EU ASSISTANCE TO Helping those who need it most

HUMAN RIGHTS ARE A BIG PART OF THE EU

The European Union (EU) is not just about economies, markets and prosperity. It’s also about human rights. The concept of human rights was embedded in the EU’s founding treaty. It was developed in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms that entered into force in 1953. And it was reinforced by the adoption of a Charter of Fundamental Rights in 2000. HUMAN RIGHTS ARE MANY AND VARIED

So what are human rights? They are many and various. There’s the right to shelter, to a roof over your head. If you’re a child, there’s the right to education and play and to have equal access to both. There’s the right not to be discriminated against, whether it’s because you’re a woman, or because you belong to a particular ethnic or religious group, or because you’re disabled, or because of your sexual preferences.

There’s the right to social protection if you’re unemployed or otherwise facing hard times. And there are many other rights. They amount, generally, to the right to a fair deal for all.

What’s clear is that human rights aren’t just the concern of unfortunate minorities. They are everyone’s concern. Because they are about protecting every individual. And because they are a measure of how civilised and democratic a country really is.

What’s clear also is that post-conflict societies like Kosovo¹ with its tragic recent history have a particular need to show they are looking after the human rights of all its citizens. They’ve been traumatised by conflict. Their institutions and infrastructure, social and physical, have been cruelly disrupted. Old hatreds and new ones can impede tolerance and fair treatment. The burden of the past can make differences hard to accept.

What’s clear too is that Kosovo’s progress towards the EU will be measured partly by its progress in ensuring human rights for all its citizens.

And what’s clear finally is that the EU is here to help this progress, has already helped a lot, and will continue to do so. Let’s consider some of its activities.

¹Under UNSCR 1244/1999

HELPING THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST | 3 THOUSANDS WERE DISPLACED DURING THE CONFLICT

THE RIGHT TO SHELTER

The June 1999 conflict displaced a lot of people-including 225,000 non- and destroyed housing. Housing is a basic human need and the Kosovo Constitution emphasises the right of all refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return to their homes. So has the EU. And there have been deeds as well as words.

Between 1999 and 2003, the EU reconstructed around 17,000 houses, mainly for . And since 2003 the EU has allocated over €36 million to Kosovo minorities’ return and community needs:

› One example is the EU-supported Return and Reintegration in Kosovo programme, which in its first phase secured new houses for some 180 displaced families in /Gnjilane, Istog/lstok, Fushë Kosovë/, and Pejë/Peć.

› Another is a follow-up inspired by that project’s success, which will provide houses for an additional 210 minority IDP and refugee families in Kline/ , Obiliq/Obilic, /Uroševac and Rahovec/. Importantly, it is being administered by the local municipality thereby demonstrating their The EU has constructed interest to serve all their citizens. and reconstructed › A third is a €5 million project launched in February 2010 by the EU, in partnership with the Kosovo government and Mitrovica municipality, to thousands of homes resettle members of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) minorities who have been living for 11 years in makeshift and lead-polluted camps near Mitrovica, following the destruction of their housing during the 1999 conflict.

4 | HELPING THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN

The EU is also pushing to ensure that all children get an education. Before the conflict, the enrolment rate for RAE, Turkish, Bosniak and other minority children was just 77%. And things are still bad. Almost 20% of RAE members have not had even one year of education, only 4% have had the statutory 9 years, and 33% of RAE girls don’t go to school.

So the EU is supporting a project entitled “Enrolment and Registration of RAE Children in Primary Education in Kosovo”. Launched in 2010 this aims to increase awareness among RAE communities on the importance of education and registration in schools. THE RIGHT TO PLAY But education isn’t everything for young people. Since 1999, a total of €80 million has been committed to the construction of public buildings and municipal infrastructure in Kosovo, including not just schools but also leisure facilities. It has funded a university sports centre, two children’s playgrounds in , for instance, and cultural and sports centres elsewhere in Kosovo.

The EU is building As part of a series of municipal infrastructure projects proposed by municipalities, one current EU-financed project “Construction of Sports Fields and Playgrounds”, worth warm, bright, attractive €900,000-involves construction of seven children’s playgrounds in four municipalities in schools and playgrounds four locations: Pristina, Mitrovica, Pejë/Peć and , as well as facilities for tennis, football, basketball and jogging.

