monitorimi i strategjisë sektoriale të ministrisë së punës

Monitoring of Sector Strategy of theMinistry of Labour and SocialWelfare(MLSW) on the effectiveness of Active LabourMarketMeasures (ALMMs)for the employment ofmembers of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities

Vebi MujkuJUNE, 2019

Report 2019

2 Monitoring of Sector Strategy of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MLSW) on the effectiveness of Active LabourMarket Measures (ALMMs) for the employment of members of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities

3Report 2019

Monitoring of Sector Strategy of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MLSW)on the effectiveness of Active Labour Market Measures (ALMMs) for the employment

of members of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities

Report

The views expressed in this assessment do not necessarily reflectthe views of the Regional Cooperation Council or of its participants,

nor of the European Union and the Open Society Foundations."


Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations 5Introduction 6

Executive summary 6Active Labour Market Measures 8Key findings from the Strategy monitoring 9

Employment Agency of 9the Republic of Kosovo 9

Employment Office in Fushë Kosovë 13Municipality of Fushë Kosovë 13

CSW Fushë Kosovë 14Office for Communities and Return - Fushë Kosovë 15Employment Office - Obiliq 16

Municipality of Obiliq 16Active measures 17Active 17Measures 17Centre for Social Work - Obiliq 18Office for Communities and Return - Obiliq 19Vocational Training Centre - Prishtinë (Fushë Kosovë and Obiliq) 20Employment Office - Gjakovë 22

Municipality of Gjakovë 22Centre for Social Work - Gjakovë 23Employment Office Prizren 25

Municipality of Prizren 25Centre for Social Work - Prizren 27Vocational Training Centre - Prizren 28Office for Communities and Return, Municipality of Prizren 29Local NGO “Romano Avazo” 30

Recommendations: 31CALL FOR APPLICATION 33WAGE SUBSIDY PROGRAM 33

5Report 2019

List of AbbreviationsEARK - Employment Agency of the Republic of Kosovo

DLE - Department of Labour and Employment

ALMM - Active Labour Market Measures

MLSW- Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare

MEST - Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

OJP - On-the-Job Practice

VTC - Vocational Training Centre

CSW - Centre for Social Work

NGO – Nongovernmental organization

WS – Wage Subsidy

SAS - Social Assistance Scheme

OJT – On-the-Job Training

OCR - Office for Communities and Return

EO - Employment Office

IntroductionExecutive summary

This report provides a summary of themonitoring of the sector strategy of Ministryof Labour and Social Welfare regarding theeffectiveness of active labour marketmeasures for the employment of membersof Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communitiesin four municipalities.

The report was compiled during May andJune of 2019 and it included fourmunicipalities according to the sample ofpopulation with more minorities: Gjakovë,Prizren, Fushë Kosovë and Obiliq. 2018data and, where available, those the firstthree months of 2019 were taken intoconsideration. It focused on action areasthat are addressed in the MLSW SectorStrategy, municipal strategies and actionplans in the municipalities of Fushë Kosovë,Obiliq, Gjakovë and Prizren. For thepurpose of this report, the “Sector Strategy2018-2012”, “Strategy for Inclusion ofRoma and Ashkali Communities in KosovoSociety 2017-2021”, “Social Inclusion ofMarginalized Groups in the Municipality ofPrizren”, “Local Action Plan on the Inclusionof Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communitiesof the Municipality of Prizren 2019-2013”,“Law Against Discrimination,” “Law on theUse of Languages” " etc. have beenstudied. The practical part of the work fordrafting the report, where the currentsituation of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptiancommunities on the ground as well as thecommitments of the Government of Kosovotowards the achievement of the ALMMsimplementation objectives have also beenexamined.

Findings of this report show thatimplementation of the Sector Strategyfaces many difficulties and it is not close tofulfilling the defined activities, mainly dueto lack of political commitment, insufficientfinancial and human resources to monitorthe progress, poor coordination of activitiesof institutions at central and local level and,on the other hand, due to the limitedcapacities of the Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities on educationalaspect, literacy, readiness to engage on thejob, close connection with the family andunwillingness to leave the environment inwhich they live in and the heavydependence on the social assistancescheme.

As far as the Employment Agency withinthe MLSW is concerned, as the responsibleinstitution in charge of implementing andmonitoring the Strategy, it is notable that itdoes not have sufficient human andfinancial capacity to effectively fulfil itsmandate. This lack of capacity hasadversely affected institutional coordinationand the setting of a regular institutionalsystem for monitoring and reporting on theimplementation of the Sector Strategy atcentral and local level. Communityempowerment by the Employment Agencyand the Employment Office forcommunities is largely based on thesupport of non-governmentalorganizations, whether local orinternational, but also of governmentorganizations, in the absence of adequate


7Report 2019

staff to deal with communities in their ownlanguage, which often comes up as anobstacle.

Questionnaires were prepared for thecompilation of this report, where all stateand non-state stakeholders at municipallevel went through the semi-structuredinterviews with the aim of collecting asaccurate and source data as possible frompolicy implementers at the municipal level.

On the other hand, not all municipalitieshave developed action plans to fulfil theMLSW sector strategy. Even in thoseMunicipalities that have developed actionplans, conditions have not been createdand funds have been allocated to fulfil theaction plan. This was followed by a lack ofprofessional capacities and political willwhich has directly affected implementationof the plan at a satisfactory level.

It should also be noted that the compilationof this report was done at a time when alarge number of young people fromKosovo, including young people ofcommunities, are leaving to other countriesto seek better work and live a moredignified life on one hand, whilst, on theother hand, businesses and companies arelooking for workers, especially those withany skill or profession - not excludingphysical workers without education, butcapable of work.

Certainly, the difference between offer anddemand in the labour market is verypronounced, where only in 2018 and thefirst period of 2019 the number of

businesses started to notice the shortagesof workers and to be much more interestedthan before in hiring workers, not selectingnationality or gender where possible. Allthese developments indicate that within 2-3years Kosovo will face major changes in thelabour market and intervention or changeof the sector strategy will be necessary.

A lack of unification and standardization ofjobs in all municipalities, EmploymentOffices, Vocational Training Centres,Centres for Social Work, Office forCommunities and Return is notable same asthe need to increase cooperation betweenthese stakeholders to apply the nationalstrategy on implementation of active labourmarket measures.

It is also worth mentioning that some of theinstitutions and NGOs were not willing tocooperate and share information with thereport compiling team, probably in theabsence of time or even information that isdirectly related to implementation of theactive labour market measures.

• Institutional Training: means the trainingprovided by the eight Vocational TrainingCentres (VTCs) operating under the DLEumbrella. Vocational Training Centres (VTCs)provide free training for jobseekers in aparticular profession focusing on application ofpractical skills and knowledge and usingteaching in classroom, as well as variouscabinets. There are 30 different profiles with atotal of 60 workshops. A modular trainingsystem based on the individual skills of thecandidate is applied. After each module thecandidate undergoes a test and a final one atthe end. The courses last six months and onlyafter acquiring the skills, the candidatereceives the certificate.

• On-the-Job Training: On-the-job trainingor OJT means training by an employer whowas offered to the jobseeker while engagingin productive work that develops theknowledge or skills essential to perform aspecific job with an adequate performance.This scheme includes monthly compensationnot higher than the minimum wage set inKosovo. (The period of two to six months).

• On-the-Job Practice: OJP is a labourmarket measure with the aim of givingparticipants the skills and knowledge neededto perform a particular job within theworkplace and work environment. OJPsupports new graduates with access totraining opportunities and contactingemployers in order to improve futureemployment opportunities and find a job. Thescheme includes monthly compensation whichis determined by the MLSW.

• Wage Subsidy: Is a 12-month employmentprogram, whereby the employer receives a50% employee subsidy for a 12-monthperiod. Participants in the WS scheme areexpected to remain in the workplace after theend of the subsidy period. These are direct

transfers to employers in order to encouragethem to hire certain groups with difficulty tofind jobs. Employment subsidies can helpemployers expand their business and hirenew staff, which will help them create morejobs.

