Determination, vision and dreams for the future: Representatives from non-majority groups in Kosovo¹ share their stories

Finding a job in Kosovo can be challenging with an unemployment rate of 12%, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This rate is particularly high among non-majority including Serbs, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, Gorani, Bosniaks, Turks, Croats, and Albanians living in northern Kosovo. Language barriers and ethic differences complicate their ability to secure employment in Kosovo as most jobs tend to go to Albanians, the majority group. The 1999 conflict in Kosovo left deep scars in the society which still strives for unity. To help create the conditions for communities to co-exist peacefully, resolve tensions and foster recovery International Organization for Migration (IOM), has been running jointly the European Union (EU) - Community Stabilization Programme (CSP) since 2002. The goal of the project is to create income-generating opportunities for non-majority communities in key economic sectors, enhancing their (re)integration prospects and promoting social inclusion in all thirty-eight municipalities of Kosovo. 

Among more than 2000 persons who took part in the programme are Slobodan, Sela, Fitore, Miodrag, and Rrustem, who have made their dreams come true.  

Slobodan: I love this profession, it’s very creative and I can help people. 

Slobodan, from Babi Most—a village 16 kilometers from Pristina—met his wife, Andrijana, while studying at the university in Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo. Both trained as dentists, yet as members of the Serbian non-majority was challenging for them to secure jobs in Kosovo’s public healthcare system. “My wife and I wanted to set up our own dental clinic in Babi Most,” says Slobodan. “I wanted to help people so they wouldn’t have to travel to another city for dental care.”

With support from the CSP programme, their clinic has become the first private dental clinic in the village, now serving around 100 patients each month from the local and surrounding areas. The clinic provides dental X-rays and services such as dental care, tooth repairs, extractions, tartar removal, polishing, prosthetic rehabilitation, and more. “Without IOM’s support, we would never have been able to fulfill our dream of having our own clinic,” says Slobodan, who plans to expand the business further and specialize in oral surgery next year.  

Sela: From Baking for Family and Friends to Producing 6,000 Baklavas a Week 

Sela, a 56-year-old woman from Syrigane, was inspired by her mother to start baking baklavas. After she married, Sela noticed that many women in her village either didn’t know how to cook or didn’t have time. In 2011, she decided to turn her passion into a business and founded an NGO called “Embëlsia” with 80 local women. They began by making baklavas with a single oven and later expanded to other crafts, including knitting and jewelry-making. Through their products they now support local charities. 

As her business grew, Sela needed more resources to meet the rising demand, and in 2013 the CSP programme stepped in to help. “With the support received we purchased additional ovens and tools. We can now produce up to 200 baklavas a day, and during peak seasons, as many as 6,000 each week.” Sela doesn’t need to advertise as her reputation spreads by word of mouth. “We prepare baklavas for weddings and distribute them in supermarkets and town markets across the country.” She dreams of going global and is in talks with supermarkets in Germany and restaurants in Switzerland. “It will be a lot of work, but it’s all about organizing things well. I will need to hire more people, which is not easy in this village,” she says. 

Fitore: “If one person smiles out of a hundred that is a good day for me” 

Fitore and her family were refugees in Tirana, Albania, during the war. “In our refugee camp, there were 600 people, and 150 of them had disabilities. When we returned to Kosovo in September 1999, my family and I decided to establish an NGO to help adults and children with disabilities,” says Fitore. 

The NGO “Centre for Independent Life” is based in Vitomirica, Peja, and offers classes in literacy, cooking, and computer skills. “We want people with disabilities to be independent, to be able to read, write, and cook, and to live normal lives,” Fitore explains. 

In 2013 a park and playground were built in front of the center, providing a space where children and adults with disabilities can socialize and integrate with the local community. IOM also provides meals for people at the center. “If one in a hundred people smiles, that’s a good day for me,” says Fitore, who hopes that with more resources, she can continue to help more people. 
 

Miodrag: “Don’t give me the fish, teach me how to fish” 

Miodrag moved with his wife and son to Serbia during the 1999 Kosovo war, where they lived in a garage for an extended period. In 2004, with the support from IOM’s Return and Reintegration Programme  they came back to his family home in Brestovic, Peja. “I wasn’t afraid to come back. In the first months, I cooked in the collective center for returnees,” Miodrag recalls. “IOM assisted me and 90 households in the village by providing agricultural equipment, furniture for our home, and funds to build stables.”

Miodrag, a natural leader, now manages the shared use of a tractor for other returnees. With additional support from CSP, his village has also received a hay baller and a wheat planter for community use. Now living with his wife and four children, Miodrag has no plans to leave his village. “I have everything I need in life, and my family is happy. I just don’t want another war,” he says. 

Rrustem: “When you love your work you will be successful “ 

Rrustem is a professional farmer from Treboviq, Peja. “When I first started, I had only three cows. Now I have 33 cows, 125 sheep, and 3 goats,” he says proudly. His primary income comes from selling milk to a private company in Peja and to individual customers, totaling about 1,000 litres per week. 

To improve his product quality and expand his business, IOM supported Rrustem with purchasing a manure spreader, an organic fertilizer disperser, and a hay round baller with a plastic wrapping machine. With these tools he aims to increase grain production as well as the output of milk and dairy products through the production of his own animal feed.  

His cooperative business is now fully operational, and he has begun assisting other farmers in the village with the machines provided. Rrustem’s dream is to go to Germany to learn from agriculture experts and grow professionally in Kosovo.  

Slobodan, Sela, Fitore, Miodrag, and Rrustem share a common trait: ambition and determination to succeed. Despite facing numerous obstacles, they have managed to establish their businesses fulfilled their dreams and plan to expand to other cities or even countries.  

Since 2002, IOM Kosovo has supported over 1,800 businesses and over 500 community projects. CSP is an EU-funded programme managed by the European Union Office in Kosovo in partnership with the Ministry of Communities and Return. 

This story was written by Ewelina Kawczynska and edited by Stylia Kampani, Communications unit with IOM Kosovo. 

*All references to Kosovo should be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).