Continued support to the minority RAE communities 2018-2021

The project "Supporting Social Entrepreneurship Promoting Socio-economic Empowerment in Minority Communities in Kosovo" DRC for the entire period successfully: - Supported the development of professional skills for 199 women and 202 - Supported access to income generation for 18 employed women, 24 employed men, 24 self-employed women and 42 self-employed men - Supported 706 children with complementary education activities, physiologic counsel,speech therapy, sports, art and recreational activities - Supported 55 women with accessing safe space where to openly discuss on regular basis, acquiring awareness on their rights - Supported over 5000 youth with conflict-management skills building, and inter-community resilience building initiatives - Supported 280 individuals to access unemployment benefits - Supported access to health for 682 women and 267 men - Provided legal aid, assistance to 241 women and 111 men - Provided 4305 hours of rural technical advice, counselling and training - Addressed the basic needs induced by CoVID-19 of over 6500 women/girls and over 6400 men/boys - Allowed the participation of 56 rural business in: one regional fairs, once local fair and 28 peer to peer visits - Strengthened the capacities of 25 local NGO partners - Participated in refurbishing the Community Resource Center in Roma Mahalla to allow it to continue operating as the sole aggregation point for the residents of the neighbourhood - Participated in the construction of a Learning and Community Center in the Roman neighbourhood of Fushë Kosovë to boost its capacity to support the empowerment of local communities - Renovated sports grounds in neighbourhoods of North and South Mitrovica inhabited by vulnerable and and/or minority communities - Renovated a local market in Kamenicë frequented by sellers and buyers from different communities - Supplied 2340 books for children aged six to fifteen to "Selman Riza" school in Fushë Kosovë attended by 1400 children from Albanian, Ashkalli, Bosnjak, Egyptian, Roma and Turk communities. - Enhanced the capacities of South Mitrovica, Municipality's Directorate for Education, Municipality Office for Communities and Return and Directorate for Health, as well as Regional Vocational Training Center and Employment Office, and schools in Fushë Kosovë, Gjakovë, Istog, South Mitrovica, Prishtina and Rahovec, by supplying equipment. - Ensured the ability by the Center for Social Services of South Mitrovica to rerach vulnerable populations in remote areas by supplying a vehicle - Produced 13 individual business diagnostics exercises, seven rural market and value chain assessments, an assessment with recommendation on the status of the Social Business Incubator Foundation.

DRC proposal "Strengthening Community Resilience to Conflict" is motivated by their assessment on continuous inter-ethnic division and alienation as factors of potential inter-ethnic conflict in Kosovo. To address this, DRC proposes a set of activities grouped under an additional component of Grant Agreement 10898 (Specific Objective and Activity Area 4), conceived as an 18-month pilot that will focus on creating or strengthening linkages based on in-depth understanding of the dynamics at the community level, which may vary from a location to the other. The pilot is conceived in line with several points listed under Expected Result 2 of the Results Strategy for Swedens Reform Cooperation with Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans and Turkey 20142020, which refers to achieving strengthened democracy, greater respect for human rights and a more fully developed state under the rule of law. Namely, in direct reference to the above-mentioned Expected Result, the proposed activities will target increasing trust within and among the parties [] and contribute to reconciliation, so as to counter the emergence of new conflicts. They will aim to promote increased trust and reconciliation between parties, to strengthen the rights of the Roma [], ethnic and religious minorities, and to increase recognition and respect for such groups.