Mushtitsht, June 7^th, 2016 – Lëvizja FOL with the support of Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, continues the debates of “FOL Hapur” format with mayors of municipalities. This discussion was held in the municipality of Suhareka specifically in the village Mushtisht.

Petrit Zogaj, executive director of Lëvizja FOL, presented the findings of the research Lëvizja FOL conducted on capital investments in Suhareka for these past two years, in four largest villages in Suhareka with the biggest population, as well as citizen’s requests for investments.
According to him, part of this research were four villages: Bllacë, Studençan, Mushtisht and Samadrexhç, and that these request will be sent to the municipality for the possibility of investment after revising the current budget and the budget for the next year.

The mayor of Suhareka, Mr. Sali Asllanaj, presented the investments of the municipality and promised that after revising the current budget and with the budget of the next year, there will be more opportunities for investments.

Lëvizja FOL in cooperation with the Netherlands Embassy in Pristina and UNDP, are implementing the project “Anti-Corruption Education Center”. The project aims to offer a space for studying and learning for youngsters interested on self-education in fighting corruption and being part of changes in our country.

Students from Faculty of Law and Political Science are invited to participate in this 2-day training in the “Anti-Corruption Education Center” at Lëvizja FOL.

Training focus:

What is corruption?
The role of the prosecutor, media and civil society in fighting corruption.
Defining corruptive acts according to laws in Kosovo.
Responsible mechanisms in fighting corruption in Kosovo.
Initiation of investigation (Initiating a case).
Gathering the documents- supportive evidences.
Strategies- investigation plans, investigative techniques.
Financial investigations- Investigating wealth gained by criminal act
Trainer:

Mr. Admir Shala- Prosecutor in the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosova

Deadline:

The training will be held on June 24^th-25^th, 2016.
Deadline to submit your application is June 20^th, 2016.

Who is eligible to participate?

Students from Faculty of Law and Political Science, of age 19-26.  Applicants must submit the completed application form in the webpage of Lëvizja FOL.

Lëvizja FOL in cooperation with Embassy of the Netherlands in Prishtina and UNDP are implementing the project “Anti-Corruption Education Center” (AEC). This project aims to offer a space to study and learn to students interested in self-education in fighting corruption and being a changemaker.

Topic

Students are invited to write an essay identifying the problem Kosovo has with corruption. The essay must elaborate and answer the following questions:

• Why is Kosovo ranked this high in the Global Corruption Barometer by Transparency International?
• Why is there a high perception on corruption from citizens?
• Are institutions in the right track in fight against corruption?
• What damage is corruption causing and who is suffering most from the high level of corruption?
• What is the role of society and other social entities?

Eligibility

Students age of 19-26, from public and private universities. Applicants must submit their essay jointly with a copy of their ID card.

Essay criteria

Microsoft Word, 1500 words, Times New Roman, Space 1.5, APA/Chicago Citation Style. The essay must be written in Albanian or English. The essay must be authentic, plagiarism is not allowed.

Awards

The first three places will be rewarded.
First place- 150 Euro
Second place- 50 Euro
Third place- 50 Euro

Deadline and submission

The essay must be delivered at FOL Movement, st. “Andrea Gropa”, Nr. 35, Prishtine.
The deadline is June 17^th, 2016.

Stanoc i Epërm, May 24th, 2016 – Lëvizja FOL with the support of Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, continues the debates of “FOL Hapur’ format with mayors of municipalities. This discussion was held in municipality of Vushtrri, specifically in the village Stanoc i Epërm.

Petrit Zogaj, executive director of FOL Movement presented the findings of the research Lëvizja FOL conducted on capital investments in Vushtrri for these past two years, in four largest villages in Vushtrri with the biggest population, as well as citizen’s requests for investments. According to him part of this research were: Maxhunaj, Dobërllukë, Stanoc i Epërm and Stanoc i Poshtëm; and that these requests will be sent to the municipality for the possibility of investment after revising the current budget and the budget for the next year.

The mayor of Vushtrri, Mr. Bajram Mulaku, presented the investments of the municipality and promised that after revising the current budget and with the budget of the next year, there will be more opportunities for investments.

Pristina, May 24^th, 2016. FOL Movement published the findings from monitoring 20 ministries of the Government of Kosovo on the implementation of the Annual Working Plan of Government of Kosovo for 2016.
FOL has monitored the implementation of the Annual Working Plan from January 2015 on annual and three-month periods, and in the end of 2015 based on the planned activities has monitored the implementation of these activities from the Government of Kosovo.
During the monitoring of this Plan for 2016 from 20 ministries of our Government, 16 were obliged to fulfill their activities on the period of time January-March 2016. For this period were planned 110 activities from which 54 were implemented while 53 were left unfulfilled.