• Public Work: Provide short-termemployment by improving the localinfrastructure. The purpose of public workprograms is to generate temporaryemployment for registered unemployedpersons through the implementation ofintensive projects that absorb the labour forceas well as the maintenance and rehabilitationof municipal assets (public assets), as well aspublic spaces;

• Self-Employment: A self-employmentprogram is a labour market measure thathelps the unemployed to start a business, orbecome self-employed by providing trainingand counselling to develop and manage abusiness, same as financial support to helpthe unemployed start up a business activity¹

•

Active LabourMarketMeasures


1. Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Department ofLabour and Employment

9Report 2019

Key findings from the Strategymonitoring

Employment Agency ofthe Republic of Kosovo

The National Strategy has foreseen several activemeasures regarding their implementation for Roma,Ashkali and Egyptian communities. Of the measuresforeseen, which include institutional training, on-the-job training, on-the-job practice, wage subsidy, publicwork or self-employment, the Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities are largely involved to a certainextent, except of the self-employment measure,where there is the least application in practice.²

As part of the drafting of these policies and part of thestrategy development, active measures are a priorityfor the Agency and involvement of other line ministriesas well as other institutions, including EmploymentOffices and Centres for Social Work, is anunsurpassable necessity. The need for cooperationwith the Ministry of Education is greater due to thecoordination of vacancies within the Agency as well asthe coordination of student recruitment, developmentof educational programs and curricula for labourmarket needs that remain vacant for longer periods oftime, such as lack of jobseekers’ application or lack ofeducation. For this purpose, the Agency has designedinformative brochures which are distributed to all

persons who show up at the Employment Offices.These brochures contain some basic information suchas the Office addresses and contacts, EmploymentOffice’s general duties and responsibilities, jobseeker-specific services and training professions.

There are no reserved positions with organizationchart within the Agency for Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities.

Through the Cooperation Agreement betweenMLSW/EARK and VORAE, cooperation in supportingmembers of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptiancommunities for their inclusion in VTC trainingprograms continued. In 2018, it was mainlycooperated in supporting these candidates for trainingin VTC Prishtinë, Ferizaj and Prizren.³

The financial resources allocated to the nationalstrategy are scarce and they are around three millioneuros, therefore the Strategy cannot be considered asa development one because the amount of fundsmust be multiple times bigger to be considered assuch.

Unemployment registered according to ethnicity ⁴

2. Shpëtim Kalludra – Acting Director of Department of Labour and Employment, 10 May 20193. Work and employment in Kosovo –2018 Annual Report, Shpend Kalludra interview, 10 May 20194. Work and employment in Kosovo –2018 Annual Report

Entiteti 2018 (%) Ndryshimite 2017 Femra Meshkuj

Shqiptar 80142 83.6% 0.9% 36400 43742Serb 7358 7.7% 22.1% 3493 3865Boshnjak 1642 1.7% 3.1% 841 801Kroat 65 0.1% -5.8% 30 35Rom 1753 1.8% -2.3% 744 1009Ashkali 2639 2.8% -0.1% 956 1683Egjiptian 838 0.9% 16.4% 364 474Malazez 9 0.0% 12.5% 8 1Turq 508 0.5% 0.2% 257 251Tjetër 936 1.0% -14.2% 454 482Total 95,890 100% 2.2% 43,547 52,343

Based on EARK 2018 report data, it is notable that Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities participate inunemployment registration such as Roma (1.8%), Ashkali (2.8%) and Egyptians (0.9%). These figuresindicate a small but not satisfactory engagement having in mind the unemployment rate in thesecommunities. The total number of employees of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities is 5.230.

Based on EARK 2018 report data, it is notable that Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities participate inunemployment registration such as Roma (1.8%), Ashkali (2.8%) and Egyptians (0.9%). These figuresindicate a small but not satisfactory engagement having in mind the unemployment rate in thesecommunities. The total number of employees of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities is 5.230.

The data presented in the table above show that Roma and Egyptian communities during this reportingperiod managed to employ several dozen persons in employment mediation, but as for the Ashkalicommunity, the figures remain zero, but at the number of 40. A total of 123 persons have benefitedmediation.

Regular employment according to ethnicity⁵

Regular employment according to ethnicity⁶


5. Work and employment in Kosovo –2018 Annual Report6. Work and employment in Kosovo –2018 Annual Report

Entiteti Punësimi (%) Shp Nryshime te2017

Shqiptar 3430 91.1% 4.3% 16.7%Serb 102 2.7% 1.4% 25.9%Boshnjak 44 1.2% 2.7% 76.0%Kroat - - - -Rom 38 1.0% 2.2% 31.0%Ashkali 40 1.1% 1.5% 0.0%Egjiptian 45 1.2% 5.4% 9.8%Malazez - - - -Turq 22 0.6% 4.3 -12.0%Tjetër 43 1.1% 4.6% 38.7%Total 3764 100% 3.9% 17.1%

Entiteti 2018 (%) ShA TëÇertifikuar ShÇ

Shqiptar 5267 95.8% 6.6% 4129 78.4%Serb 15 0.3% 0.2% 10 66.7%Boshnjak - - - - -Kroat 32 0.6% 6.3% 28 87.5%Rom 59 1.1% 3.6% 50 84.7%Ashkali - - - - -Egjiptian 26 0.5% 1.5% 20 76.9%76.Malazez 60 1.1% 2.3% 54 90.0%Turq 38 0.7% 4.5% 34 89.5%Tjetër - - - - -Total 5497 100% 5.7% 4325 78.7%

The need for vocational training is high for all persons without adequate vocational training and data showthat in 2018, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities were engaged in 124 cases.

11Report 2019

Professional skill building according to ethnicities ⁷

Active Labour Market Measures according to ethnicity⁸

6.6%0.2%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

1.5%2.3%

4.5%

6.3%3.6%

7. Work and employment in Kosovo –2018 Annual Report8. Work and employment in Kosovo –2018 Annual Report

ShqiptarSerb

MalazezTurq

BoshnjakKroatRome

AshkaliEgjyptas

Tjetër

Entiteti MATP % Ndryshimi te2017 ShA

Shqiptar 2760 92.0% 10.3% 3.4%Serb 79 2.6% -49.0% 1.1%Boshnjak 30 1.0% 66.7% 1.8%Kroat 1 0.0% -50.0% 1.5%Rom 22 0.7% -18.5% 1.3%Ashkali 55 1.8% -22.5% 2.1%Egjiptian 22 0.7% 46.7% 2.6%Malazez 0 0.0% - 0.0%Turq 13 0.4% 62.5% 2.6%Tjetër 18 0.6% -35.7% 1.9%Total 3000 100% 6.1% 3.1%

Activation rate in ALMP according to ethnicity⁹

3.4%1.1%

2.6%

2.6%1.9%

0.0%

1.5%1.3%

2.1%

1.8%


9.Work and employment in Kosovo –2018 Annual

ShqiptarSerb

BoshnjakKroatRom

AshkaliEgjiptasMalazez

TurqTjetër

13Report 2019

Employment Office in Fushë Kosovë

Municipality of Fushë Kosovë

With the aim of obtaining as accurate informationas possible, the Employment Office, whichoperates within the Municipality of Fushë Kosovë ina relatively narrow space for performing its duties,in a small office with three officials within it, wascontacted. This Office faces a high frequency ofpeople who come to seek unemploymentcertificates, most of whom are from minoritycommunities. The distance between theEmployment Office and the CSW is not far away,which enables the beneficiaries to have easyaccess to collection of documentation, differentfrom the distance to the Vocational Training Centrelocated in Prishtinë.

During the meeting with the Employment Office’officials, necessary data were collected forconducting an assessment on the implementationof active labour market measures.

The Employment Office is responsible ofimplementing active labour market measures. Therecords show the work done in this Office by theAgency officials.

Punëkërkues të regjistruar 278Punëkërkuesit e riaktivizuar 446Punëkërkuesit e transferuar 35

Këshillime 2212Këshillime në karrierë 268

Këshillime intensive 113Punëdhënësit e regjistruar 237

Vizita të realizuara 190Vendet e lira të rregullta 372

Vendet e lira MATP 71Ndërmjetësime në punë të

rregullta 102Ndërmjetësime në trajnime të

rregullta 0Ndërmjetësime në punë publike 7Ndërmjetësime në trajnime në

punë 5Ndërmjetësime në punësim 8

Ndërmjetësime në subvencionim 7Ndërmjetësime në praktikë 15

Referimet në QAP 0Punësimet pas trajnimit 0Punësimet pas praktikës 1

CSWFushëKosovë

However, 2018 data show that the number ofbeneficiaries of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptiancommunities in these activities is very low. Only fivecases benefited from the active labour marketmeasures, all of them from the Ashkali community,with four were subsidies and one on-the-jobtraining.¹⁰

The reason for this small number is becausecommunity members lack the basic education, whichis also a criterion for attending courses andengagements in one of the active labour marketmeasures.

The Employment Office within the MLSW under eachcircumstance makes efforts to inform citizens aboutactive labour market measures, by distributinginformation brochures, placing advertisements in thebuilding as well as trying to disseminate informationthrough different announcements in differentsituations.

Organizations do not have any organizational chartsthat have reserved seats for communities. All casesthat come and ask for proof of completion of social

assistance documentation are issued the certification,because we as an Office have never been able to offerthem a job that they refused so that we do not issuethe requested certificate.¹¹

The Employment Office also lacks information on thenumber of students enrolled in studies, be it in privateor public colleges.

