UNMIK/PR/454
PRESS RELEASE - 20 December 2000

SRSG inaugurates "Muharrem Bekteshi" High School

Pristina-SRSG Bernard Kouchner, together with Mr.Charles Josselin, French Minister for International Cooperation, inaugurated the "Muharrem Bekteshi" High School yesterday in Vushtrri/Vucitrn in Mitrovica Region.

The school was rehabilitated with funding provided by the "Développement local Balkans" of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Rhône-Alpes Region, along with assistance from the French CIMIC.

Addressing a crowd of students and parents, Mr. Josselin congratulated the people of Kosovo for their reconstruction efforts. He said he was pleased that France could help, and that he wished to "express the admiration of the people of France for what Dr. Kouchner has done here."  He told the students that  "the only way to thank Dr. Kouchner for his dedication to the people of Kosovo was to take good care of the new equipment" which they had just received, so that it "serves for many generations after you."

Dr. Kouchner called the high school a symbol of the future of Kosovo. The school is now equipped with new classroom furniture, laboratories, a library, computer rooms and a sports field. The donations also produced new heating, water and sanitation systems, which the school had lacked. The Rhône-Alpes Region will continue to support the school by providing training to teachers and other school staff in various disciplines in France.

Of the  800 schools which were destroyed or damaged during the recent conflict in Kosovo, more than 200 have been rehabilitated. The Department of Education and Science expects to complete rebuilding schools by the end of 2001. Other donors to such projects  include the Government of Japan, DANIDA, SIDA, Swiss Development Co-operation, UNICEF, UNDP, ECHO, Islamic Development Fund, British Red Cross and OXFAM.