Efforts of Interaction Member Agencies in
Kosovo

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Produced by Helen Schulte With the Disaster Response Unit of InterAction ®
American Council for Voluntary International Action
1717 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. #701,
Washington D.C. 20036 phone (202)667-8227 fax (202) 667-8236
http://www.interaction.org

May 2001 Map of Kosovo Background Summary Report Summary Organizations by Sector Activity Glossary of Acronyms

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InterAction Member Activity Reports

InterAction Member Activity Reports
ACDI/VOCA
Action Against Hunger
Adventist Development and Relief Agency
American Friends Service Committee
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
American Jewish World Service
American Red Cross
American Refugee Committee
Baptist World Aid
CARE
Catholic Relief Services
Christian Children's Fund
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
Church World Service
Concern Worldwide
Doctors of the World
Episcopal Relief and Development
Heifer Project International
International Aid
International Catholic Migration Commission
International Medical Corps
International Orthodox Christian Charities 44
International Rescue Committee 45
Lutheran World Relief 49
Mercy Corps International 51
Mercy USA for Aid and Development 52
Oxfam America 54
Physicians for Human Rights 55
Relief International 56
Save the Children 58
United Methodist Committee on Relief 60
United Way International 62
US Fund for UNICEF 63
World Relief 65
World Vision 66

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Map of Kosovo

         
                           

Background Summary

In early 1998, large-scale fighting broke out between Serbian military and police forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). After several attempts to solve the crisis through peaceful means, ending with the collapse of the Rambouillet peace talks in March 1999, NATO launched an air war against Serbia. The 78-day air campaign, aimed to disrupt and degrade Serb military capacity and halt the humanitarian catastrophe, lasted until June 9, 1999. Following the conclusion of the Military Technical Agreement with the Yugoslav government, which ended open conflict in Kosovo and provided for the immediate withdrawal of all Serbian forces, some 45,000 NATO-led KFOR troops entered the province. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 established the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to administer and help rebuild the shattered region with the UNHCR, the OSCE, and the European Union responsible for, respectively, humanitarian affairs, institution building, and reconstruction.

The Kosovo crisis was one of the worst humanitarian disasters in Europe since World War II. During the conflict, Serbian forces and paramilitaries implemented a systematic campaign to ethnically cleanse Kosovo. According to estimates of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, approximately 10,000 Kosovar Albanians were killed by Serb forces. Serb policy in Kosovo also included the forcible displacement of Kosovar Albanian civilians. Yugoslav army units and armed civilians systematically expelled Kosovar Albanians from both villages and larger towns in Kosovo. Over 1.5 million Kosovar Albanians - at least 90 percent of the estimated 1998 Kosovar Albanian population in the province - were forcibly expelled from their homes. Tens of thousands of homes in at least 1,200 cities, towns, and villages were damaged or destroyed.

Even before NATO's intervention, over 260,000 ethnic Albanians were displaced within Kosovo and another 200,000 were refugees abroad. During the air war the humanitarian situation further deteriorated. Serb forces intensified their campaign of ethnic cleansing, accompanied by extrajudicial executions, forced expulsion, and destruction of property. This led to a further displacement of nearly one million people, 450,000 of whom crossed into neighboring Albania, 250,000 into the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and 60,000 into Montenegro.

The provision of humanitarian aid, undertaken since early 1998, had already been an increasingly difficult task given the intensity of the fighting and Serb policies that obstructed aid deliveries. The mass exodus from Kosovo proved to be an even greater challenge that initially overwhelmed the response capacity of host governments and humanitarian agencies alike. Securing the fleeing population's immediate safety and setting up enough refugee camps in a short amount of time were among the most pressing problems.

With the end of open military conflict in Kosovo in June 1999, the vast majority of ethnic Albanians who had fled internally or abroad returned to their homes within weeks. As the Albanians streamed home, however, 210,000 Serbs and Roma fled the province, seeking safety in Serbia and Montenegro in yet another mass refugee flow. Given renewed access to Kosovo, a massive relief effort began to assist the 850,000 Kosovars who had returned to Kosovo. United Nations agencies including UNHCR, WPF, UNICEF, and WHO, as well as other international humanitarian organizations such as the ICRC, IFRC, IOM, and well over 250 NGOs, provided assistance. Apart from the protection of non-Albanian communities, the highest humanitarian priority initially was to help all those who had returned or had been internally displaced to get through the first post-war winter. Emergency shelter rehabilitation programs and the provision of food and non-food items such as clothing, heating stoves, firewood, and hygienic sets successfully prevented a new humanitarian crisis. Over the course of 2000 and 2001, most large-scale relief programs started to wind down and humanitarian actors handed over certain activities to the UNMIK interim administration and to development partners as part of a transition from emergency relief to longer-term rehabilitation and development.

Today, conditions in Kosovo remain difficult and the overall security situation has changed little. Not only are economic conditions poor, with unemployment estimated at 40 to 70 percent for ethnic Albanians and higher still for minorities, but the province is also overwhelmed by organized crime. More significantly, non-Albanian minority communities continue to be victims of intimidation, assaults, and threats throughout Kosovo, leading to a shift of humanitarian activities from supporting the reintegration of Kosovar Albanians to protection of non-Albanian minorities. In this light, Kosovo's greatest challenge in the future is to re-establish the essential components of civil society and the rule of law - an endeavor that is crucial for Kosovo's transition to peace and for creating a secure environment that will induce remaining refugees to return.

