government; the This is important for civil society in Kosovo to Assembly has only recently taken on an understand. Unfortunately, the European inte- increased role. gration process in Kosovo is understood as a 2. Working through the media: Civil society purely technocratic and bureaucratic process organizations often organize events and in which requirements are linked only to the present publications to the media, who passage of legislation. Civil society can have can raise public awareness and influence public opinion, thus encouraging the gov- Figure 4.2

ernment to either pick up on the issue or defend its decision not to tackle it. Government 3. Working through international organizations: International NGOs, the offices of allied countries, and United Nations agencies have all influenced public policy in Kosovo. Due to the unique nature of Public Civil Society Opinion International Kosovo’s situation, their influence has Actors been even stronger in Kosovo than elsewhere. Civil society has sometimes found it easier to try to influence an international Media organization, which in turn will influence the government, than to go directly to the government.

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an important influence on the policy agenda in mal definition describes think tanks as “inde- Kosovo by foreseeing issues that need to be ad- pendent organizations engaged in multidisci- dressed, explaining them to the public and in- plinary research intended to influence public fluencing the government to make the needed policy”.78 changes. Think tanks usually spend a lot of time publi- Civil society has been instrumental in the Eu- cizing their reports. They differ from academia ropean integration process in all accession in that they need to target politicians and the countries—more recently, especially in Bulgar- media to achieve their impact, and as a result ia. The agenda-setting stage will be heavily in- have changed their approach somewhat. They fluenced by the European integration process usually produce short reports in the form of and as such it can be highly predictable. policy briefs and also spend a lot of time writing newspaper articles and opinion pieces in Policy formulation order to influence public policy.79

The second stage of the policy cycle is called During the policy formulation period, civil so- policy formulation. After the problem has been ciety organizations together with other parts acknowledged in public as important, the next of society such as academia, the media, and step is to discuss all the options for a solution. international organizations can propose policy In a politically developed society, potential so- solutions. This is also the stage where civil solutions will be discussed across the political ciety could play a key role in correcting misin- spectrum. formation given by politicians and testing the robustness of the government and opposition The range of policy instruments that the gov- claims. ernments can use to deal with a problem is extensive. The most obvious examples include In the last 20 years the number of think tanks taxes and subsidies, provision of services, reg- has increased significantly around the world, ulations, decentralization and centralization— from countries with one-party rule to democra- important debates in a country never end. cies. In many countries they are linked to po- Civil society can play a great role in suggesting litical parties or to certain ideologies. In most policy instruments that the government should developed countries, there are think tanks on use and commenting on proposals by experts. the right and left side of the political spectrum.

Think tanks play a great role in this stage of Think tanks have also been present in Kos- the policy cycle. The term “think tank” origi- ovo, and many civil society organizations have nally described a gathering of military strate- played the role of think tanks there. Recently, gists. Later, it was used for organizations that there have been many cases of active civil soci- suggested policies and strategies. A more for- ety participation in policy formulation.

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Box 4.1 On the agenda: publicly Deborah Stone, says that every government owned enterprises decision should have four goals in mind: Many policy issues are discussed extensively by civil society in Kosovo. For each, different organizations 1. Equality: Decisions are fair to everyone. have offered solutions. One interesting recent exam- 2. Efficiency: The highest output is achieved ple is the discussion of publicly owned enterprises in with the least input. Kosovo—especially Post and Telecommunications in 3. Liberty: The decision does not infringe on Kosovo (PTK) and Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK). people’s freedom. PTK has accumulated more than 200 million euros 4. Security: It provides for the minimum in profits. KEK has lost money and is taking subsidies 80 from the government in excess of 50 million euros needs of the society. per year. Recently, the government put the privatization of these two companies on the public agenda. Civil society, and especially research organi- The policy formulation stage has been very active. zations, can play a role in providing analyses The media have reported extensively on the issue, on which the government can base a deci- and civil society organizations have been very vocal. sion. Usually, they raises their voices if they In the case of PTK, civil society has questioned the believe that some of these goals are not pro- timing and the nature of privatization. tected. This is also a stage where civil society can play a great role in testing the robustness Decision-making of government decisions.

The decision-making stage is when govern- Policy implementation ment institutions choose a policy course. At this stage, the role of the other stakeholders Policy implementation is the fourth stage of besides the government decreases signifi- the policy cycle. It is one of the most impor- cantly, and civil society organizations choose tant stages, because without implementation a more direct way of influencing policymak- no policy has worth. Kosovo is full of exam- ing through communication with the govern- ples of best-practice legislation and policies ment. In developed countries, as mentioned that were never implemented because the is- before, think tanks are often linked directly sues they addressed were really never on the to political parties through which they can agenda. influence the government. Civil society organizations play a key role at Different government institutions have dif- this stage in providing services on behalf of ferent methods of reaching decisions. When the government. In the 1990s, for example, infrastructure is involved, the government the Mother Teresa Association distributed uses cost-benefit analyses. In other cases, food aid to families in need. The network qualitative analyses are used. One of the worked very well, with distribution points in most well-known authors on public policy, most areas around Kosovo, and Mother Ter-

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esa remained instrumental in delivering aid evaluating whether an implemented policy throughout the decade. has achieved its goal: administrative, judicial and political.81 Administrative evaluations— Many people would argue that Mother Ter- for example, audits—are done by govern- esa even today has much more capacity to ment agencies. In judicial evaluations, the deliver aid than any government agency. It is courts check the legality of policies. Political the case in many countries around the world evaluations are the arena in which civil soci- that governments choose civil society organi- ety can play a great role, with the media and zations to implement policies because of their non-governmental organizations supporting capacity to do so. or criticizing policies based on whether they have achieved their goals. During natural disasters, governments around the world assist relief efforts by fund- This stage is crucial, because it determines ing civil society organizations that have spe- whether the policy is continued, changed or cialized in this area. The United States has terminated, and civil society should be very channelled its assistance for hurricane relief active in it. In many cases, political parties efforts through the Red Cross because it has a give information to the public about the suc- higher capacity to deliver assistance than the cess or failure of government policies. Civil government. society organizations have a non-partisan role to play by objectively testing and report- The Community Development Fund is an ex- ing on policy outcomes. This can result in ample of a Kosovo NGO whose focus is implementing community projects, especially in Figure 4.3 How civil society can contribute infrastructure. They are well known for their to the public policy cycle cost-efficient projects, which are much less Agenda Setting In uence what gets expensive than those of international organi- discussed on the agenda zations and much more efficient that those of government agencies. There are numerous Policy Formulation Oer Policy cases where the Community Development Alternatives Fund was hired by the government to implement government policies in infrastructure Decision Making In uence decision Civil Society for the simple reason that they would do a making directly better job.

Policy Implementation Provide Services Policy evaluation

The final stage of the policy cycle is evalua- Policy Evaluation Evaluate policies to avoid tion. There are three different approaches to misinterpretation in the public

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more competitive policymaking and more the lives of every citizen. Civil society serves successful policies. as the voice of the citizens throughout the process. It can channel that voice, help formu- 4.4 Conclusion late opinions, and offer solutions. There are different ways for civil society to influence the Public policymaking is a very important proc- process, and its impact usually fosters compe- ess in every country, because decisions that are tition of ideas, which inevitably leads to better made during the process have an impact on policies and better lives for the citizens.

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT 66 Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 Civil Society and Public Policy

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 67 The Government’s Vision of Civil Society 5. Dardan Velija The Government’s 5. Vision of Civil Society Dardan Velija

This chapter analyzes the viewpoint of the be ready to play both roles, and the govern- government of Kosovo towards the devel- ment needs to be ready to assist. opment of civil society and recommends a clearer approach. Kosovo finds itself at an The government needs to have a clear vision important historical turning point. With the of how to foster citizen engagement in all declaration of independence, the Kosovo possible sectors, maintaining the autonomy government has acquired the power that was of CSOs but including them in carrying out once held by representatives of the United tasks and promoting a mature civil society. Nations. The perception of the people with The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness regard to the government has also changed: calls upon governments to take the lead in citizens now believe that the government is coordinating aid and involving civil society in charge and needs to run the country. The and the private sector. Enabling Kosovo CSOs development of civil society is key in build- to receive Kosovo funding for their activities ing a functioning society and increasing the will be a great step in this direction. Even a responsiveness of the government. good government attitude towards engaging with CSOs will be a helpful step. The government lacks a clear vision of civil society, although it superficially recognizes 5.1 Developing the its importance. This is due both to a lack of social economy an understanding of civil society’s role and a lack of capacity within the government it- Developing the social economy should be- self. While there is cooperation between the come a priority of the government. This is government and NGOs, it is sporadic and ad viewed as a key sector in Europe. There are hoc. around 10 million jobs in the social economy in the European Union and that membership The NGO sector boomed after the 1999 con- in social economy enterprises is much wider, flict. Seemingly endless needs arising from with estimates ranging as high as 150 mil- the damage caused by the conflict needed lion.82 to be met. That led to the establishment of thousands of NGOs. The situation now has While there are more than 4,000 registered changed, and civil society organizations NGOs in Kosovo and countless unregis- should adapt to take on more of a watchdog tered initiatives, the European Commission role. There is also much room for partnership Progress Report for 2008 states that the civil in addressing issues of concern for the new society sector remains weak in Kosovo. Still, country. Civil society organizations should compared to other countries in the region,

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 69 The Government’s Vision of Civil Society

Box 5.1 Elements of a national economy ment. CSOs feel uncertain about pressuring the government when not even the political The economy of a country is composed of the private opposition is doing so. sector, public sector, social economy, and, in developing countries, the informal economy. According to the Perceptions of Civil Society in NGOs in Kosovo enjoy a much easier terrain Kosovo Survey83, the role of CSOs in protect- to work in. The general perception is posi- ing the rights of the citizens from the govern- tive; NGOs are not viewed as agents of other ment is not considered satisfactory. Very few countries. There are numerous examples of people expressed the opinion that CSOs do NGO engagement in implementing projects much to defend the rights of the citizens; the with the government. This is evident at both largest group of respondents said that CSOs the central and local levels, where NGOs as- do very little to defend those rights. sist in various fields. Figure 5.1 Do CSOs protect the rights of NGOs as watchdogs the people from government?

A number of NGOs can be categorized as 40.0% watchdog organizations or pressure groups. 30.0% This is a very important sector of the civil so-

ciety that fosters better governance by pres- 20.0% suring the government. This sector needs to be developed further and needs to maintain 10.0% its autonomy from the government. .0% Very Much Little Very Not at DK / NA Prior to independence, civil society organiza- much little all tions have been relatively mild in their relations with the government, because they per- No administrative obstacles ceived it as the champion for the settlement of the final status of Kosovo. As long as that The government does not provide obstacles to status remained in limbo, it was believed that the development of the civil society sector. The too much dissent or pressure could damage registration process is very easy, and govern- prospects for development in Kosovo. Even ment control over NGO activities is minimal. earlier, the special relationship that the CSOs Currently NGOs are regulated by UNMIK had with the Kosovo government in exile Regulation 1999/22, which provides a very fa- during the 1990s created a culture of peaceful vourable framework for their functioning. relations between the two. Currently lacking a strong and vocal opposition, the CSO sector The government launched an initiative in has been quite passive towards the govern- 2005 to write a new law on NGOs that would

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replace the regulation. Representatives of Ko- elements of genuine cooperation. The gov- sovo NGOs and independent experts on the ernment and parliament often invite NGOs functioning of NGOs participated in draft- to participate in their working groups, giving ing the law. The law was passed with certain NGOs a platform to express their points of amendments that were fiercely opposed by view. NGOs also invite government officials NGOs. It was then blocked by the Special to participate in activities such as conferenc- Representative of the Secretary General and, es, and government officials often use those as of this writing, has still not been enacted. platforms to further their agendas. Even the president and prime minister of Kosovo have In several cases, NGOs representatives have regularly attended openings of civil society reported that they received threats after they conferences. published reports or organized activities that did not suit the government or other stake- The cooperation of the parliament with holders. On one occasion, the Ministry of NGOs has improved steadily in the past Public Services sent civil servants to check years, and now NGOs regularly participate the financial statements of the NGO Çohu! in the activities of the parliament. Still, repre- after the latter produced a report criticizing sentatives of civil society believe that there is the government. The NGO refused to give ac- much more room for cooperation. They have cess to the controllers. The governing parties recommend that the Assembly open an office have attacked NGOs for being related to op- at the parliament where citizens could come position parties. This has damaged the rela- to get answers to questions and to voice their tionship between the government and those concerns.84 The fact that members of parlia- organizations. ment do not have an office in the municipality they represent is also seen as a concern. A Institutionalizing cooperation best practice from other parliaments is opening a library on the premises for the public, The communication channels between the especially students. government and civil society remain weak. Much is dependent on individuals. If an in- There have also been limited attempts to insti- dividual in a government institution has had tutionalize cooperation between the govern- experience in the civil society sector, that ment and civil society organizations. In 2006, can help foster a positive approach towards the Advocacy Training and Resource Centre CSOs. attempted to organize a lobbying campaign with the government. The same year, a sepa- There are ad hoc meetings between the gov- rate initiative called CiviKos aimed to do the ernment and the NGOs. These happen on in- same by organizing the signing of a Memo- vitation by both sides, but usually the coop- randum of Understanding with the prime eration is superficial and pro forma and lacks minister. The memorandum was signed dur-

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 71 The Government’s Vision of Civil Society

ing a public conference in 2007, but very lit- for themselves. Civil society organizations tle has been done to implement it since the have been for many people a starting place change of the government. for entering politics.

NGOs’ image within the government NGOs have generally enjoyed a positive image in Kosovo, especially during the 1990s, While NGOs do not enjoy the best of imag- when they played a crucial role in provides, at least they are not perceived as exter- ing services. Organizations like the Mother nal agents, as is the case in other countries, Teresa Association and the Council for the such as the former Soviet republics, Serbia, Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms Macedonia, and the Middle East. The in- were unique world-wide in the services ternational community enjoys a relatively and activities they performed. “I used to positive image, which also puts NGOs sup- remark that if any new country wanted to ported by foreign donations in an advanta- learn about how to develop a ‘third sec- geous position. Nevertheless, the percep- tor’ in their country they should come to tion of civil society within the government Kosovo,”85 one civil society representative can sometimes be negative. NGOs are often said. It could be argued that in the nineties perceived as profiteering from foreign do- the whole of Kosovo society functioned as nations. Such perceptions damage the co- an NGO. operation between the two sides. The attitude changed completely after 1999. With several ministers, members of parlia- Participation by citizens in civil society ac- ment and political advisors coming from tivities dropped tremendously, and the per- the civil society sector, the relationship ception arose that the government should between the two sectors has greatly im- provide all necessary services. The survey proved. Numerous people have left civil showed that only 12.1 percent of the people society and joined political parties or the had volunteered after 1999 (see table 5.1). government, and there have also been cases in which people after serving in the govern- Table 5.1 Have you worked as ment have gone to work with civil society. a volunteer since 1999? The shift from civil society to government Cumu- Fre- Per- Valid lative is perceived mainly positively, as people quency cent Percent Percent who have learned key concepts about man- Valid Yes 151 12.1 12.1 12.1 agement and networking in civil society No 1,093 87.4 87.4 99.4 bring their experience to the government. Don’t All political parties have recognized the 7 0.6 0.6 100.0 know human capacities within the nongovern- Total 1,251 100.0 100.0 mental sector and have aimed to attract it

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Increasing capacity Table 5.2 Whose requests get the highest priority in Kosovan CSOs? There is no vision within the government for Cumula- increasing the capacities of NGOs. Although Fre- Per- Valid tive Per- quency cent Percent cent the civil society sector is in a much better po- Valid Donors 673 53.8 53.8 53.8 sition than it was some years ago, still there Commu- 151 12.1 12.1 65.9 is much room for improvement in the mana- nity Govern- gerial skills of NGO personnel. Some NGOs 48 3.8 3.8 69.7 ment have suggested that the government organ- None 60 4.8 4.8 74.5 ize support for increasing management skills Don’t of NGO staff. know/no 319 25.5 25.5 100.0 answer Total 1,251 100.0 100.0 Improving skills is of paramount importance, not only for the NGOs themselves but also in 5.2 Vision for financial their growing role as an “incubator for politi- sustainability cians,” especially in the absence of corporations and other organizations that could take The government does not have a vision for on that role. By increasing the skills of NGO promoting financial sustainability in the leaders and staff, the country will increase its NGO sector, which is the main problem in the general pool of managers. establishment of an active civil society in Ko- Local ownership of civil society sovo. Slow economic development is contributing to lack of support for the NGOs, which leaves them fully dependent on support from Ever since the NGO boom after 1999, it has foreign donors. Kosovo has a long tradition been continuously discussed whether the of philanthropy. However, support is only types of NGOs that were established were fit given for poverty alleviation and community for Kosovo. While the knowledge received infrastructure. Very little, if any, is given for from internationals has been recognized as activities of CSOs and NGOs. valuable, it has also been argued that NGOs need to become more focused on Kosovo. The government erroneously perceives that The ownership of the civil society needs to there is enough support for NGOs from for- be Kosovan. eign donors that government support is un- necessary. This attitude is problematic for The survey shows that CSOs are generally two reasons. First, a civil society that is not perceived to prioritize their activities based derived fully from its home society finds it on the requests of the donors rather than the difficult to address that society’s problems. needs of the community. Second, with most foreign donor support

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 73 The Government’s Vision of Civil Society

directed towards technical assistance to the Several times NGO groups have unsuccess- government, NGOs are now facing challeng- fully attempted to convince the government to es to their financial sustainability. Therefore, establish such a scheme. The model was first the government needs to form a vision as to initiated in Hungary in 1996 and was later fol- how civil society organizations should be fi- lowed by many Central and Eastern European nanced. countries, where it has proven a great success. Other countries have used other models, such Currently there is no planning going for pre- as a lottery with a significant share of the prof- paring to support the CSOs, thus most of its going to fund CSOs. their activities depend primarily or fully on foreign donor support. Of course, this sup- Such a scheme can be managed by a govern- port will remain a very important factor in ment agency, or management can be delegat- developing a professional NGO sector, but ed to a particular NGO. Nevertheless, pre- the inclusion of Kosovo financing will change serving the autonomy of NGOs is crucial to the dynamics of civil society engagement. the existence of a vibrant civil society. Thus, The perception of the NGO community as even if such a scheme is managed by the gov- foreign-aid-inspired will change. This will ernment, it should have majority CSO par- also increase the drive among other civil so- ticipation. ciety organizations to ask for more accountability from NGOs. Outsourcing government tasks to civil society The government can assist NGOs both through direct financial support (by out- A very limited number of NGOs have been sourcing tasks) and through indirect means, contracted in the past by the government. which can mean anything from creating an The practice needs to become much more easier tax environment for NGOs to enabling widespread. Many countries are turning to them to use public premises cost-free. NGOs for services that can best be performed by them. The one percent model During the 1990s, CSOs played an irreplace- Many countries use the so called “one percent able role in providing various services such model”, which allows taxpayers to allocate a as aid and education. This tradition has been small share of their taxes to a chosen CSO. The weakened as the society has come to look to government then matches the amount. This the state as the full provider of those services. structure not only strengthens the CSOs and But sooner rather than later, people are likely the sector itself but advances the idea that civil to realize that the government cannot ad- society is more than just NGOs. The media and dress all the needs of a transforming society businesses also can help build a civil society. and that they still need NGOs and CSOs.

