 |
USAID/OTI Kosovo Program Summary: November 2000
During late summer 1998, Yugoslav aggression toward Kosovars reached new heights, prompting the first in a series of threats of NATO airstrikes against Yugoslavia. Continuation of violent tactics in the winter and spring of 1999 and the failure of peace negotiations at Rambouillet led to the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in March 1999. The airstrikes lasted through mid-June 1999, when Serb authorities signed Resolution 1244, allowing a NATO and UN presence to protect and govern Kosovo. In late June, overwhelming numbers of Kosovar refugees, accompanied by NATO forces and other international organizations, flooded back to the province to begin rebuilding their communities and establishing a peaceful and democratic Kosovo.
| 7/97 |
9/01 |
$12,466,000 |
$8,570,484 |
OTI was engaged in Kosovo as these events were unfolding, initially as part of its Yugoslavia program, which began in July 1997. As part of this program, OTI opened an office in Pristina in November 1998 to help relieve tensions between Kosovar citizens and the Yugoslav police and army. During the war, OTI conducted the Kosovo program-in-exile in Macedonia and actively supported Kosovar refugees and Macedonian host communities from May to June 1999.
An OTI team, along with its colleagues in the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, was in the first group of non-NATO officials to enter Kosovo in late June 1999. Building on contacts developed before the bombing and during the program-in-exile, OTI quickly established seven field offices throughout Kosovo. It began a new program, the Kosovo Transition Initiative (KTI) that focused on rehabilitation and democracy-building.
 |
| Members of a Lushta Community Improvement Council meet to identify their reconstruction priorities. |
The KTI is designed to maximize the number of Kosovars participating in setting priorities and making decisions about the future development of the province. The initiative helps citizens understand and responsibly exercise their political rights, encourages and supports the development of moderate and democratic local leadership, and enables local communities to get the resources they need to rebuild according to their priorities.
To accomplish these objectives, the KTI staff helps Kosovars form Community Improvement Councils (CICs). By organizing town hall-style meetings, OTI encourages the development of representative CICs, composed of 12 to 15 people each who reflect the political, social, and intellectual diversity of the local population. After a CIC identifies the community's priority reconstruction needs, such as repairing a school or a road, and secures a local contribution-usually in the form of labor-OTI provides the material resources. The experience of working together in a participatory, democratic, and constructive manner is as important a benefit as the humanitarian impact of the project itself.
This approach was well received; by April 2000 the KTI had established 200 CICs across the province. In fact, the CICs have emerged as de facto representatives of the diverse interests in their communities, providing other donors and international agencies with information on real local needs and priorities as defined by Kosovars themselves. By August 2000, KTI had leveraged $4.2 million from other donors and $2.28 million in local community contributions with its $6.43 million in assistance.
 |
| Local students and shop owners join in a community clean up in Gjakova Old Town. The Gjakova Old Town Community Improvement Council was formed to deal with the very difficult issues facing Gjakova's Old Town Bazaar. This historic 450-year-old marketplace once boasted 700 privately owned shops but was completely burned down by retreating Yugoslavs during the first days of the NATO airstrikes. Participants on the council include private architects and builders, leaders of cultural and historical organizations, the shop-owners association, and members of the interim municipal government. Together, this group has developed a multiphased, comprehensive approach to reconstruction of the Old Town, which they call the Gjakova 2000 Project. To date, Gjakova 2000 successfully planned a communitywide clean-up project, refurbished a local brick-making factory to aid in rebuilding, and secured funding for the reconstruction of 38 shops. |
To date, KTI has funded over 250 small-scale community improvement projects. A sampling of projects demonstrates the breadth of needs of Kosovar communities:
- OTI arranged a shipment of 30 buses to transport children to schools in Mitrovica, Prizren, Ferizaj, Peja, Gjilan, and Gjakova.
- In the village of Shalza, Mitrovica, OTI helped villagers improve poor conditions on a well-traveled mountain road.
- In Peja, OTI provided supplies and tractor spare parts to a CIC to help with fall planting. Mercy Corps International supported the planning, implementation, and evaluation.
In addition to developing CICs, the KTI also supports the creation of an independent media and a strong civil society. Media projects include rebuilding infrastructure for radio and television broadcasts and supporting the first independent Albanian-language radio station in Kosovo, as well as community radio and newspaper outlets across Kosovo. Civil society groups, which have mobilized around issues related to human rights, women, and youth activism, have received crucial start-up assistance from OTI.
OTI's partners in Kosovo include USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance/Disaster Assistance Response Team (OFDA/DART), the U.S. Office in Pristina, KFOR, UNDP, UNICEF, the World Bank, the World Heath Organization, IOM, Ronco, IBB, GTZ (German donor agency), the Swiss government, and many U.S.-based PVOs and international NGOs, such as the Adventist Development Relief Agency, CARE, International Medical Corps, Doctors without Borders, OXFAM, Red Cross International, International Rescue Committee, Samaritan's Purse, Internews, International Research, and Education Exchange.
"The OTI program is one of the best international community activities in Kosovo since the end of the war last June. It started fast and has not flagged.... [The U.S. Office in Pristina] continues to rely on its resources and advice of its people.... Few development programs have accomplished so much with so little in such a short period of time."
-- Larry Rossin, former chief U.S. diplomat in Kosovo. |
OTI's partnership with U.S. forces in Kosovo (U.S. KFOR) has been particularly productive. Work in the U.S. sector is often difficult for the U.S. military because of ethnic tensions in the area and U.S. commanders are often concerned about the security of their troops in the region. OTI has been able to leverage U.S KFOR's participation on Serb and Albanian identified projects, providing opportunities for KFOR to directly assist citizens, both Serb and Albanian. In turn, KFOR's resources have helped stretch OTI's own program assets ensuring citizens' highest priority projects were completed while facilitating contacts between community leaders and U.S. soldiers. This has stabilized relationships in the area and provided greater security to both Kosovars and U.S. forces. Daily interaction between OTI staff in the U.S. sector and U.S. civil affairs and other military representatives is an ongoing feature of this program.
|
