CIAO DATE: 04/04

Kosovo/a Standing Technical Working Group: The Establishment of Expert Committees, Expert Committee Constitutive Session

Introduction

This project was established in the second half of 2000 to strengthen the development of civil society in Kosovo/a. It seeks to generate dialogue among the different ethnic and political communities in Kosovo/a and to enhance the sense of local ownership and democratic accountability of the emerging political structures in the territory. In particular, it seeks to create space for the participation of civil society and civil society organizations (NGOs) in those structures on a fully inter-ethnic basis. This aim was developed in response to the finding that:

• Interethnic cooperation among civil society actors and political parties remains very difficult and there exist no on-going ventures where such cooperation is being fostered as a matter of daily routine;

• NGOs and other civil society actors are not integrated into the political process in Kosovo/a;

• Within the political parties, younger leaders are in need of training. There is also a need for a forum where party representatives can engage in informal consultations across ethnic and party lines.

• Those in political authority are not always fully aware of the need to establish transparency and democratic accountability in relation to civil society;

• Public debate tends to focus on issues of policy that cannot at present be satisfied. There is a need for more interest in, and greater competence in relation to, the actual issues of practical policy that need addressing within Kosovo/a.

To address these issues, there was formed the Standing Technical Working Group. The group is composed of three consituencies. One element is composed of younger representatives of all the principal (and even the smaller) political parties in Kosovo, including those representing ethnic minorities. The second part of the group represents NGOs from all communities that have broader interests. A third (nonpermanent) element is composed of specialist NGOs, and independent local (Kosovo/a) experts, who may contribute to the proceedings where their particular knowledge is required.

Full text (PDF format, 22 pages, 193 KB)