The Employment Office data show that there areregistered members from Roma, Ashkali and Egyptiancommunitieswhoarewaiting for jobs– respectively sixRoma, 50 Ashkali and five Egyptians, all of whom areunfortunately without education.¹²

There are some companies that work more closelywith the Employment Office, such as “Euroloni”,“Electro Jaha”, which hire workers through our Officeand seek workers from us, such as for the plasticrecycling plants, for which no education is required.

Since many of the jobs offered are short-term, most ofthe community’s population are reluctant to engage infear of being cut off the social assistance and returningto this assistance again takes

CSW Fushë Kosovë is a municipal institutionmandated with provision of professional socialservices and the social assistance scheme. Toassess implementation, the work mainly based onthe service of the social assistance schemedepartment, therefore, the interview was conductedwith the CSW staff responsible for providing theseservices.

The Centre for Social Work faces a large number offamilies benefiting from the social assistancescheme, where a significant part of them belong toRoma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. Of theapproximately 840 families, 430 belong tocommunities, and 300 of them belong to Roma,Ashkali and Egyptian communities. ¹³

A major concern is that most of them, or about

90%, belong to the second category,¹⁴ are obligedto apply every six months at the Centre for SocialWork. One of the basic criteria for the secondcategory is to have a family member capable ofworking. Application every six months is a majorissue not only for the CSW staff but also for theEmployment Office having in mind that each re-application requires a certificate from theEmployment Office.

When it comes to the active labour marketmeasures envisaged in the national strategy, socialassistance officers are very little aware of thesemeasures, since most of the beneficiaries do nothave the possibility to get informed about thesemeasures at the Employment Offices upon receivingthe certificate. There is no informative brochure atthe CSW to notify them on the active labour market


10.Nexhmĳe Pllana – Employment Office, Municipality of Fushë Kosovë11. Interview - Teuta Brisku, 13 May 2019, Employment Office12. Teuta Brisku – Employment Counsellor13. Bajram Marolli – Social Assistance Officer, CSW Fushë Kosovë, 13 May 201914. Teuta Brisku - Këshilltare për punësim

measures, which is considered by the staffmembers as very useful to have. “We are notinformed and no one informs us through training oralike,¹⁵” the social services officer says.

The municipality and social services are also facingmajor challenges due to the large number ofreadmitted persons within the municipality.

It is worth stressing that Roma families also faceother problems, where, according to the socialassistance officer, many of them being illiterate, asthere are persons who have not even attendedprimary education, are obliged to fill in thedocuments with fingerprints instead of theirsignatures.

Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian families face with largenumbers of children on one hand, while on theother hand the legal criterion is that the family musthave a child under the age of five in order to receivesocial assistance from the second category. But thisoften comes up as a problem for families ofcommunities, as there are many families who havechildren under the age of five, but they also havemore than one family member capable of workingover the age of 18, which is a legal obstacle forprovision of the social assistance.

Several campaigns carried out by the NGOs oninforming them about the possibility of attendingcourses at Vocational Training Centre have failed

utterly because they do not have a single year ofeducation and having basic education is a criterionfor the training. The municipality of Fushë Kosovëfaces a large number of persons who have alsomigrated within the country, including thereadmitted persons, too.

Within the CSW there was no case of a family beingtaken out when the Employment Office, includingone of the active labour market measures, offeredthem employment twice in a row,¹⁶ as provided bythe Administrative Instruction and someone thatrefused was taken out.

The recommendation from CSW Fushë Kosovë isthat the Agency and businesses should make effortsto create as many jobs that do not require a highereducation qualification, because by doing so thepossibility of engaging communities would be muchgreater, taking into account that vast majority ofthem do not choose the job, but they do not havethe opportunity. The municipality of Fushë Kosovëhas about 10% of minorities, whilst only 0.5% ofthem are employed. Another recommendation isthe access to the Employment Office’s databasewhere the CSW would be able to extract theemployment documentation itself as well asremoval of the re-application every six months, as itis a huge burden for the CSW staff, consequentlythe opportunity to work in the field is very small.

15Report 2019

Office for Communities and Return - Fushë Kosovë

The Office for Communities and Return islocated within the Municipality and very close tothe Mayor’s Office. The OCR deals with thereadmitted persons’ issues, including the threeRoma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities,starting from food, shelter, but also training onemployment through the active labour marketmeasures in cooperation with VocationalTraining Centres and the Centre for SocialWork, on the other hand, for the provision ofsocial assistance and professional socialservices.

The Office for Communities and Return is notfamiliar with the national employment strategy.There are about 125 people, including familiesand individuals, who have returned only within2018. They include 20 Ashkali, three Roma andthree Egyptians.¹⁷ The OCR has a number ofcooperation agreements with several non-governmental organizations, but even in thissituation the underlying problem lies with thesepersons, namely the lack of professionaltraining, or to better say it, most often the lackof their primary or secondary education. All the

15. Law on Amending and Supplementing the Law no. 2003/15 on the Social Assistance Scheme in Kosovo, Article 4, point 4.516. Bajram Marolli – Social Assistance Officer CSW Fushë Kosovë, 13 Nay 201917. Zoran Mikic – Office for Communities and Return, Fushë Kosovë

persons in need in order to benefit mustdevelop a business plan and members of theRoma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities donot have the necessary preparation to puttogether a business plan. On the other hand,many individuals and families have madepositive decisions, but they never received thepromised grants. The municipality of FushëKosovë has recently signed an agreement withCaritas, where the latter will allocate 21.000euros while 9.000 will be allocated by the

Municipality.¹⁸ Significant problems are alsopresent at the Vocational Training Centre as thelarge number of returnees and others hasresulted with the inability to provide training forall. The municipality is sending 10 people toattend these trainings. The municipality, incooperation with another NGO, has also starteda literacy project for communities, but this hasnot resulted very positive thus far.

Employment Office - Obiliq

Municipality of Obiliq

The Municipality of Obiliq is a municipality with acomposition of different nationalities andcommunities. Within the municipality there is anEmployment Office, which is near the Centre forSocial Work. The Employment Office in theMunicipality of Obiliq is active towards its role andresponsibilities and is cooperative with all partnerswithin the municipality, with businesses and itscitizens. Its officials are well-informed and theyimplement active labour market measures intopractice, for as much as the capacities of businessesoffering and seeking employees are concerned.

Within the Employment Office it is worked onimplementation of active labour market measures,while they possess data, which were are alsopresented in this assessment.

All the measures, including the ones under, are infunction:- Institutional training- On-the-job training- Internship at work- Wage subsidy- Public work- Self-employment

The number of beneficiaries of active measureswithin Obiliq municipality during 2018 was 124 intotal, four of whom were Roma, one Egyptian andeight Ashkali.¹⁹ When it comes to implementation ofactive labour market measures, based on the MLSWnational strategy, the Employment Office is in manycases forced to make exceptions to the criteria set forRoma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, as well asfor the readmitted persons. The reasons for this are:inadequate school preparation or deferred age as acriterion that excludes them. The Office’s efforts areto include as many applicants as possible. ²⁰Theactive measures implemented so far for Roma,Ashkali and Egyptian communities are 15 out of 124.Employment Office - the criteria for active measuresdo not apply to communities and the readmitted,same as for the Albanian community. Many times,even without adequate education, they access activemeasures because they know they lack preparationand are not of adequate age.

Regular employment is going harder and it isaffecting the regular employment becausecompanies want to take advantage of anEmployment Agency benefit of 150 or 250 euros,which directly affects it. As far as communities areconcerned, the education or age criteria, we haveovercome and did not apply them to others in orderto also activate them in work and training.


18. Right there19. Isak Ahmeti – Employment Office, Municipality of Obiliq 14 May 201920. Interview with Emine Berisha – Employment Office, 14 May 2019

17Report 2019

Activemeasures

Regular employment - 30 companies over130 times have sought employees throughthe Employment Office and the number ofworkers they have been looking for is largeenough, but we have not been able toprovide them with as many workers as theysought. In most cases we were unable torespond positively in the absence of trainedand certified workers, or even registered atthe Employment Office.

• On-the-job training - 19 cases

• Subsidy - 14 different companies haverequested 18 times, 26 jobs in wagesubsidy

• Interns - 23 jobs

• Self-employment - 18 cases

The system does not have the possibilitythat in case someone was twice offered thejob, to automatically restrict the possibilityto issue a social assistance certificate. Thecounsellor does not have a button thatdeletes it, except in cases when the personturns 65.

Cooperation with companies has beenachieved through the counsellor’s work andpromotion of work in the field, as well asregular meetings with companies of thearea. Once we went out in the field and thenthe companies themselves showed up at theEmployment Offices.²¹ The dedicated workof the employment counsellor hascontributed to achievement of these results.

The Employment Office also providesinformation about the service and theopportunity through the internet, cell phone,direct meetings, thereby adapting to theneeds of the employer.