Ministries that did not have any activity for this period were: Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of European Integration and Ministry of Public Administration. Ministry of Education, Science and Technology did not respond despite their promise to do so.

• The Office of the Prime minister of Kosovo- for the period of time January-March, had planned 8 activities, from which 4 were implemented while 4 have left unfulfilled.
  • Ministry of Justice- for the first quarter had planned 5 activities, from which 3 were implemented while 2 have left unfulfilled.
  • Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare- from 8 planned activities, it has implemented 2 activities while 6 have left unfulfilled.
  •Ministry of Local Government Administration- for the first quarter it had only one activity which was implemented on time.
  •Ministry of Diaspora- during the first quarter from 5 planned activities it has implemented 4, while only one activity has been left unfulfilled.
  •Ministry of Internal Affairs- this ministry had planned 10 activities, while 7 were implemented and 3 have left unfulfilled.
  •Ministry of Economic Development- from 7 planned activities for this period, none was implemented. This ministry has sent an explanation for each activity, saying they were all sent for approval.
  • Ministry of Finances- from 12 planned activities, 5 were implemented while 7 have left unfulfilled.
  • Ministry for Community and Return- has completed 3 planned activities.
  • Ministry of Health- from 3 planned activities, one was implemented while 2 have left unfulfilled.
  •Ministry of Trade and Industry- according to the annual plan for 2016, from 15 planned activities has implemented 9 activities while 6 have left unfulfilled.
  • Ministry for the Kosovo Security Forces- has implemented 2 planned activities.
  •Ministry of Infrastructure- as of January-March 2016, from 9 planned activities, it has implemented 4 activities while 5 have left unfulfilled.
  •Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning- from 17 planned activities it has implemented 7 activities while 10 have left unfulfilled.
  • Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development- it has implemented 2 planned activities.FOL, through social networks (Facebook and Twitter) is publishing implemented and unfulfilled activities of the Annual Plan of the Work of Government, for each ministry. We aim to inform citizens and the media on the implementation of the working plan of the Government.

Pristina, May 24^th, 2016. FOL Movement as an implementing partner of pilot project on measuring the Rule of Law in Public Administration, today published the report “Measuring Rule of Law in Public Administration in Kosovo Municipalities”. This project was supported by Folke Bernadotte Academy, UNDP and the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

FOL Movement conducted the research through three phases through “Self-assessment tool and measuring rule of law” prepared by Folke Bernadotte Academy and UNDP.

Through these phases was identified the legal framework that regulates the matter of social housing and were analyzed all judicial acts- how they define and cover the principles of rule of law: Principle of Legality, Accessibility, Right to be heard, Right to appeal, Transparency and Accountability.

Interviews were held with officials from four beneficiary municipalities: Gjakova, Istogu, Kamenica and Lipjan; with a total of 53 civil servants included in the survey.

To measure the perception of users towards public services in these municipalities, were surveyed 259 users, including beneficiary users, rejected applicants and queued applicants.

The results from the surveys show discrepancies in the answers of officials compared from the answers of users; mostly regarding the accessibility to public administration, municipalities counseling and guidance towards citizens, municipalities’ objectivity while reviewing complaints regarding their decisions, and the right of informing involved parties on decisions related to them.

Both categories of respondents- officials and users, agreed the treatment of requests in more than in one language is possible to a large extent, and that in case of abuse of office by officials and bribery, the Users emphasized that civil servants accept bribes without being caught at a small extent.

During this conference were present Mr. Andrew Russell- UN Development Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Kosovo; Ambassador Jean Claude Schlumberger- Head of OSCE Mission in Kosovo; Mr. Richard Sannerholm- Head of Rule of Law at Folke Bernadotte Academy, and other relevant central and local institutions. Mayors of beneficiary municipalities were present to discuss on findings of the report, the matter of social housing and the difficulties municipalities face regarding this matter.

They stated that recommendations of this report will be key pillar on improving the matter of social housing from municipalities.

This reports’ methodology and its findings were presented from partners FOL and UNDP while leaving space for participants to discuss.

In the end of this meeting it was emphasized the need of a transparent administration in order to improve the current procedures or social housing in these four municipalities.

Pristina, May 12^th, 2016. Lëvizja FOL held the next discussion of SPEAK Open format, with the President of Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Hashim Thaçi.
Petrit Zogaj from FOL Movement said this discussion with the President will be focused more on the presidential agenda, foreign policies, the dialogue in Brussels and the consolidation of the political dialogue in Kosovo.

