Head of OSCE Mission calls on Kosovo institutions to improve humanitarian bus transportation
PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 30 May 2011 – Kosovo institutions provide communities and other vulnerable groups with much needed humanitarian transportation services, but a lack of coordination and procedural oversight have left the service unresponsive to the evolving needs of users, concludes an OSCE report published today.
Humanitarian bus transportation is a free transport service that enables communities and vulnerable groups living in isolated areas to enjoy safe and regular access to essential goods and services.
“I am pleased with the progress achieved in the provision of humanitarian bus transportation over the last four years, particularly with the expansion of the service by an additional 13 lines and the steep decline in the number of reported security incidents,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Werner Almhofer.
“This is of particular importance as our passenger survey clearly indicated that vulnerable groups and communities continue to rely heavily on humanitarian transport to access important rights and services such as education, employment, health care and social assistance. It is thus paramount for this service to continue,” he added.
The report notes that a lack of coordination between central and local institutions, as well as the prolonged suspension of the service oversight mechanism, the Transport Advisory Committee, has prevented further improvements to the service, such as an increase in the number of buses and stations that would bring the service closer to those in need.
In addition, the report suggests that planned budgetary restrictions and the proposed reform of the administrative framework may result in substantial reductions to the service that would adversely affect beneficiaries.
Ambassador Almhofer called on the Kosovo Ministries of Infrastructure, Communities and Returns, and Local Government Administration to maintain the present commitment to humanitarian bus transportation, and to ensure that its new administrative framework is set in a way that further improves provision of this important service to communities and vulnerable groups.
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is mandated with human rights promotion and democratization. It has monitored and reported on humanitarian bus transportation since 2006, when responsibility for the service was transferred to Kosovo institutions.
The report can be accessed at //www.osce.org/kosovo/90904