ISC Selects National Advocacy Partners

ISC’s Kosovo Civil Society Strengthening Program recently awarded seven grants to Kosovar NGOs, supporting a breadth of advocacy initiatives at the national level. These National Advocacy Partners underwent a very competitive process which assessed not only their advocacy proposals, but also their organizational systems and capacities.

These partner organizations will receive support from ISC’s trademark methodology of hands-on, tailor-made capacity building providing tools for successful implementation of their initiatives. Furthermore, ISC will provide ongoing coaching/mentoring designed to address specific needs during the lifecycle of their respective projects.

"As a new organization this grant has not just helped us in the realization of our objectives, it also helped us to establish internal systems and that will guide us in the expansion of our NGO" says Shkumbin Spahija from Kosova Advocacy and Development Center.

These seven selected NGOs participated in an Advocacy Strategy Workshop and one-on-one sessions facilitated by Master Trainer David Cohen of Advocacy Institute. The partner organizations further developed their advocacy initiatives as well as capacity through the intensive working sessions. ISC staff and the Consulting Network will continue to support the National Advocacy Partners throughout project implementation.

ISC congratulates the following National Advocacy Partners:

Kosova Advocacy and Development Center – KADC will advocate establishing a professional council for overseeing tobacco consumption on public places and promoting the implementation of the law on smoking, with special focus on the articles that ban smoking within educational and health institutions throughout Kosovo.

Down Syndrome Kosova – Together with the Ministry of Education DSK will advocate to establish a national policy on early and inclusive education for children with special needs by identifying the requirements and resources of its constituents, and channeling this information to the relevant stakeholders for action. 

Council of Congress of Bosniac Intellectuals of Kosova – VKBIK will address the lack of involvement of civil society organizations in the decision-making process during the creation of public policies with local governments. The organization aims to enhance the law on local governance through effective methods and approaches such as integrating cooperation into municipal statutes, law revisions with municipality and civil society cooperation and strengthening administrative instructions for law implementation

Kosova Democratic Institute – KDI intends to fight corruption at the central and local levels in Kosovo by promoting transparency and inclusive debates.  The organization is aiming for the adoption and promulgation of the law on declaration of property by elected officials, and the law on political party financing.

HandiKOS – will address the issue of improvement of living conditions for people with disabilities by tackling five different laws in need of sublegal acts to ensure their amendment and full implementation. The organization is trying to ensure people with disabilities receive the proper support as guaranteed by the law on health, the law on personal assistance and the law on pensions.

Eye of Vision – EoV will help local community groups influence decision making at the central level.  Opportunities might include the drafting of laws or policy reform that have great impact on the local level.  The region of focus is Peja/Pe?, which will allow them to influence regional issues at a national level. 

Women Committee for Protection and Human Rights – WCPHR will articulate the need for trust between the K-Serbian Women and Kosovo Police and Judiciary system. WCPHR will seek for approval of a national plan for effective intervention of the Kosovo Police in reported cases of domestic violence. They will attempt to secure base-line support from all key actors: municipalities at the local level and relevant ministries at the national level.

USAID's Kosovo Civil Society Strengthening Program is a three-year activity implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Communities. The program aims to ensure that Kosovo civil society is an effective and influential partner to government in public decision-making, contributing to an inclusive and democratic Kosovo.