The unemployment rate in Obiliq is high,with 1,694 active registered unemployedjobseekers. Of these, 177 are Roma (128males and 49 females), Ashkali 82 (72 malesand 10 females), and four are Egyptians(three males and one female)²².

The total number of jobseekers, includingthe passive ones, is 4,187, some of thememployed through subsidies, have short-term contracts.

There are cases when the company does notaccept members of the Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities. All this because theRoma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities donot have sustainability at work, do notmaintain their jobs and leave, which hascreated insecurities within companies asthey quit their jobs very quickly.

Those who do not plan to go into self-employment do not need to go to the VTC²³

At the same time, the Office is also workingclosely with MEST to make language andliteracy courses compulsory.

21. Interview with Emine Berisha – Employment Office, 14 May 201922. Interview with Emine Berisha – Employment Office, 14 May 201923. Intervista me Emine Berisha - Zyra e punësimit, 14 maj 2019

Active

Measures

The Centre for Social Work is a local levelinstitution providing professional socialservices, but also the social assistance schemefor citizens in need of social assistance.

890 families are beneficiaries of socialassistance in the CSW Obiliq.

Out of this this number, there are:

• Roma, 198 families

• Ashkali, 62 families

• Egyptians, five families²⁴

When it comes to Roma, Ashkali and Egyptiancommunities who are beneficiaries of the SAS,the second category is particularly pronounced– respectively, the families that have a familymember capable of working and unemployed.This poses a challenge for social assistanceofficers, because the second category has toreapply every six months and the large numberof documents and letters to be filled causesdifficulties for CSW staff and limits field work ofan already small number of staff employed inthe CSW.

While the Employment Office offers a largenumber of jobs, in CSW Obiliq, there is noevidence that a family was not be able to obtainan unemployment certificate from theEmployment Office.

In the majority of cases, the CSW collaborateswith the Employment Office to exchangeinformation and involves CSW staff to identifyand invite family members to engage in jobsoffered by businesses operating within the

municipality.

The CSW staff did not have any training orinformation on the MLSW national strategy,which is seen as a shortcoming.

CSW officers insist in every situation to haveproof of school attendance for Roma, Ashkaliand Egyptian children, so that they meet thecriteria set out in the Law on SAS and this is inthe interest of families for the future.

Recently, some information brochures havebeen placed in the halls within the CSW andthey are accessible to all clients, including theSAS beneficiaries.

Many of the SAS beneficiary families see thisassistance as a monthly wage, although it isquite small, and many cases fear that if theyare employed for a short period of time, theywill be left without social assistance, as theycount on it a guaranteed and safe income.²⁵

However, on the other hand, it is a majorconcern for the community, as low educationalpreparation does not enable good positions incompanies seeking workers. Whereas, thereare also cases where companies looking forworkers do not select or prefer persons fromRoma, Ashkali or Egyptian communities.

When contacted by the CSW, families arereluctant to be hired by companies outside ofObiliq municipality, although many of thesecompanies also provide transportation, foodand safety at work. Salaries offered in eachcase are two to four times higher than theamount of social assistance for the entirefamily.

Centre for SocialWork - Obiliq


24. Fatime Halimi – Head of Social Assistance, CSW Obiliq25. Intervista me Emine Berisha - Zyra e punësimit, 14 maj 2019

19Report 2019

The Office for Communities and Return operateswithin the Municipality of Obiliq. It is composed ofstaff of different nationalities. The staff membersengaged at the OCR, within their responsibilities,provide services to all returned citizens, withoutdistinction.

The municipality of Obiliq has a predominantlyRoma community, Ashkali and very fewEgyptians. The number of readmitted familiesduring 2018 is 34, of which seven are Roma,three Ashkali and one Egyptian individual.²⁶

Systems are in place, but they are not wellsupplied with information and not all employeesknow the system, so there is often a lack ofinformation.

The number of those who benefited from thebusiness plans was 33, while from 2016, about 10cases have benefited from the business plans.²⁷

We are well-acquainted with the measures andnow, after amending the regulation, Regulation13/2017 applies to each case in the EmploymentOffice.

Business plans are about 40% sustainable,especially those that have benefited livestock orequipment have been successful, while someothers have failed.

The cooperation between the CSW, EO and UNDPis a very good interrelation which should continuein the future.

We have flyers and fact sheets for parties andgive them to stakeholders like URA, DIAKONIA,GIZ, and UNDP. There are no reserved seats foremployment of communities in the Municipality’sorganizational chart.

There is a very good cooperation with theDirectorate of Education and this has a very goodimpact on identifying and informing jobseekers.

Municipality of Obiliq has developed the localstrategy for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptiancommunities 2017-2021, respectively twostrategies, one is one-year and the other fiveyears.

Office for Communities and Return - Obiliq

26. Shaban Berisha – Office for Communities and Return, Municipality of Obiliq27. Shaban Berisha – Office for Communities and Return, Municipality of Obiliq

Local StrategyFor Community

The Vocational Training Centre in Prishtinë isresponsible for training in Prishtinë region, whichincludes the municipalities of Fushë Kosovë andObiliq. Location of the Office enables citizens inneed of vocational training to have easy access, asit is close to public transport for the twoaforementioned municipalities. Here are some ofthe findings of the interview conducted withofficers of the Centre.

Courses provided in CSW - Prishtinë (Fushë Kosovëand Obiliq)

- Tailoring

- ICT - Information and CommunicationTechnology

- Industrial electronics

- Administrative Assistant

- Business Administration

- Office equipment servicing

- Confectionery

- Baker, pastry

- Water supply and sewage

- Central heating

- Auto-electric

- Construction

- Construction profile with eight occupations

- Self-employment - entrepreneurshipmainly for the readmitted, two-weekly training or50 teaching classes

VTC capacities range from 800 to 100 maximum.

During 2018 there were about 659 beneficiaries, ofwhich 418 were males and 241 females. 32 peoplehave been certified from the communities, ofwhich 19 are females and 13 males.²⁸

Community members mainly attend the courses:two on construction, two on confectionery, two onICTs, 12 on tailoring, one in auto-electric, three inbakery and pastry, four in heating, one in watersupply and five in self-employment.

All countries that have recognized Kosovo alsoaccept certificates in the bakery profession. Therewas a large influx, where in 2016 alone, wecertified over 400 people and most of them wereworking in Hungary. The Hungarian stateconditioned them to obtain a certificate and therehas been an invasion to be certified in order tosave their jobs.

In Fushë Kosovë are rather oriented towards activeon-the-job training measures and this has beenrelatively successful. The education level ofcommunities is zero. They do not knowmathematics, they come and stay a few days andleave. Those who quit the training are not issued acertificate, while those who attend it are certifiedlike everyone else.

Majority of them initially go into crude professions.By crude professions we mean water supply,construction, heating, auto-electronics, all of thethings that are not done with computers andtheories, where much more literacy is needed.

There are two types of professions certified andunverified and they were for the first timeaccredited by VTC in 2012. The four verifiedprofessions are - Administrative assistant, ICT,water supply and heating, so certificates arerecognized and therefore those professions are notverified.

The advantage of verified professions is that thereare criteria that the National QualificationsAuthority requires. In 2015 we were re-accreditedand now again in 2018 we have re-applied and this

Vocational Training Centre - Prishtinë (Fushë Kosovë andObiliq)


28. Mirvete Paloji - Office for Communities and Return

21Report 2019

re-accreditation is necessary to be done everythree years.²⁹

The certified professions come across difficulties ingetting involved and often fail to do so because thekey criterion is high school and the community facethis obstacle, so most are oriented toward crudeprofessions where high school is not required,since the rules and criteria of authority are such.

Communities have priority and advantage inaccess to training unlike others, and we alwaysleave a certain number free for them in every case.This represents discrimination for persons whowait a long period while we involve a member ofminority communities with urgency and withoutcriteria.³⁰

We try to offer them a lot. They come and look forprofessions for which they are not the adequateones for them. We are worried by the fact thatthey are not educated for the professions they arelooking for and being literate is the minimumrequirement. MEST offers a literacy training coursewhich is helping us because if they do not knowhow to measure, read a manual, and make thesimplest calculation possible....³¹

Taking into account the overall number, thenumber of 32 people is satisfactory and they areemployed in the community where they live anddistribute the craft to their members, as well as tothe communities.

The EO counsellors direct them to the VTC andregister them. The VTC works through trainers topersuade them to stay in the training, where theyinitially have a probationary job.

The trainers are professionally trained, but the VTCneeds trainers who know their language. Someknow only Serbian. There is no Serb trainer andthey do not know Albanian. The case is the samewith the Roma language. The entire literature is inAlbanian.