Report Summary

This guide offers international agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the media, and the public an overview of the humanitarian assistance being provided to the people of Kosovo by InterAction member agencies.  As InterAction members, the organizations in this report have agreed to abide by a set of standards to ensure accountability to donors, professional competence, and quality of service.  More information about these standards is available on the InterAction website at www.interaction.org/pvostandards.

Thirty-six member organizations currently conduct relief and development operations within Kosovo and with Kosovar refugees in the neighboring provinces of Yugoslavia, such as Montenegro, and the neighboring countries of Albania and Macedonia. Twelve sector areas are addressed in programming including agriculture and food security, business development, cooperatives and credit, capacity building, disaster and emergency relief, education and training, gender issues and women in development, health care, human rights, peace and conflict resolution, psycho-social services, refugee and migration services, rural development, and water and sanitation.

The NGOs in this report have presented various objectives for their projects in Kosovo and the wider region. Among the most important is the need to specifically target activities to support the non-Albanian minorities in Kosovo, who are subject to widespread harassment, attack, murder, and forcible eviction across the province. At the same time, the lack of sustainable conditions of return require NGOs to maintain assistance to the remaining refugees and IDPs in Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia. Another important objective of many organizations is to work for greater self-sufficiency among the Kosovar population through programming in the sectors of education, income generation, and capacity building. Finally, Kosovo's physical infrastructure remains poor, making it necessary for NGOs to remain active in the areas of shelter reconstruction and water and sanitation.

Many NGOs have developed good working relationships not only with each other, but also with both local and international partners. Some of the organizations mentioned are: UNMIK, UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, WFP, the European Union/ECHO, USAID, the US Department of State, CORDAID, DANIDA, and KWI.

Organizations by Sector Activity

US Contact

Randy Purviance
Bureau Chief, Program Management
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
Tel: 301-680-6380
Fax: 301-680-6370
Email: 74617.1714@compuserve.com

Kosovo Contacts

Doris Jorgensen
Operations Director
St. Proleteri 18Pristina, 38,000
Tel: 381-38-500650
Fax: 381-38-500651
Email: adrakosovo@adrakosovo.org

Introduction to Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger's mission is to save lives by combating hunger, physical suffering, and situations of distress, which endanger the lives of women, children and men. AAH fights hunger by providing relief and facilitating autonomy in nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, health programs, and disaster preparedness. AAH's ultimate goal is to enable the beneficiaries to regain their self-sufficiency and to reduce their dependence on external aid.

Action Against Hunger in Kosovo

AAH's general objectives in Kosovo shifted during the intervention period. When the organization became active in Kosovo in June 1999, its objective was to assist the returning population, and to assist the population in general to return to normalcy. To this end, AAH established programs in the sectors of food aid, agriculture, and water and sanitation. In the latter part of 2000 and continuing in 2001, AAH aims to assist the most vulnerable population to regain self-sufficiency through social assistance and programs in agriculture and food production. Moreover, AAH aims to lessen the effects of the massive external aid provided to them during the emergency period. Therefore, AAH systematically analyzes its policies and operating procedures according to the Do No Harm methodology in order to avoid harmful effects of its programs on the conflict and on inter-communal relations in general.

Adventist Development and Relief Agency

US Contact
Randy Purviance
Bureau Chief, Program Management
12501 Old Columbia PikeSilver Spring, MD 20904
Tel: 301-680-6380
Fax: 301-680-6370
Email: 74617.1714@compuserve.com

Kosovo Contact: Doris Jorgensen, Operations Director

St. Proleteri 18 Pristina, 38,000
Tel: 381-38-500650
Fax: 381-38-500651
Email: adrakosovo@adrakosovo.org

Introduction to Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)
ADRA Kosovo is part of the worldwide ADRA network, a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC. It is a faith-based organization that seeks to bring relief to those suffering natural disasters, war, or other hardship, and works through equitable partnerships with those in need to achieve sustainable change in their communities. ADRA seeks to develop indigenous capacity, promote and expand the equitable and participatory involvement of women in the development process, and facilitate the right and ability of all children to attain their full potential.

Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Kosovo
ADRA has maintained a diversified portfolio during its operations in Kosovo following the refugee crisis. ADRA sought to contribute to the normalization of life in the province through programs designed to meet immediate needs, including reconstruction activities, water and sanitation, and social service provision to returnees and war-affected families. ADRA has also taken a keen interest in programming geared specifically towards minorities, as well as in ensuring the inclusion of disenfranchised populations. ADRA is currently in a transition period involving a restructuring of the organization in Kosovo that will allow for a narrower focus on development activities.

Operating mainly in the areas of Ferizaj/Urosevac, Pristina, and Mitrovica, ADRA is implementing the following major projects.

Emergency Response and Rehabilitation
ADRA is providing shelter assistance to 26,700 people through warm and dry room and winterization projects. ADRA is also providing reconstruction and rehabilition of schools.

Agriculture
ADRA's agricultural programming focuses on livestock health, veterinary training, farm mechanization, and cooperative development. ADRA has facilitated the vaccination of 24,304 cattle, 8,089 sheep, and 157,460 poultry, and the artificial insemination of 4,060 cattle. It has trained 41 veterinarians and 5,494 farmers, and has assisted 33 vet clinics and four cooperatives.

