IOM #Kosovo newsletter (June 2014)

IOM Mission in Kosovo Newsletter, June 2014

In this issue: - Call for proposals for micro, small and medium enterprises successfully finalized - The school construction project inaugurated in Prekovce village - EU-CSP II supporting female headed businesses to generate income and compete in the Kosovo labor markets - AVRR assisting young returnees to reintegrate back to Kosovo through income generation grants

Call for proposals for micro, small and medium enterprises successfully finalized

The project ‘Support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME Grants)’ is co-funded by the European Union Office in Kosovo and the Ministry of Trade and Industry and is implemented by IOM Kosovo as a direct management agreement. The aim of the project is to create opportunities for growth to micro, small and medium enterprises, which have a vital role to play in the economic development of Kosovo. Through the grants provided, the selected companies will be able to improve their production, economic impact and competitiveness in line with European Union standards.

Since the companies face difficulties in obtaining funding from traditional sources, such as banks, the interest of private sector in Kosovo in participating in the open competition organized within the MSME Grants project has been enormous. The call for proposals was launched in April 2014, followed by 9 technical info sessions in the biggest municipalities of Kosovo. The info sessions were attended by over 1 000 people who were interested to hear about the possibilities this grants scheme is offering as well as the criteria and procedure of the call. The significant interest in the call was reflected also by the amount of applications submitted by enterprises on May 30th which reached the impressive number of 784 applications.

Following the submission of applications, IOM started performing the administrative check of the proposals to verify their compliance with the criteria of the call. As a result, over 70% of the submitted applications resulted compliant at the administrative check and passed to the next phase of evaluation to be carried out during the following months.

One of the major achievements was enhancing the abilities of Kosovo enterprises to prepare comprehensive proposals. This was attained by targeted technical assistance provided by IOM, in cooperation with the Regional Development Agencies, in clearly defining criteria and procedure as well as in supporting the beneficiaries in understanding the

requirements through the specific technical info sessions organized at the local level.

The Chief of Mission for IOM Kosovo, Mr. Jorge Baca, was extremely happy with the massive number of applications, the preliminary results of the administrative check as well as with the great job done by MSME Grants Project team to achieve this initial success of the project. This is a clear sign of the urgent need to support Kosovo enterprises in upgrading their capacities and therefore in fostering economic development. As the main push factor for migration remains the high level of unemployment in Kosovo, it is of outmost importance to channel efforts and resources in supporting economic development and creating better conditions for Kosovo citizens at home to prevent the irregular migration of its citizens. IOM, thank to the financial support of the EU and the Government of Kosovo, is now contributing to the achievement of this important goal for the benefit of Kosovo society.

Photo 1: Registration of the beneficiaries submitting their applications

An EU-funded programme, managed by the European Union Office in Kosovo

Photo 2: The constructed school is providing education for 85 pupils

The school construction project inaugurated in Prekovce village EU-Return and Reintegration in Kosovo III is implemented by IOM Kosovo in four municipalities of Kosovo: Novobërdë/Novo Brdo, Partesh/š, Shtërpcë/Štrpce and Prizren, in which the programme is providing assistance to returning IDP’s, IIDP’s and refugees through house constructions, assistance packages, income generation packages, as well as community and infrastructure projects aiming at improving the living conditions of the whole communities.

The programme is funded by the European Union, with cofunding from UNMIK, British Embassy in Kosovo and Ministry of Community and Return.

On 25th of June the project held an inauguration ceremony for the Project “Roof reconstruction of the primary school Dositej Obradovic” in village Prekovcë/e in Novobërdë/ Novo Brdo Municipality. The project was funded by UNMIK. This community project was implemented in March-April this year. The old roof of the school was removed and the new one constructed, as well as parts of the ceiling. The school is attended by 85 pupils from Prekovce village and close by villages of Zebince and Izvor. The director of the school Ms. Jordanka Djordjevic told that the pupils and teachers are very happy about the project and the good work that IOM in cooperation with implementing partner Development Together and construction company ”ING Ndertimi” did.

The event was attended by the Deputy Special Representative of Secretary General Mr. Robert E. Sorenson, IOM Kosovo Chief of Mission Mr. Jorge Baca, Mayor of Novoberde/Novo Brdo Municipality Mr. Svetislav Ivanovic and the director of the school Ms. Jordanka Djordjevic.

Mr. Robert E. Sorenson, the Deputy Special Representative of Secretary General, said he was gratified to see that the children were happy about their refurbished school building.