On-the-job training is often conducted in differentcompanies and VTC always has a trainer engagedwho deals with them. The trainer starts theengagement after the end of the activity withcandidates and the trainer’s duties are to get theindividual plan from the EO, cooperate with thesupervisor of the person who will be trained in thecompany and depending on the professions theymake the training plan for what they will betrained, respectively the supervisor of aclient/worker supervisor agree on what they willlearn during their stay in the workplace. Followingthe plan, he monitors the candidate at least oncea month over a three-month period. After themonitoring he does the evaluation. The trainer andthe supervisor evaluate the candidate’sachievements in the workplace and in case theresults were not achieved they recommend acontinuation of the training for a certain period oftime. During this period he is paid 150 euros. If hehas achieved the expected results then he iscertified by the VTC. The certificate indicates whohas supported this - MATP, UNDP, LUX, or anyoneelse.

Regarding the transportation and dissemination ofinformation, or any other logistical assistance,there is cooperation with various NGOs that areready to support communities, which greatlyfacilitates the process of MATPs implementation.

The VTC in Prishtinë/Pristina, as well as the VTC inthe Municipality of Gjakovë and Prizren, has goodcooperation with the Employment Offices, whilethe cooperation and exchange of information withthe CSW and others is very poor.

Community members mainly ask for moto-cultivators for work on the field and wastecollection, as there is no condition from the statefor work and it is evident that many of themsurvive and provide family income from this.

29. Zejnullah Rrustemi – VTC Prishtinë30. Zejnullah Rrustemi – VTC Prishtinë31. Zejnullah Rrustemi – VTC Prishtinë

Municipality of Gjakovë is composed of differentnationalities, where the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptiancommunities are an integral part with an equalestimate proportion between them.

The number of businesses registered at theEmployment Office in Gjakovë is 838. As far as theoccupations are concerned, the most sought ones atthe Employment Office are: Construction, carpentry,

tailoring, metalworking and maintenance of facilitiesthrough cleaning.

Based on the MLSW national strategy implementedfor the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities,the active labour market measures are: On-the-jobtraining - two cases, wage subsidy - two cases,public work - three cases and seven self-employment cases. There are 14 cases in total.³²

The Employment Office visits businesses andinforms them in three ways: through site visits,telephone and email, however we mostly doinformation of businesses via email.

In recent months businesses are much moreinterested due to lack of workers, young peopleare leaving and every day we have calls wherethey seek hiring people. It is very important to notethat there is no selection of nationalities and theengagement of communities is very much desiredby businesses, just as it is the case with theAlbanians. ³⁴

Subsidies from UNDP and MLSW go on for nineconsecutive months. So far we have never had acase where we have twice informed a person ofwork, be it from the communities or others, andwe did not stop certification issuing in any case.

For the first time we had training on nationalstrategy and active labour market measures byWYG International and we were briefed on them,since prior to this training we had no informationon what the national MLSW strategy stipulates.

Campaigns have been occasionally carried out,especially in recent months, including the GIZ jobfair. But not only during campaigns, havecounsellors dealt with each case where the partiesgo for unemployment verification which is alsoused to carry out the counselling part.

“We had a case where we had requests for tailorsfrom different companies where they asked forhundreds of people and the Employment Officewas not able to provide them. Communities andothers have also been invited, and we havenotified them over the phone, especially those whohave completed the course or have expressedtheir interest in tailoring.”³⁵

Tabela ³³

Employment Office - Gjakovë

Municipality of Gjakovë


32. Arbër Zhubi – Employment Counsellor – Employment Services Officer, 20 May 201933. Arbër Zhubi – Employment Counsellor – Employment Services Officer, 20 May 201934. Arbër Zhubi – Employment Counsellor – Employment Services Officer, 20 May 201935. Arbër Zhubi – Employment Counsellor – Employment Services Officer, 20 May 2019

1 Trajnimi në punë dy raste2 Subvencionimi në pagë dy raste3 Puna publike tre raste4 Vetëpunësimi shtatë raste

Gjithsejtë të angazhuar gjatë vitit 2018 nga komunitetetrome, ashkali dhe egjiptiane 14 raste

23Report 2019

Various projects ask for nurses and nursetechnicians, as well as other professions; howeverthe Employment Office has had very little fewchances to offer support because such people arenot on the job waiting list.

Courses provided by the Vocational Training andRehabilitation Centre for Employees andJobseekers, based on the modular systems offeredat the Training Centre in Gjakovë are:1. Tailoring2. Management of micro and small enterprises3. Self-employment4. Hairdressing5. Make-up artist6. Electric installer7. Welding8. Administrative assistant9. Accounting

The Employment Office staff considers thatthey are sufficiently informed about the ALMMsand they have constant consultations withstakeholders promoting the active labourmarket measures. The cooperation ofstakeholders such as CSW, OCR and VTC issatisfactory as regular meetings are held.

The total number of jobseekers for 2018 at theEmployment Office in Gjakovë from Roma,Ashkali and Egyptian communities is 16.

Challenges of the Employment Office are many.A challenge in itself is the non-registration ofjobs by companies to the Employment Offices,since only for those jobs that cannot be filled bythe company they come and ask for them atthe Employment Office. Another challenge forthe employment service officials is theunwillingness to hire those who receive socialassistance, because they lack the will to workand wish to live with benefits, or they wish toreceive these benefits and work withoutreporting to TAK. Another recent challenge isthe migration of young people to Europeancountries where there is a noticeable lack of

labour force throughout the Republic ofKosovo, but also in Gjakovë.³⁶

In terms of community employment it isevident that they need more education andvocational training because there are numerouscases when they do not have vocationaleducation and training. As far as institutions areconcerned, I believe that they are consistentlyencouraged enough for their engagement inthe labour market, regular employment andALMMs.

Centre for SocialWork - Gjakovë

The Centre for Social Work in Gjakovë is apublic institution at the municipal levelresponsible of providing professional socialservices and social assistance. The largenumbers of cases in need of social services andsocial assistance as well as lack of adequateprofessional staff members are some of thedifficulties that CSW Gjakovë faces. This has ledto limited knowledge of active labour marketmeasures and the need for more information.We will present the interview data as follows.

The number of beneficiaries of social assistancein the municipality of Gjakovë, namely in theCSW Gjakovë, is 1,023 families, out of which376 families belong to the Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities. Of this number, 92 areRoma, 173 Ashkali, and 111 Egyptians. Gjakovëmunicipality has over 35% beneficiaries ofthese three communities.³⁷

Cooperation of CSW with the EmploymentOffice is very good and we are informed aboutthe possibilities. We select the lists and thenthey deal with them. ³⁸

Since most beneficiaries from the communitybelong to the second category and we have asmall number of staff members, this hasresulted in us not being able to handle them inthe best possible way, or even doing fieldverifications.

From time to time in CSW Gjakovë there arecompanies that have sought workers withsalaries of up to 350 euros and when

36. Arbër Zhubi – Employment Counsellor – Employment Services Officer, 20 May 201937. Pranush Komani – Head of Social Assistance Service, CSW Gjakovë38. Pranush Komani - Head of Social Assistance Service, CSW Gjakovë

community members have been contacted,there has been some kind of reaction - why arewe just being called and not others, and haveused this as a pretext for refusing the job.

Although there are job offers under the activelabour market measures, CSW Gjakovë hasnever had a case where the Employment Officehas not issued an unemployment certificate, orit has been removed from the social assistancescheme.

The CSW has also faced problems of non-attendance of community children, but in nocase it has removed families from thecommunities due to lack of school attendanceverification, because the absence of attendanceverified was justified by a statement of parentsabout the reasons of non-attendance and inorder not to aggravate the situation of thefamilies further, the CSW tends to find methodsand ways for non-interrupting the socialassistance.

In each case, when a member of a familybecomes active in the active labour marketmeasures the CSW quits social assistance andwe restore the family to the schemeimmediately after termination of employment.

Despite good relations with the EmploymentOffice, they never inform the CSW on familyengagement and all this may be due to a lackof systems linkage and information exchangebetween institutions. Even when there iscommunication, it is verbal and not throughofficial written form.

Lack of legislation and administrativeinstructions in the CSW is notable, since theyare not provided with the necessary policydocuments for their work by the policymakers.

The CSW had no awareness campaigns; thereis no document or brochure within the CSWthat informs the parties about possibilities ofengaging in any of the ALMMs.

It is recommended to increase the cooperationwith employment offices, to provide timelynotification on the possibility of secondcategory employment and to act according tothe law and administrative instructions that incase the client does not accept the employmenttwice he will not be issued a certificate ofunemployment and this will also facilitate our

work as well, since families have becomedependent on SAS and many are suspected ofworking in informal employment and cannot beidentified.³⁹

Vocational Training Centre - Gjakovë

The Vocational Training Centre in Gjakovë wasinterviewed in the framework of assessing theimplementation of active labour marketmeasures, based on the MLSW nationalstrategy. The Vocational Training Centre has awell-trained and highly active staff in preparingcitizens with the training available.