Refugee and Migration Services
ADRA has carried out specialized minorities services with 5,000 beneficiaries; organized arrivals and information centers for 84,072 individuals; and has established 18 Centers for Social Work Capacity-Building, serving the population in 18 municipalities. ADRA has facilitated the establishment of temporary community shelters for 400 people. ADRA's Minority Community Rehabilitation and Development Program benefits 120 persons.

Education and Training
ADRA is conducting a primary school teacher training program with 60 teachers.

ADRA has enjoyed cooperative relationships with many local and international organizations in Kosovo, especially with UNMIK and CRS. Additionally, ADRA has recently entered into an agreement to transfer its existing agricultural program assets to Mercy Corps International (MCI) for continued use in MCI's agriculture activities through to the end of 2001.

For ADRA, security, especially with recent developments in FYR Macedonia, remains of highest concern. The safety of minority populations and the future of enclaves remains a pressing issue. Furthermore, severe unemployment poses a substantial challenge to future development activities.

American Friends Service Committee

US Contact

Michael Simmons
Director, European Program
1501 Cherry St.Philadelphia, PA 19102
Tel: 215-241-7188
Fax: 215-241-7108
Email: msimmons@afsc.org

Kosovo Contact

James Whooley
Balkan Field Coordinator
Balkan Regional Office
Radnicka 18 Sarajevo 71000Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tel: 387-33-264-252
Fax: 387-33-264-251
Email: afsc-sa@bih.net.ba

Introduction to American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
AFSC upholds the principle of meeting human needs without regard to politics, religion, or nationality. It promotes self-help and independence and the improvement of people's physical, economic, and social well-being out of Quaker concern for reconciliation and the relief of suffering. AFSC focuses on promoting mutual understanding of people.

American Friends Service Committee in Kosovo
AFSC's Europe Program seeks to promote a climate of tolerance and post-war reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia and Central and Eastern Europe. AFSC promotes power-sharing among all groups, the non-violent resolution of conflicts, and inclusion and respect for all people. Within this context, its work focuses especially on oppressed and marginalized groups, particularly Roma (Gypsies). To achieve these ends, AFSC seeks to support local initiatives which will ultimately become independent entities.

AFSC's work in Kosovo supports vulnerable minority communities and provides social programs for youth. In Mitrovica, AFSC assists and reports on Roma/Ashkali minority communities. AFSC also has a Peace, Love and Be Aware of Landmines Theater project in Mitrovica, aims to help children overcome the traumatic effects of war through creative expression in drama, dance, film, and art. In addition, AFSC maintains the House of Friends Community Counseling Center and is constructing a Center for the Blind in Mitrovica.

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

US Contact

Will Recant
711 Third Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10017-4014
Tel: 212-885-0838
Fax: 212-370-5467
Email: will@jdcny.org

Introduction to American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJJDC)
Through its International Development program, established in 1986 to develop and implement programs that aid non-Jewish populations in need, AJJDC carries out activities in the fields of health, education, welfare, disaster relief, and development in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Services include caring for the aged and handicapped, providing child care, reconstruction, distributing relief supplies, and sponsoring training programs in social services and community development. AJJDC maintains a strictly non-political, humanitarian stance in all its programs.

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Kosovo
At the height of the Kosovo crisis in spring 1999 AJJDC collected over $5.4 million in its Open Mailbox - the largest Mailbox in its history - for assistance to the refugees. AJJDC's programs in Kosovo and surrounding areas fall into the sectors of disaster and emergency relief, health care, education and training, business development and cooperatives, and psycho-social services.

AJJDC's program began with the provision of emergency supplies such as mattresses and bedding to refugees residing in camps in Albania and Macedonia, followed by medical assistance from members of AJJDC's Medical Registry. AJJDC established a winterized refugee camp in Elbasan, Albania, and partnered with the International Rescue Committee to establish a medical clinic in the city of Cair, Macedonia, to care for refugees and the Macedonian families who took them into their homes. AJJDC also commissioned and distributed educational posters to warn children of the dangers of land mines. At the request of the UNHCR, AJJDC's physicians accompanied thousands of refugees as they made their way by train from Albania to Kosovo during the rapid repatriation period.

After repatriation, and at the request of UNICEF, AJJDC rehabilitated over 30 primary schools. AJJDC has also distributed 3,600 school bags to children in over 20 schools, and 15,000 pairs of winter shoes for orphaned or poor children in Kosovo. In addition, AJJDC is helping to publish a youth journal to which all the high schools students of Pristina have been invited to contribute. AJJDC has also donated over $20,000 worth of pharmaceuticals to the main hospital in Prizren and 800 sets of bed sheets to the gynecology department in Pristina's hospital. AJJDC also offers vocational training programs including sewing, computerized accounting, metal-works, and English classes.

AJJDC coordinates the 42-member Jewish Coalition for Kosovo Relief and Assistance. The Coalition collected over $545,000, raised from an advertisement in the New York Times and the contributions of member agencies. These funds have been programmed through partnerships with agencies such as IRC, Mercy Corps International, the Albanian-American Women's Organization, The Forum, and the Women's Center in Kosovo. Among the activities are trauma relief training and services, public and women's health services, and the rehabilitation of primary schools in areas of great need.