He added that UNMIK was pleased to contribute to projects resulting from cooperation between the institutions and different communities in Kosovo.

Mr. Baca, the Chief of Mission for IOM Kosovo, was very happy about the successful cooperation between IOM and UNMIK and the municipality of Novoberde/Novo Brdo.

All in all, out of 195 houses build up to date, EU-RRK III has constructed 39 houses in the municipality including the assistance packages to 39 beneficiary families, finalized 4 infrastructure projects and two community projects.

Photo 3: Guests infront of the school

EU-CSP II supporting female headed businesses to generate income and compete in the Kosovo labor markets

An EU-funded programme, managed by the European Union office in Kosovo

EU-Community Stabilization II is an EU funded programme aiming at strengthening the socio-economic sustainability and integration of non-majority communities by supporting viable income and employment creation within the wider Kosovo economy and society.

Women, including those from the non-majority communities, often face obstacles entering the labor markets.

Setting up an independent business is often a good opportunity for women to earn an income and to become members of the economic and labor markets of Kosovo.

The EU-CSP II supports business projects in a broad spectrum of activities. One of the female business owners supported by the programme is operating in the finance service sector is a young, motivated and talented lady called Dusica from Serbian community. She is living in the municipality of Gračanica/Graçanicë where she is running her own accountant office. She has a Master’s Degree in Economics and before applying for business support from EU-CSP II she was working with only 10 clients.

Through the programme she received office furniture, a printer, computers and most importantly specialized accountancy software.

Photo 4: Dusica at her office which is located in the center of Gračanica/Graçanicë

Since then the business has been expanding. At the moment she has 50 clients and more are coming. She was also able to hire help for herself; another lady from Serbian community in Gracanica is now working with her doing the accounts for several local businesses.

In addition to being the operator of one of the largest accountancy and business administration offices in Gracanica, Dusica is also the business administration officer for EU-funded project “Center for Development of Local Communities” for Zvecan municipality.

Photo 5: Out of 230 projects supported through EU-CSP II, 20% are for female headed businesses. The RAE beneficiary from Peja/Pec municipality with IOM Chief of Mission, Mr. Jorge Baca

Out of 230 projects supported through EU-CSP II, approximately 20 percent of the support has been channeled to female headed businesses. According to Dusica, women are often more hesitant to take on the challenges and risks of operating an independent business preferring where possible to work within the public sector as jobs there are perceived as more stable. However, despite the challenges Dusica highly recommends private business and entrepreneurship for women as it represents an opportunity to generate greater income and financial independence. It takes time and effort but is very rewarding.

AVRR assisting young returnees to reintegrate back to Kosovo through income generation grants Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration is the longest still on-going action within IOM Mission in Kosovo.

The number of Assisted Voluntary Returnees slightly increased in 2013. The country with the largest number of AVR was Austria followed by Hungary. In the first half of 2014 returned in total 630 returnees. Primary sending country is Hungary with 228 returnees.

For many returnees, the life in Kosovo seems not to be offering many options. This has usually been the reason Photo 6: The beneficiary with IOM Kosovo AVRR worker Esat Alickaj why they decided to emigrate in the first place; to seek for better living and earning opportunities abroad.

The AVRR Team is constantly seeking for solutions to secure the sustainable return and usage of grants provided by different AVRR schemes. One of them was RAAVRK Project with 280 persons returned to Kosovo from Hungary last year. The returnees were offered a possibility to apply for business startup assistance. Out of these 280, 40 beneficiaries with the best and most sustainable business plans were granted financial assistance.

The idea behind these business startup grants is to secure sustainable return and to provide the beneficiary with the means to start a new life. Grants for agriculture have proven to be successful; greenhouses and Photo 7: The greenhouse is providing sufficient income for the benefiplants are not something to be sold immediately and ciary encourage the beneficiaries to take good care of their plantations. In addition, they usually produce enough crop to secure the income.

Two young men returned to Kosovo in autumn 2013 from Hungary through RAAVRK project and decided to apply for business grants. They both got accepted and the other one is now running a successful greenhouse in Vushtrri/ VuÄ?itrn municipality and the other a chicken farm in MitrovicĂŤ/Mitrovica south. Both of them are saying that thanks to the business grants and constant support from IOM AVRR staff, they now see the future in Kosovo full of possibilities and much brighter that it was before their decision to emigrate.

Photo 8: The chicken farm in MitrovicĂŤ/Mitrovica south