IFES - Kosovo

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Kosovo

Members of Handikos, a Kosovo-based organization for people with disabilities, participate in IFES and OSCE training.

Kosovo has been governed by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo since 1999 under the guidance of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Discussions on the final status of Kosovo were launched in 2005. IFES has been providing technical assistance in Kosovo since 1998 when an agreement between Slobodan Milosevic and the international community was reached that allowed for diplomatic verification and humanitarian assistance as well as some sort of self-rule for Kosovo and elections within nine month's time. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights funded IFES' first trip to Kosovo where IFES conducted a comprehensive electoral assessment for future elections with the aim of establishing the quality of population registries for the province, and the extent the Kosovar Albanian population's participation in public administration and electoral processes. With funding from USAID and the Department of State, IFES has been providing assistance in the areas of election processes, capacity building of civil society and promoting the rule of law.

Current Projects

Judicial System Reform

Since 2004, IFES has been implementing a project to improve the capacity of the Kosovar judicial system to enforce civil court judgments fairly and effectively. Building upon its comprehensive research projects on the execution of court judgments in Latin America and on emerging Global Enforcement Standards, IFES is collaborating with the National Center for State Courts on a multi-year program to reduce case backlogs, improve stakeholder information flows and promote more confidence in the legal system. A stakeholder working group brings together representatives of the courts, private/public sectors, and legal community to tackle joint problems and identify creative solutions to roadblocks in the system. These reforms will help set the stage for economic and political progress and the development of a Rule of Law culture.

Under this project, IFES is also undertaking a number of public information and outreach activities. IFES conducts a yearly national survey to monitor public perception of the judiciary and, more broadly, of the rule of law environment in Kosovo. Following the 2004 survey, which showed a poor understanding and confidence in the judiciary, IFES and NCSC developed a number of public outreach materials on the judicial organization and processes. These materials were used in training sessions at the community level through a group of experienced Kosovar public information trainers.

Past Projects in Kosovo »