Immediately following the exodus of refugees from Kosovo into neighboring countries, AJJDC partnered with the IRC to establish and operate a health clinic in the capital city of Skopje, where many refugees were living with host families. Since repatriation, this clinic has been moved into an impoverished Gypsy community of approximately 40,000 where Roma refugees continue to reside. In addition to providing basic medical care, this effort includes public health outreach and education in topics such as reproductive health. It has also helped develop Roma women's NGOs, which AJJDC continues to support.

In addition, work in the clinic has helped to identify 172 Roma children (refugee and local) who were not attending school. In response, AJJDC, in partnership with IRC, La Benevolencija-Skopje (the welfare arm of the Jewish Community of Macedonia) and UKJAID initiated a program which helped integrate these children into the school system. AJJDC hired teachers, bought new desks, books, school bags, and clothing for the children, and distributed over 5,000 pairs of winter shoes. Children were also screened for health and dental problems, and then treated at the AJJDC/IRC clinic.

AJJDC is providing technical assistance to help develop an income-generating project for the Roma refugees in Macedonia in partnership with IRC and UKJAID.

American Jewish World Service

US Contact

Adriana Ermoli
989 Avenue of the Americas, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Tel: 212-273-1648
Fax: 212-736-3463
Email: aermoli@ajws.org

Introduction to American Jewish World Service (AJWS)
AJWS is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1985 to help alleviate poverty, hunger and disease among the people of the world regardless of race, religion or nationality. AJWS provides humanitarian aid, technical support, emergency relief, and skilled volunteers to grassroots project partners that are implementing small-scale, self-sustaining development projects in the areas of healthcare, education, economic development, and agriculture reform.

American Jewish World Service in Kosovo
AJWS's emergency relief program is focused on promoting awareness within and collecting funds from the American Jewish community that are transferred to field-based NGOs and relief agencies throughout Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia to meet the immediate needs of the crisis and to support long-term reconstruction projects. To date AJWS has distributed one million dollars for emergency and reconstruction projects to partner agencies such as IRC, Direct Relief International, Mercy Corps International, and several local NGOs. Programs funded by AJWS fall into the sectors of disaster and emergency relief, education/training, gender issues/women in development, health care, and human rights/peace/conflict resolution.

AJWS supported the purchase of medical supplies through the IRC and Direct Relief International for refugees in Albania and Macedonia. In partnership with the IRC, AJWS also funded NGO training and capacity building. AJWS funded the reconstruction of seven schools in the Baran region in Kosovo through Mercy Corps International. In addition, AJWS supported various local NGOs implementing specific youth and women's rehabilitation projects and democracy building.

AJWS pays special attention to its project partners due to the political instability in the region. AJWS sent a representative to the region who traveled with an IRC delegation in order to visit project sites and meet with project partners.

American Red Cross

US Contact

Rob Kaufman
431 18th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: 202-639-3431
Fax: 202-639-3540
Email: KaufmanR@usa.redcross.org

Introduction to the American Red Cross (ARC)
ARC works to improve the quality of life. It seeks to enhance its sister national societies in disaster preparedness and response, primary health care and health care education, HIV/AIDS education, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) training and dissemination, food security, capacity building, and other programmatic areas. It provides international social services, coordinates youth exchange programs between ARC and sister national societies, promotes international cooperation through community-based programs in the United States, and helps people avoid, prepare for, and cope with emergencies. A member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, ARC serves as the official representative of the Movement in the United States. ARC provides direct relief to disaster victims and refugees as well as provides development assistance.

American Red Cross in Kosovo
American Red Cross is active in Kosovo to provide relief for returned refugees, individuals caught in the ongoing violence, and to help the nation rebuild its infrastructure. Current American Red Cross programs include the following activities:

Public Soup Kitchen Program
The Soup Kitchen Feeding program, coordinated through the International Committee of the Red Cross, provides thousands of nourishing soup and bread meals throughout Kosovo. Twelve feeding sites are operating and serve about 6,300 people per day a ration of hot soups and fresh bread. Total meals served in February this year amounted to 117,750. Now in its second phase, running from October 2000 until the end of May 2001, the program has a total budget of $1,161,450.

Water and Sanitation Program
ARC is working to provide clean water and adequate sanitation. An initial project brought clean water to about 20,000 people and ARC is conducting feasibility studies for either refurbishing existing systems or building new ones to serve thousands more. With a budget of $1,505,155, a water rehabilitation project in the Gjilan/Gnjilane region will provide for the construction of a pipeline and the repair of the Gjilan/Gnjilane reservoir by June 2001.

Psycho-Social Program (PSP)
Five psycho-social service centers operate to further the emotional healing process. The program seeks to cast as wide a net as possible. The PSP provided direct service to 5992 beneficiaries in 7992 sessions. Regular activities included 2722 beneficiaries in 6392 sessions with female beneficiaries accounting for 55% of the total. The recent influx of people fleeing fighting in Macedonia has resulted in a new group of beneficiaries for the PSP.