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In the years since the conflict, NGOs have Sources played a crucial role in addressing many needs that cannot be fully addressed by the govern- Focus Group Conclusions. What is the role of ment, such as gender equality and minority NGOs in Kosovo. Held in Pristina on 8 Octo- rights. But they can also easily complement ber 2008. government efforts in fields such as education, Focus Group Conclusions. What is the role health care, and municipal infrastructure. of international community in Kosovo. Helt in Prishtina on 9 October 2008. One civil society representative pointed out United Nations Development Programme, that the sate could involve civil society at an Perceptions of Civil Society in Kosovo. Pristina: even deeper level to create a public works UNDP, 2008 system. Or at the very least, the government Interview with Albert Lila, head of CiviKos could encourage its own institutions to con- (26 October 2008) tract work to community organizations rather than private companies whenever possible.86 Interview with Argjentina Grazhdani, Civil “For example, if pipes need to be laid in a cer- society expert (20 October 2008) tain village for water supply or if a building Interview with Dr. Karmit Zysman (25 Octo- needs to be built or restored, why not use the ber 2008) local village councils to collectively (thereby Interview with Habit Hajredini, Head of reducing chances of nepotism and corrup- Good Governance, Office of the Prime Min- tion) hire village residents to do the work. If ister (26 October 2008) a village does not have a council, this would Interview with Luan Shllaku, Director of be a good impetus to create one.”87 KFOS

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 75 Perceptions, Image, and Participation in Civil Society 6. Mytaher Haskuka Perceptions, Image, 6. and Participation in Civil Society Mytaher Haskuka

6.1 Knowledge of civil society Regarding values, civil society in Kosovo is associated with human rights, volunteerism, Kosovans are knowledgeable about civil soci- and service provision, while democratization ety; around 87 percent of respondents report- and support for vulnerable groups were as- ed that they were familiar with the term. This sociated by very few respondents (see table percentage was higher among K-Albanian 6.2). respondents and those from Other88 communities, while it was lowest among K-Serb re- Table 6.2 Which of these characteristics belong to civil society? spondents. When associating the term “civil Total society” with different actors in society, the weight- majority of Kosovans first mentioned NGOs, K-Albanian K-Serb Other ed followed by syndicates and then by people/ Volunteer- ism 56.6% 42.2% 30.1% 54.1% community organizations (see table 6.1). A Non-profit considerable number of respondents also as- aims 26.7% 26.5% 15.9% 26.1% sociated the media with civil society, reflect- Advocacy 18.9% 1.5% 5.7% 17.1% ing an academic debate about whether the Human media belongs in the civil society sector or the rights 54.7% 45.1% 72.2% 55.2% Service private or public sector. Although responses provision 45.2% 32.8% 63.6% 45.5% did not differ significantly by ethnicity, a con- Account- siderable number of K-Serb respondents also ability 19.6% 13.7% 8.0% 18.6% associated political parties with civil society. Transpar- ency 25.2% 10.8% 10.2% 23.4% Represen- Table 6.1 Which of these groups tation 23.2% 5.4% 56.8% 24.2% belong to civil society? Vulnerable Total groups 2.5% 9.8% 0.0% 2.7% K-Albanian K-Serb Other weighted Democra- NGOs 90.3% 56.4% 91.5% 88.3% tization 4.7% 26.5% 5.1% 6.0% Syndicates 65.1% 43.1% 66.5% 63.9% People/ It can be concluded that overall Kosovans communi- 30.3% 38.2% 18.2% 30.1% ty organi- have had experience of civil society organiza- zations tions and properly associate civil society with Media 14.7% 22.1% 11.4% 14.9% different actors. Every fourth Kosovan associ- Political 1.5% 18.6% 2.3% 2.6% ates civil society with a non-profit aims, rep- parties Private resentation, and transparency, while one in 2.9% 14.2% 1.1% 3.5% businesses six person associates civil society with advo-

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 77 Perceptions, Image, and Participation in Civil Society

cacy. Maybe the most important result is that Table 6.3 Type of CSO participated in only six out of 100 Kosovans associate civil Weighted

society with democratization and three out of K-Albanian K-Serb Other Total Professional 100 associate it with vulnerable groups. Fur- 1.5% 1.5% .0% 1.4% association thermore, nobody from the Other communi- Local 3.1% 1.5% 10.2% 3.4% ties associated civil society with vulnerable association groups. This is particularly important, as this National .5% .0% .0% 0.4% group is one of the most vulnerable groups association in Kosovo in terms of their socio-economic Sport club 5.6% 3.4% 13.0% 6.0% Cultural situation. 3.3% .5% 9.0% 3.5% club Community 2.0% 4.9% 10.2% 2.6% 6.2 Participation in civil society group NGO 3.2% 1.0% 1.1% 3.0% Every sixth Kosovan participates in some civ- Syndicate 4.0% 13.2% 1.1% 4.4% il society organization—10 percent as members, 5 percent as volunteers and around Civic participation 2 percent as employees. Similar to participation in CSOs, around 19 percent of Kosovans take part in civic activi- Figure 6.1 Manner of involvement in CSOs ties such as implementation of projects by local Not involved Bene ciary Member Employee Volunteer governments or NGOs, citizen initiatives, peti-

100% tions, or public debates. Overall, compared to 89 90% 2004, there are some positive trends, specifi-

80% cally an increase in participation in public de- 70% bates and meetings and in the implementation 60% of local government and NGO projects. At the 50% same time, participation in public protests and

40% signing of petitions has decreased. 30% 20% Contrary to the assumption that civic partici-

10% pation was higher before the 1999 conflict, the 0% survey results reveal that generally there was K Albanian K - Serb Other Total an increase in both voluntary work and work Weighted for non-profit or non-governmental organizations. The most notable increase is within the The most popular organizations for involve- Other communities, where voluntary work has ment are sport clubs, followed by syndi- increased by 8 percent, while work for NPOs cates, cultural clubs and local associations. and NGOs has increased by 9 percent. Among

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K-Albanians volunteerism has increased insig- Asked whether they would like to work as nificantly by 1 percent while work for NPOs a volunteer in different organizations, about and NGOs has increased by 5 percent. The 20 percent of respondents said that they only downward trend was observed with vol- would like volunteer for an NGO, while just unteerism among K-Serbs, which decreased 7 percent said they would volunteer for po- by 8 percent, while work for NPOs and NGOs litical parties. has increased for 2 percent.

Figure 6.3 Respondents who would Figure 6.2 Volunteerism and work for non- like to work as a volunteer profit and non-governmental organizations before and after 1999 Would like to work as volunteer

K-Albanian K-Serb Other International organization

16% private business

14% Government 12% Municipality 10% 8% Political Party 6% NGO 4% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 2% 0% before 1999 after 1999 worked as a volunteer 6.3 Openness of civil society K-Albanian K-Serb Other

16% Fewer than one third of Kosovans think that 14% CSOs are open to public participation. (There 12% are no comparable data for other sectors.) As 10% one of the roles of CSOs is to promote par- 8% ticipation, this is a worrying statistic, and it is 6% particularly pronounced among minorities: 4% Only one out of ten respondents from Other 2% communities thought that CSOs were open 0% before 1999 after 1999 to public participation. This may partially ex- worked in a non for pro t or non-governmental plain the low number of respondents willing organization to work as volunteers.

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reflecting the mayor role these organiza- Table 6.4 Responses to the statement “CSOs are open for public participation” tion played in repair and refurbishment of K-Albanian K-Serb Other Total households damaged from conflict. This Agree 32.1% 10.3% 9.5% 29.4% is followed by infrastructure assistance, Disagree 22.6% 36.3% 47.8% 24.9% also one of the priorities of the emergency Don’t phase. Benefits in education and health know/no were also cited by a considerable number answer 45.3% 53.4% 42.7% 45.7% of respondents, reflecting both investment Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% in the public sector and investment in 6.4 Impact of civil society forms of assistance and training for education and health.

Every fourth Kosovan family has benefited from a civil society activity. The number of Figure 6.4 Benefits offered by CSOs to a person or a family people benefiting from civil society activities is

higher than the number of people participating Business Utilities

in civil society organizations, but only by a few Construction material

percentage points. This percentage is highest Gender rights among Other minorities and lowest among K- legal

Serbs. However, a considerable number of K- Health Serbs responded “don’t know” and may have Education benefited from international organizations, as Psychosocial support

in the areas where they lived most activities Financial

were carried out by international NGOs. Housing

Infrastructure

Table 6.5 Have you or any member of 0% 5% 10% 15% your family received any benefits from civil society activity? Total Asked what they thought about the impact K-Albanian K-Serb Other weighted of CSOs on Kosovo society, a considerable Yes 25.9% 18.1% 42.7% 26.4% number of respondents said the impact was No 70.4% 62.3% 57.3% 69.1% both positive and negative. One third of re- Don’t 3.7% 19.6% — know 4.5% spondents said that the impact was very Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% positive or positive, while around 5 percent said it was negative. There were no major Assistance for housing was given as the differences in opinion based on ethnicity or most common form of benefit from CSOs, gender.

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Table 6.6 What is the overall impact large Kosovo NGOs are the most representative. of CSOs on Kosovan society? The response differed, however, by ethnicity. Total K‑Albanians said large Kosovan NGOs were the K-Albanian K-Serb Other weighted most representative, followed by local NGOs. Very positive 4.8% 2.0% 0.6% 4.4% The results for K-Serbs reflect their lack of real in- Positive 30.4% 19.0% 19.6% 29.1% tegration into Kosovo society, as most chose the Both posi- large international NGOs, followed by informal tive and associations; no K-Serb selected Kosovan NGOs. negative 61.2% 66.2% 67.4% 61.9% Those in the Other group most often chose local Negative 3.0% 11.8% 10.7% 4.0% NGOs as most representative. Very negative 0.6% 1.0% 1.7% 0.6% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Figure 6.5 Which of the following represents your interests the most? 6.5 Public image Large International NGOs Large Kosovar NGOs Local NGOs Informational associations Public opinion in Kosovo is split in regard to 50% how representative civil society is. Slightly 45% more than half of Kosovans think that CSOs 40% represent their personal interests “some- 35% what”; only about 3 percent say that CSOs 30% represent their opinions “a lot”. The trends 25% are similar for all communities. Statistical 20% analysis by gender, age and region reveal no 15% 10% major differences on this issue. 5% 0% Table 6.7 Do any of the current CSOs K-Albanian K-Serb Other represent your personal interests? Total Accountability K-Albanian K-Serb Other weighted Yes, a lot 2.9% 3.9% 1.1% 2.8% In terms of accountability, fewer respondents Somewhat 50.8% 49.5% 61.3% 51.4% said that CSOs are accountable to people: Not at all 46.3% 46.6% 37.6% 45.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Only 5 percent said that most CSOs are accountable, and 23 percent stated that some Representation are accountable. Most pessimistic in this regard were the Other communities, in which only around 10 percent said that most or Among those who think that CSOs represent some CSOs are accountable. their personal interests, the majority think that

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Table 6.8 Are CSOs accountable to the people? said that NGOs report to citizens, while 53 Total percent said that they should. No respond-

K-Albanian K-Serb Other weighted ents said that NGOs should not report to Most of anybody, revealing once more that Kosovans them are 5.5% 1.0% 1.7% 5.0% accountable are fairly well informed about accountability Some are and the general principles of NGO work. 24.2% 21.6% 7.9% 23.0% accountable Very few are 47.6% 51.4% 67.4% 49.1% In terms of priorities, the majority of Kosovans accountable said that civil society organizations set their None of them are 22.7% 26.0% 23.0% 22.9% priorities according to what donors say; one accountable out of 10 said that they prioritize according to Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% the community, and only one out of 50 said according to government. With exception of Analysis of the questions “To whom do NGOs K-Serbs who more often than other ethnici- report?” and “To whom should they should ties think that CSOs prioritize according to report?” reveals that Kosovans are not happy government the other categories revealed no with current reporting practices; they would major difference based on ethnicity. Similarly prefer that NGOs report more to citizens and opinions on this issue do not change accord- Kosovo institutions and less to donors. The ing to gender or age. biggest difference was observed on the question of reporting to citizens: Only 6 percent Table 6.9 How do Kosovan civil society organizations set their priorities? Figure 6.6 To whom do NGOs report? To Total whom should NGOs report? K-Albanian K-Serb Other weighted NGOs should report their activities to Based on NGOS report their activities to donors 54.2% 52.5% 53.4% request 54.0% None Based on the com- Kosovo 10.2% 18.1% 14.0% Assembly munity needs 10.9% Government Assembly Based on govern- Citizens 1.7% 15.2% 1.1% ment International priorities 2.5% Organizations None 5.5% 1.0% 5.6% 5.3% Respective Institutions Don’t Donors know/no 28.4% 13.2% 25.9% answer 27.3% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

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6.6 Role for civil society similar, females chose health and education more often than males, with slight dif- Although housing was the major benefit from ferences also observed on the environment. CSOs reported by respondents, when asked The fact that only about 3 percent of females which sector needed support from CSOs, chose gender rights as needing CSO support only 6 percent chose housing. The three sec- is very interesting in light of the debate about tors cited by respondents as the most in need and resources devoted to this issue. of CSO involvement were infrastructure (23 percent), anti-corruption efforts (20 percent) 6.7 Holding government and financial support (16 percent). K-Albani- accountable ans’ first priority for CSOs was infrastructure (26 percent), for K-Serbs it was the health sec- Although in terms of accountability respond- tor (18 percent), while for Other communities ents did not show very high confidence it was anti-corruption (49 percent). in CSOs, when asked what the role of civil society should be in relationship with gov- Analyzed by gender, although males’ and fe- ernment, substantial numbers of people (33 males’ first, second and third priorities were percent) responded that CSOs should act as watchdogs and monitor government work. Table 6.10 Sectors chosen as More than 37 percent said that CSOs should needing support from provide services that government cannot CSOs, by gender provide. Male Female Infrastructure 24.9% 20.3% Figure 6.7 The role of civil society Housing 6.4% 6.0% in relation to government Financial support 16.3% 16.0%

Psychological/social support 3.7% 2.9% Serve as a communication medium between citizens Education 8.4% 10.5% and the state

Health 11.8% 14.1% Conduct need assessment exercises Legal 2.1% 1.9%

Democracy 0.3% 0.3% Monitor Government Performance Environment 1.3% 3.2%

Gender rights 1.3% 2.8% Provide services that Government cannot provide Interethnic relations 2.7% 1.7%

Government oversight 0.6% 0.3% Serve as a watchdog Anti-corruption 20.0% 19.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

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When responses that civil society should Figure 6.8 Who holds the Kosovo monitor the government performance is com- government accountable? bined with responses that civil society should act as a watchdog cumulate to about 60 per- 60% cent, when asked about the present state of 50% affairs, most respondents said that the inter- 40% national community is the main actor that 30% holds government accountable, followed by 20% the media. Civil society and voters were per- 10% ceived as less important entity for holding 0% International Voters Civil Society Media the government accountable. Community

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CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 85 Creating Mechanisms for Cooperation between Civil Society and the Government 7. Elton Skendaj Creating Mechanisms for Cooperation 7. between Civil Society and the Government Elton Skendaj

Kosovo is building democratic government rates were high amongst Kosovo Albanians institutions and civil society at the same during this period as people were helping time. The interaction between the state and each other survive in addition to paying a civil society is crucial for the development of 3 percent voluntary income tax to support both institutional capacity and a democratic the parallel institutions.92 Out of the various citizenry. The new Kosovo state needs civil groups within the resistance movement in society in order to foster citizens’ participa- Kosovo came both civil society organizations tion, representation and ultimately account- and the political parties that aimed to build a ability. One of the key findings of social sci- state after 1999. One civil society activist in a ence literature on statebuilding is that the focus group argued that the common percep- state strengthens its capacity in return for tion of the relationship between civil society meeting public demands for representation and the state was that “before 1999, we aimed and protection.90 Civil society also needs a to change the system, while now we aim to functioning state in order to have legal space develop the system”.93 to develop associations and articulate its demands on behalf of citizens. Currently the in- After the 1998-1999 conflict and intervention teraction between the Kosovo state and civil by the international community, the huge in- society is ad hoc and carried out on a person- flux of international funding for reconstruc- al level. Stronger institutional mechanisms tion and the building of state institutions need to be built in order to bring civil society transformed all sectors of society, including and the government together for dialogue, civil society. Many NGOs sprung up over- policymaking and advocacy. night as international donors sought local partners for their infrastructure and service Civil society among the Albanian ethnic ma- projects. UNMIK enacted a permissive regu- jority in Kosovo has had a complex relation- lation in 1999 that enabled the registration of ship with the state since World War II. Under more than 4,000 NGOs by 2008. Since self- Tito’s socialist Yugoslavia, the state set up government institutions started to be built organizations and fronts, such as trade un- after 1999, civil society organizations have ions, that enhanced the state’s penetration of engaged in many activities that are often the society. After the Belgrade government abol- prerogative of central and local government ished Kosovo’s autonomy in 1989, Kosovo institutions, such as reconstruction of hous- civil society acted like a social movement that es, welfare services, publication of books for resisted Serbian state institutions by creating the education system, and waste collection. parallel institutions in health, education, and The main activities of NGOs then involved welfare throughout the 1990s.91 Voluntarism service provision, not policymaking or advo-

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cacy. The short-term, project-based focus of society, tried to create an umbrella organi- most NGOs, however, made them entirely zation for all NGOs, the NGO Assembly, dependent on donor funding and prevented but the main NGOs resisted. Pula96 argues their specialization.94 This continues to be a that this rejection “reflects both the suspi- problem, as few NGOs have developed the cion members of Kosovo’s civil society have capacity for policymaking and advocacy. formed against any type of massive organization which purports to ‘represent civil During the 1999-2001 period, UNMIK in- society’ and the flawed manner in which cluded NGOs in its administrative structure OSCE attempted to unite all NGOs under as part of a consultative body, the Transition- a single umbrella.” It is easier, however, to al Council. Despite the fact that its members build coalitions between NGOs that share a were less influential than the representatives certain mission or focus temporarily on a sa- of the political parties, the council played an lient common issue. important role in policymaking. Additionally, individuals from civil society were appointed Intense competition for donor funds and by UNMIK to its administrative departments, personal antagonisms also prevents NGO performing the role of civil administration networks from having a more unified voice. until the elections of 2001 produced a Kosovo Indeed, Pula argues that NGO networks do assembly and a government.95 not have clear structures but are identified with individual leaders and organized like With the establishment of Kosovo’s Provi- “cliques” around certain donors: sional Institutions of Self-Government in 2002 and the removal of NGO representatives from UNMIK structures, Kosovo civil society Particular NGOs tend lost its direct influence on policymaking. UN- to be identified as being MIK executives now expected Kosovo’s civil allied with either one or society to play an advocacy role towards the another such clique, and institutions of Kosovo self-government. The particular cliques tend to be self-government institutions and civil society associated with a particular often held joint meetings on specific issues, donor or groups of donors. yet civil society did not have a direct institu- The antagonism existing tionalized link to the government. between such groups surpasses that of what one One problem is that the NGOs have not had would consider a “healthy a general platform that would coordinate competition,” because their efforts. The Organization for Security animosities and intolerance and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), whose tend to stretch into a highly early mission in Kosovo was to develop civil personal level.97

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Despite the lack of institutional mechanisms, trated since they often had much less access representatives of civil society and govern- to UNMIK, the real power holder, than to ment officials interact and communicate the local government.99 According to Igballe frequently on a personal level. Anecdotal Rogova,100 UNMIK did not reply to the Kos- evidence indicates that civil society people ovo Women’s Network’s demands for the im- often go to work in the government orare plementation of UN Resolution 1325, which elected to the Kosovo Assembly and vice mandated that women should be included in versa. Such personal interactions facilitate all aspects of peacebuilding. Civil society ac- the flow of ideas between the two sectors and tivists were therefore discouraged since the are an indicator that they collaborate. On the UN in this case was not open to implement- other hand, such collaboration might prevent ing its own resolution. strong NGO critiques of the government, as NGO elites want to keep the opportunity to Table 7.1 become government officials open. NGO Participant No NGO

Since both political parties and civil society Participation Participant Total organizations started in the resistance during Are Yes 29.0% 40.6% 29.3% you a No 68.3% 56.3% 67.9% the 1990s, several NGOs are also connected member to political parties and have better access to of a Don’t know/ political 2.7% 3.1% 2.7% the government when those parties are in party? no power. The Mother Teresa Association, for answer example, has traditionally had connections Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% with LDK, while the Association for War Vet- erans (SHVL) and the War Invalid Associa- Many scholars agree that different social tion (SHIL) are connected to the Democratic conditions give rise to different types of civil Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Alliance for society. Dissident civil society in communist 98 the Future of Kosovo (AAK). Table 7.1 sum- Eastern Europe has been antagonistic to the marizes responses to the survey conducted totalitarian state, while the latter used mass for this report that also suggest that civil so- organization to control and discipline indi- ciety activists are more likely to be members viduals.101 Howard102 also argues that civil of political parties. society in post-communist Eastern Europe is generally weaker than in other regions in While the international organizations expect- the world because of the communist legacy. ed civil society to lobby, consult and moni- In Kosovo, the resistance society amongst the tor the local institutions, the lack of clarity majority of K-Albanians took a nationalist over each institution’s responsibilities made stand to react to the repressive Belgrade gov- it difficult for civil society to exercise its new ernment, which used nationalism to ward off role. Civil society activists were also frus- political challenges.103

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Box 7.1 Relation between civil ganizations (UNMIK, OSCE, and EU) took society and government on governing functions before delegating The liberal theory of civil society sees it as a natural some of those functions to local institu- counterweight to the state’s intrusion upon the tions. On the other hand, international or- private lives of the individuals. Scholars like John ganizations outsourced much of their serv- Locke and John Stuart Mill saw the role of the state ice provision to civil society organizations as limited and the society as strong, thereby as- that sprang up to meet the demand. With suming that a state would be stronger if the civil Kosovo’s independence, the relationship society were weak. Another view sees civil society between the state and civil society is being and state as mutually supporting each other. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French aristocrat, was impressed reconfigured again. Both the state and civil at how little Americans in towns would organize society need to be grounded more in the themselves to solve pressing community problems. society and less in the international com- Robert Putnam updated Tocqueville’s theory as he munity. argued that civil society prepares individuals with habits of cooperation and problem-solving and ul- 7.1 Public perception of the timately improves governance. When international donors invested a lot of resources into building civil relation between NGOs society in Kosovo and the rest of Eastern Europe, and government they were following Putnam’s assumption that a stronger civil society would result in a stronger state. The following charts show the differences in Putnam himself was sceptical about civil societies perception that the population has regarding built quickly from above, since it took centuries for the accountability of NGOs in Kosovo. Fig- Northern Italy to develop a strong civil society. ure 7.1 indicates public perceptions about to Based on Tocqueville, Alexis de, Democracy in America whom NGOs do and should report their activ- (New York: Westvaco, 1999), Putnam, Robert D., Rob- ities. Unsurprisingly, 47 percent of respond- ert Leonardi and Raffaella Nanetti, Making Democ- ents believe that NGOs report to donors. Less racy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, than 5 percent believe that NGOs report to NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993); Putnam, Robert D., Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American the government or directly to citizens. The Community (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000). contrast between the perception of how NGO accountability works in practice and how it International organizations and donors fos- should work becomes obvious from survey tered the new type of civil society, mainly responses about whom NGOs should report consisting of NGOs that provided impor- to. On average, respondents said that NGOs tant services for a post-conflict population. should report to citizens (22 percent) as well Yet international organizations and donors as donors and government (each around 21 emerged as the key actors who have been percent). This could be interpreted as a call building both civil society and the state in for higher NGO accountability towards the Kosovo. On one hand, the international or- public and the government.

