Kosovo, the right to a future” “

In Kosovo over half the population is poor, roughly 45% are unemployed, the educational system is inefficient and people are living in a state of continuous frustration, tension and violence as a result of political, administrative and economic precariousness: that’s the situation in Kosovo as described in a report of Caritas Europe presented in Brussels on 1st February. The report coincides with the launch of a campaign that will continue through 2005 and address some precise requests to the European Union, the UNO and NATO, including that of a political statute. Recommendations to the international community. The recommendations include: “Giving priority to Kosovo in the political agenda of all the European institutions; establishing a political map with a view to a future statute of Kosovo, with the participation of the local authorities and representatives of civil society; taking decisions to ensure that the European Commission supports the educational system in Kosovo; boosting European investments and increasing European allocations to promote the economic development of Kosovo”. Caritas Europe – a network that brings together 48 organizations active in 44 European countries – is actively supporting Caritas Kosovo and is lobbying, also at the political level, to solve the many problems of the country which since 1999 – since the end of the war – has seen little improvement to its situation. PovertY, LACK OF SERVICES, INADEQUATE SCHOOLS. Kosovo – 2 million inhabitants (the majority Albanian in origin) in an area of 10,887 km² is still administered by UNMIK, the UN mission set up in conformity with Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council. 63% of the population are below the age of 30; 90% are Moslem; the rest are Orthodox Christians, though with a small Catholic community too. 50.35% of the population – reveals the Caritas Europe report – live below the poverty threshold, and 12.71% below the threshold of “extreme poverty”. After the war of 1998-99 many people moved from the countryside to the towns: 25% of the population now live in Pristina. “Very unsatisfactory”, according to Caritas, is the situation of public services: 27.41% of the population have no access to drinking water; 33.24% have no systems for the treatment of waste water; 98.76% have access to electricity but almost everyone suffers from a shortage of electric energy. Since the population of Kosovo is preponderantly young, the school system ought to be able to respond to their needs. On the contrary, laments Caritas Europe, “proper infrastructures are lacking, secondary schools and higher colleges especially offer theoretical teaching and have no properly equipped laboratories”. Moreover, only 70% of girls attend higher grades at school. Each year 23,000 young people finish secondary school but of these only 6,000 gain access to university. Among the more urgent needs Caritas reports the need for investments in school infrastructures and the modernization of the educational system; priority to vocational training; opportunities to study abroad; and active and reciprocal learning of the country’s two languages, Albanian and Serb. CHRONIC ECONOMIC SITUATION AND HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT. A recent survey has shown that the major problem for 65% of Kosovars is the impossibility of finding any work. 44.42% of the 1.2 million people between the ages of 18 and 65 are in effect unemployed. The economic problems include the drop in the number of young people who work in agriculture, the unresolved question of private property, the slow process of industrial privatization, the political uncertainty that discourages foreign investments, the decreased support from donors, and the forced return of refugees. “It is vital for the economy to develop rapidly – says Caritas Europe – to prevent any further impoverishment of the population”. Another big problem concerns the protection and safety of minorities. Some 100,000 Serbs still live in Kosovo, including those of the enclave of Mitrovica, in a divided city and “in an intolerable situation”. The security and judicial systems are unable to pursue the crimes committed against them. Urgent and effective action is therefore needed – says the Caritas report –”to re-establish the rule of law and pursue and punish criminals”. “Experiences in other areas of the Balkans – points out Caritas Europe – demonstrate that improvements can be achieved only if the local institutions are given direct political responsibilities”. To this end Caritas hopes that a political statute for Kosovo may soon be drafted “to specify the timetable and conditions” to be implemented to achieve this objective. For its part the Catholic organization, in partnership with the University of Sarrebruck, is working on a complementary document – to be presented in the course of 2005 – which will analyse the pros and cons of the various statute models presented.