A new activity of the PSP started the week in March this year when the PSP provided psychological support to families waiting for the release of loved ones from prison. The teams go from family to family, engaging children in coloring or games, talking to waiting family members, comforting those who have to give messages to the releasees about the death of a family member or destruction of their home. Also, pending on formal approval, the PSP will move ahead on a nurturing project for abandoned babies.

First Aid Project
American Red Cross is building the capacity of Red Cross organizations in Kosovo to provide quality first aid and CPR training to the general population. The project runs from January through December 2001.

Local Capacities for Peace/Better Programming Initiative
American Red Cross is promoting project design that does not exacerbate conflict and, when possible, builds on indigenous skills and events that connect people and communities in conflict. This initiative involves the dissemination of information about project design in conflict settings; training for a workshop facilitator; and project-specific workshops for better programming in conflict zones.

American Refugee Committee

US Contact

Neal Porter
430 Oak Grove Street, #204
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Tel: 612-607-6465
Fax: 612-607-6499
Email: nealp@archq.org

Kosovo Contact

Shannon Meehan
Dragodan 2, No. 18Pristina
Tel: 377-44-156-960
Email: kosovoarc@yahoo.com

Introduction to the American Refugee Committee (ARC)
ARC works for the survival, health, and well-being of refugees, displaced persons, and those at risk, and seeks to enable them to rebuild productive lives of dignity and purpose, striving always to respect the values of those served. ARC is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that has provided multisectoral humanitarian assistance and training to millions of beneficiaries for more than 20 years.

American Refugee Committee in Kosovo
ARC's general objective in Kosovo is to use the implementation of an integrated program of social, economic, and community development activities as a vehicle for conflict resolution and reconciliation between Kosovar Albanians and the minority population. ARC's activities in Kosovo focus on the areas of disaster and emergency relief, health care, business development/cooperatives and credit, and human rights/peace and conflict resolution.

Immediately after NGOs were allowed to enter Kosovo, ARC established both a static and mobile health clinic in and around Suha Reka, and provided landmine awareness training for 3,000 children and youth.

Beginning in autumn 2000, ARC began implementing an ethnic minority community stabilization program in the vicinity of Gjilan, with project components including income generation, primary health care, assistance to vulnerable persons, and the establishment of community centers.

In late 2000 in the Gjilan AOR and municipality of Klina, ARC began supplying more than 1000 households (approximately 8,000 people) in five municipalities with shelter materials to construct at least one warm room either for their own families or for IDPs and refugees living with them. One quarter of the beneficiaries are Serb and Roma minority families, with the remaining three-quarters Kosovar Albanians.

Currently, ARC Kosovo is seeking funding for legal aid initiatives. The majority and minority populations need access to the ever-changing UNMIK legal structure. In addition, the legal aid assistance directly correlates to the minority stabilization goals ARC is trying to achieve. ARC will be collaborating with the Macedonia office to hook the legal aid initiatives in with the returnee Roma and Serbian populations.

ARC Kosovo is also seeking funding for multi-ethnic income generation projects. ARC is currently assessing a food refrigeration plant that would integrate the supply, demand and production side of the economy.

Baptist World Aid

US Contact

Paul Montacute, Director
6733 Curran Street
McLean, VA22101-6005
Tel: 703-790-8980
Fax: 703-790-5719
Email: BWAid@bwanet.org Paul@bwanet.org

Regional Contact

Hungarian Baptist Aid
PF 241H-1391 BudapestHungary
Tel/Fax: 36-1-302-2929
Email: HBAID@HBAID.org

Introduction to Baptist World Aid (BWAid)
BWAid works through Baptist communities around the world, mitigating suffering and providing long-term help for persons in need regardless of religion, nationality, tribe, or class. BWAid assists in church rebuilding and importation of bibles. BWAid also helps poor people avoid situations of famine and malnourishment and improve their capacity for self-help and wage earning.

Baptist World Aid in Kosovo
BWAid's general objective in Kosovo is to locate and assist individuals and groups in dire need. Its activities, located in the Pristina and Drenica areas, focus on the sectors of disaster and emergency relief and human rights/peace and conflict resolution. BWAid is distributing food items, materials for reconstruction such as doors, windows, and roofs, and medical supplies. Among other groups, it is particularly assisting Kosova gypsies.

BWAid programs are carried out in cooperation with Med-Air, the offices of the Canadian embassy, and Love in Action.

CARE

US Contact

Marge Tsitouris
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
Tel: 404-979-9244
Fax: 404-577-4840
Email: tsitouris@care.org

Kosovo Contact

Nick Webber, Mission Director
5 Metohija Street Pristina
Tel: 381-38-549130
Email: webbern@care.org

Introduction to CARE
CARE's mission is to serve individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. Its programs are carried out under three way partnership contracts among CARE, private or national government agencies, and local communities. CARE provides technical assistance, training, food, other material resources, and management in combinations appropriate to local needs and priorities.

CARE in Kosovo
CARE's objective in Kosovo is to transition from relief to sustainable development. Operating out of Gjilane, Mitrovica, Pristina, and Lipljan, CARE's programs include: agricultural production and rehabilitation, school and health house rehabilitation, mine action and awareness, livestock improvement, psychosocial training for teachers and parents, reproductive health training and advocacy, medical training and health service management, and capacity building of Social Work Centers.

Funding for CARE's programming in Kosovo is provided by the DEC, FAO, CIDA, Plan International, USAID, the Government of Germany as well as CAREs USA, Austria, and Germany.

