The Office for Community Affairs within the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Kosovo is no longer able to realize its vision and mission and applies the concerning practice of allocating funds exclusively to organizations and members of the majority community, neglecting the needs and interests of non-majority communities, Srdjan Sentic, the new deputy of the Ombudsperson in Kosovo, said.
After NGOs and the media shared a series of accusations regarding the decision of the public competition of the Office for Community Affairs for the allocation of funds, Sentic criticized the work of this institution in a similar tone. He says that its work has been extremely degraded.
The Ombudsperson’s new deputy in Kosovo said in a Facebook post that 15 years ago he was one of the founders and the first director of the Office for Community Affairs at the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Kosovo.
„The Office for Community Affairs, which operates within the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, aims to coordinate and improve relations with the various communities in Kosovo. Its main responsibilities include advising the Prime Minister on issues affecting communities, monitoring the implementation of policies and laws that affect them, and addressing their practical needs. The Office’s job description is to actively communicate and cooperate with communities and civil society, promote equal treatment of all non-majority communities, and maintain good relations and coordination with relevant institutions. It should perform its work through the principles of consultation, openness, transparency, responsibility, and cooperation in order to contribute to the prosperity and better life of all citizens of Kosovo,“ said Sentic.
He emphasized that fruitful cooperation was established during his mandate, both with domestic and international actors, all with the aim of effectively solving the issues of non-majority communities throughout Kosovo and ensuring an even distribution of funds and their efficient use.
„Thanks to numerous projects and initiatives co-financed by relevant local and international institutions, the Office managed to significantly increase the budget intended for non-majority communities,“ he added.
The Deputy Ombudsperson, however, claims that last year, the Office allocated funds to organizations that do not belong to non-majority communities in 80% of cases, while this year that number has increased to over 90%.
„This unequal and worrisome distribution of funds has left non-majority communities deprived of funds meant for them. Unfortunately, in the last two years, the Office also suffered a significant loss of around two million euros due to ineffective management and planning of its resources,“ he added.
Furthermore, he claims that this year the Office’s annual budget was officially reduced from 1.7 million euros to only around five hundred thousand euros.
„Such a drastic drop in funds for non-majority communities is completely unacceptable and means that the Office hardly deals with the issues and needs of non-majority communities, which represents a serious step backward in realizing equal rights of communities and protecting their interests,“ Sentic estimated.
He underscored that the current situation requires an urgent review and revision of budget planning to ensure adequate funding and support for non-majority communities as per the laws and international obligations of Kosovo.
„Instead of developing the existing mandate and budget in favor of non-majority communities, the Office has completely distanced itself from its job description and main goal – to improve the rights, interests and position of non-majority communities,“ Sentic says.
He emphasizes that the Office has not had a director for more than two years now, despite his warnings to all relevant actors about the possible consequences of such a situation.
„This situation has resulted in a serious degradation of the work of the Office, which is no longer able to realize its vision and mission. The lack of leadership led to the Office losing its guidelines and focus, and now there is a concerning practice of allocating funds exclusively to organizations and members of majority communities, completely ignoring the needs and interests of non-majority communities,“ he stated.
He underlines that it is necessary to take measures to ensure stable and responsible leadership of the Office.
„Only through such leadership can we re-establish trust, restore the function of the Office and re-direct its work towards achieving the goals and interests of all non-majority communities in Kosovo,“ Sentic concluded.
The decision of the Commission in connection with the public competition of the Office for Community Affairs for the allocation of funds to NGOs and the media was previously criticized and condemned by CSOs and certain media from Serbian communities.
They stated that the prerequisites, the rights of non-majority communities and organizations were violated, thereby resulting in outright discrimination, and that most of the organizations on the list came from the Albanian community.
They called on the Kurti-led government to annul the results of the competition and call for a new one.
On May 31st, the Office for Community Affairs announced a public call for financial support totaling 500,000 euros for NGOs and media from non-majority communities. On July 10th, the website of the Prime Minister of Kosovo published a preliminary list of the media and organizations that will receive funds from that competition.
Of the 42 NGOs included in the preliminary list, only three are from minority communities, according to the names on the list and the public register of NGOs. More than 90% of the media and NGOs to which funds have been allocated come from the Albanian community. Some of the fund winners are not even included in the public register of NGOs, RTV Kim recently reported.
In the preliminary list published by the Kosovo government, this time bilingually, signed by commission members Besart Tasholi, Qerim Berisha, Ekrem Ahmeti, Alutrim Dermaku and Arben Elshani, only two television stations come from the Serbian community – RTV Puls (Most) and RTV Mir.
Due to this decision, Elizabeth Gowing, who is also an adviser to Albin Kurti, recently resigned from the position she holds in this office within the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, RTV Kim reported.
Despite Gowing’s objections, the Appeals Commission did not cancel the competition, after which Gowing announced that she “can no longer work with the Office for Community Affairs“ because the decision to award half a million euros to the listed beneficiaries “is not something she can defend in front of the communities.”
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
