Kosovo: UN agency, mission help
Roma families return to former neighbourhood
17 October 2007 – More than 100 displaced Roma have returned
to live in their former neighbourhood in a northern Kosovo town
under a project partly organized by the United Nations peacekeeping
mission to the Serbian province (UNMIK) and the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR).
Some 24 Roma families returned
to apartments or houses near their original place of residence
in Mitrovica yesterday to mark the end of the first phase of
the “Return to the Roma Mahala” scheme, according
to a press release issued by UNMIK.
The 107 returnees either came
from camps in the northern part of Mitrovica or from neighbouring
Montenegro or Serbia proper, and they follow the return of 462
Roma in March this year to new apartments or private houses.
The Roma Mahala is the name
of the neighbourhood in Mitrovica that was home to an estimated
8,000 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians before it was destroyed during
the conflict between Kosovo’s majority Albanian population
and forces from the then Yugoslavia in 1999.
This project aims to ensure
that the Roma return with dignity and their families can socially
reintegrate into the fabric of Mitrovica life, by participating
in the reconstruction of their homes, becoming involved in income-generating
activities and developing contacts with the Kosovo Albanian
community.
Aside from UNMIK and
UNHCR, the project is also being undertaken by the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the municipality
of Mitrovica and other organizations, including the Danish Refugee
Council and Norwegian Church Aid.
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Ban
Ki-moon urges timely resolution of Kosovo’s future status
3 October 2007 – Any delay in determining the future status
of Kosovo could threaten the gains made by the United Nations
in the Serbian province it has administered since Western forces
drove out Yugoslav forces amid inter-ethnic fighting in 1999,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
The UN peacekeeping mission
in the province, known as UNMIK, has mostly achieved what it
can, and “further progress depends on a timely resolution
of the future status of Kosovo,” Mr. Ban wrote in his
latest report on the Mission.
He warned that a “further
prolongation of the future-status process puts at risk the achievements
of the United Nations in Kosovo since June of 1999.”
The Secretary-General pledged
the UN’s support for discussions between the two sides
led by the Troika, comprising the European Union, Russia and
the United States.
“No effort should be
spared to reach an acceptable solution to the question of the
status of Kosovo in accordance with the guiding principles”
of the Contact Group of the US, United Kingdom, France, Germany,
Italy and Russia, he said.
During the 120-day period
of Troika-led engagement, “the parties need to engage
in construction and genuine discussions,” Mr. Ban noted.
“The sides should be encouraged to make concrete and realistic
proposals and be given ample opportunities to do so.”
However, due to the substantial
gap between the parties regarding the future status of Kosovo
– where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs and other minorities
by about nine to one – consideration must be given to
what to do if the sides cannot come to an agreement by the end
of the engagement period, he said.
“Momentum in the process
to resolve the status of Kosovo must be maintained until closure
is reached,” the Secretary-General stated. “Otherwise,
there is a real risk of progress beginning to unravel and of
instability in Kosovo and the region.”
He also called for Kosovo
Serbs to fully take part in the upcoming election scheduled
for 17 November.
“The status determination
process continues to polarize the Kosovo Serb political community
into those who see a future in working with the international
community and the Provisional Institutions and those who do
not,” he said.
Although the participation
of Kosovo Serbs in both the political process and in the Provisional
Institutions is “minimal,” Mr. Ban said he was encouraged
by the emergence of several new Kosovo Serb parties that support
joining in the elections.
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Muppets
go to school in Kosovo in UN-backed effort to bridge ethnic
divide
2 October 2007 – The Muppets are going to school in Kosovo
in a new project to teach tolerance to children in the Albanian-majority
Serb province, which the United Nations has run since Western
forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting.
The UN Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) and Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization
behind the province’s Albanian and Serbian versions –
Rruga Sesam and Ulica Sezam respectively – of the famed
children’s television programme Sesame Street, have launched
a series of story and picture books with Big Bird, Cookie Monster,
Oscar the Grouch and the rest of the crew bringing a message
of diversity and understanding.
Distribution began on Friday
with children, parents and teachers in Pristina and Mitrovica
kindergarten classrooms. The TV programme has already been on
the air for some time, adapting its content to local needs.
“In a region rich with
diversity, but challenged by conflict, our mission is to reach
as many children as possible with meaningful content,”
Albanian Content Director for Rruga Sesam Anita Pasha said of
the new initiative. “Like the Rruga Sesam television series,
the outreach materials are designed to better prepare them for
school and encourage them to develop a lifelong love of learning.”
Serbian Content Director Jelena
Ravnjak was equally enthusiastic. “Since Ulica Sezam debuted
in Kosovo, teachers in Serbian regions have shared with us their
need for relevant materials that present sensitive social-emotional
lessons.
“The beauty of the Muppet characters resides in the fact
that they’re multi-coloured, tall and short, wide and
skinny, furry and feathered, and incredibly different from one
another, yet all the same – learning to live and laugh
together. We are thrilled to extend their reach from the television
directly into the classrooms and homes.”
Sesame Workshop and UNICEF
were joined by UNICEF’s Head of Office Robert Fuderich
as well as local celebrities at the launch.
In Pristina, actress and UNICEF
local Good Will Ambassador Yllka Gashi took part at the Albanian-language
Gëzimi Ynë Kindergarten, while actress Zorica Jovanovic
joined children and caregivers at the Serbian-language Danica
Jaramaz Kindergarten in Mitrovica, each reading the new story
book Dita Ime e Parë në Shkollë/Moj Prvi Dan
u Skoli, or My First Day of School, to children in their respective
classrooms.
All materials will be
disseminated free of charge to preschools, family healthcare
centres, women’s literacy centres in conjunction with
women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based
early childhood education centres and parent/teacher organizations.
The materials include 30,000 storybooks and 30,000 picture books
in Albanian, 5,000 of each in Serbian Cyrillic letters and 3,000
apiece in Serbian Latin letters.
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