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Figure 7.1 To whom do NGOs report? To Figure 7.2 What role should CSOs play in (same as whom should NGOs report? (same as relation to the government? figure 6.6) figure 6.7)

NGOs should report their activities to Serve as a communication NGOS report their activities to medium between citizens and the state

None Conduct need assessment exercises Kosovo Assembly Monitor Government Performance Government Assembly Provide services that Citizens Government cannot provide International Organizations Serve as a watchdog Respective Institutions 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% Donors

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% As can be seen in figure 7.3, more than half of survey respondents did not know whether Judging by the citizen responses, the public NGOs cooperate with the central and local expects CSOs to play an active role in their government: 29 percent of respondents said relation to the government (figure 7.2). The the they cooperated with the central govern- most common response (22.5 percent) on ment and 24 percent said with local govern- what sort of role CSOs should play was that ment. On the other hand, members of the fo- they should provide services the government cus group that ran concurrently with the Per- is not capable of providing. We should inter- ceptions of Civil Society in Kosovo Survey said pret this finding cautiously. NGOs surely can that at the municipality level, problems are offer many types of expert service provision more direct, people are more dedicated and especially in the immediate post-conflict pe- the results are more concrete. Usually, the riod. Yet, in the long term, we should not ex- more funding an NGO can bring to the ta- pect them to stand in for the government in ble, the more the community is happy to col- many areas, thus preventing capacity build- laborate. International NGOs in Kosovo have ing in the government. The other answers, more funding and therefore more access to in declining order, were for civil society to local government officials. The municipal- be a watchdog, monitor government per- ity officials also seek out NGOs to help them formance, be an implementing partner with solve problems. government, conduct needs assessment exercises, and be a communication medium between citizens and the state.

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Figure 7.3 Do civil society organizations Figure 7.4 Do any of these actors hold the Figure 7.4 : Do any of these actors hold the Kosovo cooperate with central and local Kosovo government accountable? government accountable? government? Yes, a lot Somewhat Not much None Local Government Central Government 60% 60% 50% 50% 40% 40% 30% 30% 20%

20% 10%

10% 0% International Voters Civil Society Media 0% Community Yes No Don't know/ no answer short-term projects from donors, and hence Survey responses indicated that the public have to adapt to the donor’s priorities. As does not believe that civil society in Kosovo figure 7.6 indicates, the public also believes is able to demand strong accountability that NGOs prioritize mostly according to the from the government (figure 7.4). Indeed, donors. Donor priorities partly explain why most respondents said that the government there are fewer NGOs in Kosovo working on is beholden to the international community. human rights and the environment than on They saw the media as exercising some gender and youth issues.104 influence, while civil society and the voters came last. Such perceptions might make the Figure 7.5 Are NGOs in Kosovo specialised? public less able to make demands on their elected officials. 60% 50% A lack of specialization makes it hard for Ko- 40% sovo NGOs to lobby, advise or monitor the 30% government. More than half of survey re- 20% spondents said that very few or none of the 10% 0% NGOs in Kosovo are specialized (figure 7.5). Most of Some are Very few None of them are This lack of specialization is mostly because specialised are them are specialised NGOs usually compete with each other for specialised specialised

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Figure 7.6 How do Kosovan civil society local community issues, such as cleaning a organizations set their priorities? school yard or promoting children’s theatre, rather than addressing political issues. There is always fear that, if they collaborate with 60% 50% Kosovo institutions, they will be branded as 40% traitors by their own community and by the 30% Serbian state.106 20% 10%

0% The Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE), Donors Community Government None Don't know/ no Bosnian and Turkish communities have also answer attempted to organize since 1999, and they are willing to collaborate with the Kosovo 7.2 The interaction of institutions. Their socio-economic and edu- minority NGOs with cational development prevents them from Kosovo institutions taking charge more. One positive interaction is that the Kosovo government is organizing The minority NGOs in Kosovo interact much a participatory strategy for the inclusion of less with Kosovo institutions. Local K-Serb the RAE community, especially in the educa- NGOs tend to mistrust Kosovo institutions. tion sector. Civil society and community or- Until 2006, K-Serb NGO activists also faced ganizations have been participating in such restrictions on their freedom of movement to processes. The Bosnian community has been the main towns where both Kosovo institu- more oriented towards the media. Through tions and international donors are situated.105 their Bosnian Forum of Kosovo, they have NGOs representing other minorities have organized a series of round tables. They lob- been more collaborative with Kosovo institu- bied to be included in the negotiations on the tions, but they, too, have problems with both status of Kosovo, and one member of the Bos- resources and capacity. nian community as well as an RAE community member were included. Before 1999, there were few minority NGOs in Kosovo. There were few civil society or- As with Kosovo Albanian NGOs, donor fund- ganizations for Kosovo Serbs, and they were ing often has set the civil society agenda for usually branches of organizations that had interethnic cooperation. Interethnic networks their headquarters in Belgrade, such as the often start at a donor’s request. The moment Humanitarian Law Center. Kosovo Serbian the funding is gone, the network usually dis- NGOs were formed at the end of 1999 and appears. NGO networks are oriented towards the beginning of 2000; a large number have donor requests, and therefore do not have registered since then. They focus mostly on specialty areas. The community NGOs there-

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fore try to work in culture, education, media, government does not answer to its criticisms. and other fields. Competition for funding Çohu! produces frequent qualitative reports also encourages fragmentation and jealousy. that monitor governmental corruption. These One common critique from minority activists reports get extensive media coverage and are is that Prishtina-based Kosovo Albanian or- sometimes used as evidence by international ganizations get funding for representing con- organizations to critique the government. cerns of the communities in Kosovo.107 Additionally, Çohu! is part of a anti-corruption coalition called Civil Society for a Clean 7.3 CSO initiatives for Parliament, which evaluated the candidates meaningful interaction for parliament before the election. The gov- with Kosovo institutions ernment tries to portray Çohu!’s critiques as politically motivated and hence invalid.108 Civil society can offer significant support to the executive and legislative institutions in The government should not shy away from terms of dialogue, policymaking and moni- constructive criticism by watchdog NGOs toring of governance. Civil society can bring but welcome and encourage it, since it is es- to policy planning local knowledge, the voic- sential for its own capacity building. One es of underrepresented citizens, and a deeper suggestion is for the government to set aside understanding of social needs. Additionally, funds, to be distributed to NGOs through a civil society can have a stronger role in policy competitive application process, to support implementation, both by providing services watchdog and policymaking functions. The (e.g., health and welfare) and by continuing board that would award the funds should not to fulfil government functions in protecting be politicized, but should instead be made up gender equality and human rights. of reputable intellectuals.

The role of watchdog, involving outright Another way of engagement between civil criticism of the government, has been taken society and government is policymaking on by organizations like Çohu! and Vetëven- support where civil society organizations dosje!. The government has not been recep- perform governmental services and func- tive to the critiques of either organization. tions. Think tanks like KIPRED, Riinvest, Pol- Vetëvendosje!, a social movement that does icy Analyses Group (GAP), and KODI, have not get donor funding and advocates unsu- written policy papers and provided training pervised independence from the interna- and expertise to the government. They often tional community, is the only organization get government endorsement and sometimes in Kosovo that directly confronts the inter- even government funding. national organizations and the government. Since it is seen as a radical organization by One of the few attempts to create institution- both internationals and the government, the alized mechanisms for dialogue between

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civil society and the government was a two- and now has the mandate to draft legislation year effort by women’s organizations that for civil society. At the central government lev- culminated in the creation of the Agency for el, partnership with civil society is often initi- Gender Equality in the office of the prime ated by the government. In Hungary, the De- minister. Spearheaded by KFOS, CiviKos partment for Civil Affairs in the office of the is another strong attempt by civil society to prime minister is responsible for cooperation create an agreement for interaction with the with civil society. In Slovenia, the Office for government. While Prime Minister Agim European Affairs appointed a national coordi- Çeku signed the agreement with CiviKos on nator for cooperation with civil society. Both 9 November 2007, Platforma CiviKos is not Slovenia and Hungary included collaboration as active with the current government. A 2008 with civil society in the preparation of their CiviKos publication on the future of devel- national development plans for European in- opment in Kosovo, prepared for the 2008 do- tegration. Civil society organizations can also nors’ conference on Kosovo, was based on a cooperate with specific ministries with which wide participatory process that involved doz- they have a shared interest. For example, Ko- ens of workshops and consulted more than sovo’s Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports 3,000 people representing all ethnic groups cooperates with youth NGOs to organize in Kosovo.109 Why is the creation of institu- Youth Month. At the local government level, tionalized cooperation between civil society municipalities in Kosovo could follow the ex- and government so hard? In addition to co- ample of the city of Szczecin in Poland, which ordination problems amongst the NGOs, the opened an office that provides assistance to government administration is heavily politi- NGOs and supports them in disputes with lo- cized, young, and not coherent in terms of its cal authorities.110 vision and policy implementation. For example, the central government’s office for liaison Table 7.1 lists key cooperation strategies, with NGOs, the Office of Good Governance, gives examples from Kosovo, and proposes is spread too thin to be very effective. mechanisms for carrying out the strategies and indicators of successful implementation. As it attempts to build mechanisms for cooperation, Kosovo can learn from similar experi- 7.4 Conclusion ences in different countries. Cooperation can happen at any level—the Assembly, the cen- Civil society in Kosovo is ready for more tral government or municipalities—and in any institutionalized mechanisms for coopera- sector (the Agency for Gender Equality in the tion with the government. NGOs received a prime minister’s office is a good example). The significant amount of aid after 1999 as they Hungarian parliament has a Committee for performed quasi-governmental tasks. That Support for Civil Organizations, which used funding trend is over now. The donor agenda to provide grants to civil society organizations has shifted from sponsoring NGOs to sup-

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Table 7.2 Strategies for cooperation between civil society and government Strategy Examples Mechanisms Indicators of success

Dialogue Advocacy Training and Resource Offices in the national Number of meetings per year Centre assembly, the national Number of requests for CiviKos cabinet and municipalities information Agency for Gender Equality

Cooperation in KIPRED Government endorsement Number of think tank reports policymaking Riinvest and use of think tank endorsed by government each KODI research year GAP Forum 2015

Cooperation in ÇOHU! An independently adminis- Creation of fund monitoring Kosovo Democratic Institute tered government fund Number of applications

porting state institutions; most of the funding Fund competitive grants for NGOs to per- pledged at the 2008 donors’ conference on form advocacy and public services, but en- Kosovo will go to the state. Yet the civil so- sure that the government does not outsource ciety sector, despite its flaws, has significant its essential functions to NGOs or the private assets to contribute to both state and society. sector. While service provision has been the main task of NGOs in the post-conflict reconstruc- Recommendations to donors tion period, they should increasingly play and international organizations the important roles of promoting dialogue, participating in policymaking and monitor- Continue to fund NGOs, at least in the me- ing government performance in a more in- dium term, until they develop stronger ca- stitutionalized way. Recommendations for pacities and diversify their sources of fund- ways to make this happen follow. ing.

Recommendations to the Provide long-term, institutional support for government of Kosovo proven, successful NGOs instead of short- term grants for projects that do not ensure Create offices for CSO cooperation in the sustainability. prime minister’s office and national assembly and in municipalities. Recommendations to civil society in Kosovo Include civil society in steering groups and discussions on Kosovo’s future with interna- Increase professionalism through capacity tional organizations and donors. building.

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Specialize and nurture a specific strength in- Diversify sources of funding; explore options stead of trying to be a “jack of all trades” with for government grants, private business do- a vague, catch-all mission statement. nations, or separate commercial activities to ensure sustainability.

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 97 Civil Society Coordination in Kosovo 8. Driton Tafallari Civil Society 8. Coordination in Kosovo Driton Tafallari

This chapter will explore and analyze efforts development, is democratization and protec- made by members of Kosovo civil society to tion of human rights. Kosovo’s aim is to be build alliances to strengthen their ability to part of the western democratic countries, and fulfil the needs that burden Kosovo society. therefore it needs to adopt internationally accepted norms and legal instruments. In be- No country can be considered democratic or coming a part of the western family, the role free without a well-organized and coordi- of civil society is essential. nated civil society. After the end of the cold war in 1989 and the breakdown of commu- Civil society plays an important role in help- nism, civil society coalitions played a crucial ing Kosovo become a truly democratic coun- role in spreading democracy in the former try. In many cases, individual NGOs cannot communist countries. The Union of Interna- address a particular issue alone, which raises tional Associations in Brussels counts nearly the need for coordination among NGOs. NGO 17,000 internationally operating organiza- networks and coalitions have multiplied, tions and thousands more of a national, re- particularly in the last decade. They have ligious or single-issue nature. The United achieved many concrete results, including States has about 2 million voluntary organi- monitoring elections, lobbying for changes to zations, most created since the 1970s, and laws, and advocating for the rights of minori- about 100,000 associations have sprung up in ties, women, youth, and the handicapped. Eastern Europe since the fall of communism. Some of the groups are concerned with single Coordination among civil society organiza- issues; others are multifaceted organizations tions is not an end goal but rather a tool for like the World Wide Fund for Nature, which achieving goals. It serves to strengthen the has 5 million members.111 voice of civil society and increase its ability to improve people’s lives and to fight injustice, Some worldwide networks have had enor- corruption and other forms of inequity. mous influence. One example is the Interna- tional Campaign to Ban Landmines, a coali- 8.1 Formation of civil tion of 1,400 NGOs from 90 countries that society coordination have convinced 146 countries to sign a treaty to ban landmines.112 Civil society in Kosovo is mostly coordinated through networks and coalitions of NGOs Kosovo is passing through significant politi- working together to address common issues. cal, social and economic transformation. Its There is no exact formula that governs this goal as a transition society, besides economic process. Although many such alliances aim

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to remain sustainable in the long term, some • Better access to information: Networks come together for a limited time to addresses and coalitions have regular meetings in a specific issue. which NGOs share information. In many cases, donors, government representa- In order to ensure that they are being respon- tives, and other stakeholders are invited sive to member needs, NGO alliances must to the meetings as well. time after time check their functionality. If • Increased visibility: Belonging to a suc- an alliance no longer meets the needs of its cessful and prominent alliance can en- members, there is a risk that participation hance the reputation of individual NGOs will drop, and the group may even cease to and create a platform where members exist. The NGO Returns Coordination Group can be seen and heard. (NRCG) is a typical example. This coalition • Better geographical coverage: This is was created in 2002 by international and local particularly important when it comes to im- NGOs including GOAL Ireland, the Danish plementing Kosovo-wide projects. Bridges Refugee Council, Civil Rights Protection in of Friendship, a coalition that implemented Kosovo and Mercy Corps. NRCG was very an OSCE-funded project, consisted of five active in its first three years, addressing sen- NGOs that covered five Kosovo regions. sitive issues relating to the return of minori- Results were obvious: About 300 debates ties to Kosovo. By 2006, fewer NGOs were di- were held in 300 villages across Kosovo. rectly involved in the returns process, and the No NGO could have achieved this alone. number of NGOs in NRCG fell significantly. Democracy in Action, another coalition, This raised the need for NRCG to modify and which monitored elections in 2007, was broaden its mission, and it became the NGO able to recruit more than 2,500 monitors in Peacebuilding Coordination Group (NPCG). three weeks. Again, no single NGO could have achieved this. NGOs expect to see a concrete benefit to join- • Greater access to donors: Donors usu- ing an alliance. Benefits can include follow- ally pay more attention to NGO networks ing: and coalitions than to individual NGOs. NGOs are aware of this and believe that • Stronger impact: It is not same if one creating or belonging to a group will cre- NGO raises its voice or if 50 NGOs ad- ate access to new donors and lead to address the same concern. If a goal of the ditional funding opportunities. alliance is to influence legislation, then the • Faster project start: If a network or coali- number of people asking for the change tion is the project implementer, it can take will translate to the number of voters sup- care of some administrative formalities, porting it in the next election. Numbers freeing individual NGOs to start their work matter. more quickly.

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There are also risks and difficulties to partici- racy in Action and CiviKos. Donors may also pating in networks and coalitions, and NGOs specify that NGOs must cooperate in order to should consider them carefully. The reputa- be eligible for funds. Examples include Bridges tion of the whole group depends on its mem- of Friendship and ProPeace. In both scenarios, bers. If one NGO performs unsuitably, every- NGOs usually end up with donor support. one could lose credibility. Furthermore, since not all alliances have funds for operational 8.2 Historical background costs such as transportation and office space, NGOs must undertake a cost/benefit analysis This short history of civil society alliance to determine whether they are can afford to building in Kosovo starts with a short over- participate. Member NGOs can also risk los- view of the time when Kosovo was part of ing their identity if they are not represented the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia sufficiently in the group. and finishes with describing the ways NGO coordination is organized in Kosovo today. One goal of NGO alliances should be capacity building of its members. This writer is not Civil society coordination aware of many alliances that currently pro- under communism vide training or coaching to members. Poten- tial member NGOs are in the most of the cases Civil society coalitions existed in Kosovo required to meet professional and sometimes even in the communist era (although they financial criteria in order to join. This attitude may not have been fully independent)—par- must be changed, and weaker members must ticularly in rural areas working on infrastruc- be assisted to become equal parts of the fam- ture projects such as roads and electricity. ily. The fact that some members have more limited resources must be taken into consid- As in the other Yugoslav republics, civil so- eration when applying for funding. ciety was not organized in formal coalitions but in politically oriented groups influenced NGO alliances in Kosovo are for the most part by the Yugoslav Communist Party, such as either needs-driven or donor-driven. In the the League of Pensioners and the League of first case, NGOs join to meet a specific need Youth Socialists. These leagues were official- or achieve a concrete goal. This is usually an ly independent, but their main priority was autonomous process and does not necessarily to serve state and party interests rather than need donor support. In many cases, NGOs form the real needs of the community. They func- an alliance in order to become more attractive tioned under the Yugoslav Communist Party to donors. Examples include Fol ‘08, the NGO (YCP). Organizations that tried to spread Peace-Building Coordination Group, Vetëv- democratic views were considered anti-pa- endosje!, the Kosovo Youth Network, Democ- triotic and were mistreated.

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NGO coalitions during the dissolution ed Kosovo. A two-year war in Kosovo left be- of Yugoslavia (1989-1999) hind thousands of victims and destroyed an enormous number of houses.114 The 10 years from 1989-1999 in Kosovo are known as the parallel state period. During The new environment offered big financial this time K-Albanian political parties and opportunities. This was an impetus for Ko- NGOs took the leading role in a policy of sovans to establish local NGOs, and UNMIK peaceful resistance. They organized a pri- legislation made it easy for them to register.115 vate parallel education system and provided The majority of them focused on humanitar- health care and humanitarian assistance for ian aid delivery, reconstruction of houses Kosovan families in need.113 and schools and other social projects. Most of the NGOs were implementing partners The first NGOs in Kosovo were established for donors such as the UN High Commission in 1989 and usually acted through branches for Refugees (UNHCR), UNDP, the United that were spread all around Kosovo (for ex- States Agency for International Development ample, the Mother Teresa Association, the (USAID) and EAR. Council for Defence of Human Rights and Freedom, and Motrat Qiriazi). The Mother The presence of such a large number of in- Teresa Association was established in 1990 ternational organizations was not very well and quickly established branches all around coordinated; in many cases, this led to a du- Kosovo. Hundreds of volunteers helped dis- plication of efforts. tribute assistance (mostly food and clothes) donated by western countries. The Mother 8.3 NGO coordination Teresa Association soon became a synonym in Kosovo today for solidarity in Kosovo. Today there are about 4,200 local NGOs reg- The first coalitions in Kosovo started operat- istered in Kosovo,116 though the exact number ing in 1997 and included the Kosovo Wom- of operational NGOs is unknown. The huge en’s Network. This network was officially number of NGOs has brought the need for registered in 2000. better coordination. As a result, there are in Kosovo dozens of NGO networks, coalitions After 1999—the “explosion” of NGOs and other groupings, all with one goal—to become a strong voice for civil society and to The withdrawal of Serbian forces and NATO’s strengthen democracy in Kosovo. entrance in June 1999 changed not only the security situation but also the political and Membership is not limited to organizations, social environment. Thousands of interna- and the networks are often informal in struc- tional NGOs and hundreds of donors flood- ture. There are no formal written regulations

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on how these groups should be organized. NGOs from Albania, Montenegro and Kos- They are not formally registered, and they ovo. This is a functional network where all are usually regulated by a Memorandum of partners have concrete obligation to fulfil. Understanding. There were no women members on the teams NGOs in Kosovo in general coordinate activi- created to negotiate a resolution to Kosovo’s ties through networks and coalitions. Net- status. KWN in conjunction with the “Wom- works are better organized and structured en in Black” network from Serbia raised their than coalitions and usually have a longer- voices very strongly to demand participation term issue to address. They are supported of women in negotiating such an important financially by the various donors engaged in issue. Kosovo. Kosovo Women’s Network NGO networks KWN was officially registered in 2000. Origi- Networks are usually well structured and nally, it was an informal network of women’s sustainable. They have elected boards and groups and organizations from various re- a council representing member NGOs, and gions in Kosovo. It has developed into a net- they usually have many members with simi- work that advocates on behalf of Kosovan lar missions. Two good examples are the Ko- women at the local, regional and interna- sovo Women’s Network (KWN) and the Kos- tional level. Representing the interests of 85 ovo Youth Network (KYN). women’s organizations from all ethnic groups in Kosovo, KWN is a leader among civil so- Networks are usually created to enable their ciety organizations in Kosovo and the region. members to address a particular issue more In 2006, it became the first NGO network in effectively. KWN was created from 85 wom- Kosovo to adopt a code of conduct, setting en’s NGOs who considered that women in an example of transparency and account- Kosovo were not treated in the proper man- ability. KWN also produces research reports ner and that it was not enough for individual and policy papers, including Monitoring the NGOs to address such an important issue. Implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Kosova, The Similarly, young people established the Kos- Extent of Gender-Based Violence and the Impact ovo Youth Network to address the problems on Women’s Reproductive Health in Kosova, and of youth in Kosovo more effectively. Domestic Violence in Kosovo (forthcoming).