CARE is a member of the NGO Council and has worked closely with local NGOs/CBOs while in Kosovo. CARE is also a member of the Minority Alliance Working Group that works to ensure that programming does not unintentionally contribute to a climate of violence and mistrust, but builds tolerance.

Catholic Relief Services

US Contact

Leslie Mohr and Barbara Pando
CRS Europe Team
209 West Fayette Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Tel: 410-625-2220
Fax: 410-685-1635
Email: lmohr@catholicrelief.org bpando@catholicrelief.org

Kosovo Contact

Rick Estridge, Zonal Director
CRS Kosovo
Tel: 011-389-70-252-260
Email: ricknkosovo@hotmail.com

Introduction to Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Catholic Relief Services works to alleviate poverty, hunger and suffering in more than 80 countries. Founded in 1943, CRS is the official overseas relief and development agency of the United States Catholic community. CRS provides assistance on the basis of need, regardless of nationality, race or religion. CRS works towards its mission by responding to victims of natural and man-made disasters; by providing assistance to the poor to alleviate their immediate needs; by supporting self-help programs which involve people and communities in their own development; by helping those it serves to restore and preserve their dignity and to realize their potential; and by helping to educate the American people to fulfill their moral responsibilities in alleviating human suffering, removing its causes and promoting social justice.

Catholic Relief Services in Kosovo
The CRS Kosovo program seeks to alleviate poverty in its broadest sense and to foster peacebuilding. This is carried out through solidarity with local partners and people of all faiths and by sharing talents, resources and time. This call incorporates the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and builds on a new and renewed commitment to systematic social change through peacebuilding, humanitarian assistance, community based development and organization, reconciliation, and social policy development.

Food Aid
In the Republic of Montenegro, a USAID/Food for Peace food distribution project provided bulk food commodities to 10,000 internally displaced persons from Kosovo.

Justice and Peacebuilding
CRS has recently begun implementing justice and peace youth programming and food distribution projects in Mitrovica. The Parent-School Partnership (PSP) program is also a civil society development program that brings individuals and communities together to identify and address the needs of the community through a focus on children, education and schools.

Local NGO Management and Capacity Building
CRS/Kosovo contracted with a Macedonian management training center to provide training and technical assistance to the Centers for Social Work (CSW) in the Serb enclaves. This training is to replicate the interventions already completed by an Albanian management training organization for the other CSWs.

Education
CRS/Kosovo continues to expand its school reconstruction activities and is discussing a partnership with the Kosovo Foundation for an Open Society to develop further Parent-School Partnerships and a pilot model first grade program in all reconstructed primary schools.

Public Policy
The Minority Alliance Working Group (MAWG), involving over ten international organizations through CRS's leadership, is lobbying for change with donors at the highest levels, with KFOR, and with UN agencies and political and administrative actors, including UNMIK. MAWG hopes to accomplish this by organizing a series of workshops for these groups.

Christian Children's Fund

US Contact

Michelle Poulton, Vice President of Programs
2821 Emerywood Parkway
P.O. Box 26484
Richmond, VA 23261-6484
Tel: 804-756-2762
Fax: 804-756-2718
Email: mjpoulton@ccfusa.org

Overseas Contact
Mary Ellen Chatwin, Europe Program Office
P.O. Box 2100CH-1211
Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: 41-22-788-9077
Email: ccf@cortex.ch

Introduction to Christian Children's Fund (CCF)
CCF is a child-focused agency whose mission is to ensure the sustained well-being of children, their families and communities through holistic and integrated community-based development programs in about 30 countries worldwide.

Christian Children's Fund in Kosovo
CCF's programs supporting children in the regions of Prishtina, Peja, Gjilan and Vushtrri focus on psychosocial activities and early childhood development. Through its own funds and donors such as the US State Department, the EU, and the Canadian and Finnish governments, CCF's Kosovo office has organized structured activities for approximately 10,000 children since June 2000.

CCF's activities include sports, regular entertainment and artistic events with school children and disabled children, regular sports activities and sports tournaments between children of the same and different regions, games without borders with rural preschool and school children, entertaining quiz shows, activities with hospitalized children, and cultural-artistic programs.

CCF has raised funds from other agencies for community interventions of various kinds, such as building a kindergarten playground in Pristina and a recreation hall in Vushtrri primary school. CCF provides training to school personnel and parents in the domain of trauma and stress, normal child development, parent-child relations, child-teacher relations, aggression, and hyperactivity. CCF is also active in the sensitization of the community on disabled children's needs and works to break the walls between children with and without disabilities.

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee

US Contact

Mike Menning
East Europe Ministry Team Leader
1341 Rock Valley DriveRock Valley, IA 51247
Tel: 712-476-9366
Fax: 712-476-9366
Email: menningm@rconnect.com

Introduction to Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC)
On behalf of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and other supporters, CRWRC's mission is to assist the poor towards self-sufficiency via community development activities in agriculture, microenterprise, community-based health care, and adult literacy; to build the capacity of local and national development-related institutions through management consultation and leadership training; and to provide emergency relief in regional and national disasters.

