The signatories of this public statement, a group of non-governmental organizations, after discussions with witnesses, participants in the roundtable discussion held in North Mitrovica on the 26^th of March 2018 as well as analyzing video footage of the event, condemn in the strongest possible terms the unequivocal use of extraordinary force on the part of the Special Forces of the Kosovo Police against citizens, meeting participants and journalists covering the event.

Creating a favorable climate where young artists will want to stay and create, as well as developing the awareness that tradition is not something that is necessarily inherited, but something gained through active participation in its creation are the key recommendations of the participants in the debate on culture and art in the Serb community in Kosovo, which was held last night at Mitrovica Social Club in North Mitrovica.

The CiviKos Platform, in cooperation with NGO Aktiv, has organized a three-day certified training on monitoring of public procurement in municipalities. The training took place from 05^th February until 07^th February 2018, with 15 participants from CSOs from North Mitrovica region, but also from Ranilug/Ranilluk, Parteš/Partesh and Gračanica/Gracanice, within the USAID's Program Transparent, Efective and Accountable Municipalities (TEAM).Some of topics were: Presentation of public procurement and the related legislation; key activities in procurement; government institutions and bodies in public procurement; role of municipalities in public procurement; types of procedures in public procurement; relevant social tools; conflict of interests, embezzlement and corruption; types of monitoring of public procurement; electronic procurement / e-procurement, etc.

Aiming to increase its resources and infrastructure for efficient work in preservation of rights and interests of Serb community in Kosovo and to maintain the position of leading Kosovo Serb CSO in policy and advocacy level enactments, NGO AKTIV undergoes substantial adjustments in strategic programmatic approaches including the reconfiguration of internal staff structure that will assure prolific delivery the targeted objectives.  For that purpose, NGO AKTIV is seeking qualified, enthusiastic and Kosovo-context cognizant people to join our team in following position:

Mitrovica Social Club participants think that life in Kosovo is not better today compared to 2008 when Kosovo declared independence. “Albanians today live in reality. Nothing changed since 2008, unemployment is still at 35 percent, gross domestic product is not increasing, there is no qualitative administration”, says Shpetim Gashi from the Council for Inclusive Governance.

Freedom of movement for Serbian citizens residing in Kosovo, holders of passports issued by the Republic of Serbia, is under a great threat due to limited use or inability to use such travel documents. This situation, above all is a result of loose determination in the Brussels Accords, which allowed for wide space for different interpretation, implementation, and later rise of bureaucratic problems in implementation.

It is our pleasure to invite you to a conference entitled “Kosovo: Special Passport Zone” organized by NGO Aktiv as part of the Empirica Advocacy Platform. The conference will take place on Thursday, the 8th of February at 12:00 in the Civic Energy Centre (NGO Aktiv) in North Mitrovica, Ulica Kralja Petra I 183a. A summary of policy proposals regarding the issue of passports held by residents of Kosovo will be presented during the course of the conference and will be followed by a discussion on that same theme.