Some Kosovo NGOs are also part of regional KWN’s mission is to support, protect and networks. For example, in 2007 NGO Advo- promote the rights and interests of women cacy Training and Resource Center (ATRC) and girls throughout Kosovo, regardless of became part of Euklid, which consists of their political beliefs, religion, age, level of

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education, sexual orientation or ability. KWN building, joint research and the development fulfils its mission through the exchange of of standards. experience and information, partnership and networking, research, advocacy and service. This form of coordination among NGOs is the most common in Kosovo. Coalitions in Kosovo Youth Network Kosovo are usually either issue-driven or donor-driven. KYN represents 127 youth organizations and youth centres throughout Kosovo. Its mission Issue-driven coalitions is to develop the capacity of youth to address their needs and to become effective actors for NGOs sometimes form a coalition around a a free, open, democratic society in Kosovo. particular issue or project. A good example is Democracy in Action, a coalition of 11 NGOs The goals of KYN are to increase the capac- that agreed to jointly monitor the November ity of youth groups in Kosovo; to strengthen 2007 elections. They jointly created a work cooperation, coordination and the exchange plan and requested financial support from of ideas between youth groups and organiza- donors operating in Kosovo. Other issue- tions, both within and outside Kosovo; to car- driven coalitions include NPCG, ProPeace, ry out activities that address priority needs of and Çohu!. Coalitions may come together on youth, such as participation, empowerment, an ad-hoc or long-term basis. human security, volunteerism, public health and employment. Ad-hoc coalitions are usually created to address short-term issues. An example is Ger- KYN’s main office in Pristina has four full- mia 2005, whose purpose was to prevent Ko- time staff members and five part-time staff sovo institutions from building a residence in members, depending on the projects that it is the national park of Germia. It was created involved with, as well local volunteers work- spontaneously and informally and ceased ex- ing on different activities and projects. isting as soon as the issue was resolved. It did not need financial support to fulfil its mis- NGO coalitions sion. Coalitions that can work without donor support have additional strength because Coalitions are usually more informal than they can avoid donor influence. Two other networks. They rarely have boards or as- ad-hoc NGO coalitions are the Coalition for semblies, but their internal relationships are Clean Parliament (headed by Çohu!) and Fol determined through a Memorandum of Un- 08. These coalitions become active when they derstanding or other contractual form. Coali- consider an issue needs to be addressed. The tions are generally highly collaborative and most recent case was when Fol 08 advocat- often involve advocacy, technical capacity ed against a planned increase in the Kosovo

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president’s salary. As a result, the president to ensure transparency and coordination relinquished the salary increase. among NGOs, provides a forum for prompt and frank discussion, and serves as a point of In June 2007, a group of NGOs from different contact between NGOs and other key actors parts of Kosovo formed Coalition for a Clean involved in peace building and returns. Parliament. It was modelled on a successful Romanian coalition founded in 2004. The goal Donor-driven coalitions was to create a parliament free of corruption, organized crime and other illegal activities by These coalitions are established to imple- researching the background of each candidate ment projects that are requested by donors, for parliament from the six biggest Kosovan usually through calls for proposals. For ex- political parties in order to reveal any illegal ample, Bridges of Friendship was created in activities. Civil Society for a Clean Parliament response to an OSCE call for proposals for is led by Çohu! (Organization for Democracy, a project to foster communication between Anticorruption and Dignity, based in Pristina); municipalities and citizens. It ceased to exist other members are the Initiative for Progress as soon as the project was completed. (Ferizaj), Eye of Vision (Peja), Forum of NGOs (Gjakova), Community Building Mitrovice Various donors in Kosovo have made an ef- (CBM), Citizens’ Initiative of Llap (Podujeve), fort to create coalitions. Some donors make Çelnaja (Malisheve/Prishtine) and Young Euro- the creation of a coalition a criterion for eli- pean Federalists (JEF—Vushtrri and Pristina). gibility to receive funds. Unfortunately, in many cases these coalitions have disintegrat- Long-term coalitions are more sustainable ed when the project was completed. than other NGO coalitions in Kosovo but less formal than networks. They meet on a regu- One good example of a donor-driven coali- lar basis, usually monthly or bimonthly, and tion is ProPeace. In 2005, the German NGO usually have an executive committee that Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst (Forum Civil prepares the agenda and determines issues Peace Service) brought together Kosovan to be addressed. NGOs working on peace building and reconciliation to assess what they would need A good example of a long-term coalition is to make their work more sustainable. NGOs NPCG. It meets every six weeks to address stressed the need to meet, share experiences, issues that arise in the peace building and exchange ideas, and help each other increase returns process. Its executive committee their capacity to influence the peace process consists of three local and two international in Kosovo. ProPeace is working to get media NGOs, who each serve for a one-year term. attention, establish credibility with politicians The coalition facilitates information ex- and donors, and play a role in policymaking. change, identifies and acts on issues, works It currently has 13 NGO members.

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8.4 Conclusion Recommendations

Experience suggests that the most effective Recommendations for networks and coali- and natural forms of NGO coordination are tions are as follows. based on need rather than donor expecta- Continue working together. Working in tions. However, it is not possible for NGOs to groups accomplishes more than working in- fulfil their tasks without financial support. In dividually. order to accomplish their missions, whether Provide capacity building for younger and working alone or in groups, NGOs need to less experienced NGO members; invest, pay for office rent, fuel, salaries, websites and when possible, in human resources. other operational or project expenses. At the Kosovo is very young society with many moment, NGOs are fully dependent on in- problems. Coalitions and networks must be ternational donors. The Kosovo government more proactive in offering constructive oppo- still does not have a clear policy or budget sition to the government and helping Kosovo for working with NGOs. Furthermore, NGOs institutions to create in Kosovo a truly demo- in Kosovo are still operating based on a 1999 cratic country. UNMIK regulation that was intended to be In the Perceptions of Civil Society in Kosovo a temporary solution. Parliament has drafted Survey, only 12.6 percent of respondents said an NGO law, which needs to be further im- they were aware of any NGO coalition in Ko- proved to regulate the proper functioning of sovo. Networks and coalitions must more ac- NGOs. Civil society must be invited to com- tively seek public visibility. ment on this law. Communication between coalitions and networks must be improved. Networks and coalitions must be more proactive towards donors by developing project proposals, requesting assistance, and developing long-term strategies for working with donors. Existing networks and coalitions should undertake SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, which could help their further development.

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CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 107 The Media and Civil Society 9. Virtyt Gacaferi The Media 9. and Civil Society Virtyt Gacaferi

This chapter explores the ambivalent relation- been analysed and compared with the results ship between the media and civil society in of a separate, specially commissioned online Kosovo. Details that pertain specifically to the survey, which included space for comment- media and its development will be discussed ing on the questions (see box 9.1). first. Features common to both the media and civil society will then be outlined, followed The term ”civil society” has been defined by a discussion on the ways in which the two throughout this report. The media, for the diverge. Finally, a number of pragmatic rec- sake of this article, should be understood as ommendations will be made regarding ac- a group of private entities that are involved tions to increase the contributions of both to in the publication of information, entertain- further development in Kosovo. ment and educational material and that seek, through their own channels, to play an active To support the discussion, data from the Per- role in the society.117 ceptions of Civil Society in Kosovo Survey have 9.1 The media in Kosovo Box 9.1 Online “Media and Civil Society” survey methodology Before 1990, the Kosovo media included only An online questionnaire was distributed to selected one daily newspaper, one Kosovo-wide broad- journalists during September and October of 2008 caster, a few specialized publications, and local and to the Association of Professional Journalists radio stations in the main cities. These media of Kosovo for further distribution to its members. A total of 22 media professionals working for 14 dif- outlets were owned by the state and control- ferent media organizations took part in the survey. led by the Yugoslav socialist regime, in con- They included two editors-in-chief and five senior trast with the media in Kosovo today. journalists who have been working for more than three years in the Kosovo media. The least experi- Following the fall of the Iron Curtain, the enced respondent had one year of work experience, media blossomed in most Eastern European whilst the most experienced had 26 years in the countries during the 1990s. However, Kos- Kosovo media. The average length of media experience was nine years. Respondents were drawn ovo saw its status as a widely self-governing from several areas of the media, including print and autonomous province, assured by the 1974 broadcast journalism and the Web. Constitution, abolished in 1989 by the Yugo- While most of the questions were closed, space slav regime led by Slobodan Milošević. The was provided for respondents to make additional forcible closure of Albanian-language media comments and to elaborate on any issues raised by began shortly thereafter. As the OSCE stated, the questions. A total of 23 written comments were “What had already begun with a series of received. new measures decreed by the Serbian assem-

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bly in March 1990 resulted in the ban of the In the wake of post-conflict rebuilding efforts, only Albanian-language newspaper Rilindija this media “explosion” was further reinforced and cessation of TV and Radio broadcasts on by the lack of rules and regulations on broad- Radio TV Pristina (RTP)”.118 casting. Former OSCE Temporary Media Com- missioner Robert Gilette explained that the high As a result of these moves, by 1997 the Al- number of media outlets was created by “the banian-language media in Kosovo consisted uncoordinated licensing of stations by UNMIK only of a two-hour satellite programme pro- and KFOR [the NATO peacekeeping force] in duced in Albania, one daily newspaper (Bu- 1999/2000 as well as by the initial licensing policy jku), and two weekly magazines, Koha and of the TMC (Temporary Media Commissioner), Zëri. In 1997, the weekly Koha introduced aimed on utmost pluralism and the maximum Koha Ditore, a daily publication, and in 1998, right of freedom of expression”120. The OSCE a second daily newspaper, Kosova Sot, was data also illustrate the fact that during that launched. However, during 1999, the con- time, a broadcasting license could be obtained flict in Kosovo escalated, and as a result of with a minimum of effort, leading to higher this, combined with Serbian President Milan concentrations of media stations: “In August Milutinović’s refusal to sign the peace agree- 2005 a total of 111 radio and TV stations oper- ment drafted in Rambouillet and the subse- ated in Kosovo. With an estimated population quent NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the Al- of only 1.9 to 2.2 million people, Kosovo ranks banian-language media was destroyed, with amongst the entities in the former Yugoslavia most journalists expelled from Kosovo. having the highest number of broadcasters.”121

Following the end of NATO’s military cam- The media in Kosovo remain characterised paign and the expulsion of Yugoslav forces by and largely comprised of organizations from Kosovo, the local media began to recov- created following the conflict in an environ- er and develop. The establishment of UNMIK ment with limited regulation and high fi- further contributed to a boost in freedom of nancial support. The media in Kosovo today expression, taking it to a degree hardly expe- continue to receive financial and institutional rienced in Kosovo before. In less than a year support from international donors, although following UNMIK’s creation, three Kosovo- at a significantly lower level. wide TV broadcasters, five daily newspapers and dozens of radio stations had surfaced. 9.2 Links between media These were further benefited by the signifi- and civil society cant influx of international aid money into Kosovo after 1999; according to an OSCE es- Common features timate, the financial support given to the Ko- sovo media had reached 36 million euros by Sixty percent of the journalists who partici- 2006.119 pated in the online survey agreed that the

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media in Kosovo fulfil a watchdog function, Figure 9.1 Do civil society and the media hold opting for a definition of media as “a group the government accountable? of people motivated to monitor what Govern- Media Civil Society ment is doing with taxpayers’ money”. This 50% function is even more widely acknowledged 40% amongst Kosovo’s public: 76 percent of the respondents to the KHDR 2008 poll122 stated 30% that they believe the media holds the govern- 20% ment accountable. In comparison, 72 percent 10% of the respondents considered that this role 0% A lot Somewhat Not at all None was effectively fulfilled by civil society- or ganizations (see figure 9.1). which have traditionally been voluntary enti- According to the online “Media and Civil ties. This is reflected in Kosovo’s civil society. Society” survey, a significant proportion (70 Similarly in Kosovo, and as testified by the percent) of journalists surveyed also consider KHDR 2008 poll, voluntarism seems to be the media to be a group of people who “fight emblematic of civil society’s work. for more civil rights”, a function often fulfilled by other kinds of civil society organiza- Last but not least, the fact that 60 percent of tions, for example in relation to the issue of journalists surveyed consider the media to women’s rights or when defending African- be part of civil society suggests that the con- Americans’ civil rights in the United States. cept of civil society should include the media. However, 40 percent of respondents disputed Both of these statements would equally and this idea. This seems to be due to a perception undoubtedly apply to civil society as defined that media outlets have individual loyalties or in this report (see chapter 1), and both aspects agenda and thus cannot be a true representa- are taken into consideration below when as- tive of civil society; “some of the media sup- sessing the extent to which the media can be port the government, some others the interests considered part of civil society. of particular groups; they rarely represent the civil society”, commented an editor with 10 The results of the online survey also show years of experience in Kosovo media. that volunteerism may be an additional feature common to both civil society and media: Key aspects that differentiate 70 percent of journalists stated they would be media from civil society willing to do their work on a voluntary basis if they had another income. This readiness Despite the prevailing perception amongst to work voluntarily bears a resemblance to those journalists interviewed that media and those involved in civil society organizations, civil society serve a similar purpose and that as

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journalists they are part of civil society, there is Additionally, TV and radio stations need a no consensus as to whether media themselves license in order to broadcast, and as a result, belong to civil society. Indeed, the main argu- the number of broadcasters is limited and ments used by those that propose a division regulated by specialised agencies. In con- between the media and civil society include trast, civil society organizations operate more the dissimilarities with regards to registration freely, without a need to be licenced. requirements, internal conduct of affairs, regulations and profit administration. Further, media organizations are allowed to distribute profits to their shareholders. This In Kosovo, civil society organizations that is not the case with civil society organiza- have at least three founding members and an tions, since in keeping with their status as accompanying statute are registered with the non-profit organizations, any financial- sur Ministry of Public Services. Media outlets, on plus must be reinvested in the organization the other hand, are registered with the Minis- rather than being distributed to founders or try of Finance and Economy, where they are board members. regarded as businesses and as such must pay for their registration and provide the names of These legal differences are reflected in the their owners. However, they are not required opinions expressed by survey respondents. to provide authorities with their found- Only 15 percent of respondents to the KHDR ing statute. Moreover, they can be founded, 2008 poll said they perceive media as part of owned and governed by a single person—in civil society (see table 9.1). contrast to civil society organizations, which must involve at least three persons.

Table 9.1 Actors perceived as belonging to civil society K-Albanian K-Serb Other Total NGO Number 774 115 161 1,050 % within ethnicity 90.3% 56.4% 91.5% Syndicates Number 558 88 117 763 % within ethnicity 65.1% 43.1% 66.5% People/community Number 260 78 32 370 organizations % within ethnicity 30.3% 38.2% 18.2% Media Number 126 45 20 191 % within ethnicity 14.7% 22.1% 11.4% Political parties Number 13 38 4 55 % within ethnicity 1.5% 18.6% 2.3% Private businesses Number 25 29 2 56 % within ethnicity 2.9% 14.2% 1.1% Total Number 857 204 176 1,237

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Table 9.2 Journalists’ definition of the media 1 2 3 4 5 (agree (disagree strongly) strongly) Part of the third sector (the two others being the 21.1% 10.5% 21.1% 15.8% 31.6% government and the private sector) Fourth estate (fourth power, the three others being 42.1% 15.8% 5.3% 21.1% 15.8% the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary) Part of the private sector—as a group of 21.1% 10.5% 31.6% 15.8% 21.1% professionals gathered to make profit A small group of people paying professionals to 22.2% 11.1% 11.1% 33.3% 22.2% achieve social objectives

Likewise, the journalists who participated in Instead, a larger number tend to consider the the online survey tended to refute the idea media to be a tool of power. that the media belongs to the “third sector”, as some call civil society123 (see Table 9.2). With regard to the functional role played by Most respondents preferred the definition at- the media, journalists support the idea of tributed to 19th-century essayist Thomas Car- the media as “a group of people motivated lyle, built on a comment attributed to English to monitor what the government is doing statesman Edmund Burke: “Burke said there with taxpayers’ money” rather than “people were Three Estates [powers] in Parliament; guided by and striving to reach common ob- but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there jectives” (see table 9.3). Likewise, there is no sat a Fourth Estate more important far than unanimity amongst journalists surveyed in they all.”124 regard to the definition of the media either as “a group of people engaged for more de- The results shown in this table indicate that mocracy” or for “more civil rights”. As such, journalists do not agree that the media should while the watchdog function of media seems be considered as a private sector entity striv- to be broadly accepted, its association with ing for profit, nor that civil society is a group civil society in its broadest conception is far of people with defined goals and objectives. less obvious.

Table 9.3 Journalists’ view of media characteristics 1 2 3 4 5 (agree) (disagree) A group of people guided by similar concepts and 27.8% 22.2% 11.1% 22.2% 16.7% striving to reach common objectives A group of people motivated to monitor what the 50.0% 12.5% 12.5% 12.5% 6.3% government is doing with taxpayers’ money A group of people engaged for more democracy 37.5% 12.5% 25.0% 12.5% 6.3% A group of people engaged for more civil rights 43.8% 25.0% 6.3% 6.3% 12.5% A group of professionals who work for a company 47.1% 5.9% 29.4% 5.9% 5.9%

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9.3 A special relationship in civil society than in government and the private sector. As argued above, there are functions, in particular that of government watchdog, that However, journalists’ willingness to include both the media and civil society fulfil. While a civil society group in stories depends on they clearly differ from each other in legal and whether they perceive that group to be inde- regulatory terms, the distinction between their pendent of any particular political agenda. roles with regard to promoting civil rights and As one journalist stated: “I would include democracy seems less clear. This ambiguity civil society in all of [my articles] if there has contributed to the fostering of a special re- was a real engaged civil society, rather than lationship between the media and civil society one that works for the interests of different organizations, especially between those shar- groups.” (See figure 9.3.) ing similar values, ideas and interests. However, almost all respondents to the online For example, the majority (70 percent) of the survey acknowledged that they feel obliged journalists surveyed affirmed that it is easier to include civil society in their reporting. In to report on issues in which civil society is addition, the quality and diversity of civil so- involved. One respondent even said, “The ciety organizations in Kosovo is considered voice of civil society sometimes makes the re- limited by the media and as such, journalists’ porting more interesting than the voice of the confidence in civil society differs depending opposition.” This might also be linked to the on which organization is involved. As one fact that most media entities place more trust respondent said “[while] we also give space to civil society, these organizations have to

Figure 9.2 Who would you trust more— be serious and careful on the statements they government, civil society or give as they are sometimes inaccurate.” business? Figure 9.3 In how many stories would Government Civil society you include civil society? Business None 60% 1 to 3 out of 10 stories 4 - 7 out of 10 stories 8 - 10 out of 10 stories 50% 14%

12% 40% 10% 30% 8%

20% 6%

10% 4%

2% 0% 0% Who would you trust more Number of responses

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There is a consensus amongst journalists that Taking advantage of their special relation- civil society organizations in Kosovo are a ship, they work with civil society to reinforce firmly established part of the media’s daily democracy in Kosovo, including in particular reality. However, for journalists to give ad- the improved management of public funds. ditional coverage to civil society, CSOs will need to provide more reliable information Recommendations to and substantive comments about issues in civil society organizations which the media are more directly interested. Seek to enhance the level of cooperation and contact with the media. A momentum exists 9.4 Conclusion within the journalists’ community in Kosovo for increasingly including the voice of civil The media, defined at the beginning of this society in the media and thus enabling activi- chapter as “a group of private entities that ties undertaken by CSOs to have a larger im- are involved in the publication of informa- pact on Kosovo society. tion, entertainment and educational material and that seek, through their own channels, Recommendations to donors to play an active role in the society”, cannot and development organizations be considered part of civil society, as most media organizations can realise profit from Seek to train civil society organizations in their work and are regulated as businesses, media relations. governed by the wishes of their owners, and internally guided by diverging goals. How- When civil society organizations meet inside ever, like civil society organizations, most or outside Kosovo, media representatives media outlets fulfil a watchdog function. should be invited to participate and report.

CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 115 European Union Integration and Civil Society 10. Shenoll Muharremi European Union Integration 10. and Civil Society Shenoll Muharremi

European integration is one of the most de- actors with civil society organizations will be manding processes for Kosovo institutions analysed as well. and society. It has been one of the key factors that facilitated transformation of institutions There is no civil society policy per se in the and societies from socialist to democratic and EU membership process. There is hardly any from central to market economies in post- civil society prime legislation in the approxi- communist Eastern Europe. Surveys show mately 100,000 pages of acquis communautaire that citizens of Kosovo overwhelmingly sup- (EU body of law). Rather, the EC addresses port membership in the European Union. Yet the issue as one of the benchmarks of the po- assessment reports indicate that Kosovo and litical criteria, namely within democracy and its institutions still need serious reform in or- rule of law sections. The Commission only der to reach this goal. evaluates level of development of civil society; it cannot control or regulate civil society As Kosovo is still in the very early stages of as this is up to national authorities. the EU membership process, it has not yet fully engaged in this course. This might prove Still, the Commission requires governments to be a great impetus for civil society organi- and institutions of countries that want to join zations to consolidate and, if capable, exert the EU to pursue sound governance practices their influence and use this process to shape that allow civil societies to have an impact on Kosovo’s future. Like elsewhere in Eastern policy and decision-making processes. But as Europe, civil society organizations have an this, by its nature, is a fundamental part of important role to play. the development of democracy, it is a process that takes time to take root and become This chapter does not aim to assess civil so- sustainable, especially in societies without a ciety’s capacity to interact with the European long history of democratic and civic engage- integration process, although it will illustrate ment. how the European Commission (EC) reports on civil society functionality in Kosovo. It Issues and developments within civil society concentrates on the European integration organizations in the course of the European process as seen from civil society organiza- integration process are no different from tions’ perspective. It discusses key instru- those in any democratic, market-economy ments, mechanisms and tools that civil socie- system. European integration should not be ty can use to monitor and become an actor in approached as an isolated or parallel process. the process, which could transform Kosovo The role of civil society organizations in the institutions and society. Engagement of other European integration process is no different

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from their role in developing sound demo- organizations”.126 This is somewhat difficult cratic countries and societies. But they can to interpret, because it is hard to understand use the process as a way to shape the organi- the precise assessment of civil society in the zation and functioning of their own society earlier report. It also reflects the fact that the and institutions. main agenda items for local and international actors in Kosovo at the time were high-level 10.1 Civil society and the Euro- politics such as Kosovo’s final political status pean integration process and ethnic issues after the March 2004 riots— and not the functioning of civil society organ- Civil society organizations are one of the most izations. But the fact that civil society organi- important actors in this important European- zations received their own paragraph in the ization process for the citizens and authori- report within the discussion of political cri- ties of Kosovo. Like democracy, this process teria constituted real progress, even though takes time, and civil society organizations they were mentioned only twice in the report. need to develop themselves in order to be That meant that, from then on, the EC would able to effectively play their role. The Euro- not only evaluate and monitor their capacity pean Commission, in its Annual Progress Re- and influence but also address any identified port, mainly it evaluates authorities. But they gaps politically and financially. also briefly assess civil society. The following are summaries of how civil society has been The Kosovo Progress Report 2007 states that evaluated in EC annual progress reports on “the administrative, financial, and manage- Kosovo. rial capacities of civil society organizations are very uneven, and are particularly poor at In the Kosovo Progress Report 2005, there was municipal level, which obstructs their devel- no direct assessment of civil society as in later opment. Co-operation between the authori- reports. But analysis of the report shows that ties and civil society organization remains its assessment of the functioning and capaci- uneven. Overall, almost no progress was ty of the civil society organizations was poor, made in this area. Civil society organizations as would be the case in the years to come. For remain weak.”127 example, the environmental section of the report stated: “Environmental civil society re- Although civil society was evaluated as weak, mains at a low level of development, limiting the EC did not use its strongest language— the possibilities for participation.”125 wording such as “very, very weak” or “extremely weak” was not used, as it was, for The Kosovo Progress Report 2006 said that example, in the evaluation of Kosovo’s public there had been “no major changes since the administration in the 2005 report, which said, last report occurred in terms of the capac- “Kosovo’s public administration remains ex- ity and influence of the local civil society tremely weak, inefficient and overstaffed”.128

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The civil society assessment in the 2007 report interest to do so, since democracy might not was more in depth and detailed, but also sig- always be the most efficient system for mov- nalled that needs for intervention was urgent ing projects forward swiftly—especially main the sectors. jor projects.

The Kosovo Progress Report 2008 maintained Nevertheless, the European integration that “the capacity of civil society organiza- process needs civil society as a major part- tions remains weak”.129 The EC has the ca- ner, and the EC is committed to developing pacity to assess, without any major political and supporting it. A well developed and influence, the real situation on the ground. functioning civil society is one of the key But EC reports are not necessarily 100 per- prerequisites for well-developed democra- cent accurate, because they need partners cies and functioning societies and institu- such as civil society organizations to assist in tions in the western Balkans. That is why information gathering. It might happen that the EC included provisions for civil society some activities of civil society organizations, support in its enlargement strategy papers mainly at the local level, are not registered, and financial frameworks. For example, the but that should not be an excuse. The impor- 2007 progress report said: tant fact is that these are to a great extent un- biased and professional reports and therefore should be treated professionally. Ongoing EC assistance under the CARDS These reports lead to several conclusions. [Community Assistance First, reports and warnings have not been for Reconstruction, taken seriously—and may not even have been Development and read and analysed carefully. Second, the Kos- Stabilisation] instrument ovo leadership was very much overburdened amounts to some €170 during these years with the issue of the final million and involves over political status of Kosovo, so that functioning 80 projects. The current of civil society organizations was not even on programmes, among their agenda. Third, there was no compre- others, provide financial hensive strategy for strengthening the role of assistance to civil society civil society organizations; most actions were organizations. A number of ad-hoc and failed to deliver needed results. civil society organizations Fourth, Kosovans, especially civil society or- have been contracted to ganizations, should not wait for outsiders to receive EC grants following come and solve their problems. This does not a competitive selection mean that international actors cannot deliver, process.130 but that sometimes it might be a conflict of

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On the other hand, an analysis of the fifth in affecting a transformation of civil society enlargement of the EU (completed in 2007) in the Baltic states.”133 The same can be con- notes: cluded for all countries of the fifth enlargement as well.

Civil society, like democracy itself, is a long- The share of assistance term process and takes time to complete, if it targeted to civil society can ever be considered complete. “If people as part of the democracy are simply not accustomed to defending their programmes of international interests and taking active part in public life, donors has remained they do not easily change their habits even surprisingly small… the if the political system becomes more favour- EU has given less support able to civic activity.”134 to civil society in its Eastern neighbourhood than some The fact that Kosovo has faced several tran- other major donors … sitions—political, economic, and post-con- direct, financial aid to civil flict—has been a challenge. Kosovo has young society has composed only institutions and lacks the lengthy experience a small part of the financial that might help it to properly handle these assistance programmes in multiple processes at once. However, Kos- the region. The democracy ovo is strategically on the right track. Now it promotion programmes have needs proactive leadership that follows good lacked a clear purpose and governance principles and develops policies more specified aims.131 that deliver results and bring much-needed development, in order for Kosovo to catch up Another commentator rightly states that “in- with its neighbouring countries and progress tegration into the EU and the strengthening in the European integration process. of the role of civil society in the candidate 132 countries are not parallel processes.” This The main concerns of the European integra- means that during the EU membership proc- tion process are harmonisation, adoption ess not only institutions but also civil socie- and implementation of the EU acquis, insti- ty’s framework and functioning change and tutional reforms and economic development. improve. In the majority of cases, the Euro- Of course, developing the capacities of civil pean integration process and civil society or- society organizations is part of this process. ganizations are natural allies and need each But perpetuating a culture of passivity will other to progress over the process. “The inte- not comply with the process, and strategies gration into the EU has been the main factor for change should be established.

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this section addresses the process itself and its instruments and mechanisms in order to In very general terms, facilitate participation of civil society organi- civil society is needed in zations. democratisation for two purposes: first, to move the Stabilisation and association process process forward, and second, to prevent it from sliding Kosovo participates in the European inte- backwards… In transition gration process via the Stabilisation and As- countries, there is no such sociation Process (SAP)—the central mecha- civil society to begin with, nism driving EU relations with the western although there are some Balkans as they work towards accession. Due forms of organized civic to Kosovo’s unresolved political status, in activity in all societies. The 2003 a special instrument called the Stabil- process of democratisation ity Tracking Mechanism (STM) was designed includes the creation of civic to enable Kosovo to participate in SAP. Al- organizations that are able though STM did not answer the question of to perform these functions, contractual relations between Kosovo and and the development of EU, it still provided a framework for Kosovo relations between the state to engage individually (separate from Serbia) and civil society so as to in the process. allow the latter to contribute to the functioning of Now that Kosovo has declared its independ- democracy.135 ence, it might be reasonable to expect to move from the STM process to SAP. But this might 10.2 Kosovo and the European be difficult, due to the fact that five EU mem- integration process ber states have not yet recognised Kosovo’s independence, putting the European Com- It is essential that civil society organizations mission in a difficult situation and making that aim to be involved in the European in- negotiations on the Stabilisation and Associa- tegration process understand EU member- tion Agreement (SAA) difficult as well. ship criteria, the process and its instruments at both European and national levels. Inter- Decisions to start a feasibility study or negoti- ested stakeholders need to participate in pol- ations are made by the Council of the Europe- icy- and decision-making from the very early an Union. Therefore, the European Commis- stages. Unfortunately, the public is often in- sion will not be able to move forward without formed only at the end of the process when getting the green light from the Council. It is a decision is approved or signed. Therefore, not difficult to conclude that lobbying the five

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EU member states that have not recognised (perhaps the most demanding criterion), the Kosovo’s independence should be one of the country must “harmonise, endorse and im- main tasks of Kosovo’s newly established plement complete body of EU legislation”.139 Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is to be hoped that these political obstacles will be removed In 1995 in Madrid, the European Council in the near future. In the mean time, Kosovo added a criterion on administrative capacity, authorities should continue to move forward which addressed functionality of public ad- on the necessary reforms. ministrations and reforms in aspiring countries. In terms of Kosovo and the western Bal- EU membership criteria kans in general, two additional membership criteria derive from SAP: regional coopera- The political issues mentioned above are tion and cooperation with the International highly technical and will require lengthy and Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. significant efforts to resolve. Membership The Union’s ability to financially and politi- criteria, on the other hand, are clear. To join cally absorb a candidate country, as well as the EU, a country must be geographically lo- the momentum for European integration, are cated in Europe and respect the principles set also becoming increasingly important for any out in Article 6(1) of the Treaty on European future EU enlargements. Union: “the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamen- Achieving EU membership is a long process tal freedoms, and the rule of law, principles with several phases designed to engage as- which are common to the Member States”.136 pirant countries in ongoing multisectoral re- The well-known Copenhagen criteria (po- forms, with progress assessed annually in a litical, economic, and legal criteria deriving European Commission progress report. from the 1993 European Council Summit) provide the key guide for countries wanting The first step in the process is a declaration, by to become eligible for membership in the EU, the EU and the aspirant country, of the inten- one of the most influential political and eco- tion to engage in long-term cooperation that nomic clubs on the planet. could potentially lead to full EU membership. Within the SAP, there are several instruments Politically, “the applicant country must have (discussed in the next section of this chapter) achieved stability of its institutions guaran- that move the process from declaration to teeing democracy, the rule of law, human political and technical cooperation. Regular rights and respect for and protection of political and technical sectoral meetings be- minorities;137 economically, it must “have a tween EC and Kosovo authorities take place functioning market economy, as well as the to work on moving Kosovo forward and as- capacity to cope with competitive pressure sessing its progress towards meeting the cri- and market forces within the EU;138 legally teria—in this case, the European Partnership

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priorities. The annual progress report also continue while all above issues are being ad- signals when it is time for a country to move dressed in parallel. The country will start to to the next step in the process. EU provides implement the SAA and, when it assesses continuous financial support throughout the that it has achieved significant progress, it membership process via its Instrument of will apply for EU membership. The Coun- Pre-Accession (IPA) with the aim of helping cil will then ask the Commission to give its aspirant countries move forward with the opinion on whether the applicant country is necessary reforms. ready to start membership negotiations. If the Commission says yes, negotiations will start. The next step is usually a feasibility study by Agreement on the 35 negotiated chapters EC experts that makes a recommendation to leads to accession into the EU, provided that the Council on whether the EU should start all member states have approved the mem- SAA negotiations. This chapter has already bership. The conclusions of the Council of the discussed the political issues that might European Union summit held on 17 Decem- hinder the start of a feasibility study for Ko- ber 2004 in Brussels stated that “the shared sovo. In any case, such a study might not objective of the negotiations is accession” but necessarily give a positive recommendation. “these negotiations are an open-ended proc- The feasibility study for Bosnia and Herze- ess, the outcome of which cannot be guaran- govina, for example, recommended waiting teed beforehand”.140 for more progress before starting the SAA negotiations. Still, starting the feasibility study Kosovo’s current status, as well as the work would be significant progress for Kosovo and needed in order to become an EU member would at least clarify, like it did for Bosnia state, are clear. It is no secret that member- and Herzegovina, the benchmarks on which ship is highly important to Kosovo authori- Kosovo needs to concentrate. ties, civil society and citizens. Nevertheless, the process itself should be as important as This is followed by negotiations leading to the end result, because it is a unique opportu- the agreement and signing of the SAA, which nity not only for authorities but also for civil has to be approved by EU member states. society organizations to shape their future This is rightly perceived as a pre-accession and the way Kosovo society is organized. agreement that legally affirms the aspirant country’s prospects for full membership. All 10.3 European integration countries from the western Balkans except process instruments, Kosovo have negotiated and signed an SAA mechanisms and with the European Union. structures

Meanwhile implementation of reforms based This section will elaborate instruments, struc- on the European Partnership priorities should tures and mechanisms from both the EU and

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Kosovo sides that civil society organisations stages of drafting the agreement. Civil soci- can use to participate and influence policy ety can find support from the Commission and decision-making in this process. Most of to include a specific point or stress a policy the points below have been mentioned in this that will later push authorities to implement text already but had a different approach. it. For example, if access to information is a This time the emphasis is on policy- and de- concern for civil society organizations, they cision-making. should engage and talk to the European Commission in order to channel this concern European Partnership priorities into the European Partnerships. That way the EC, which has huge bargaining power in the One of the main instruments within the SAP is process, will addresses the issue regularly the European Partnership priorities document, with national authorities, and follow up on which was initiated in the Thessaloniki Euro- whether the government has implemented pean Council in 2003. The Council has stated their recommendations. The issue will then that “the European Partnerships are a means also become part of the annual progress re- to materialise the European perspective of the port. western Balkans”141 and that “the purpose of these Partnerships is to identify short- and me- European Partnership dium-term reforms which the countries need to implementation action plan carry out, to serve as a checklist against which to measure progress, and to provide guidance European Partnerships require each country for programming of EU assistance”.142 Europe- to prepare an action plan detailing measures an Partnerships are based on the state of play of to be undertaken and a timetable and budget each country and address that country’s needs for implementing them in order to respond and the actions it needs to undertake in order to the priorities listed in the partnership doc- to move closer to the EU. All actions and rec- ument. Monitoring of progress will be car- ommendations in the Partnerships are based ried out by established SAP mechanisms. The on short-term (one to two years) and medium- Commission is responsible for evaluating the term (three to four years) reforms that coun- implementation of the action plan in an an- tries need to implement. nual report.

A European Partnership uses EU membership EU financial support for the countries of the criteria and the country’s annual progress re- western Balkans is prioritized based on the port to make recommendations on sectoral short- and medium-term reform actions de- reforms. rived from the European Partnership, taking into account each country’s particular needs For a civil society organization to influence and capacity. After the publication of the an- this process, it needs to take part in the early nual progress reports, the European Com-

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mission updates the European Partnership nature. Investors around the world use the re- documents, removing actions that have been port as a reference to check the feasibility of their complete and adding new ones. investments. For countries in advanced stages of the membership process, it can help determine Although, hypothetically, concern for civil so- whether political parties win elections. ciety is incorporated into the European Part- nership document, the work in this regard is Civil society can use this instrument in many not done. Civil society organizations need to ways. It can be used to lobby national authori- lobby and work with national authorities to ties in favour of particular reforms. Moreover, make sure that actions committed to in the civil society has been invited by the EC to con- European Partnership document are carried tribute to the preparation of the report. They out. For this to happen, the actions must be can express their concerns or appreciations in realistic and implementable and have suffi- writing and, if appropriate and relevant, they cient budget to be implemented. will be included in the report. After the report is issued, the Commission informs the gov- The fact that EU assistance (the IPA) is based ernment and then holds a joint meeting with on recommendations in the European Part- civil society organizations to communicate the nership document gives another tool to civil findings. It is important to use this opportu- society organizations to lobby both the EC (in nity to influence the progress report in order Kosovo, the European Commission Liaison to support arguments for including issues and Office) and national authorities when they do concerns in the European Partnership docu- annual programming. Once their concerns are ment, implementation action plan and IPA. incorporated into the European Partnership document, civil society organizations have the EU financial assistance right to insist that the measure receives EU financial assistance through the IPA. EU financial management and procurement rules are complex and require considerable The financial measures and reporting require- bureaucratic processing; they can only be dis- ments make this a complex and comprehen- cussed briefly here. Governmental and non- sive process. Civil society organizations must governmental organizations often ask for an master the process thoroughly in order to be immediate EU response to a funding request, able to use it proactively—thus its detailed but this only shows that they do not understand discussion in this chapter. the process well. It is important to elaborate on the core issues relating to EU assistance. EC annual progress report The key instrument for EU financial assistance The EC Annual Progress Report is a highly re- to aspirant and candidate countries is the IPA. spected assessment, realistic and forthright in It is programmed annually based on several

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instruments, including the Multi-annual In- STM political and technical meetings dicative Financial Framework, Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document, Progress Re- The main forums where EU and national au- port, and European Partnership document. thorities discuss the European integration Development strategies of national authori- process are STM meetings (for political is- ties are considered (based on the Paris Dec- sues) and workshops (for technical and sec- laration). National authorities in charge of toral issues). Civil society organizations have the process and of EU financial assistance are in some cases taken an active part and been eligible to take part with the Commission in included on the official agenda—such as the the process. IPA operations can be managed STM Workshop on the Environment held on centrally (by the EC), jointly (by the EC and 24 January 2007 in Pristina. This is an effec- national authorities), or in a decentralised tive way for civil society to make its message fashion (by the national authorities). Kosovo heard at a very high level. has a centralised management system. Structures In addition to the IPA, among the most important EU supporting mechanisms are the The main addresses in Kosovo for the tech- Multi-Beneficiary Programme, the European nical management of the European integra- Human Rights and Democracy Initiative, tion process are the Agency for Development Community Programmes, and the Technical Coordination and European Integration (for- Assistance and Information Exchange. merly the Agency for European Integration and Donor Coordination Centre) and the Eu- Because the IPA is the central financial instru- ropean Commission Liaison Office (which in ment for Kosovo, it is worth mentioning that other countries is known as the EC Delega- decisions on how to programme and distrib- tion). These two offices work together on a ute it are made in a series of consultations daily basis. The Kosovo Unit within Enlarge- with stakeholders and take several months, ment Directorate General, C Directorate is sometimes a year, to complete. Civil society responsible for managing Kosovo affairs on organizations are among the key stakehold- behalf of the European Commission. ers that the Commission consults. Therefore, if civil society organizations want to promote In terms of political representation, Kosovo’s their agendas, they need to actively take part deputy prime minister is in charge and re- in this process. This can be a complex and sponsible for this agenda. The Kosovo As- demanding task: “One of the well-known sembly in 2008 established a Committee for obstacles to enhancing the EU’s support European Integration, and Kosovo has also to civil society in [candidate] countries is established a diplomatic mission in Brussels. posed by the bureaucratic procedures of aid The required IPA management structures are programmes.”143 not yet in place.

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SAA and membership negotiations implementing the actions 4. Timeframe for completing the actions Both SAA and membership negotiations are 5. Budget necessary to implement the ac- complex and will take a significant amount tions and from where it will be derived of time to complete. While SAA is mainly 6. Other comments and related issues trade related, negotiations for EU membership (also known as accession) cover all of the EPAP is a public document and the basis criteria described above. These negotiations of most meetings that take place within the are organized into chapters for different sec- process. Civil society organizations can use it tors (e.g., chapter 10, Information Society and to monitor the plan’s implementation. This is Media, and chapter 22, Regional Policy and very important, since experience has shown Coordination of Structural Instruments144); that countries in the early stages of integra- each country has a separate Negotiating tion lack the capacity to implement policies Framework145. As with the STM Workshops and strategies. Kosovo is no exception. described above, civil society will be invited to take an active part in this final stage of the Policymaking is another aspect of the process process. Experience from Eastern European that civil society can monitor. Fulfilling the countries that joined EU in 2004 and 2007 has EPAP will require a number of new laws. Civ- shown that in countries where civil society il society organizations can monitor whether has been better informed it has had more in- the laws are enacted on time. They can also fluence on the process. work with the legal department of the Agency for Development Coordination and European 10.4 How civil society Integration, which is responsible for ensuring can make a difference that each draft law passes an EU compatibility check. In most cases, the more laws meet EU In addition to actively participating in the standards (e.g., for environmental or consum- process, one of the roles of civil society or- er protection or food safety), the better they ganizations is to monitor the process. As dis- will fit with civil society goals. (At this stage, cussed above, the process involves several laws are only checked to make sure that they instruments. One of the most important to do not breach EU legislation; they are not fully monitor is the European Partnership Action approximated or harmonised. But civil society Plan (EPAP), which usually includes the fol- can lobby for as much approximation and har- lowing: monisation as possible.)