Courses provided by the Vocational Trainingand Rehabilitation Centre for Employees andJobseekers, based on the modular systemsoffered at the Training Centre in Gjakovë are:1.Tailoring2. Management of micro and small enterprises3.Self-employment4. Hairdressing5. Make-up artist6. Electric installer7. Welding8. Administrative assistant9. Accounting

During 2018, 560 trainees have attendedtrainings at the Vocational Training Centre, whohave also completed the course and got certified.Of these, 36 were from Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities. During 2019, so far thereare 320 trainees, seven of whom come from thecommunities.⁴⁰

The professions where most minorities areinvolved are hairdressing and tailoring, while asfar as other professions are concerned, lack ofliteracy skills and basic math for courses remainsa challenge. “But there were cases when theystarted courses and withdrew; they quit thecourse, for which we did not issue certificates withoutcompleting the course.”⁴¹

The VTC also faces a lack of professional staff fortraining the jobseekers and the staff needs to becompleted as well as new occupations to beconsidered for the future based on labour marketneeds, that is, to update the professions.


39. Pranush Komani - Head of Social Assistance Service, 20 May 201940. Shaban Laha - VTC Gjakovë41. Shaban Laha - VTC Gjakovë

25Report 2019

Employment Office Prizren

Municipality of Prizren is composed of differentnationalities, where the Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities are an integral part withan equal estimate proportion between them,where the Roma community dominates.

The municipality of Prizren reserves anemployment quota of around 10 percent forminorities although communities in generalexceed this quota.

Regarding implementation of the MLSWnational strategy, Prizren also faces someobstacles and difficulties, and one of the majoror major obstacles to the implementation ofactive measures is low education among thecommunities.

Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communitiesusually respond to training invitations and arein line with the labour market, where theEmployment Office makes efforts to matchrequirements with labour market needs, asmarket changes have also enabled them toengage more after preparation and training.

On-the-job training is supported with financialsupport of 150 euros per month, but accuratedata are not recorded in the database. It ischaracteristic that many times the employeesthat the Employment Office sends to variousbusinesses go to benefit for only three months,but after attending the three-month work andwith our mediation, there are many caseswhere they stay at job as they become familiarwith the workplace as well. They also buildrelationships with the employer to the extentthat the employee keeps them for the longterm, which is also our goal.⁴²

The Employment Office maintains very good

relations in the field with some of thebusinesses, but it is an interesting that very fewbusinesses go to the Employment Office to seekemployees. From several meetings with them,it has turned out that one of the factors of non-cooperation is that the company managementstaff is weak in this regard and does not followthe press, information, brochures andcampaigns organized by the Employment Officeand our partners. Nevertheless, it should benoted that there is also a lack of professionalwork in the Employment Office to include andfoster businesses to inform them about thecooperation opportunities. The municipality ofPrizren is known as a town of crafts and theshortage of professional workers is major inPrizren. “I had the case when a company askedme for six carpenters, an assistant carpenterand two maintainers at once. He gave me twoweeks to find them and we couldn’t find thembecause there are no professionals of this fieldregistered with the Employment Office”.⁴³

Following conversations and studies by thePrizren Employment Office, it turns out thatevery company in Prizren dealing with the craftis able to receive at least one employee withprofession/crafts, but the Employment Officedoes not have one available. Prizren has over15,000 registered businesses, of which in theEmployment Office in 2018 only about 300businesses have registered to seek employees.

The Employment Office in Prizren, incooperation with non-governmentalorganizations, has organized meetings yearsago where there were over 30 large businesses.The debate was based on two points, wherethe key complaint of businesses was that theyare not identifying professional workers butalso with secondary education, whereas on the

Municipality of Prizren

42. Hasil Fetahu – Employment Counsellor,15 May 201943. Hasil Fetahu – Employment Counsellor, Employment Office in Prizren

other hand, workers’ complaints were thatcompanies are not respecting working hours,where workers have to work prolonged workinghours, on weekends, the annual leave andmaternity leave are not respected, no jobsafety, which are some of the factors that theydo not show any interest in engaging in theircompanies.

As an Employment Office we have never had acase that we prevented them from certifyingunemployment benefits for social assistanceand this is not good from our part.⁴⁴

The CSW does not cooperate with theEmployment Office, which is a major flaw. Thesystem of Kosovo Tax Administration (TAK) isalso very often dysfunctional. At first it workedfor a few months, it was interrupted after, andnow even this communication is missing.

This non-cooperation with the Centre for SocialWork has a very bad impact, because evenwhen we ask for help from them, they do notprovide us with assistance in identifying secondcategory workers, and such an obstacle directlyaffects implementation of the national strategyof MLSW on active labour market measures.

Communities have no problem with the spokenlanguage, but businesses often choose and arenot interested in hiring members of the Roma,Ashkali and Egyptian communities, especiallyfor some jobs where they have to appear infront of their clients and have direct contactwith them, either at the cashboxes where thepayments are made, or the reception. As anEmployment Office we organize awarenesscampaigns, but we also work with partners.One of them is the local NGO “Romano Avazo”where radio advertisements andannouncements are aired in several languages,especially in Roma language.

Collaboration with the Office for Communitiesand Return is very good, and they come to usvery often to seek information, but they alsosend information when we need it.

Over the recent years there have been majorchanges and there are very few [ethnic]distinctions. Communities have beenintegrated, we have accepted them and nodistinction is made between us, while the jobissue unfortunately remains the same.

As for the minimum standards developed yearsago, they are only applied by themselves,because there is no means of measuring themin the field as to what percentage they were orwere not met.


44. Hasil Fetahu – Employment Counsellor, Employment Office in Prizren

27Report 2019

Centre for SocialWork - PrizrenThe Centre for Social Work in Prizrenoperates within the municipal competenciesand it is responsible for providing andhandling social cases and citizens in need ofsocial assistance. However, CSW Prizrendoes not have much knowledge andinformation regarding the active labourmarket measures.

The number of beneficiaries of socialassistance is 891, out of which there are 126Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities,respectively 88 Roma families, 28 Ashkaliand 10 Egyptian families.⁴⁵

Different from other municipalities, re-application of families mainly belonging tothe second category of social assistance andwho have to report to the CSW every sixmonths presents no to problem to CSW inPrizren, because they consider that by doingso they have more control over the situation,although for each re-application of thesefamilies they must update all the documentsrequired under the Law on Social AssistanceScheme.

The biggest problems during the re-application phase, but also throughout there-application process among Roma, Ashkaliand Egyptian communities, come up withthe school certificate, through which it mustbe proven that children up to the age of 18attend school, because the failure to attendautomatically implies termination of socialassistance. In the most serious cases, social

assistance officers try to make exceptions inorder to raise awareness that they shouldcontinue their education, but there are alsosome cases where they have beenterminated for this reason.

During these years the CSW Prizren has nothad any cases of exclusion of a family in theabsence of an Employment Office certificateof unemployment, thus resulting in a gap inthe implementation of active labour marketmeasures.

There is no information brochure within theCSW on employment opportunities and thetype of active measures available. The lackof information and campaigns also comes asa result of the non-cooperation betweenCSW Prizren and the Employment Office inPrizren, which is also confirmed by bothparties that they do not have adequatecommunication and are asked to work morein this regard.

Also, the social assistance officers were notsatisfied with the promise and the campaigncarried out by the Government of Kosovo,where the families with social assistancewere publicly promised that each familywould have one member employed, whichwould be a great help both to them and tothe social scheme, and to date there hasbeen no positive move in this direction. Thispromise was in the context of materialisingthe national strategy on the implementationof active labour market measures.

45. Hamit Krasniqi – Social Assistance Officer. Social assistance database, CSW Prizren, 16 May

Vocational Training Centre - Prizren

Vocational Training Centre in Prizren is a regionalcentre where preparations are made for persons inneed of vocational training as part of the MLSWnational strategy. The trainings held at this centreare directly linked to the active labour marketmeasures.Courses offered in this training centre are:1. Business Administration2. Auto-electrics3. Auto-mechanics4. Bartender5. Waiter6. Cook7. Mechanics of hydraulics and pneumatics8. Electro-mechanics of household appliances9. Hairdresser10. Make-up artist11. Industrial electronics12. ICT13. Tailoring14. Bakery15. Welding16. Self-employment

During 2018 there were 1.608 persons forvocational training in the VTC, 19 of them Roma,three Ashkali, no Egyptian, 44 Turks, 48 Bosniaks,11 Serbs and 1.483 Albanians.⁴⁶

Cooperation with the Employment Office is primaryand works very well, while cooperation with otherinstitutions is not of a satisfactory level. The law alsoprovides for this form of cooperation, so that theparties can come to the Vocational Training Centreonly through the Employment Office, regardless ofthe type and category they belong to.