Mr.Thaçi said that during his mandate he will work on promoting dialogue in Kosovo. “I will promote dialogue between leaders in power and leaders from opposition. Dialogue remains the only solution for our problems”-said Thaçi, adding that European agenda will unite Kosovo’s politics and that he will work on improving dialogue between the institutions and communities.
As for the dialogue with Serbia, President Thaçi said he will work on encouraging this dialogue and not let it become a toneless process. “Kosovo has excellent relations with the countries of the region while with Serbia is a bit more different. Normalization of relations Kosovo-Serbia promotes stability in the region”. The President also said they will continue with the dialogue with the EU so Kosovar citizens will have the freedom of travel.

As for the establishment of Armed Forces of Kosovo, President Thaçi said Kosovo missed the opportunity to establish Armed Forces of Kosovo in 2014 because of negligence of political will. “I believe Armed Forces will be established in a near future”-said President Thaçi.
Another priority of President Thaçi is strengthening judicial system. ”We do have a very modern legal framework, yet we have identified some gaps in the Criminal Code of Republic of Kosovo, including prosecution, judiciary and correctional service”-he said.
Thaçi also emphasized that the matter of missing persons, displaced persons and wartime raped women will be in his agenda.

Pristina, May 11^th, 2016. Today in Kamenica, FOL Movement held its fourth debate on rule of law, which was held in four municipalities of Kosovo as beneficiaries of project “Measuring Rule of Law in Public Administration in Kosovo Municipalities”. This project was supported by Folke Bernadotte Academy, UNDP in Kosovo and OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

FOL Movement as an implementing partner of this project presented the findings of their research (just like in three other municipalities: Istog, Gjakove and Lipjan) conducted with officials of this municipality and users (benefactors of social housing, rejected applicants and queued applicants).
Fitore Metbala-Project coordinator said 12 municipality officials were interview and 42 users from them, 20 persons that benefited social housing, 16 rejected applicants and 6 queued applicants.

Part of the presentation were the stances of the interviewees on the Principle of Legality, Accessibility, Right to be heard, Right to appeal, Transparency and Accountability.

Citizens that were present appreciated the discipline of the residents in social housing, in maintance, cleaning and their condition, meanwhile from the officials present were the Director of Centre for Social Labour in Kamenica and the Head of Committee on selecting the beneficiaries.
According to them there is lack of housing capacities in this municipality and there is a need for a new building since there is a big number of requests for social housing.
As for the process of accepting, revising and selecting applications, the Head of the Committee Mrs. Kimete Kryeziu said that every process happens in accordance with the law.

Gjakova, May 10^th, 2016. Today in Gjakova, FOL Movement held its third discussion on the project “Measuring Rule of Law in Public Administration in Kosovo Municipalities”.

In this discussion there was a presentation on the findings of the research conducted with municipality officials that deal with the matter of social housing, as well as the results of the interviews with users who dealt with the matter of social housing.
After the presentation of findings by Fitore Metbala- Project coordinator at FOL Movement, citizens and municipality officials that were present, discussed the results of this research.

Ali Tafarshiku- adviser of mayor of Gjakova discussed the findings of this research and explained to the citizens what actions is the municipality taking on this matter and how it is dealing with the big number of requests for social housing.

Citizens on the other hand requested an intervention on this matter since they are dealing with such obstacles for years now.
In the end of the debate it was evident that the main problems are: Lack of funds for housing, lack of financial funds, not registering municipality properties in the name of the municipality and misuses made by previous beneficiaries of social housing.

Istog, May 5^th, 2016. Lëvizja FOL held a discussion within the project “Measuring Rule of Law in Public Administration in Kosovo Municipalities” in the municipality of Istog with the support of project partners: Folke Bernadotte Academy, UNDP in Kosovo and OSCE Mission in Kosovo.
Istog was one of the four beneficiary municipalities included in the research with 11 interviewed municipality officials and 77 users (benefactors of social housing, rejected applicants and queued applicants).

The results of this research were presented by Fitore Metbala- Project Coordinator at Lëvizja FOL , following the discussion from citizens and officials that were present in this discussion, on the current state of social housing, challenges this municipality is facing and findings of the research.

Present officials discussed the lack of funding as the main obstacle in the matter of social housing as well as the results of the research where citizens value the municipality as transparent, accountable and accessible towards citizens.

Lipjan, May 3^rd, 2016. Lëvizja FOL held a discussion within the project “Measuring Rule of Law in Public Administration in Kosovo Municipalities” in the municipality of Lipjan with the support of project partners: Folke Bernadotte Academy, UNDP in Kosovo and OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

In this discussion were present municipality officials, mostly officials that work on the matter of social housing as well as citizens of this municipality.
Fitore Metbala- Project Coordinator at Lëvizja FOL, presented the findings of the research conducted in this municipality with officials and users (benefactors of social housing, rejected applicants and queued applicants).