1. Objectives to be achieved Another way civil society organizations can 2. Actions to be taken to achieve the objec- monitor and participate in the integration tives process is by asking to take part in the meet- 3. Institutions and partners responsible for ings of the Committee for European Integra-

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tion in the National Assembly. Although this reports that civil society in Kosovo is at an committee is new and still struggling to estab- early developmental stage. lish itself, it is likely to become a key player in the harmonisation of legislation. Currently Local leadership, of both institutions and civ- only the government checks laws for harmo- il society, in cooperation with international nisation. But when laws go to the Assembly, actors involved in Kosovo, should prepare they can be still amended and modified, and and implement a strategy to strengthen the there is no procedure (nor should there be) role and participation of civil society organi- for the government to approve those chang- zations in the European integration process. es. Thus the Assembly needs a way to check Both EC and the Kosovo government need to whether its laws are in line with EU stand- take into consideration funding and involve- ards. This will be a job for the Committee ment of civil society organizations during for European Integration, and civil society their planning. should be involved. There are several instruments, as elaborated 10.5 Conclusion in this chapter, that civil society organizations can use to participate in the process. Their Civil society organizations are among the development and professionalism will have most important actors in the complex con- its impact in the process. However, societies stellation of stakeholders in the EU member- without a proactive civic culture need more ship process. Civil society can not only play time to develop their spirit of participation. its monitoring role, it can also become one of It took decades for western societies to reach the main partners, especially to the EC, in this the level of civic development they enjoy to- process. Civil society capacity for participat- day. Democracy is a process, and the saying ing in policy- and decision-making needs to “Rome was not build in a day” applies to civil be improved. It has been observed in various society development in Kosovo as well.

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CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Human Development Report 2008 129 Sustainability of Civil Society 11. Hajrulla Ceku Sustainability 11. of Civil Society Hajrulla Ceku

USAID’s 2007 NGO Sustainability Index con- of a successful civil society, and the decrease in cluded that, among Balkan countries, only foreign funding has posed serious challenges Kosovo’s NGOs had regressed in sustain- to NGOs’ financial sustainability. As a recent ability: “For the most part, the NGO sectors report described it: “But now, as much of the operating in the Southern Tier, including the foreign money used to finance such organiza- EU’s newest member states of Bulgaria and tions begins to dry up or move elsewhere, one Romania, improved their sustainability during of the looming questions in the region is how the year. Only Kosovo experienced a decline the civil society sector can be sustained, at least in sustainability.”146 One of the explanations to some acceptable degree.149 The USAID Sus- given in the report was that 2007 was taken tainability Index 2007 points out that NGOs up with negotiations on Kosovo’s status (inde- in Albania, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro and pendence was declared in February 2008), and Serbia have made some small strides in diver- consequently “Kosovan NGOs found them- sifying their funding sources and improving selves unable to engage the government on their financial sustainability.150 But there is lit- other issues, and essentially engaged in self- tle evidence that NGOs in the region will soon censorship during the year.”147 become less dependent on donors.

Over the past decade and a half, Western coun- An ideal NGO for human development tries, international institutions, and private would have the following attributes: donors invested vast resources into building a strong and effective civil society in the tran- • It is self-initiated. sition states of Central and South-Eastern Eu- • It is formally organized with accountable rope. Viewed as an indispensable component behaviour and a system of governance. of a healthy, functioning, modern democracy, • It demonstrates public responsibility. newly established civil society or nongovern- • It uses resources in sustainable ways. mental organizations were provided financial • It is self-financed, which ensures autono- and technical support as a means to gain a my in decision-making. foothold in the governance affairs of their re- • It is democratic and equitable in its func- spective countries.148 tioning. • It is effective and efficient in realizing the The crucial role of NGOs in Central and Eastern objectives it sets for itself. Europe, especially in helping these countries • It is able to position and assert itself to- join the European Union, has been remark- wards or collaborate and compromise with able. There is no doubt that the international others on the basis of well-reasoned con- donor community was one of the main pillars siderations.

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• It functions with an accurate awareness of were service providers, they were strongly the way society, the economy and politics politicized and nationally oriented as they work around it. embodied the goals of the Albanian Kosovan nationalist struggle and were the means of An NGO’s sustainability is affected by four peaceful resistance to the Serbian regime. interrelated factors: organizational viability, Others pursued this goal through advocacy financial security, program effectiveness and on the world stage.”153 The NGO movement enduring impact. “For instance if an organi- in Kosovo gained substance through the ap- zation’s governance is weak (organizational pearance of the Council for the Defence of viability), sooner it will affect its credibility Human Rights and Freedoms in 1989, the that stakeholders like donors will not fund it Kosovo Helsinki Committee in 1990 and the (financial viability), resulting of reduction in Union of Independent Trade Unions, also in interventions (program effectiveness) which 1990. These umbrella organizations and a eventually have adverse effects on long number of think tanks dominated civil soci- term benefits for the community (enduring ety in the 1990s. impact).”151 Current figures show a complex picture of the NGO sector in Kosovo. “While some 4,500 NGOs are officially registered with the Office of NGO Liaison, knowledge- Through the turn of able observers’ estimate that only about three the century, the main hundred, including organizations oriented institutions that survived to service delivery, community develop- the war were those that ment and/or policy advocacy are currently had the support of Kosovan active.”152 This is one of the most optimistic Albanians, the “parallel estimates; others claim that the real number society”—supported in of active and to some extent sustainable opposition by a large NGOs in Kosovo is a two-digit one. portion of the public that believed in its cause. Hence, 11.1 Civil society what is widely hailed as development in Kosovo democratic pluralism throughout Eastern Europe, Civil society development in Kosovo went in Kosovo became the basis through two phases: civil resistance and soli- of resistance against Serbian darity in the 1990s, and the period of post- repression and the struggle 154 war reconstruction and building democratic for independence. governance after 1999 (also referred to as the mushroom period). “While most of the Al- As another commentator put it, “At the local lev- banian civil organizations [during the 1990s] el, a small number of other organizations repre-

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Box 11.1 Development of civil society in Kosovo senting other interests emerged in this period [the 1990s], including youth (Post Pessimists, The development of civil society in Kosovo occurred Pjetër Bogdani Club, Alternativa), students in four phases. The first phase began in 1989 when two organizations, the Council for the Defence of Hu- (UPSUP), the disabled (Handikos), and those man Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) and the Mother engaged in radio and the print Media.”155 Teresa charitable society, were established and other political mechanisms created a parallel system in Of the registered NGOs, only around 150 contradiction to the Milosevic regime…. Almost all are well established and active... “An in- the NGOs at that time dealt with the protection of creasing number of NGOs are now more or human rights or humanitarian activities, and all were less sustainable, with stable organizational opponents of the regime. The second phase began in 1995 with the appearance of so-called think tank structures… Cooperation and networking organizations such as Riinvest and the Kosova Action between NGOs from different ethnic back- for Civic Initiatives, among others. Until the end of grounds and regions still remains rare”.156 1998, only a small number of organizations existed in Kosovo, but notable for their success and efficiency 11.2 Self-regulation and in the scope of their activities. The post-conflict third improved governance phase in NGO development in Kosovo—also called “the emergency phase”—was distinguished by the creation of a large donor market numbering around Considering that NGOs are not elected, but 500 donors in 1999 by some estimates. The fourth established on the basis of common interests, and current phase is known as “the mushroom the question of accountability and responsi- phase” because of the rapidity with which organi- bility can be more ambiguous than it is for zations have appeared. In general, the procedure state institutions. The concern is that NGOs, for NGO registration is easy and takes place in the unlike businesses and elected governments, Ministry of Public Services. lack an adequate, clearly defined basis on — Freedom House: Kosovo Country Report, Na- which they can be held to account. Commen- tions in Transit 2007, p. 60 tary on this issue has included the following:

Figure 11.1 NGO Sustainability Index ratings of Kosovo NGOs Their networked relationships

1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 and public profile can certainly 1.0 provide crucial elements of 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.9 3.0 4..2 4.4 4..6 4..6 4..3 pressure and oversight. But

5.0 these mechanisms are rightly seen as inadequate governance 7.0 for a form of organization that Source: USAID, NGO Sustainability Index 2007, page has become so important in 129. The index uses a 7-point scale, to facilitate comparisons to the Freedom House indices, with influencing individual attitudes 7 indicating a low level of development and 1 and public and private policy indicating a very advanced level. and practice.157

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Throughout Central and Eastern Europe, a so- called “accountability gap” exists in that NGOs NGOs have to be transparent often feel little pressure from stakeholders to and accountable under their behave accountably—donors don’t ask how legal framework, as well as money is spent, and beneficiaries don’t ask vis-à-vis the interest groups who funds an organization and why. But as they represent. It is this one commentator put it: ”The best NGOs view characteristic that distinguishes this accountability gap as all the more reason credible NGOs from those to prove they deserve their special privileges. incapable of being legitimate By behaving responsibly and responsively, representatives of their interest an NGO demonstrates its commitment to groups.158 serving the public interest.”161

Box 11.2 NGO regulation There is overwhelming NGO regulation is the shared responsibility of agreement that if the voluntary society, since NGOs exist for society’s benefit. Effec- sector is to hold governments tive regulation addresses the needs of, and can be and business accountable, owned equally by, a government and the NGO sec- it needs to ensure its own tor. There is also a clear link between the success of legitimacy, openness and a regulatory system and the support that it enjoys transparency.159 from the NGO sector and from the government.… Shared responsibility has several different elements, and the Regulatory Bridge illustrates how they link together. NGOs should be accountable Internal accountability shows, and improves, the to a wide range of stakeholders: strength of an individual NGO. peoples whose rights they seek The regulator is also key, as is its relationship with to protect and advance; their NGOs. own members, supporters and In many countries the NGO sector has voluntarily staff; to those who contribute introduced codes of conduct—and in some cases finance, goods or services; the government has encouraged it to take control to partner institutions, both of important parts of regulation. governmental and non- The public and donors also play an important governmental; to regulatory oversight role. bodies; to those whose policies, programmes or behaviour they wish to influence; and, more broadly, to the media and general public.160

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Sector Self - accountability Goverment Public / Fundors Box 11.3 What is accountability? For an NGO, being accountable means demonstrat- ing regularly that it uses its resources wisely and doesn’t take advantage of its special privileges to pursue activities contrary to its non-profit status. An accountable NGO is transparent, readily opening its accounts and records to public scrutiny by funders, Summarized and reprinted from Mango’s Guide beneficiaries, and others. to Financial Management for NGOs — Marilyn Wyatt, A Handbook on NGO Governance, Many Kosovan NGOs are run by one or two per- p. 5b sons, who are engaged time after time in managing their organization, whenever some fund be- The main obstacles to NGO accountability incomes available. As one commentator put it: clude inadequate internal management skills and a lack of motivation, the latter directly related to their unawareness of, or lack of a Younger organizations clear understanding of, the benefits of self- and those belonging to regulation and improved governance. disadvantaged groups are still mastering basic capacities, NGOs in Kosovo should employ basic good- while more advanced ones feel governance structures such as an elected a training fatigue and request board, financial audits, annual reports, specific access to more advanced prohibitions of abuse such as conflict of inter- trainings abroad or customized est, and guidelines for carrying out duties. coaching. Almost all NGOs still require strengthening of Each NGO with vertical their internal organization and structure of governance increased professionalism, thus must employ internally the undermining their credibility mechanisms of accountability, when asking for greater openn- starting from the board ess in society generally.162 and going down to the managing staff. The internal 163 In a similar vein, One World Trust and oth- accountability is a strong ers have argued that the lines of accountabil- institution, based on law and ity should run (as equally as possible) in four positive action.165 directions: upward to donors, governments and foundations; downward to beneficiar- In one attempt to address accountability, ies; inward to an organization’s own staff and “an International NGO (INGO) Accountability mission; and horizontally to peers.164 Charter, drafted by a committee of the In-

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ternational Advocacy NGOs Workshop, 11.3 Financial sustainability was issued in June 2006 to create common standards for NGOs working across na- Except for a small number of Kosovo NGOs 166 tional boundaries.” This document, even that managed to achieve a desirable level of if designed for and signed by international institutional and financial sustainability, the NGOs, offers a viable basis for Kosovo NGOs vast majority of NGOs face serious difficul- in understanding the values of transparency ties in sustaining their work and existence. and accountability in their work.

Box 11.4 What is accountability? Sole dependence on foreign This Charter outlines our common commitment to funds and limited human excellence, transparency and accountability. To demonstrate and build on these commitments, we seek to: resources are amongst the • identify and define shared principles, policies greatest challenges facing civil and practices; society today. To overcome • enhance transparency and accountability, both this situation, we must internally and externally; build long-term strategies in • encourage communication with stakeholders; partnership with government and and business sector, each • improve our performance and effectiveness as taking its own responsibilities organizations. under a democratic system of We recognize that transparency and accountabil- governance.167 ity are essential to good governance, whether by governments, businesses or non-profit organizations. Wherever we operate, we seek to ensure that the high The relative shortfall in finance by interna- standards which we demand of others are also re- tional donors has not been compensated for spected in our own organizations. The Charter comple- by local sources: “The majority of NGOs are ments and supplements existing laws. It is a voluntary charter, and draws on a range of existing codes, dependent on short-term funding from one norms, standards and guidelines. We agree to apply donor, and many smaller NGOs are without the Charter progressively to all our policies, activities any significant financial support.”168 and operations. The Charter does not replace existing codes or practices to which signatories may also be The capacity of domestic Kosovan NGOs is party, except as specified by them. Its adoption does not prevent signatories from supporting or using other weak, and their work is largely unsustainable tools to promote transparency and accountability. We without international donor support. “Even the will refine the Charter through experience, taking into larger funding organizations concede this fact: account future developments, particularly those that NGOs are characterized as tools for projects improve accountability and transparency. – for the purpose of obtaining international —International Non Governmental Organisations’ funding and thus, not sustainable.”169 Due to Accountability Charter, December 20, 2005, p. 2 the weak economic situation, inadequate tax

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170 structure, and lack of public understanding Box 11.5 Financial resources for NGOs of their value, NGOs in Kosovo are not close There are general financial resources that all NGOs in to becoming financially sustainable. principle can access: 1. public subsidies covering general support 2. public grants for individual projects While numerous organizations 3. grants from international donors or non-budget- could become institutionally ary sources sustainable within 2-3 years, 4. public procurement of goods/services delivered financial sustainability by NGOs remains a distant goal. Local 5. donations from private benefactors and compa- philanthropy will need to wait nies for many years, during which NGOs can also receive indirect support through the NGOs will need to do their following: best to diversify their sources of 1. organizational tax deductions funding in their bid to become 2. statutory exemption or credit allowed from more independent, as well individual income tax liability as to widen and deepen their 3. use of public property at reduced rates constituency to be able to use NGO resources consist of: their membership for voluntary 1. entrance and membership fees tasks as well as membership 2. revenues from sales of products or services fees.171 3. time contributed by members and volunteers —Local Government and Public Service Reform “Nearly all NGO revenue falls within three Initiative, NGO Sustainability in Central Europe: broad categories … (1) government fund- Helping Civil Society Survive, p3 ing, and (2) private giving, or philanthropy, and (3) self-generated income.”172 There are Asia there has also been success in work- many possible revenue streams for NGO ing with the government to obtain financial operational and programmatic activities. resources for NGOs, such as the Pakistan These sources include, but are not limited to: Centre for Philanthropy’s “Gateway to Giv- government support through direct public ing” project, which aims to certify NGOs for funding or indirect subsidizing such as tax eligibility to receive tax-free donations. In the exemptions, foreign aid, earned income from United Kingdom, encouragement has been economic activity and membership fees, and given to developing more flexible sources private philanthropy. of independent finance through the Com- munity Investment Tax Credit (leading to a The 1 percent system has reached as far as wave of new Community Finance Institu- Japan, where the Ichikawa prefecture intro- tions), through licensing the Charity Bank as duced a special version of it. Elsewhere in a source of cheap capital and through encour-

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Box 11.6 The 1 percent law Box 11.7 Private philanthropy Hungary introduced a mechanism to Central Europe Throughout the region, there are significant chal- in 1996 that has become known as the “1 percent lenges in developing local sources of income. The law.” The initiative came from the Ministry of Finance, development of local philanthropy presents perhaps and the goal was to increase resources for NGOs, the greatest challenge. NGOs routinely report low while also promoting development of a philanthropic levels of citizen understanding and interest in civil so- culture. Individual taxpayers can designate 1 percent ciety, leading to low levels of donations in the form of of their taxes to an NGO and 1 percent to a church. either monetary support or volunteerism. Despite the There is no cost to the taxpayer; the allocation simply fact that nearly every country has enacted corporate requires filling out a form and submitting that form donor incentives, the complaint that few corpora- with the filing of tax returns. To be entitled to receive tions give still rings loudly. Individuals are even less 1 percent contributions, a foundation or association likely to donate money, given difficult economic must carry out public benefit activities. Following circumstances and distrust of the NGO sector. Hungary’s lead, several other countries have adopted —Reprinted from David More, Laws and other similar mechanisms: Slovakia, Lithuania, Poland, and mechanisms for promoting NGO financial sustain- most recently, Romania. In Slovakia and Lithuania, ability, p4&5 taxpayers can designate 2 percent of paid tax to NGO beneficiaries. Corporations can also take advantage Therefore, in relation to financial sustainabil- of the 2 percent allocation in Slovakia. Poland uses a ity, a central impasse of NGOs is how best to somewhat different procedural approach by requir- utilize public funds without compromising ing the taxpayer, rather than the tax authority, to autonomy or engaging in economic activities transfer an amount equivalent to up to 1 percent of his or her income tax. that may corrupt their moral utility. It would be ideal to receive the majority of resources —Reprinted from David More, Laws and other mechanisms for promoting NGO financial sustain- from individual contributions or member- ability, p4&5 ship fees, but this is rarely achieved. aging banks to be less conservative in meet- 11.4 Networking ing the needs of excluded communities.173 and coalition building

Due to the widespread opinion that numer- Bringing NGOs together to act more decisive- ous NGOs have mismanaged resources and ly and effectively in their work and mission that their leaders were paid excessively well, constitutes the darkest part of the civil socie- there is an apparent consensus that there is a ty story in post-1999 Kosovo. There were few need to tighten the leash on NGOs. A number NGO networks established in this period, of them have lost their public benefit status as and most of those were either short-lived or a result. However, there is lack of clarity over ineffective in mobilizing the NGO potential rights and obligations of NGOs with regard and creating powerful synergies. The fac- 174 to taxes, customs duties, VAT, and so on, tors contributing to this situation vary from because there is a lack of adequate legislation frequent internal disagreements between for NGOs in Kosovo. member organizations to the diversity of in-

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Box 11.8 Case study of an NGO collapse This case study describes how a major British NGO collapsed in 2002 due to poor financial management and weaknesses in governance and senior management. The only detail that has been changed is the name. CDA’s collapse resulted in the waste of a great deal of money that it had invested in its infrastructure, its brand and its organization (for instance, the time spent developing its mission statement). Over 500 members of staff were made redundant. Some of the organization’s field projects were passed over to other NGOs. Others were closed down. CDA collapsed because it ran out of money. This was the result of relying very heavily on an overdraft and income from restricted grants, which led to a major deficit on general reserves. The restricted grants did not contribute enough to cover the organization’s head office costs, and unrestricted fundraising did not raise enough either. The situation did not develop quickly. It built up over at least the five years from 1997-2001, during which time CDA had a deficit of not less than £300,000 on its general reserves. This was funded by a large overdraft for at least four years, which peaked at almost £1 million in 2001. External factors (such as exchange rate losses, late payment by donors and foot-and-mouth disease) worsened the financial crisis, but did not create it. It was the trustees’ responsibility to make sure that the organization did not collapse. They—and other senior managers—appear to have relied too much on the previous chief executive, the organization’s founder. Too much distance grew up between the board and the staff, and the board did not challenge management enough, despite the poor financial position reported on the financial statements. It is not clear whether the quality of CDA’s field work was overseen any more effectively than CDA’s financial position. The board either did not assess the risks that the organization faced properly, or else failed to respond to them adequately. Short-term programme priorities were followed, with inadequate strategic oversight. In particular, the board should have taken urgent steps to: • build up general reserves, • diversify sources of income, • improve the management of relationships with donors, • build up a culture of good financial management (starting with themselves and the senior managers), • ensure that management systems were adequate.

