| Diversity
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to USAID. I've visited seven of the nine municipalities selected to benefit from the Municipal Infrastructure and Support Initiative, but I wanted to meet everyone participating in MISI as the project starts.
USAID gives high importance to this project as it addresses both municipal development needs in terms of infrastructure improvements but, even more importantly from the standpoint of Kosovo's future, seeks to heal the wounds which separate ethnic communities. I've seen some of your applications: Istog municipality has proposed repair of a road linking a primarily ethnic Serbian Kosovar community with a primarily ethnic Albanian Kosovar community. Kamenice municipality has had success with a recent meeting of community leaders from seven villages, a mix of ethnic Albanian, Serbian and Roma residents, as they discussed a road repair project to link their communities - and this was the first time leaders of all villages have gathered in the same room since the conclusion of the conflict.Those are just two examples. I want to hear more about your efforts to make Kosovo a whole society. The nine municipalities present today are here because they have started to take steps to make Kosovo a home to all of those who call it home. You, the presidents of your municipal assemblies and your colleagues, have shown yourselves to be true leaders, willing to address the problems of ethnic separation inherited from a past which has been kind to no one, in order to provide your people a better future. Kosovo has a bright future with such leaders. USAID supports this program because we have a vision of our role here, to help Kosovars transform Kosovo into a democratic, self-governing economically sustainable entity, in which all citizens have equal opportunities and rights. We want our friends in Kosovo to enjoy the same benefits of freedom and prosperity Americans have. Today, my message is directed at the people who do not want to see Kosovo as home to anyone except people "just like them". We have this type of person living in the U.S. and in Europe as well, so I am familiar with them. Their bigotry and prejudice must not be allowed to direct your future. Bigotry and prejudice are the tools of those who either through personal ambition or ignorance destroy progress toward a better life for all. All Kosovars have been victims of indignity and/or violence with roots in ethnic prejudice. Before 1999 it was the Kosovar Albanians. Since then it has been Kosovar Serbs who have suffered. Other minorities such as the Roma, Ashkali, etc., have also suffered. Since all Kosovars know the negative effects of ethnic prejudice on themselves and their families and friends, all Kosovars should understand that life in the future must avoid allowing prejudice to interfere with your creating a modern society where tolerance is the dominant human force and people's differences come to be appreciated rather than disparaged. Multi-ethnicity, returns and reintegration . these words are all part of the standards set for Kosovo. The international community has given great importance to these standards because the horrors Kosovars experienced in the past were a direct result of efforts by those who sought to divide you from each other based on ethnicity. Bringing back those who have been forced to flee their homes is one critical step to reversing hatred and repairing the damage. Tearing down the invisible walls which ethnic prejudice has created is necessary to allow all to live together in peace. It is also a test, a test as to whether Kosovars can fit into the modern world and not be allowed to slip back into tyranny and conflict. But to do this means more than having political and community leaders just saying the politically correct words. You must demonstrate that you in fact believe them and work to put them into action. You are being judged. Your friends know it is not easy. Changing the inheritance of a bad history - and that is what Kosovars have had for many years - requires much effort and regrettably much time. The rewards for making this change are all positive and will give Kosovars a better life in every respect. Let me give you a different word that hasn't been used in the discussions among internationals and Kosovars about this issue: diversity . I think we should use the word "diversity", not "multi-ethnic", as the description of the society Kosovo needs to work toward. Multi-ethnic as a description is limiting: it just means you allow different ethnicities to exist. Different ethnic groups have lived in Kosovo for centuries, but not as one society. Interaction among ethnic groups has been at best mutual tolerance and at worst physical and mental abuse, in some cases institutionally directed as under the Milosevic regime. You have the opportunity to create a society which allows people to live together as friends despite differences in ethnicity, religion, language or whatever. This is the essence of a diverse society, a place where differences do not divide but bind because of mutual respect and appreciation. I know the conflict here was terrible. I saw the results while the smoke was still rising, while people were still in camps and the graves were fresh. The guilty have slunk back into their holes, hopefully ashamed of what they did. Those truly guilty of acts against humanity will be brought to justice or continue to hide, unable to live a normal life. The task now is to allow the innocent to get on with life and to live together in a new spirit of one society. What happened here is not dissimilar to what happened in Germany , when Germans were intimidated by leaders into doing things that good people don't do . Many American families fought and killed Germans, but soon after the war, bonds were reforged. Time heals those wounds. But time also needs the help of a willingness to forgive. All those who have been driven from their homes deserve to return if they want to. That is why the international community has been urging support for returns. That is why this project was conceived to help communities to reabsorb those who fled and want to return.and to forgive. That is why you must work to make them feel welcomed back into your municipalities. I recently read about one Kosovar Serbian family who returned. They were quoted as saying their old neighborhood was different, almost all their old neighbors were gone. But one Kosovar Albanian family who had known them before the conflict came to their apartment - and welcomed them home. This is an example of how an ordinary citizen took steps to make someone feel at home. It wasn't just the words - it was visiting, stopping by to see an old neighbor. And it wasn't hard to do. I'm sure two families felt better afterward. It is important to have leaders and ordinary people help in healing these wounds, not just giving lip service to the concept of reconciliation. I heard that one man active in this program and here today, Mr. Qazim Loxha, Istog municipality, expressed readiness to move on, even though he'd lost his father and other relatives during the conflict. He said - and I use his words -- that "everybody has a right to return to their homes", and he went on to say that while it's not easy to forget, all have to move on to become a democratic society and part of the progressive world. That's the kind of courage - and openness, and future thinking that Kosovo needs from all its citizens. It may take time here, but you have to work at healing. You have to stop hating, and start respecting one another . not in spite of the differences but because of the differences. America is a country that thrives on its diversity - you could say every American is an immigrant, a wonderful mix of different nationalities or ethnicities. We have not solved all the problems of prejudice but we work at it continually. That is our strength - and it can be yours too. It has made us strong and it can make you strong. February 24, 2004
Dale Pfeiffer, USAID/Kosovo
Mission Director | 