The major challenges for VTCs in terms ofcommunities are education, literacy, or eveninadequate age where VTC is often forced to gobeyond the criteria for the sake of understandingand incorporating into these three communities.The Vocational Training Centre is in stable conditionwith training. VTC training capacity is 1.200 trainedcandidates, but it can afford up to 1.500 within the

year.⁴⁷ For some professions there are morerequirements, i.e. hairdressers, make-up artists,cooks, welders, bakers and tailors. The leastdemand is for electro-mechanics of householdappliances and mechanics of hydraulics andpneumatics, although the market has a highdemand for these two professions.

Collaboration with businesses is rather linkedthrough the Employment Office and their needs areidentified by the MLSW, while they complete theircombined training, protection and safety with us.We often send them for internship in companies,when possible, while they complete their theoreticalpart at VTC. So, this happens in cases where wecome across understanding with specializedcompanies and it becomes a combination of valuesthat is in the interest of the beneficiaries. With thenew programs we are trying to be on trend in termsof dual learning, that is, in two directions at once -in two different professions/crafts, as this hasalready turned into a contemporary trend. ⁴⁸

The population of Prizren mainly deals and surviveswith the crafts, and even persons employed in thepublic sector and administration, in addition to theirprimary job, spend the rest of their time on thecrafts, which greatly contributes to implementationof the active labour measures.Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities continue to attend traininguntil the end and there were no cases ofinterruption of their vocational training at the VTC.

There are many cases where community membersalso engage in professions like waiters and cooks,although their employment opportunities appear tobe lower.

Regarding implementation of the national strategy,we cannot say that it is being fully implemented,because many members of Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities have the impression that ifthey engage in any work, they will automatically beterminated the social assistance and then it will bedifficult for them to get back into the system, whichis having a very negative impact. The creation ofmulti-year dependence on social assistancecontinues to directly impact the implementation ofmeasures.

Certificates issued by the Vocational Training Centreare certificates that are recognized both within thecountry and abroad.


46. Sinan Gashi – Vocational Training Centre, Prizren47. Sinan Gashi – Vocational Training Centre, Prizren48. Sinan Gashi – Vocational Training Centre, Prizren

29Report 2019

Office for Communities and Return,Municipality of Prizren

Within the Municipality of Prizren there is also theOffice for Communities and Return, which employsa mixed staff of different nationalities and providesservices to all readmitted citizens within themunicipality of Prizren. Moreover, the engagementof the OCR and cooperation with various NGOswithin the municipality, but also with NGOsfunctioning at the national level, has managed todevelop some important documents and be part ofmuch training in professional capacity building aswell as drafting of local politics.

Prizren Municipality has a developed Local ActionPlan on Inclusion of Roma, Ashkali and EgyptianCommunities of Prizren 2019-2023.

The plan covers five areas: Education, employmentand social welfare, health, housing and culture,media and information. A total of 1.276.750 eurosare envisaged for implementation of this five-yearplan, of which 995.005 euros are foreseen to becovered by the municipal budget and 281.745 bydonors. ⁴⁹ Three challenges have been identified inthe employment sector: 1. extremely highunemployment rate, 2. Employment Office does nothave a mandate for employment, therefore it maynot have it as a priority, and 3. limited budget forsocial services due to numerous demands.⁵⁰

This plan also envisages some activities such as:Analysis of the situation of Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian employees in public institutions,awareness raising campaign on the importance ofEmployment Office and the services it provides,support for starting new businesses, provision ofvocational training, business start-ups for Roma,Ashkali and Egyptian communities, advocacycampaigns for respecting employment quotas inpublic institutions, and awareness campaigns onsocial schemes and forms of their usage.

Number of the readmitted during 2018 is 22 familieswith 55 members out of them seven families ofRoma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities with 33members.⁵¹

17 families have benefited by 2018 as self-employed by the business plan from the activelabour market measures supported by GIZ, wherethey have received only funds and earlier therewere about 40 families who have benefitedfinancially, but this assistance was discontinued to

them. The repatriation campaign has significantlyimpacted communities not having to migratewithout documents because they also note what thedifficulties are. On the other hand, businesses donot offer basic working conditions such as safety,we see construction where months do not passwithout any dead and many injured in theworkplace.

Cooperation of OCR with the Employment Officeand the Job Centre is very good.

The Employment Office identifies workers andbuilds their skills. We have addressed our parties tothe Vocational Training Centre and they constantlycooperate with us. We send people who meet thecriteria to the Vocational Training Centre for trainingand certification. Exceptions are made to the criteriafor communities, especially when it comes to schoolpreparation and age criterion.

Recent changes in business plans and their fundinghave relieved the OCR of many of its obligations andnow the OCR feels more comfortable as all thefunding has been transferred to MLSW andEmployment Offices, where families are beingprovided with working tools rather than non-material means, which has helped reduce themisuse of material resources, and families that haveobtained working tools are now managing to workwith them.

It should be noted that within the municipality ofPrizren five persons were employed from the Roma,Ashkali and Egyptian communities, but two of themleft - one for retirement and the other for otherreasons, and they were never replaced by thecommunities, while now there are only threeemployees from these communities.⁵²

Language is not a problem in communication andemployment, and the OCR’s request has been, andremains, for Roma to be officially used andrecognized as a traditional language.

About 95% of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian childrenattend school, which is good, although occasionallythere are school drop outs.

49. Local Action Plan on Inclusion of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Communities in Prizren Municipality, 2019-202350. Local Action Plan on Inclusion of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Communities in Prizren Municipality, 2019-202351. Islam Elshani – Communities and Return Officer, Municipality of Prizren52. Islam Elshani – Communities and Return Officer, Municipality of Prizren

Local NGO “RomanoAvazo”

“Romano Avazo” is a local non-governmentalorganization and it has a very goodcooperation with the Employment Office inPrizren. This organization carries out variousactivities, training young and interestedpersons in journalism, technology and editing,as well as field work. In each of theannouncements made by the EmploymentOffice, the organization applies for provision oftraining, but also grants and subsidies underactive labour market measures in order totrain and engage members of Roma, Ashkalior Egyptian communities. During each year,this organization has engaged one or twopersons for training and capacity building andsome of them have been permanentlyemployed.

The organization depends on donations as ithas not yet transferred into business, as theplans are to transfer into a social enterprise.

Employees engaged in the NGO “RomanoAvazo” benefit a 150 euro subsidy from MLSWand during this period the organization onlyincreases its capacity.

However, it is very important to note thatwithin the organization there is a local radiostation called “Radio Romani” and throughvarious shows with different guests, especiallyin the area of employment and otheropportunities, they organize debates andinvite guests who promote jobs, announceopportunities and all this is done in twolanguages - Albanian and Roma⁵³

Organization’s activities are also of a practicalnature, from direct meetings in theneighbourhoods that are mostly populatedwith the Roma community and the effort toconnect them has proved to be successful.

However, this organization, too, has itsdissatisfactions with the allocation of subsidiesand support from the Employment Office.⁵⁴ Itconsiders that support is not sufficient andoften benefit some community organizationsthat do not produce good results, or are evenabuse with the funds, or even work with

extended hours and no additional assistance isdone from the companies that hire thoseworkers, without adding any support fromthem, where the only amount is 150 eurosfrom the MLSW subsidy.

In addition to radio announcements, theorganization has also developed a website aswell as a Facebook page that regularly postsnew announcements and changes, as well asannounces meetings where communities canbe informed.

NGO “Romano Avazo” also has a very suitableworking space where community membersmake use of it and are assisted by theorganization’s staff to write business plans, fillin applications, write their resumes, etc. to getemployed, or receive grants. As a successstory, there are two readmitted families thathave benefited precisely from the support ofthe NGO “Romano Avazo”.

None of the local television stations haveminutes for communities; therefore theoperation of this radio station is veryimportant.

“We inform citizens about any changes inlegislation and regulations, or strategic plan byinviting guests to the radio, variouspersonalities, where we have included theMayor, director of labour and social welfareand other relevant officials.” ⁵⁴

The organization constantly applies to variouscalls for support as it depends on donations.

It is important to note that the trainings arenot very much based on the citizens’ needs,especially in specific areas such as watersupply and sewage, central heating, althoughthere are many requests for them and the jobis very easy to find. Changes to trainingprograms need to be made; as some programsare outdated one can hardly find a job aftercertification at VTC.


53. Romano Avazo – interview, 15 May 201954. Romano Avazo – interview, 15 May 2019

31Report 2019

Recommendations:• To develop information brochures on active

labour market measures and distribute themto Centres of Social Work where they applyfor social assistance, to Health Houses -where they receive health services, to Officesof Communities and Return, to the CivilAgency and Documents’ Issuing Offices,announcements through media, directmeetings with communities, etc.