The Executive Director was employed by the Trustees to run the organization. He did not put in place the systems needed to manage the organization’s growth. It is not clear how much other senior managers could have helped him to recognize these problems and deal with them. But the management culture appears to have made it difficult to address the fundamental problems. In this case, secrecy and a lack of transparency at the most senior levels made good governance difficult. They directly contributed to the organization’s downfall.

Source: Mango’s Guide to Financial Management for NGOs terests represented within the same network. must follow a natural line of coming together A diverse civil society environment makes it to act around shared common interests, and quite difficult to establish and maintain sus- avoid as much as possible the donor driven tainable NGO networks. Therefore, the proc- and “positive perception”175 networks. Build- ess of building NGO networks and coalitions ing networks and coalitions has been a real

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challenge to Central and Eastern Europe civil Box 11.9 Preconditions for successful societies during the times of transition, and NGO networking Kosovo is no exception to this fact. There is no blueprint for network development. However, based on a variety of experiences, it is possible to list some preconditions and matters It has proved almost impossible to consider for anyone determined to establish a network of non-governmental organizations. to bring 3-4 organizations A network is a means, not an end in itself. together, around a common No network should be built without prior feasibil- interest or project. There were ity studies. ad-hoc groupings, motivated Networks are not built overnight. by money and stimulated by Networks are temporary creations. donors, but we witnessed no successful coalition, where Networks need to rely on their own resources. organizations came together as Networks need diversity of membership. a way of becoming stronger in Networks need flexible management and an ability to adapt over time to changing circumstances. their action.176 Networking is more important than formal structures.

Two fundamental reasons exist for coordi- Networks need solid anchors in local communities. nation among and between NGOs: to mini- Face-to-face contact between members is essential, especially in emerging networks. mize duplication and waste through exchange of information and resources, and to Summarized from UNDP Office to Combat Deserti- provide a mandated forum through which fication and Drought, Optimizing Efforts: A Practical Guide to NGO Networking, p. 29, 30 a collective consensus of NGOs can be expressed to others, including themselves, but also to government authorities, donors, the 11.5 Public image general public, and so on. Building alliances within a sector or domain will support indi- It is generally agreed that the Kosovan pub- vidual sector members or issue-based com- lic has a misconception about the work of munities. It leads to improved information, NGOs. There is a lack of proper understand- through sharing best practices and avoiding ing of NGOs’ role, mission and effectiveness. duplication. Through collaborative action In general, there are different perceptions of in alliances there can be a greater impact at NGOs in Kosovo. Some argue that, in general, policy level, and a means to set standards the public has a positive perception of NGOs in accountability.177 Through networking, and greater understanding of their activities, NGOs can influence decisions and leverage while others blame NGOs for an elitist men- utility, provide a common (not disparate) tality and appearance, thus provoking public ground, and provide some level of quality antipathy. NGOs bear serious responsibility control. for not promoting their work adequately.

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Although perhaps less than in I am sure that public image of the past, there is still jealousy Kosovo NGOs is a totally wrong among the political elite about one, and is a consequence of not the relatively well-funded only the little known work they organizations in civil society, do, but also of an inexistent and by corollary the high familiarity with the sector as quality of individuals they whole, which was missing can attract. As most NGOs during communism. Right are supported by shallow or after the war, Kosovo received a nonexistent constituencies, they humanitarian aid package, and are perceived as elitist. Being considering that currently it funded almost exclusively by is not humanitarian anymore foreign donors, few believe and nor inexistent like in that NGOs set their own communism, people would have priorities.178 difficulties understanding why an NGO [would] have to stand up against the government, Functioning as watchdogs and criticising especially if he/she is the voter of government programs or leaders does not the ruling party.180 always reverberate positively among the public. Sometimes NGO advocacy is seen as attacks on government. As others have commented: It is obvious that the negative image is also due to the lack of “marketing” to promote best practices, that would not only It is possible that such increase the public visibility a comment reflects a and image of NGOs, but also misunderstanding of the role would encourage citizens to be of NGOs in a democracy, but an active part of society and it also suggests that the sector, work for the common good.181 sometimes viewed simply as a vanguard of foreign interests, faces an uphill struggle to NGO activists are sometimes even described legitimize itself with the as “snobs who pretend to work, but who are Kosovan public.179 only in it for the lucrative salaries, to those feeling NGOs were too influenced by politics and that too many of them did nothing.”182

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11.6 Conclusion ligence by state institutions, are among major obstacles to a more sustainable NGO sector Civil society in Kosovo remains an uncon- in Kosovo. This, however, does not mean that solidated sector. Non-governmental organi- state institutions have to extend their control zations are still maturing entities and lack and oversight to a worrisome extent, endan- necessary preconditions to be sustainable gering the independence of NGOs and posing and effective in their work. There are serious burdens to their functionality. shortcomings in at least four fields identified throughout this report: weak and non- The work of NGOs and the purpose they serve functional internal governance structures, are not clearly perceived by the general pub- lack of financial sources and means to ensure lic. Kosovan NGOs bear much of the respon- long-term existence and independence and sibility for clarifying their existence, mission avoid extremely high dependence on do- and activities to the general public and to their nors, inability to join forces and capacities to particular target groups. After all, NGOs do act jointly under networks or coalitions, and exist and operate because these groups have a not-so-positive public image, producing a needs to be met and problems to be solved. perception of elitism. It is more than evident that NGOs’ elitist image has caused serious public doubts about However, some progress is being made. A whether NGOs are trustworthy and effective few NGOs have managed to distance them- in representing citizens’ concerns and needs. selves from the thousands of NGOs currently registered in Kosovo by giving posi- Recommendations tive examples of sustainability. This has been achieved through focusing on one particular Kosovo should enact a comprehensive law issue instead of being opportunistic vis-à-vis on NGOs, flexible tax legislation and fiscal donors’ priorities, as well as through more ef- incentives for philanthropy. The draft law fective use of public pressure and advocacy on NGOs, currently under legislative consid- tools, making the action more down to earth eration, must be adopted soon and provide and closer to citizens. These encouraging ex- a sustainable legal basis for NGOs to func- amples must serve as role models for the vast tion in Kosovo. The current tax law affect- majority of NGOs, which still lack proper ing NGOs must be made more flexible, and strategy and means for becoming sustainable special attention must be paid to developing organizations. fiscal incentives for philanthropy as a way of encouraging the community (especially cor- The state institutions, on the other hand, play porations) to support NGOs financially. a crucial role, affecting the sustainability of NGOs in different ways. Inadequate and poor NGOs should diversify funding sources and legislation, discouraging taxes and overall neg- become less dependant on donors. Kosovan

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NGOs have to find alternative financial sourc- cused approach. By being transparent and es and means to ensure institutional and fi- accountable, NGOs can help create a positive nancial sustainability. Government funding, public image. They can further improve their private donations, self-generated income and public image by reaching out more to their other funding options would help NGOs avoid target groups and applying a more focused sole dependence on international donors. approach in their mission, rather than oppor- tunistically changing their approach to match NGOs should develop adequate internal gov- donors’ priorities. ernance structures for more transparency and accountability. One of the most serious barri- NGOs should create stronger networks. Net- ers to effectiveness for Kosovan NGOs is a de- works are an effective way of achieving bet- ficient governance structure. It is of crucial im- ter, faster results, especially when advocating portance to adopt democratic principles of in- on important development issues for Kos- ternal governance, which would enable greater ovo. NGOs should shift from an individual- transparency and promote the development of istic approach based on narrow interests to mechanisms to ensure responsibility. a broader understanding of the benefits that can be achieved when NGOs act jointly and NGOs should seek an improved public image create a force that is more powerful than their through grass-roots initiatives and a more fo- individual capacities.

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The world in which we live today faces many solutions to the life-impacting problems of challenges. One major challenge is ending, or undeveloped and developing nations. at least reducing, poverty. Even though the international community has been working on In this regard, Community Driven Development poverty reduction for many years, results have (CDD) has emerged as an approach to overcom- been limited. As a result of ongoing poverty ing barriers in the development process. Under- across the globe, we refer to countries as be- standing the importance of the involvement of longing to the First World (developed nations), communities in reducing poverty and further- Second World (developing nations) and Third ing development in their own localities has been World (very poor, undeveloped nations). a key feature of the CDD approach. According to the World Bank, “Community Driven De- In a serious attempt to reduce poverty world- velopment is the exercise of community control wide, the international community at large, over decisions and resources directed at poverty and many specialized bodies within it, have reduction and development.”183 been rigorously dealing with the field of development. While there are many ways in The World Bank, being one of the major do- which development can be understood, one nors of Community Driven Development could effectively argue that development projects, believes that the aim of CDD is to means moving forward, a process of mod- enable the communities that it targets to have ernization. Development can also be inferred more security, be able to create more opportu- to mean betterment. How true this particu- nities for all members, and become more em- lar interpretation is remains to be judged by powered in the process of decision-making. each of us individually. While there is no particular algorithm that development practitioners could use to come Being in the business of development means up with the best way to implement CDD, the being in the business of innovation and crea- World Bank believes that the aims of the CDD tivity in seeking solutions to very important can be achieved through the following:184 issues, problems, and challenges, which impact the lives of so many people around the • Strengthening of accountable, inclusive world. Brilliant economists, social scientists, community groups humanists, and other professionals from a va- • Supporting broad-based participation by riety of fields have done an enormous amount poor people in strategies and decisions of hard work in studying development and that affect them producing models, approaches, and theories • Facilitating access to information and link- that they believe can be helpful in devising ages to markets

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• Improving governance, institutions, and these projects. This could be due to several rea- policies so that local and central govern- sons. One obvious and simple reason is comments and service providers, including munity members’ lack of time. When a CDD NGOs and the private sector, become project targets a very poor community, mem- responsive to community initiative bers whose incomes are dependent on time- consuming labour may not be able to afford to 12.1 Key success factors spend time on the CDD project because their opportunity cost would be too high. At least three key factors are critical to the success of CDD projects: participation, com- Participation alone is also not a good indicator munity, and social capital.185 Each is directly of success. In some cases, what is considered related to civil society organizations as well. local knowledge, which should benefit the Hence, this indicates one essential role that project design and implementation, becomes CSOs in the developing world, including Kos- a misrepresentation of the true local knowl- ovo, could play in the development process. edge. This misrepresentation can arise from the particular political situations, power and Participation authority implications, and other constraints within a given community, as pointed out by One could assume, to some extent even safely, David Mosse.186 that participation would not be a problem for a CDD project. Such an assumption would Community rest on the belief that because a CDD project aims to improve a local community, all mem- The community itself is another key factor bers of that community would be ready to do in ensuring a successful CDD project. But in- their part for the project. Without adequate terpretations of the term “community” can participation, the success of a CDD project be broad. While the term is widely used in could easily fade away, given that adequate Community Driven Development, its defini- participation by the community is key to its tion remains problematic. One usually thinks successful design and implementation. The of a community as a group of people with CDD approach is based on the expectation some common interests or background. But, that a project that involves local knowledge what is it really in the context of CDD? The can be better planned and more easily and answer is: it depends. Sometimes the term cost-effectively carried out. refers to a group of people with common interests in a given locality or area (in which But members of the communities targeted by case this would very much resemble a local CDD projects do not always show adequate NGO), but other times it refers to an adminis- levels of participation in the planning, design- tratively defined region or population within ing, decision-making, and implementing of a country. “Community” usually ends up be-

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ing defined by project itself and its construc- gued that the real causal effect could be the re- tion and facilitators.187 verse. According to Portes, it is perhaps more the case that wealth causes the increase in When a CDD project targets a homogenous group activity or collective action that eventu- community, then logically there is a better ally builds up social capital, rather than more chance for success, provided the aims of the group activity causing more wealth, in terms project are in line with the needs and objectives of building social capital, which in turn could of the community. But there are cases in which be helpful for improving the community.190 CDD uses the term “community” to refer to a more heterogeneous group of people. In such Evaluating results circumstances, while a CDD project’s objectives may be in line with the needs of the majority Another issue that has been of immense dis- of the community’s population, it could still cussion in the field of Community Driven De- face forceful opposition from a minority in the velopment is that of scaling up. CDD projects community, which may not want, believe in or should be carefully evaluated before they are need the improvements that the CDD project scaled up. It is not only desirable but also ap- is intended to bring about. A group within the propriate to measure the results of the initial community targeted by the CDD project could stage by conducting a formal evaluation be- object to it because its interests or privileges are fore a CDD project is scaled up. Even when threatened by the project. evaluations are done, careful consideration must be given to their results. People want Social capital their projects to make a good impression, and managers of CDD projects may be tempted The term “social capital” was coined by Rob- to present only success stories, as explained ert Putnam in his study of Italian civic transi- by Lant Pritchett.191 Therefore, strictly inde- tions.188 According to Michael Woolcock, it is pendent and scientifically rigorous evalua- a “broad term encompassing the norms and tions would be ideal. networks facilitating collective action for mutual benefit.”189 One could argue that the com- Given that only an extremely small number munity strengthens itself through collective (about 3%)192 of World Bank projects are ever action for mutual benefit, which represents formally evaluated, and that the World Bank yet another important operating premise for is one of the major donors of CDD projects, CSOs. By strengthening itself through build- it is obvious that much more work needs to ing social capital, the community creates a be done before sufficient empirical data can “stock of ability” for its own betterment. be compiled in support of the continuation and even increase of funding for the CDD ap- Like other concepts, the notion of social capi- proach. Some of these analyses could also be tal has been criticized. Alejandro Portes has ar- helpful in the discussion of scaling up.

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12.2 Community Driven 2. Assist southern coastal municipalities and Development in action communes to preserve, protect and enhance coastal natural resources and cul- Having set up the theoretical framework, tural assets to improve the environmental we can now turn to a concrete example of an conditions of the coastal area and to ongoing World Bank-sponsored project that encourage community support for a sus- uses the CDD approach. According to the tainable coastal zone management. This World Bank’s documentation, the Integrated component will support improvements in Coastal Zone Management and Clean-Up solid waste management in the southern Project started in June 2005, and its “overall coastal zone, the transformation of the objective … is to protect the coastal natural Port of Saranda into a ferryboat and pas- resources and cultural assets, and promote senger terminal, and the establishment of sustainable development and management a Coastal Village Conservation and De- of the Albanian coast.” To reach its overall velopment Program. objective, the project aimed at establishing 3. Mitigate soil and groundwater con- a “modern institutional and policy frame- tamination in the chemical plant at Porto work for an Integrated Coastal Zone Man- Romano, seriously contaminated within agement (ICZM)” and at strengthening the the Balkans. The component seeks to operational capacity of Albania’s central, build capacity and awareness on hazard- regional, and local institutions that protect ous waste management, in pursuit of its coastal and marine natural resources. The adequate environmental monitoring, to project components were expected to do the include remediation and clean-up work, following:193 land-use planning, and resettlement plan implementation. 4. Support project management, coordina- 1. Enhance the capacity of the Albanian tion, monitoring and evaluation, through authorities to manage coastal resources, technical assistance, training, and the develop an adequate operational policy, provision of incremental operational costs. legal and regulatory framework, and financial/economic instruments for the ICZM; The clean-up part of the project was designed strengthen institutional capacity to increase in the spirit of Community Driven Develop- the effectiveness of regulatory, planning, ment. While Albania is one of the poorer and management functions of the ICZM countries in Europe, it has some of the most at the central, regional and local levels; beautiful beaches and tourist attractions. By strengthen the coastal water quality moni- developing its tourism industry along the toring network; strengthen protected areas Adriatic seashore and properly managing its management in Butrint National Park, and marine natural resources, Albania could rap- enhance the knowledge base, while raising idly grow its economy.194 public awareness on coastal issues.

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One of the first things that needs to be done Box 12.1 Kosovo Community is to clean up the beaches so that they can be- Development Fund come more attractive to tourists. But different The Community Development Fund (CDF) is one of groups within the communities where the the first initiatives in post-conflict Kosovo, designed clean-ups are needed have different interests. to help communities rebuild their shattered infra- Owners of properties on or near the beach are structure and improve community services. CDF very much interested in participating in and operates as a non-governmental organization to carry out community development projects through contributing to this portion of the project, but small-scale investments. With an overall budget of other members of the same community are not US$23.15 million during 2000-2006, funded by the 195 as enthusiastic. While they do not oppose World Bank and other international and local donors the project publicly, they silently try to avoid and supported by a contribution of US$3.63 million it and hope nothing will change. Why? While from benefiting communities, CDF has implemented the owners of properties close to the beach ex- projects for the benefit of over 40 percent of the Ko- pect to be in a better position to make a profit sovo population. In Kosovo and abroad, CDF is well known as a development agency for its visible impact (by renting rooms to visitors or building hotels in achieving its prime goal of poverty reduction and and restaurants), the non-owners would be at improving living conditions both in rural and urban a disadvantage, because with a tourist influx, areas, including Serbian and other minority commu- these areas would become urbanized, clean, nities and returnees. The success of the CDF II Project and too expensive for them to visit. financed by the World Bank, CIDA and other donors is attributable to its implementation of three types of This is a very simple example of how a key high quality and cost-effective projects, which have made a tangible impact on the living conditions of element of the CDD approach, participation, the Kosovo population: can be inadequate and thus hurt the overall 1. Infrastructure projects, especially in poor, project outcome. While there is hope that conflict-affected and mountainous communi- this World Bank-sponsored project in Alba- ties, where the CDF has developed the capac- nia will achieve most of its objectives, there is ity to penetrate and engage communities in also clear evidence that the challenges facing formulating relevant project proposals CDD remain a reality. 2. Social service projects in response to priority needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in Kosovo 12.3 CDD in Kosovo 3. Institutional capacity building projects at the local level to ensure the sustainability of CDD has been used by CSOs in Kosovo as facilities constructed or rehabilitated, improve well, starting right after the end of the war social service delivery, and support the gov- in 1999. A prominent Kosovo CSO that has ernment’s decentralization agenda primarily worked on CDD projects is the Ko- Summarized from Community Development Fund, sovo Community Development Fund (CDF). www.kcdf.org

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CDD projects that have been implemented Even though there is no unique and prov- by CDF have shown various types of com- en solution as to how one should go about munity participation. Beneficiary communi- overcoming development problems, fortu- ties have not only been involved through vol- nately, at least there are approaches that have unteer work and in-kind contributions but brought about positive results. Based on the also through direct cash investments. A few work done so far, and on the much needed examples of these CDF projects have been creativity and innovation of the new genera- provided in the box below. tion of developmentalists coming from a variety of fields—economics, sociology, natural Box 12.2 Community Development sciences, humanities—the business of devel- Fund implements CDD opment will eventually produce better and In the early days of the Community Development better approaches to dealing with poverty, Fund, community contributions could be in the one of the world’s most critical problems, form of cash and voluntary physical work. When the which impacts so many lives on a daily basis. 800-household village of Studençan in the munici- Perhaps poverty can one day be reduced to pality of Suhareke (south-western Kosovo) needed a new sewage network, people volunteered physical the extent that it will no longer represent a work valued at 9,500 euros and gave 7,500 euros major problem for our world. Communities in cash contributions. This was one of CDF’s first and CSOs can play a major role in achiev- projects, with a total contract value of 74,719 euros. ing this objective. Kosovo’s future is being Voluntary work was effective in this case because shaped by actions taken today by all relevant the firm contracted to do the work was from the vil- stakeholders. lage, and so there was a strong connection between the community and the contractor. A major irrigation canal passing through the town of Peja, used to irrigate 400 acres of land in the nearby villages, had not been maintained for years, and even some of the city sewage was passing through it. The total value of the project was 88,459 euros, of which 25,475 euros in cash were contributed by the Municipal Assembly of Peja, while the community itself contributed physical work in the value of 29,029 euros. CDF staff noted: “This project was implemented slow- ly, due to the difficulties in physical work invested by the community and the few months delay in the removal of a high voltage electrical cable which was supposed to be done by the Electric Energy Company. However, this is still one of the most beautiful projects implemented by CDF.” Summarized from Community Development Fund, www.kcdf.org/old/eng/index.php?id=20

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1 Canadian International Development Agency. 2007 (June). Civil Society and Aid Effective- ness, for the Advisory Group on Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness. 2 Most scholars tend to cite the last 30 years as a period of rapid expansion for organized civil society based on indicators such as levels of financing, references in scholarly works, and growth of registered legal entities. For example, one conservative yardstick of international NGOs, the Yearbook of International Organizations (1999) shows the growth of international NGOs from 6,000 in 1990 to more than 26,000 in 1999. 3 Lester M. Salamon, S. Wojciech Sokolowski, and Regina List. 2003. Global Civil Society: An Overview. The Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project. 4 Unated Nations Development Report. Egypt Human Development Report, 2008 5 Geoff Prewitt. Civil society in CIS and SEE. unpublished paper. 6 D. Korten, Getting to the 21st Century: Voluntary Action and the Global Agenda (West Hart- ford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1990), 118. 7 P. Campbell, Management Development and Development Management for Voluntary Or- ganisations (Occasional Paper No. 3). 8 Anheier et al, “Global Civil Society 2001”, 2001 9 USAID, Civil Society Groups and Political Parties: Supporting Constructive Relationships, Office of Democracy and Governance Occasional Papers Series no. PN-ACU-631 (Washington, DC: USAID, 2004), www.usaid.gov/our_work/democracy_and_governance/publications/pdfs/pnacu631.pdf 10 Ibid. 11 World Civil Society Forum, “Summary: Working Group on the Private Sector,”. Last retrieved on 20September 2009 from: www.worldcivilsociety.org/REPORT/EN/06/18-jul-02/summ_18.16.html 12 Kumi Naidoo. (2003). Civil Society Accountability: “Who Guards the Guardians? Last retrieved on 22 spetemebr 2008 from website: www.gdrc.org/ngo/accountability/ngo-accountability.pdf 13 “Infohabitat: Code of Conduct for NGOs,” www.gdrc.org/ngo/codesofconduct/infohabitat. html 14 Paraphrased from The Advocates for Human Rights, “Stop Violence Against Women,” www.stopvaw.org/NGOs_and_the_Human_Rights_Movement.html 15 PowerPoint presentation by the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL), Budapest, Hungary 2004. 16 Final Warsaw Declaration. Toward a Community of Democracies. Ministerial Conference. Warsaw, Poland, June 27, 2000. Last rertreve 20 December 2008 from: http://www.demcoalition.org/pdf/warsaw_english.pdf.

