From 2008-2010 the CSI was implemented in Kosovo by the Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF), with financial support from Balkan Trust for Democracy.
Better Governance For a Greater Impact: A Call for Citizens
The report, entitled "Better Governance for a Greater Impact: A call for citizens", highlights the importance of citizens working towards enhanced governance if civil society is to achieve its full impact in Kosovo.
Specific recommendations of the report include renewed effort to increase the connection between civil society and citizens, to establish internal structures for better governance, and to create formal cooperation mechanisms with public authorities.
Civic engagement scored the second lowest of the five CSI dimensions, indicating a high level of apathy of citizens towards public life in general. The low level of membership and volunteering in civic initiatives confirms the gap between citizens and CSOs, which still do not build on the potential seen at higher levels of non-formal and individual activism.
The Level of Organisation resulted as the highest dimension in CSI, showing that Kosovar civil society is characterised by a solid degree of institutionalisation. Formal governance and management systems are in place but a strong need remains for their better implementation in practice.
The findings on Practice of Values show that while democratic decision-making governance is strongly emphasised in the internal documents of the civil society sector in Kosovo, this is not translated into proper implementation of these principles in practice.
The Perception of Impact resulted as the lowest scoring dimension, although with significant differences between social impact and policy impact, with the latter being lower. Significantly, the impact of civil society in priority issues of Kosovo society is low, confirming that civil society is not sufficiently responsive to the real needs of society and its constituencies.
The External Environment does not represent a very encouraging prospect for the operation of civil society in Kosovo. Standing as one of the poorest countries in Europe with almost half of the population unemployed, Kosovo's economy is characterised by a large informal sector, and still remains largely dependent on remittances and donor aid.
The Kosovo CSI partner also compiled a Policy Action Brief that details some of the recommendations to improve the state of civil society based on the findings of the ACR.
CSI Country Report in Kosovo
- Kosovo CSI Report 2010: Full Report
- Kosovo Policy Action Brief 2010: Full Brief