The findings of this research were presented in the context of how citizens and officials evaluate rule of law especially regarding the Principle of Legality, Accessibility, Right to be heard, Right to appeal, Transparency and Accountability.

Citizens and officials that were present discussed the findings of this research, challenges this municipality if facing regarding social housing, actions taken on this matter, citizens’ requests, and recommendations that must be taken on improving this matter.

Speakers emphasized municipality lacks on capacities to ensure social housing for each request they get, but they are trying to prioritize cases that have more difficulties.
Social housing is still a challenge for municipalities with the lack of financial funds being the main obstacle.

Kabash, April 27^th, 2016. With the support of Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Lëvizja FOL held a discussion in the “FOL Hapur”format with mayors of municipalities. This discussion was held with the mayor of Vitia in the village Kabash.
Petrit Zogaj, executive director of Lëvizja FOL presented the findings of the research Lëvizja FOL conducted on capital investments in Vitia for these past two years, in four largest villages in Vitia with the biggest population, as well as citizen’s requests for investments.
According to him, part of this research were four villages: Beguncë, Kabash, Pozhoran and Smirë, and that these requests will be sent to the municipality for the possibility of investment after revising the current budget and the budget for the next year.

The mayor of Vitia, Mr. Sokol Haliti, presented the investments of the municipality and promised that after revising the current budget and with the budget of the next year, there will be more opportunities for investments.

Breznicë, April 21^st, 2016. With the support of Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Lëvizja FOL held a discussion in the “FOL Hapur”format with mayors of municipalities. This discussion was held with the mayor of Obiliq in the village Breznicë.
Petrit Zogaj, executive director of Levizja FOL presented the findings of the research Lëvizja FOL conducted on capital investments in Obiliq for these past two years, in four largest villages in Obiliq with the biggest population, as well as citizen’s requests for investments.
According to him, part of this research were four villages: Plemetin, Breznicë, Mazgit and Milloshevë, and that these requests will be sent to the municipality for the possibility of investment after revising the current budget and the budget for the next year.

The mayor of Vitia, Mr. Xhafer Gashi, presented the investments of the municipality and promised that after revising the current budget and with the budget of the next year, there will be more opportunities for investments.

Lagjja e Pajtimit, April 20^th, 2016. With the support of Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Lëvizja FOL held a discussion in the “FOL Hapur” format with mayors of municipalities. This discussion was held with the mayor of Shtime in the village Lagjja e Pajtimit.
Petrit Zogaj, executive director of Lëvizja FOL presented the findings of the research Lëvizja FOL conducted on capital investments in Shtime for these past two years, in four largest villages in Shtime with the biggest population, as well as citizen’s requests for investments.
According to him, part of this research were four villages: Petrovë, Godanc i Epërm, Reçak and Lagjja e Pajtimit, and that these requests will be sent to the municipality for the possibility of investment after revising the current budget and the budget for the next year.

The mayor of Shtime, Mr. Naim Ismajli, presented the investments of the municipality and promised that after revising the current budget and with the budget of the next year, there will be more opportunities for investments.

 

Pristina, April 14^th, 2016. FOL Movement in cooperation with Innovation Center Kosovo (ICK) and the Agency of Information Society (AIS), held a press conference to present the concept-design of E-Kosova platform.
Perit Zogaj from FOL Movement what is being presented today had started years ago and comes as a result of the cooperation with the Agency of Information Society and Innovation Centre Kosovo as well as with the support from the institutions and the financial support of the British Embassy in Prishtina. E-Kosova will serve the citizens with online services without the need to go directly in the institutions for these services. “We will use technology as an administration substitute, not to reduce the administration but to facilitate their work and to avoid any possible misuse of official duty”-said Zogaj.

Ruari O’Connell- British Ambassador, said the British Government is interested to see Kosovo as a state where institutions are responsible for public expenditures. “Kosovo would have an opportunity for foreign investments when rule of law would function in an impartial way. This happens through good governance. But what happens?
Kosovo still has problems with judiciary system and corruption. Your future and your children’s future depends on rule of law”- declared O’Connell adding that it is necessary to increase transparency and accountability in public institutions.
“As Kosovar citizen I consider that rule of law, transparency and accountability are crucial for democracy. Only in this way citizens can trust the institutions of Kosovo”- said O’Connell.