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee in Kosovo
CRWRC started its activities in Kosovo in Summer 1999 through the Alliance for the Rehabilitation of Kosovo (ARK), a partnership of six specialized agencies including Bethany International Services, Dorcas Aid International, International Aid, Partners for Christian Development, Reformed Church World Service.

CRWRC contributed to the ARK's collaborative efforts in relief and development assistance in the southwestern district of Gjakove through its expertise in agriculture. By providing technical and financial assistance 47 tractors were rebuilt, vegetable seeds and fertilizer were distributed to 1,100 beneficiaries, and a 1,500-member agriculture co-operative and distribution warehouse was established.

With the conclusion of its funding period, the alliance was suceeded by Ruth, a new NGO run by Kosovar staff members of the former ARK, whose mission is to build on the foundation put in place by its predecessor. Ruth's s specific areas of focus are health care, food security and agriculture, income generation, education, women's issues, and community and institutional development and participation. CRWRC continues to support Ruth via its East Europe Ministry Team by providing financial support and technical expertise in agricultural programming. In addition, it supports activities in women's programming such as psychosocial services and skills training in computers, dressmaking, and bookkeeping.

Church World Service

US Contacts

Donna Derr and Rick Augsburger
475 Riverside Drive, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10115
Tel: 212-870-3151
Fax: 212-870-2236
Email: RAUGS@aol.com donnajderr@aol.com

Regional Contact

Vitali Vorona
DirectorCWS Balkans Office
PO Box 131Kralja Tvrtka 2171000 Sarajevo, BiH
Tel: 387-33-668-938
Email: cws@bih.net.ba

Introduction to Church World Service (CWS)
CWS is a global relief, development and refugee assistance program of 35 Protestant and Orthodox communions that work together through the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. CWS works in partnership with indigenous organizations worldwide, supporting sustainable development meeting emergency needs, and addressing the root causes of poverty and powerlessness.

Church World Service in Kosovo
CWS's general objective in the region is to serve Kosovar refugees who are in Montenegro, Serbia or Bosnia. CWS's programs fall into the sectors of refugee services, agricultural production, and health/hygiene. Specifically, CWS is providing blankets, bedding, fuel, and health and hygiene kits to Kosovar refugees in collective centers and to those staying with host families. In addition, CWS is providing agricultural inputs such as tools, farming equipment, seeds, and fertilizers to refugees from Kosovo who are now living in Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia.

Concern Worldwide

US Contact

Benjamin Sand, Program Officer
104 East 40th Street, Room 903
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-557-8000
Fax: 212-557-8004
Email: Benjamin.sand@concern-ny.org

Introduction to Concern Worldwide
Concern Worldwide is a nondenominational voluntary organization dedicated to the relief, assistance, and advancement of peoples in need in less developed areas of the world while concentrating on the poorest people in its 23 countries of operation, throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Concern seeks also to engage the people of both donor and recipient countries more fully in the practical struggle against poverty and injustices in the world. Concern bases its work on the principle that development is a process which occurs in people, proceeds at their pace, and is achieved, not given.

Concern Worldwide in Kosovo
During 2001, Concern's intervention in Kosovo will begin phasing down. By summer, Concern's school reconstruction program will be completed and greater emphasis will be placed on the human rights and minorities component of the social program. Capacity building activities with community groups and local NGOs will be ongoing. A local NGO/community groups small grant scheme will be administered during the year with the aim of identifying possible future partners. By the end of 2001, Concern's presence in Kosovo will be significantly reduced to a small office to run a scaled down social program, administer the local NGO/ community groups small grant scheme regionally, and to maintain a regional watching brief.

Social Programs
In the last quarter of 2000 a strategic planning workshop was carried out for the social program that determined the nature of Concern's ongoing presence in the 11 ethnic Albanian villages where Concern was operational. Based on the workshop, Concern is scaling down its day-to-day involvement in the villages with increasing emphasis on the community management committees running the centers. Given the current political climate and threats against minorities, there is a greater focus on working with minority communities during 2001. As minorities in the municipality, in particular the Serb community, do not have freedom of movement, Concern will undertake activities designed to increase the self-sufficiency of the community and to ensure their psycho-social well-being. Activities will include information, referral, and advocacy on behalf of minority communities within the Peje municipality; socio-economic activities such as skills training, recreational activities, income generation activities and youth groups; and training in trauma counseling.

Local NGOs/Community Groups Small Grants Scheme
During the third quarter of 2000 a local NGO/community group small grant scheme was established. The scheme is administered to complement OSCE capacity building of local NGOs and community groups started last year. Funding is provided to groups who demonstrate vision, commitment and a clear implementation plan. The overall aim of the is scheme is to build the capacities of local structures and promote sustainability.

Doctors of the World

US Contact

Diana Hoover, Program Manager
375 W. Broadway, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10012
Tel: 212-226-9890, ext. 222
Fax: 212-226-7026
Email: dos@igc.apc.org

Kosovo Contact

Qinghui GuActing, Country Director
Kosovo Field Office
Save Kovacevice
18Taslidze, Pristina, Kosovo
Tel: 381-38-549-833
Fax: 381-38-549-833

Introduction to Doctors of the World (DOW)
DOW, the American affiliate of the French medical relief agency Médecins du Monde, is an international community of health professionals dedicated to providing medical care, technical support, and training throughout the world. The organization's fundamental objectives are to offer skilled medical and public health assistance to those in greatest need and, within the framework of health care services, to contribute to the process of peace and reconciliation.