Activities are financed too: the EU-funded “Play for All” Kids’ Festival toured Kosovo in summer 2010, featuring cinema and theatre shows, exhibitions of recycling art, essay competitions and opportunities for children to show their talents and skills. More than 600 schools attended by 200,000 children were involved. And for many kids it was their first chance ever to see a play or a film. THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD The chance to play and attend school are just two of the basic children’s rights. And the EU, which sees respect for children’s rights as essential in any state that wants to become an EU member, is doing all it can to facilitate such respect. Such efforts are an integral part of reforms underway in justice, education, health and social services.

HELPING THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST | 5 CHILDREN HAVE MANY NEEDS. FOR THE EU, SOME OF THOSE ARE RIGHTS

THE RIGHTS OF DISABLED AND ABANDONED CHILDREN While all children have rights, some also have special needs-and the right to have those met. That’s especially important in Kosovo, where conflict has left deep scars and traumas. And provision in Kosovo is far from perfect: there’s still no legal protection for children with disabilities while, according to UNICEF, less than 10% of children with special needs have access to schools. So the EU is helping out there, too. The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights [EIDHR) is a financial instrument which supports non-governmental organisation (NGO) activities and has made available €900,000 per year in Kosovo since 2008. One of these projects is the innovative One to One Children’s Fund. A 2-year project which supports social services to disabled and vulnerable children in Kosovo, it provides much-needed emotional support from trained counsellors and day-care workers for thousands of traumatised children around Kosovo. And it’s planning to give homes or temporary shelter in four municipalities to at least 100 of the most vulnerable children of all-those with disabilities, those abandoned, neglected or without parental care, and those who have been victims of domestic violence or human trafficking. THE RIGHTS OF YOUNG OFFENDERS

There’s no question that poverty and dislocation can breed crime and that offenders can be young. And there’s no question Kosovo is a case in point: according to UNICEF one fifth of all serious crimes between 2000 and 2004 involved people under 18. What is in question is what should be done about it: should youngsters on the edge of the law be left to fend for themselves or should they be helped, hopefully rescuing them from future criminality?

Kosovo’s Juvenile Justice Code leaves no doubt about the answer: it’s fully in line with international standards, which prescribe that penalties for juvenile crime should consist of unpaid work, for example in social institutions or with the disabled or the elderly. Such activities encourage the reintegration of young offenders in society rather than just punishing them. And an EU funded project is helping ensure that this legal principle is implemented in practice. Running since 2007, the Juvenile Justice in Kosovo project has included establishment of a youth club for 60 children with behavioural problems, aged between 15 and 18; the training of 171 teachers, social workers, police members and parents working with children at risk; and research on violence in all primary and secondary schools.

6 | HELPING THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST Support continues: EU and UNICEF funding for this project is expected to total €2.2 million. Altogether at least 400 children will benefit from improved probation services, and 150,000 adolescents will go through prevention activities, while training on prevention of violence and delinquency in schools will be given to 300 juvenile justice professionals and parents and 500 schoolteachers throughout Kosovo. THE RIGHTS OF PRISONERS

Those who do end up in jail have their rights too, notably the right not to be tortured. This is the focus of another EU-funded project that started in 2007. Entitled Preventing Torture and Other Forms of Human Rights Violations in Places of Detention in Kosovo, this involves the monitoring of correctional centres, detention centres and police holding cells throughout Kosovo, ensuring that all are managed in line with international human rights standards and Kosovo legislation.

Poor and uneducated THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TRAFFICKING women and youth are The EU is also at the forefront of the struggle against one of the worst violations of human rights, the modern-day slavery involved in the trafficking of women and children for particularly vulnerable sexual exploitation and forced labour. With 60% of victims of human trafficking estimated to violations of human by UNICEF to be under 18, the EU’s efforts include addressing one of the key factors underlying the problem: a lack of education and opportunities that makes it easy for rights. traffickers to lure young women with false job offers.

The EU is spending almost €100,000 on a project entitled Trafficking Prevention for Vulnerable Youth & Women in Kosovo, which provides training and education about trafficking to primary schools in rural areas of Mitrovica, Pejë/Peć and Obiliq/Obilić municipalities. The project has involved an estimated 1,500 economically vulnerable young people from primary schools in rural areas. It also works with 500 mothers of children at risk, such as female school drop-outs to develop working skills and thus increase their potential for independent life.

HELPING THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST | 7 THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN Women in Kosovo have traditionally been economically, politically and socially disadvantaged in comparison to men. That’s down to lack of education and training for women, and limited access to credits, loans and lands. Women own only 8% of real estate and 6% of businesses. Only one woman in three has a job. And 26% of girls under 20 are classified as illiterate.

