Kosovo Human Development Report 2010 - UNDP Kosovo - United ...

the Department for Registration and
Liaison with NGOs, there are 4,917 local
NGOs and 447 international NGOs
registered in Kosovo. 177
Unfortunately, most of these NGOs
have been unable to shake their dependency
on donor funds. Therefore,
most of them tend to be service-oriented
- organized around short-term,
donor-funded projects, and without
strong constituencies. Moreover, most
are temporary and tend to dissolve or
become inactive after donor money
has been spent. Few NGOs have attempted
to continuously shape policy
in support of the interests of particular
constituencies, be they women, minorities,
the disabled, or other marginal
groups. While Kosovo has witnessed
a boom in civil society, donor dependency
casts doubt on the sustainability
of current levels of civic engagement
and of effective society constituencies.
178 The monitoring capacity of
NGOs is limited and their participation
in the legislation process is poor.
Without a strategic approach for
their interaction with civil society organizations,
Kosovo’s authorities have
been unable to play a much-needed
role to strengthen NGOs and give them
an institutionalized place in the policy
process. As a result, the vulnerable
groups some NGOs represent are only
ever consulted in an ad hoc manner, if
at all. Their link to the political sphere
is inconsistent and ephemeral, and
without visible result. 179 Social support
for NGOs is also weak – a vicious cycle
fuelled by perception that they are neither
truly effective nor orientated in a
reliable way to social needs. According
to the UNDP Kosovo Human Development
Report 2008, less than one third
of Kosovans think that NGOs are open
to public participation. As one of the
roles of NGOs is to promote participation,
this is a worrying statistic. 180
(iii) Limited independence and
impartiality of media: over the past
few years considerable progress has
been made to develop the media in
Kosovo. However, securing a transition
of the media from a source of entertainment
to a European-style “fourth
estate”, i.e., impartial watchdog and
public platform, has not been easy.
The news media is still a minority pursuit
in Kosovo. The combined circulation
of all daily newspapers is no more
than 30,000, the lowest per capita figure
in Europe. There are many reasons
for the newspaper industry’s predicament,
such as poor distribution and
poor reading habits. 181 Moreover, the
development of private television stations
has been negatively affected by
Kosovo’s weak economy and correspondingly
sluggish advertising revenues.
As a result, many newspapers
and television programmes depend
for their continued existence on public
sector advertisements and international
donor aid. 182 Strong concerns
have also been raised by the general
public about political influence on
newspapers. 183 The Press Council and
the Association of Professional Journalists
of Kosovo have often complained
of political interference in the work of
the media. Documented cases of political
intimidation call for more robust
measures by the Kosovo authorities in
order to ensure the freedom of expression.
184
Kosovo’s weak media environment
does not, therefore, serve as a platform
for Kosovo’s full social spectrum. Instead,
it is a vehicle for the more privileged
Kosovans – literate, middle class,
educated and ethnic-Albanians. Voices
to challenge governance status quo, or
invite a broader public debate on behalf
of minority groups, are largely absent
or marginalized. A more inclusive
media would be a strong step forward
towards a more inclusive society.
(iv) Socio-cultural discrimination:
Kosovo battles deep-rooted socio-cultural
blocks to a wide-ranging
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND EXCLUSION
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