Uranik Begu- Executive director of ICK, said that from the beginning this project sounded innovative therefore they accepted it. “By cooperating with FOL and AIS and through focus groups with NGOs, media and institutions we created the concept-design of E-Kosova, but there is yet a lot to be done”-said Begu, adding this platform is for everyone and should not have an owner.

Kujtim Gashi- Excecutive director at AIS said this matter is very important knowing how developed technology is today. “This platform represent a network and a source for the government to be closer to citizens. The Institutions of Kosovo are willing to work more on transparency and accountability and this means new laws and regulations on this matter”- said Gashi adding this portal will serve the citizens to receive information and have online services. Gashi said that Institutions of Kosovo are making the information accessible to be closer to citizens, meaning that E-Kosova will be a step on creating a more transparent and accountable system.

Zana Tabaku from ICK presented the platform by saying it was based on the National Action Plan. “Through this platform Kosovo will offer services for citizens, businesses and institutions. Currently there are some available services taken from the National Plan”.

Llapushnik, Arpil 12^th, 2016. Lëvizja FOL with the support of Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, held a discussion in the “FOL Hapur” format with mayors of municipalities. This discussion was held with the mayor of Drenas in the village Llapushnik.
Petrit Zogaj, executive director of Lëvizja FOL presented the findings of the research FOL conducted on capital investments in Drenas for these past two years, in four largest villages in Drenas with the biggest population, as well as citizen’s requests for investments.
According to him, part of this research were four villages: Nekoc, Tërstenik, Llapushnik and Komoran, and that these requests will be sent to the municipality for the possibility of investment after revising the current budget and the budget for the next year.

The mayor of Drenas, Mr. Nexhat Demaku, presented the investments of the municipality and promised that after revising the current budget and with the budget of the next year, there will be more opportunities for investments.

 

FOL Movement jointly with Innovation Centre Kosova and Agency for Information Society, for three days in a row held the focus groups with representatives of Government, Civil Society and Media in Kosovo.

Throughout these three days the concept design of E-KOSOVA was presented. The latter is foreseen as the first activity on National Action Plan on OGP 2014-2016. Vivid discussion and great recommendations arose out of these focus groups.
The latter will all be integrated on the final concept design that will be presented on Thursday – 14th of April, from 11am.
These activities were made possible thanks to the support of the British Embassy in Kosova.

 

Seçishtë, April 5^th, 2016. Lëvizja FOL with the support of Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, has started the debates in “FOL Hapur”format with mayors of municipalities. During these debates FOL will visit villages in different municipalities and hold discussions with mayors and citizens from selected municipalities.

The first discussion was held in the municipality of Hani Elezit, specifically in the village Seçishtë.

Pertit Zogaj, executive director at Lëvizja FOL presented the findings of the research Lëvizja FOL conducted on capital investments in Hani Elezit for these past two years, in four largest villages in Hani Elezit with the biggest population, as well as citizen’s requests for investments.
According to him, part of this research were four villages: Seçishtë, Paldenicë, Pustenik and Gorancë.

The mayor of Hani Elezit, Mr. Rufki Suma, discussed with the citizens from these four villages on the investments the municipality has done so far and the opportunities for investments in the future.

Health Corrup Scan – En

FOL Movement in January-February this year, has developed a public opinion survey about the perceptions and experiences in dealing with corruption in the public health care system.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Allow me, first of all, to thank the organizers for making this event possible, and to thank you for participating.

It is not a secret that Kosovo’s society is plagued by corruption. Despite years of national and international efforts, corruption has not decreased. In the most recent Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International, Kosovo scored 33 out of 100, with 0 being extremely corrupt. Since becoming an independent state in 2008, Kosovo has been facing many challenges, and corruption still remains the biggest challenge. We have to admit that corruption is an integral part of life in Kosovo. This, however, should never be a reason or excuse for inaction.

One of the biggest challenges for Kosovo as a country in transition is the low level of citizens’ trust in Kosovo institutions. This is mainly the result of high levels of corruption and limited progress in combatting corruption by the judicial institutions. Corruption, and lack of effective combatting of corruption, pose a threat to Kosovo’s development and its Euro-Atlantic integration. It needs to be combatted at all thinkable institutional levels in an effective way, because it is the one and only way to move forward.

When we look at the data, we are presented with a rather gloomy picture. The latest Public Opinion Survey conducted by FOL found that around 46.4% of citizens think that the level of corruption in Kosovo has increased in the last three years. Around 43.4% of the interviewed declared that the public institutions of Kosovo did not undertake any serious attempts to implement anticorruption measures. And finally, the survey showed that people perceive corruption to be highest in government and the judicial system. This is particularly worrisome considering that the government and the judiciary are of vital importance to Kosovo’s development.