• To distribute brochures to various businesspremises where the communities in themunicipalities mostly visit

• To foster cooperation between theEmployment Office and the Centre for SocialWork in Prizren municipality, as there is a lackof necessary cooperation between them,such is the case in other municipalities.

• To train and build capacities of employmentcounsellors at Employment Offices wherethey receive unemployment certification forsocial assistance and apply for a job, or refusethe job

• To prepare a list for all those who receive thebrochure and sign for it, in order to evaluatein the future how many of them signed andhow useful the brochure was.

• To link database systems between theVocational Training Centre, the EmploymentOffice, Centre for Social Work and the TaxAdministration of Kosovo, through whichinformation would be coordinated andexchanged, as well joint activities would bedeveloped.

• Media campaigns to raise awareness ofjobseekers and employers, because highengagement during the day often does notprovide the conditions for their properinformation, or even lack of focus onreceiving information

• Awareness-raising campaigns with

businesses and the public on acceptingcommunities into positions where they havedirect access to clients and non-discrimination

• To increase professional capacities in theOffice for Communities and Return andstrengthen cooperation with central andmunicipal stakeholders

• To remove the discriminatory criterion foremployees who just started their work, thecriterion of two or three years of post-graduate work experience as it is a majorbarrier for communities and others in joiningwork

• Lack of professional staff for advancedtraining based on labour marketrequirements and adaptation of occupationsbased on the capacities of Roma, Ashkali andEgyptian communities in Vocational TrainingCentres

• Lack of internships and the refusal of somecompanies to hire members of communities,especially in visible places such as cashboxesor reception

• Adequate orientation on occupations, basedon market demands, and the work withcommunity members to accept and engage indifferent jobs

• To fill vacancies in municipalities wherecommunity members have left jobs or haveretired, as it is the case with the Municipalityof Prizren

• To set Roma language as an official languagefor use in the Municipality of Prizren as well ascloser cooperation with the Ministry ofEducation, Science and Technology intraining people of communities in learning, asone of the first barriers toward skill building

• To encourage children from minoritycommunities to attend school and reject

parents’ excuses for not attending school byengaging children in different and heavy jobs

• Centres of Social Work to work harderthrough their services to persuade andstimulate communities to attend school andto take measures in case of social assistancebenefit and ensure that each family bringstheir school attendance certificates, in closecooperation with school principals andmunicipal education directorates

• To work more towards removing thedependency created by social assistance andvarious packages, which continue to beregarded as secure, albeit very low, incomesfor community families

• Having in mind that VTC certificates areaccepted both within the country and abroad,all those planning to leave Kosovo mustattend courses and be provided withcertificates in order to have a profession andfind employment easier even in the case ofmigrating

• To raise awareness about dual vocationaleducation, in addition to studying andorientation to vocational training in one of theareas available to communities

• To enhance coordination between vocationalschools and identify market demands,through the possibility of changingoccupations and course, thus adapting to thelabour market

• To allocate funds from taxes to both privateschools and private vocational schools tofinance and provide vocational training to

communities

• To ensure sustainability at work forcommunity members, as there are oftentimes when they leave the job within days orweeks

• To create jobs according to their education,since the majority of them are uneducatedand they would do such jobs and possiblywithin the Obiliq municipality

• To provide officers in all public institutionswith the relevant legislation, since many ofthem do not possess the applicable laws andadministrative instructions

• To extend the mandate for readmittedfamilies because they are no longer able toengage in active labour market measures andare recovering or adapting to theenvironment. We request that this deadlinebe extended to at least two years.


33Report 2019

Annex

CALL FORAPPLICATIONWAGE SUBSIDY PROGRAM

Employment Agency of the Republic of Kosovo(EARK) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare(MLSW) in cooperation with the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP), announces anopen call for applications for support from the WageSubsidy Program (WSP) ) for enterprises (employers)interested in the private sector and for jobseekers in18 municipalities of Kosovo: Prizren, Pejë, Gjilan,Gjakovë, Ferizaj, Suharekë, Rahovec, Dragash, Istog,Klinë, Kamenicë, Viti, Deçan, Malishevë, Junik,Kaçanik, Shtime and Shtërpcë.

About the Wage Subsidy

The aim of the Wage Subsidy Programme is to createemployment opportunities for job-seekers in Kosovoby subsidizing employers who are willing to hire themon a long-term basis. It is a unique opportunity tosupport gradual growth of Kosovo enterprises.

To benefit from the WS program, the employer mustsign a 12-month employment contract with thejobseeker in accordance with applicable legislation.During this period, the employer will receive a nine-month subsidy in the amount of 50% of theemployee’s gross monthly salary, in which case theamount of this subsidy may not exceed 150.00 eurosper month. EOs will support enterprises in identifyingthe best candidates registered as jobseekersaccording to the specific needs of the employer.

In addition to supporting enterprises by subsidizingemployment, the WS program assists the entirerecruitment process for new vacancies. Given thedifficulties that private enterprises face in identifyingand hiring the qualified staff needed to expand theirbusiness activities, the WS program will use the WS’sexpertise to tailor any vacancy with the rightjobseekers in the country in compliance with thecriteria set by the enterprises. WS Programme isimplemented according to the following steps

First step – Expression of interest to benefit from theWS programme

All interested private sector companies can expressinterest to benefit by downloading the onlineapplication form at: www.aprk.rks-gov.net orwww.mpms.rks-gov.net. In addition, applicationforms are also available at the EO in all municipalities.The application form must be accompanied by thebusiness registration certificates and the fiscalnumber of the company applying.

Second step – Selection of the employee andagreement signing:

The employment counsellor will provide a list ofpotential candidates according to the needs of theenterprise. The enterprise selects the best candidatesfrom the list and signs an agreement with employeesfor at least 12 months, while the wage subsidy will benine months within the 12-month agreement.Payments will be made in the first quarter, thesecond quarter and the fourth quarter. The thirdquarter is covered by the employer.

Who can apply?

1. Private enterprises

All interested enterprises (employers) registered inthe EO can apply for participation in the programme.Enterprises must be registered with the KosovoBusiness Registration Agency (KBRA) and be anactive taxpayer in the Tax Administration of Kosovo(TAK).

Businesses operating in all types of economicactivities are eligible to apply for the WS program.Priority will be given to the following six priorityeconomic sectors (selected by the Ministry of Tradeand Industry (MTI) as they have the highest potentialfor economic growth in Kosovo), respectively:

• food processing and packaging industry;

• ICT along with outsourcing of business process andcustomer support centre sector;• metal processing industry;• textile industry;• tourism;• wood processing industry.

The application form can be found online at:www.aprk.rks-gov.net or www.mpms.rks-gov.netand at the EO in each municipality.

2. Unemployed jobseekers

All jobseekers registered at the EO can benefit fromthe WS programme. Priority will be given to long-term unemployed (unemployed for more than 12months) during the selection process, with a focuson:• women,• ethnic minorities,• people with disabilities,• single parents.

All the interested ones should register with the EO intheir respective municipalities. Those who possessvocational training certificates provided by MLSW, orwho have previously participated in on-the-jobtraining, will be given priority in the selection process.

Cases of conflict of interest with the parties involvedand decision makers of the WS programme are noteligible to benefit from this programme.

Job seekers that have previously benefited from thisprogramme are not eligible to apply.

Application deadline 14 - 24 May 2019

Financial support for enterprises

The WS programme will provide the employer with a50% subsidy on gross salary for any newly employed

unemployed person whose amount cannot be higherthan 150.00 euros per month. The duration of thesubsidy for all regular jobseekers, clients registeredwith the EO is nine months out of a total of 12months of the duration of their contract. For theremaining three months, the full salary of theemployee is up to the enterprise.

How to apply?

• Interested private companies should submit thecompleted application form in person or via e-mail tothe EO in their municipality. The application form isavailable online at www.aprk.rks-gov.net orwww.mpms.rks-gov.net, as well as printed in eachEO throughout Kosovo. Applicants must attach theirbusiness registration and fiscal number certificates tothe application. Enterprises will be contacted by theEO with a list of potential candidates.

• Jobseekers interested in vacancies should registerwith the EO in their municipalities or visit the EOwhere they are already registered and inform theiremployment counsellors of their interest.

Other information

For more information please contact the EO in yourmunicipality. If you have any questions about the WSprogramme, please contact the ALMP2 project at theemail: [email protected].

About the ALMP2 project in UNDP Kosovo

The main objective of Active Labour MarketProgrammes (ALMPs) is to improve the capacities ofthe labour market institutions to design relevant,gender-responsive policies at the central level and todeliver integrated services at the local level, focusingon the most vulnerable groups among theunemployed. The project also provides employmentand training opportunities for unemployed personsregistered in EO all over Kosovo through variousactive programs such as: Wage Subsidy (WS), Onthe Job Training (OJT), Internship at Work (IW) andSelf-Employment (SE).


35Report 2019