Representatives of the Kosovo Civil Society Consortium for Sustainable Development (KOSID), during a press conference today stated that the construction of the new power plant will damage Kosovo.  According to Visar Azemi from KOSID, the agreement between the government of Kosovo and the company Contour Global, is not sustainable because they were the only bidder. He said the government has not been transparent and has not shown the details of this project.

Kosovo’s President, Atifete Jahjaga, yesterday welcomed the government’s approval of the Regulation on recognition and verification of the status of victims of sexual violence during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. “The approval of this regulation marks an important step ahead towards offering institutional support and realization of rights for the survivors of sexual violence during the war, thus paving the way to the recognition and verification process,” Jahajga said.

The government of Kosovo during its meeting today voted the criteria for issuing certificates for the Kosovo citizens who received undergraduate diplomas from the University of North Mitrovica.  All those who received degrees from this University, their diplomas will be recognized if they meet the set criteria. Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister, Branimir Stojanovic, said that despite the delay, this decision is welcomed.

Alessandra Roccasalvo, deputy head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kosovo, told Radio Kosova that the rule of law is very important for Kosovo’s economic future.  In regards to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, Roccasalvo said there are three objectives which are more important for Kosovo. “The 16^th objective, which promotes peace and justice and inclusive society, which automatically is connected to the rule of law.

Kosovo’s Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Arban Abrashi, announced yesterday that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kosovo has allocated 160,000 euros grants for self-employment programme in the Mitrovica region.  “With UNDP we signed the expansion of self-employment program for the region of Mitrovica, where 160,000 euros in grants where allocate for the establishment of new businesses by unemployed job seekers, who will use the grants to start new businesses and employ others.

Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga participated in the annual Assembly of the Kosovo Women's Network on Sunday. Jahjaga said that Kosovo women have held onto their shoulders the heavy burden of survival, peaceful resistance, war and that certainly the peace building would not be achieved without them. “We as a society are still facing gender prejudice and patriarchal mentality. Challenges to the complete realization of gender equality are many, for all of us, on every level and in all fields of life.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo yesterday organized a debate with representatives of NGOs and gender equality offices to discuss gender sensitive reporting in Kosovo media. Representatives of different organisations working on gender equality in Kosovo consider that Kosovo women continue to be misused by the local media. Violeta Kurti-Islami presented a report, which says that gender equality is mainly ignored in Kosovo media. She also criticized the government for not considering the requests of women organisations for advancement of women’s position.

The government of Kosovo and the Federal Republic of Germany today signed an agreement on financial cooperation. With this agreement, Germany allocates 17 million euros to Kosovo for various projects in water and waste management.  The German Ambassador to Kosovo, Angelika Viets, said that so far Germany has supported Kosovo with over 500 million euros.

On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the USAID Property Rights Programme launched a media campaign on public awareness for women’s property rights.The United States Ambassador, Greg Delawie, said that less than 19% of women in Kosovo own property, while an even smaller percentage has access to heritage. He added that exclusion of women from the right to heritage is an economic loss for Kosovo.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo launched a campaign to raise awareness on women property and inheritance rights. This campaign is being carried out following information instructions on access of women and men in wealth and property rights in all regions of Kosovo. The campaign includes TV and radio spots and will run for two weeks.“The aim is to make the general public, especially women, more aware of their rights to property, with focus on inheritance and joint marital property,” said Jean-Claude Schlumberger, head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.