Newsroom
Kosovo Mission holds human rights workshops for Communities Committees
PRISTINA 21 May 2001
PRISTINA, 21 May 2001 (OSCE) - Members of Kosovo's municipal Communities Committees are taking part in the first of a series of OSCE-organized training workshops on human rights, which started in Prizren on 18 May.
The workshops are being organized by the OSCE-run Institute of Civil Administration (ICA) and the OSCE Department of Human Rights and Rule of Law, in co-operation with the Department of Local Administration of the Joint Interim Administrative Structure (JIAS).
The Communities Committee is one of the three committees that each municipal assembly must set up under Regulation 2000/45 of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMiK) on Municipal Self-Government. It is responsible for ensuring that the rights and interests of the communities living within the municipality are respected, and is made up of members of the assembly and representatives of the different communities.
The one-day workshop will guide Communities Committee members through their roles and responsibilities and demonstrate how human rights are central to their work. They will look at what constitute basic human rights, their importance to good governance, and how these internationally accepted standards are applicable in Kosovo.
The workshop will pay special attention to the protection of minority rights, and compare how those rights can be respected as well as violated. Participants will look at a number of situations that Communities Committees might have to deal with, and discuss how they determine whether a human rights violation has taken place.
Workshops will also be held in Gjilan/Gnjilane, Mitrovice/Kosovska Mitrovica, Peje/Pec, Prishtine/Pristina, and Zvecan.
Through the Institute for Civil Administration, the OSCE is playing a key role in helping to strengthen local government structures in Kosovo. The aim is to help the new local government structures fulfill their obligations to everyone in the municipality, including communities with particular needs. The OSCE is also the lead agency in the area of human rights within UNMiK.
--
For further information, contact Laura O'Mahony, Acting Spokesperson, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Pristina, tel: (+381-38) 500-162, ext. 260; e-mail: press@omik.org.
The workshops are being organized by the OSCE-run Institute of Civil Administration (ICA) and the OSCE Department of Human Rights and Rule of Law, in co-operation with the Department of Local Administration of the Joint Interim Administrative Structure (JIAS).
The Communities Committee is one of the three committees that each municipal assembly must set up under Regulation 2000/45 of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMiK) on Municipal Self-Government. It is responsible for ensuring that the rights and interests of the communities living within the municipality are respected, and is made up of members of the assembly and representatives of the different communities.
The one-day workshop will guide Communities Committee members through their roles and responsibilities and demonstrate how human rights are central to their work. They will look at what constitute basic human rights, their importance to good governance, and how these internationally accepted standards are applicable in Kosovo.
The workshop will pay special attention to the protection of minority rights, and compare how those rights can be respected as well as violated. Participants will look at a number of situations that Communities Committees might have to deal with, and discuss how they determine whether a human rights violation has taken place.
Workshops will also be held in Gjilan/Gnjilane, Mitrovice/Kosovska Mitrovica, Peje/Pec, Prishtine/Pristina, and Zvecan.
Through the Institute for Civil Administration, the OSCE is playing a key role in helping to strengthen local government structures in Kosovo. The aim is to help the new local government structures fulfill their obligations to everyone in the municipality, including communities with particular needs. The OSCE is also the lead agency in the area of human rights within UNMiK.
--
For further information, contact Laura O'Mahony, Acting Spokesperson, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Pristina, tel: (+381-38) 500-162, ext. 260; e-mail: press@omik.org.