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17 UNDP and Civil Society Organizations: A Practice Note on Engagement. 18 United Nations Development Programme, Kosovo Human Development Report 2006. 19 The Independent International Commission on Kosovo, The Kosovo Report: Conflict, Interna- tional Response, Lessons Learned (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.). 20 Besnik Pula, A Changing Society, A Changing Civil Society: Kosovo’s NGO Sector After the War (Pristina, 2004). 21 Julie Mertus, Kosovo: How Myths and Truths Started a War (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1999). 22 Howard Clark, Civil Resistance in Kosovo (London: Pluto Press, 2000), 95. 23 Interview with Ibrahim Makolli, formerly of KMDLNJ, Pristina, 10 November 2008. 24 Interview with Zef Shala, Mother Teresa Association, Pristina, 30 October 2008. 25 Howard Clark, Civil Resistance in Kosovo (London, Pluto Press, 2000), 107. 26 Interview with Zef Shala, Mother Teresa Association, Pristina, 30 October 2008. 27 Interview with Igballe Rogova, Kosovo Women’s Network, Pristina, 31 October 2008. 28 “Social movements are not equivalent to civil society, but they [are] seen as participating in the process of constructing that society, or of recovering it from the state”—Joe Foweraker, Theorizing Social Movements (London: Pluto Press, 1995) 6. 29 The Independent International Commission on Kosovo, The Kosovo Report: Conflict, Interna- tional Response, Lessons Learned (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 45. 30 Julia Nietsch, Civil Society in Kosovo: The Interaction between Local NGOs and the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (AP 54 – 9/2006). 31 Regulation No. 1999/22, 15 November 1999, On the Registration and Operation of Non-Gov- ernmental Organizations in Kosovo, www.unmikonline.org (accessed 1 November 2008). 32 Pula, A Changing Society. 33 Interview with Ibrahim Makolli, formerly of KMDLNJ, Pristina, 10 November 2008. 34 Interview with Zef Shala, Mother Teresa Association, Pristina, 30 October 2008. 35 Harry Blair, Lorel Donaghey, and Dardan Velija, Kosovo Civil Society Assessment (Washing- ton, DC, 2004). 36 Blair, et al., Kosovo Civil Society Assessment, iv. 37 Mehmet Kraja, Mirupafshim në një luftë tjetër [“Farewell till the new war”] (Pristina: Rozafa 2003). 38 Interview with Luan Shllaku, Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, Pristina, 17 October 2008. 39 See for example Howard Clark, Kosovo, Work in Progress: Closing the Cycle of Violence (Cov- entry, UK: Coventry University Centre for the Study of Forgiveness and Reconciliation, 2002).

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40 Pula, A Changing Society, 12. 41 Blair, et al, Kosovo Civil Society Assessment, 12. 42 International Crisis Group, Collapse in Kosovo (Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2004), 25. 43 www.advocacy-center.org/Newsletters/0404special%20edition_eng.pdf 44 For more information, see Civil Society and the Legislative Process in Kosovo: Analytical Study at the End of the Second Mandate of the Assembly of Kosovo (Pristina: Kosovan Research and Documentation Institute and OSCE Mission in Kosovo, 2007). 45 Only a few organizations, such as the Self-Determination Movement (Lëvizja Vetëvendos- je), have still been able to attract a large popular following at certain moments. 46 Interview with Naim Rashiti, International Crisis Group, Pristina, 29 October 2008. 47 European Commission, Kosovo 2008 Progress Report (Brussels: European Commission, 05 November 2008). 48 Ibid. 19. 49 USAID Kosovo, Kosovo Civil Society Program – Final Evaluation Report (2008). 50 Annex IX of UNMIK Regulation 2001/19. 51 UNMIK Regulation 99/22. 52 Law No.02/L-6 on Freedom of Association in Non-Governmental Organizations. 53 European Commission, Progress Report for Kosovo 2008 (Brussels: European Commission, 5 November 2008), SEC (2008) 2697. 54 Kosovo Education Centre, for example, is an NGO enjoying Public Beneficiary status that has conducted significant research, curriculum development and educational activities. However, it has had to pay over 70,000 euros in taxes, retroactively after the Tax Adminis- tration’s ruling that its educational activities did not qualify for PB status. The Centre has filed a lawsuit against the Administration. 55 UNMIK Regulation No 2001/19, section 9.1 56 Ibid 57 Section 6 of the UNMIK Regulation No. 2002/3 under the Chapter III – Expenditures, is titled “Allowable expenses”. 58 UNMIK Regulation No. 2002/3, Section 8, Charitable Contributions 59 A good example is the donation of European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) to the Gov- ernment of Kosovo to reconstruct the government building. The Tax Administration ruled that the construction company carrying out the work had to charge VAT to the government even though the funds to pay for the project were from a donation. In the end, the government paid the VAT from its own budget. 60 In 2002, for example, Cisco Systems donated laboratory equipment to the University of

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Pristina as part of a project implemented by the IT Institute, an NGO. The equipment was held for almost a month at the border and risked being returned to the donor. 61 UNMIK Regulation No 2002/17, Section 11 Exclusions, (c), 62 Tax Administration of Kosovo, Instruction on tax treatment of NGOs with Public Benefit Sta- tus, 14 June 2007, page 3: Disclosure of information, paragraph two. 63 Albanian version of the document states “too generous” for “very high”. 64 Tax Administration of Kosovo, Instruction on tax treatment of NGOs with Public Benefit Sta- tus, 14 June 2007, page 3: Disclosure of information, paragraph three. 65 Ibid, paragraph five. 66 This is often reflected in their status documents. For example, the Riinvest Institute’s Con- stitutive Contract of the Institute (1 January 2000), article II, states: “Persons from Section I of this contract agree to define the status of the Riinvest Institute for Development Research, as private, independent and non-profitable subject.” Riinvest, Annual Report 2003 (March 2004), page 3, states: “Riinvest Institute for Development Research is operating since May 15, 1995 as a non-profit private research organization and think tank.” 67 Internet Project Kosova – IPKO, has initially started in 1999 as NGO, providing Internet connection services to many international and local organisations and institutions. As the operations of the NGO widened, it came into being the IPKOnet L.L.C., a profitable company. The split between the two - NGO and business, the transfer of operations, of assets and people, has been subject to many media speculations and its discussion is out of the scope of this report. 68 In 2007, the government sought to gain access to and monitor financial activities of the major anti-corruption NGO Çohu. Çohu repudiated the government’s demand, saying it was not sanctioned by law and was retaliatory in nature, although the organization’s own main activity was to advocate for financial openness in government. 69 European Commission, Progress Report for Kosovo 2008. 70 Platforma CiviKos 2007. 71 Ibid. 72 William I. Jenkins, Policy Analyses: A Political and Organizational Perspective (London: Martin Robertson, 1978). 73 Thomas Dye, Understanding Public Policy (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1972). 74 Policy Association for an Open Society, Public Policy Centres, A Directory of Think-Tanks in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 2007. 75 Colin J. Bennet, “What Is Policy Convergence and What Causes It?” British Journal of Political Science, 21(2): 215-233; Clark Kerr, The Future of Industrial Societies, Convergence or Continu- ing Diversity? (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983).

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76 Anthony Downs, Up and Down with Ecology—the Issue Attention Cycle. The Public Interest, 1972. 77 Roger Cobb, J. K. Ross, and M. H. Ross, “Agenda Building as a Comparative Political Process,” American Political Science Review, 1976. 78 Simon James, “The Idea Brokers: The Impact of Think Tanks on British Government,” Public Administration-London 71(4): 491. 79 Michael Howlett and M. Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). 80 Deborah Stone, Policy Paradox, The Art of Political Decision-Making (New York: Norton and Company, 1988). 81 Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy. 82 European Commission, “Enterprise and Industry: Europe’s Social Economy,” http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/social_economy.htm (Accessed on October 10, 2009) 83 United Nations Development Programme, Perceptions of Civil Society in Kosovo. Pristina: UNDP, 2008. 84 Focus group counclusions. What is the role of NGOs in Kosovo. Held in Pristina on 8 October 2008. 85 Interview with civil society representative, 25 October 2008. 86 Ibid. 87 Ibid 88 Respondents form the following ethnicities were classified in this category: Bosnians, Goranis, Turks, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians. 89 United Nations Development Programme, Kosovo Human Development Report 2004—The Rise of the Citizen: Challenges and Choices (Kosovo: UNDP, 2005). 90 Charles Tilly and Gabriel Ardant, The Formation of National States in Western Europe (Prin- ceton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1975); Deborah Brautigam, Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, and Mick Moore, Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries: Capacity and Consent (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008). 91 Besnik Pula, “The Emergence of the Kosovo ‘Parallel State,’ 1988-1992,” Nationalities Papers 32(4); Howard Clark, Civil Resistance in Kosovo (London: Pluto Press, 2000). 92 Index Kosova, Voluntarism in Kosovo (Pristina, UNDP, 2004). 93 Focus group with NGO representatives organized at UNDP main office in Prishtina by Elton Skendaj, and facilitated by Dardan Velija, October 8, 2008. The methodology for the focus group closely followed the comparative study by researcher Ase Grodeland, whose project was funded by the Research Council of Norway (project no 15049/730).

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94 Besnik Pula, A Changing Society, A Changing Civil Society: Kosovo’s NGO Sector After the War, Policy Research Series Paper 3 (Pristina: KIPRED, 2004), 7-8. 95 Ibid., 8. 96 Ibid., 10. 97 Ibid., 15. 98 Julia Nietsch, Civil Society in Kosovo: The Interaction between Local NGOs and the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government, Working Paper No. 54 (Austrian Institute for International Affairs, 2006), 17-18. 99 Armend Bekaj, Civil Society and Peacebuilding Partnership Gaps in Post-War Kosovo: Analysis of Local NGOs (master’s thesis, 2005, University of Bradford), 59; Harry Blair, Lorel Donaguey, and Dardan Velija, Kosovo Civil Society Sector Assessment, produced for USAID Kosovo and USAID Center for Democracy and Governance, 2 May 2004, p. 7, www.usaid.gov/missions/ kosovo/pdf/Kosovo_Civil_Society_Assesment.pdf (accessed 1 November 2008). 100 Interview with Igballe Rogova, Kosovo Women’s Network, 6 November 2008. 101 Vâclav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless,” in J. Keane (ed.), The Power of the Powerless: Citi- zens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1985), 228 102 Marc M. Howard, The Weakness of Civil Society in Post-Communist Europe (Cambridge: Cam- bridge University Press, 2003). 103 V. P. Gagnon, The Myth of Ethnic War: Serbia and Croatia in the 1990s (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Uni- versity Press, 2004). 104 Nietsch, Civil Society in Kosovo, 29. 105 Ibid., 32. 106 Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Forgotten World—Kosovo Enclaves. Bel- grade, September 2008. http://www.helsinki.org.yu/doc/HC%20Report%20KOSOVA%20Enclaves.pdf (accessed 24 January 2009). 107 Interview at Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, 20 October 2008. 108 Interview with Alban Bokshi, Çohu!, 20 September 2008. 109 Platforma CiviKos, The Vision of Civil Society: Kosovo Development Framework. Prishtina, Ci- viKos 2008. 110 These examples and more can be seen on the CiviKos website: “The Role of Civil Society in Modernizing the State of Wellbeing,” www.civikos.org/j/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=7&lang=en (accessed 1 November 2008). 111 Barry James, “Challenges of Development: The Expanding Reach of Nongovernment Aid,”

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Global Policy Forum, August 14, 2002, www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/advocacy/conf/2002/0814joburg.htm 112 www.icbl.org – October 2008 113 Shqipe Pantina, The Role of Civil Society in State Building, Reconciliation, and European Inte- gration: The Case of Kosova (master’s thesis). Karl-Franzens Universitat Graz – August 2007 114 The International Management Group has estimated that 120,000 houses were damaged during the war. 115 UNMIK Regulation 1999/40. 116 NGO Liaison Office, Ministry of Public Services. 117 The relationship between civil society and the publicly owned broadcaster RTK, which is governed by its own law and financed through public funds, is not dealt with in this article and is best suited to a separate discussion. 118 Eberhard Laue, Local Electronic Media in Kosovo (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Mission in Kosovo, 2005), 11, www.osce.org/documents/mik/2005/08/16222_en.pdf 119 Miklós Haraszti, The State of Media Freedom in Kosovo: Observations and Recommendations (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, The Representative on Freedom of the Media, 2006), 1, www.osce.org/documents/rfm/2006/07/19767_en.pdf 120 Eberhard Laue, Local Electronic Media in Kosovo (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Mission in Kosovo, 2005), 8, www.osce.org/documents/mik/2005/08/16222_ en.pdf 121 Ibid. 122 The Perceptions of Civil Society in Kosovo Survey polled more than 1,200 people from all across Kosovo. 123 The first and second sectors are the government and the private sector. 124 Thomas Carlyle, Book of Heroes and Hero Worship (1840), Project Gutenberg EBook, www. gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/9/1091/1091.txt (accessed January 17, 2009). 125 European Commission, Enlargement, Kosovo Progress Report 2005, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/archives/pdf/key_documents/2005/package/sec_1423_ final_progress_report_ks_en.pdf, page 46. 126 European Commission, Enlargement, Kosovo Progress Report 2006, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2006/nov/ks_sec_1386_en.pdf, page 14. 127 European Commission, Enlargement,Kosovo Progress Report 2007, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2007/nov/kosovo_progress_re- ports_en.pdf, page 17.

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128 European Commission, Enlargement, Kosovo Progress Report 2005, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/archives/pdf/key_documents/2005/package/sec_1423_ final_progress_report_ks_en.pdf, page 11. 129 European Commission, Enlargement, Kosovo Progress Report 2008, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/press_corner/key-documents/reports_nov_2008/ kosovo_progress_report_en.pdf, page 19. 130 European Commission, Enlargement, Kosovo Progress Report 2007, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2007/nov/kosovo_progress_re- ports_en.pdf, page 6. 131 Kristi Raik, Promoting Democracy through Civil Society: How to Step up the EU’s Policy towards the Eastern Neighbourhood (CEPS Working Documents No. 237, 1 February 2006), page 3. 132 Sauilus Spurga, Evaluation of the Impact of the European Integration on the Civil Society of Baltic States (Mykolas Romeris University, 2005), 6. 133 Ibid. 134 Ibid. 135 Raik, Promoting Democracy through Civil Society, 7. 136 EUR-Lex, 2006, Treaty on European Union. European Commission, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2006:321E:0001:0331:EN:pdf 137 European Commission, Enlargement. Conditions for Enlargement, (September 2008), http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/the-policy/conditions-for-enlargement/index_en.htm 138 Ibid. 139 Ibid. 140 Council of the European Union, “Presidency Conclusions” (December 2004), http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=DOC/04/6&format=HTML&age d=1&language=EN&guiLanguage=en 141 Council of the European Union, “Council Decision of 30 January 2006 on the Principles, Priorities and Conditions Contained in the European Partnership,” Official Journal of the Eu- ropean Union, (September 2008), http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2006/l_035/l_03520060207en00570072.pdf 142 European Commission, “The Western Balkans and European Integration,” Communication form the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament (Brussels: European Commission, DG Enlargement Brussels, 2003). 143 Raik, Promoting Democracy through Civil Society. 144 See list of all 35 chapters in the annex of the Negotiating Framework of Croatia at, (Sep- tember 2008): http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/croatia/st20004_05_hr_framedoc_en.pdf;

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145 Ibid. 146 USAID, NGO Sustainability Index 2007, 1. 147 Ibid., 6. 148 Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative, NGO Sustainability in Central Europe: Helping Civil Society Survive, 1. 149 Ibid. 150 USAID, NGO Sustainability Index 2007, 7. 151 International Council on Management of Population Programmes, Sustainability of NGOs (brochure) 152 USAID Kosovo, Kosovo Civil Society Program Final Evaluation Report, i. 153 Bill Sterland, Civil Society Capacity Building in Post-Conflict Societies: The Experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, 13. 154 Kathleen Claussen, International Intrusion on the Evolution of Civil Society, Kosovo: A Structur- alist Perspective, 10. 155 Sterland, Civil Society Capacity Building in Post-Conflict Societies, 13. 156 USAID, NGO Sustainability Index 2007, 130. 157 Simon Zadek, Civil Governance and Accountability: From Fear and Loathing to Social Innova- tion, 1. 158 Interview with Kosova Civil Society Foundation staff, 18 October 2008, KCSF Office in Prish- tina. 159 Strengthening Democratic Governance: The Role of Civil Society, report on Wilton Park Con- ference S06/10, 2, Wiston House, Steyning, West Sussex, 12-14 June 2006. 160 Ibid., 2-3. 161 Marilyn Wyatt, A Handbook on NGO Governance, 5b 162 USAID Kosovo, Kosovo Civil Society Program Final Evaluation Report, 7-8. 163 The One World Trust promotes education, training and research into the changes required within global organizations in order to make them answerable to the people they affect and ensure that international laws are strengthened and applied equally to all. 164 Kovach et al. 2003; Leni Wild, Strengthening Global Civil Society, 11. 165 Interview with Luan Shllaku, executive director of Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, 17 October 2008. 166 Strengthening Democratic Governance: The Role of Civil Society, report on Wilton Park Con- ference S06/10, 3-4. 167 Interview with Kosova Civil Society Foundation staff, 18 October 2008, KCSF office in Prish- tina.

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168 Sterland, Civil Society Capacity Building in Post-Conflict Societies, 28. 169 Claussen, International Intrusion on the Evolution of Civil Society, 11-12. 170 NGOs, even those with public benefit status, pay VAT on imports, including donated goods. 171 USAID Kosovo, Kosovo Civil Society Program Final Evaluation Report, 9. 172 David More, Laws and Other Mechanisms for Promoting NGO Financial Sustainability, 2. 173 Strengthening Democratic Governance: The Role of Civil Society, 6-7. 174 USAID Kosovo, Kosovo Civil Society Program Final Evaluation Report, 8. 175 This refers to establishing a network only for the sake of togetherness and making a positive impression on other sectors and the general public. 176 Interview with Luan Shllaku, executive director of Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, 17 October 2008. 177 Strengthening Democratic Governance: The Role of Civil Society,10. 178 USAID Kosovo, Kosovo Civil Society Program Final Evaluation Report, 7. 179 USAID Kosovo, Kosovo Civil Society Program Final Evaluation Report, 9. 180 Interview with Luan Shllaku, executive director of Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, 17 October 2008. 181 Interview with Kosova Civil Society Foundation staff, 18 October, KCSF office in Prishtina. 182 Claussen, International Intrusion on the Evolution of Civil Society, 12. 183 World Bank, Community Driven Development: An Overview, http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ECA/ECSSD.nsf/DocByUnid/93614E702C69AFCF85256C010 000D677?Opendocument&Start=1&Count=5 184 Ibid. 185 Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao, “Community-Based and -Driven Development: A Criti- cal Review,” The World Bank Research Observer 19 (Spring 2004), 1-39. 186 David Mosse, “‘People’s Knowledge,’ Participation and Patronage: Operations and Represen- tations in Rural Development,” in Bill Cooke and Uma Kathari (eds.), Participation: The New Tyranny (London: Zed Books, 2001), quoted in Mansuri and Rao 2004. 187 Mansuri and Rao, “Community-Based and -Driven Development: A Critical Review.” 188 Robert Putnam, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993). 189 Michael Woolcock, “Social Capital and Economic Development: Toward a Theoretical Syn- thesis and Policy Framework,” Theory and Society 27(2): 151-208 190 Alejandro Portes, “Social Capital: Its Origins and Applications in Contemporary Sociology,” Annual Review of Sociology 24: 1-24.

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191 Lant Pritchett, “It Pays to Be Ignorant: A Simple Political Economy of Rigorous Program Evaluation,” Policy Reform 5(4): 251-269. 192 Professor Woolcock, “Policies, Programs, and Practices—Managing the Development Proc- ess” (class presentation, KSG, Harvard University, March 2005). 193 World Bank, Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Clean-Up Project in Albania, Project Document ID P086807 (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005). 194 Beqir Sina, Albanian Tourism as a Source of Economic Growth (New York: Gazeta Illyria, 2005); original article is in Albanian. 195 Beqir Sina, Will Beaches of Durres be as Good as You Expect This Summer? (New York: Gazeta Illyria, 2006); original article is in Albanian.

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