Fully committed to gender equality, the EU has provided €120,000 worth of finance to projects involving research and monitoring of the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality. And women’s activism has been encouraged by two projects cutting across ethnic and religious lines: a €150,000 project to build a women’s rights network in Mitrovica and €100,000 to create a youth and women’s network in Pejë/Peć.

SUPPORT FOR WIDOWS

Another NGO aided by the EU is Medica Kosova, which has helped those widowed in the 1999 conflict. Traumatised, rarely remarrying and economically deprived, war widows have been an especially vulnerable group. Starting in 2004, Medica Kosova organised women in Gjakovë/Dakovica, Prizren and /Dečane into groups involved in small farming activities-including honey production, livestock management, and driving tractors.

To date, women from 15 villages are involved, providing over 450 families with incomes and providing widows with emotional healing and motivation. And the EU has helped here too: most recently, it has contributed €100,000 to a two-year project in which Medica Kosova strengthened the role of women farmers in social and political life by establishing a formal Women Farmers’ Organization at national level.

8 | HELPING THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST THE RIGHTS OF MINORITIES In all the areas of human rights mentioned, the most vulnerable minority in Kosovo society is the 35,000-40,000 strong Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) community.

Deeply rooted historical injustices have been compounded by the damage to healthcare and social support infrastructure resulting from the 1999 conflict. Statistics indicate that unemployment among the RAE in 2004 ran to 75% among males aged 15-24 and a staggering 90% among females of this age. Illiteracy is estimated at 16%. And one in every two RAE children lives in absolute poverty, i.e. living on less than one Euro a day.

Together with the Open Society Foundation the European Union is funding a project for the integration of RAE through education, employment and cultural promotion. This will involve at least 200 grants to young members of the RAE minority to study at secondary level and 20 grants for study in higher education faculties. Programmes will also be offered at learning centres which provide early childhood, elementary and secondary education, additional support for staff in secondary school and college and literacy programmes. Training will also be provided in Vocational Training Centres, especially on traditional craftsmanship. RAE members will also be empowered by learning skills such as how to write a business plan or communicate with the media.

And, as befits a country with such a rich multicultural history, Kosovo will host an international festival of RAE culture in 2011.

THE RIGHT TO AN EDUCATION Education is also a human right. And before the 1999 conflict, primary enrolment rates were high, at almost 100 % for both ethnic Albanian and Serbians between six and fourteen years old. But only 17% of schools were not damaged or destroyed by the conflict, meaning overcrowding and schooling in shifts in urban areas and some schools closed altogether in rural areas.

HELPING THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST | 9 EVERY SECOND RAE CHILD LIVES IN ABSOLUTE POVERTY, ON LESS THAN €1 A DAY

The EU has helped out here, too. In 2009 and 2010 alone seven new primary schools were built entirely with EU funds, in Gjakovë/Dakovica, Podujevë/Podujevo, Ferizaj/Uroševac, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Sevcë/ Sevce and Brod villages in Shtërpce/Strpce municipality and in Zhazhe/Žaža village in Zveçan/Zvečan municipality. In Gjilan/Gnjilane, for instance, thanks to €550,000 of EU funds, 500 pupils are now studying in two shifts rather than three.

And they are doing so in warm, bright and attractive classrooms, not to mention a laboratory workshop facilities and a library instead of the rundown schools they occupied before October 2009.

ON THE RIGHT PATH Ensuring the rights of the RAE community is an important test for Kosovo society and an important way forward for the country on its road to EU membership. So are efforts to ensure the various other human rights mentioned above.

Human rights-the rights of each individual-are the core value of European Union. But in Kosovo they are, in a way, even more important, precisely because they have been violated so many times during the past in so many brutal ways.

Kosovo possibly has experienced more dramatic changes in the last 30 years than any other territory in Europe. Its social system has been designed from scratch, under international supervision and with international support.

Many things are still missing: there’s basic social assistance, but there are no unemployment benefits, and no child benefits scheme. For all those reasons, strong social cohesion is vital for Kosovo’s social and political future and stability. For all those reasons, human rights matter. And for all those reasons, the EU is there to help.

10 | HELPING THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST

CONTACT European Commission Liaison Office to Kosovo A. Kosovo Street 1 (P.O. Box 331) Pristina, KOSOVO T. +381 38 51 31 200 F. +381 38 51 31 304 E. [email protected]

W. www.delprn.ec.europa.eu

"This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of European Commission Liaison Office to Kosovo and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union."