OSCE Mission in Kosovo

The Mission monitors and promotes community rights and the safety of communities in Kosovo in a variety of areas. These include the use of languages; access to education and health care; property rights; access to accommodation and services for returnees and repatriated persons; participation in decision-making processes; and religious and cultural heritage protection.

Community participation and access to services

Ethnic communities in Kosovo often face difficulties in enjoying their rights, including the equitable representation and participation in the work of institutions. The Mission works with central level institutions to introduce and promote a legal and policy framework that addresses this problem. It has helped develop a strategy to integrate Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in Kosovo, and supports the efforts of municipalities to improve the access to services, employment and education for all communities. On the legislative level, the Mission assists the Assembly of Kosovo in reviewing and implementing laws that promote community rights, such as on the use of languages, and on cultural and religious heritage protection.

The official languages in Kosovo are Albanian, Serbian, and – in specific municipalities – Turkish. A Language Commissioner monitors the compliance of the institutions with the law on the use of languages, and reacts to complaints about language legislation violations. The Mission organizes staff training and provides legal analysis as well as policy advice to the Commissioner’s office, and helps them raise awareness about language rights in Kosovo among the general public. It also makes efforts to improve the quality of education in different languages in Kosovo, by supporting quality pre-service teacher education at several faculties and a youth empowerment centre in Gračanica/Garçanicë that organizes leadership training, personal and professional development classes, and cultural events.

Returns and repatriation

The Mission works with central and local institutions on the return and repatriation of displaced persons inside and outside of Kosovo. It helps them implement the respective legislation and provide support to returnees and repatriated persons. To prepare the ground for sustainable solutions, the Mission also runs outreach initiatives that aim at strengthening relations between communities, returnees and local authorities.

Community safety

To improve the safety of communities in Kosovo and make responses to security incidents more effective, the Mission works with municipal safety councils and local safety committees. These committees include residents, educators, police officials and municipal representatives. Out of 33 local safety committees, 24 operate in areas with an ethnically mixed population of Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs. The Missions also assists the Kosovo Police run a community-policing programme and advises the Interior Ministry on how to implement a community safety strategy and action plan covering the period from 2012 to 2016.