Democratic Governance

Programme overview           

Kosovo strategic documents and the dialogue with the EU around Kosovo EU integration objectives point to the centrality of effective and equitable democratic governance in Kosovo. Improved efficiency of the central and local institutions and the battle against corruption are put forth as strategic priorities. Complex public administration reforms have been implemented in the last seven years, and continuing improvements are made to improve the functioning of governing institutions at all levels, but the policy implementation and delivery of public services still has many weaknesses and the maturity of the legislature, of the judiciary and of democratic institutions requires further development. Significant disparities between the objectives of local authorities and their capacity to deliver, as well as the underdevelopment of civil society organizations to hold governments accountable and exercise effective representation and participation in policy processes need to be addressed in order to achieve inclusiveness and equitable access.

In the area of democratic governance UNDP will focus on strengthening capacities of central and local governments for gender responsive, quality policy processes. Civil society participation, women empowerment in decision making positions and greater transparency and accountability will receive important emphasis across these areas. Capacities of public administration in Kosovo will be developed through on-the-job mentoring and coaching for high ranking civil servants, and other support will be mobilised as necessary to support the implementation of the public administration strategy. Jointly with other UN agencies, UNDP will support the Kosovo Assembly, the women cross party caucus , the executive institutions and civil society organizations to improve the legislative, budgeting and implementation processes, strengthen the legislative monitoring and oversight mechanisms and achieve better internal and external accountability.

UNDP will continue to support the decentralization processes, building on the assessment led by the Ministry of Local Government Administration of the results of the local government reform undertaken during 2005-2010. Further support will include capacity development of new municipalities and local officials and improvement of secondary legislation in order to make local-level development more inclusive and other interventions to strengthen inter-municipal cooperation. Rule of law, a strong judiciary and access to justice for all are cornerstone of democratic governance. Kosovo has made good progress in establishing a legal aid system ,strengthening its judiciary but the backlogs of cases is still very high, people access to justice is constrained and the safety and security mechanisms at local level are fragile. UNDP will continue advancing gender justice by promoting the protection of women rights with a comprehensive legal empowerment outreach program involving CSOS and paralegal workers to reach out to the disadvantaged communities and women including the victims of violence . The judicial institutions will be addressed from a gender perspective to lead towards gender responsive services

UNDP will continue to work on judicial education (supporting the Initial Legal Education Programme, the Internship Programme, training for Bar Exam candidates), will provide expertise for legislative work and will assist the Supreme Court of Kosovo in harmonization of judicial practice. Support will also be provided for the roll out of the mediation and probation services. With OHCHR, UNDP will plan activities focused on transitional justice. Implementation of the anti-discrimination law and support to the Ombudsperson Institution will be among the priorities as well as legal empowerment activities at the community level, especially with paralegal workers to provide legal support to the most vulnerable, including women victims of violence. In security interventions a community safety approach from a human security perspective at local level with focus on peopled-centered; security and a gender-sensitive focus will be applied. Specifically, UNDP will scale up community safety addressing two geographical hot spots for crime in Kosovo with main focus on armed violence and cross border crime. In addition, the programme will support implementation of the newly adopted domestic violence law through WSSI Women Safety Security Initiative project.

View related press releases