Doctors of the World in Kosovo
Since 1992, DOW has been responding to the health care needs of all the people of Kosovo, addressing critical health and human rights issues. Nearly all of DOW's work is oriented toward public health development - creating sustainable structures and inclusive policies, while simultaneously providing care.

Maternal and Infant Health Project
Begun in September of 1998, this project has the overall goal of reducing infant and maternal mortality and morbidity in Kosovo. Specifically, the project aims to educate women about breastfeeding, hygiene, immunizations, and the importance of pre- and post-natal care; to support community health centers through the provision of birthing equipment and midwife training; to support the DOW created Pristina University Medical Center, Prizren Regional Hospital, and Gjilan Regional Hospital through training, clinical support, protocol implementation, and equipment provision; and to provide prenatal care in minority areas. The project operates in Prizren, Gjilane, and Pristina Hospitals; Dragesh, Suvareka, Rahovac, Viti, Kamenica, Vushtrri, Skenderaj (Mitrovica region), and Podujevo (Pristina region) birthing centers; and Malishevo, Fushe Kosovo, and Donja Gusterica Health Houses.

Tuberculosis Control Project
The project's general objective is to prevent transmission, reduce mortality associated with TB, and raise awareness about TB. Specifically, DOW aims to prevent TB transmission through mass media and patient education campaigns; to build the capacity of local specialists, care providers, and lab technicians through the provision of training and diagnosis; and to develop a sustainable patient and drug monitoring system in Kosovo. This project covers the entire province, with the exception of minority areas, which lack hospitals capable of in-patient TB care. Pending funding, the project will expand into minority areas.

Project for the de-institutionalization of Kosovar children
The de-institutionalization project, begun in December 2000, targets children with special needs who currently live in a closed institution in the Shtime Municipality. The project will provide community and family-based alternatives to institutionalization. Specifically, the project aims to create two transitional homes; to train local staff in community-based rehabilitation; to move the children to the homes and to improve their health and increase their independent living skills; to establish a day care center at a local school; and to initiate contacts with the children's families and evaluate the possibilities for eventual reunion, or set-up foster placements.

Episcopal Relief and Development

US Contact

Mary Becchi
Director, Overseas Grants
815 Second Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10017-4594
Tel.: 212-716-6025
Fax: 212-983-6377
Email: mbecchi@er-d.org

Introduction to Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD)
ERD is the collective response of Episcopalians to help people in need in the US and around the world.

Episcopal Relief and Development in Kosovo
ERD disburses funds received through the Episcopal Church in the United States for the crises in Kosovo. Functioning as a granting agency, it does not maintain own field offices in Kosovo, but funds the programs of NGOs engaged in a variety of rehabilitation services.

Shelter Now, active in the town of Gjakove, receives $558,820 from ERD for activities in physical reconstruction, namely the rebuilding of 80 small businesses in the commercial center of Old Town Gjakove. Mercy Corps International receives $679,171 from ERD for its activities in women's health care in the towns of Klina and Istog. ERD supports Search for Common Ground's teacher-training-program with $116,000. The International Center for Clubhouse Development's health care activities in Pristina are supported by ERD with $60,000.

Heifer Project International

US Contact

Rafal Laski
DirectorCentral/Eastern Europe Program
1015 Louisiana Street
Little Rock, AR 72202
Tel: 501-907-2600
Fax: 501-907-2606
Email: rafal.laski@heifer.org

Regional Contact

Fejzo BegajDirector, HPI Albania
Nuredin Mestani, HPI Representative in KosovoRruga
Muhamet Gjollesha,
Pall. i Ri, prane UEMTirana, Albania
Tel/Fax: 355 382043527
Email: nanajhpi@icc.al.eu.org
nmestani@yahoo.com

Introduction to Heifer Project International (HPI)
Heifer Project International (HPI) is a non-profit ecumenical organization that specializes in providing livestock and related services to low income farmers worldwide. Projects are designed with sustainable community development in mind; HPI funds projects that have been planned by local groups.

The Central/Eastern Europe program focuses on assisting small, integrated, ecologically friendly private farms and small farmer groups in becoming sustainable in a free-market economy. This is achieved by: building sustainable farming systems utilizing improved livestock technology and management in order to increase income and stimulate human development; encouraging community development and democracy by using participatory methodologies; training the farmers how to operate their farms in free market conditions; collaborating with other organizations involved in sustainable agricultural development; mobilizing local resources and volunteers; educating participants about gender and environmental issues; and attempting to include all ethnic and disadvantaged groups in HPI work.

Heifer Project International in Kosovo and Albania
Since 1999, HPI has provided assistance to Kosovar refugees in Albania and Kosovar farm families whose livelihood was destroyed by war. Its livestock programs attempt to restock farms, provide disaster and emergency relief, provide training in agriculture, promote rural development, and promote peace.

Rehabilitation of Small Scale Farms in Kosovo
In Kosovo, farm assets were either destroyed or damaged on a wide scale. The majority of the livestock (cattle 50%, small ruminants 65% and poultry 85%), which composed almost half of all agricultural production, were lost or killed. The remaining animals face a loss of feed concentrate and adequate shelter, resulting in a decline in production.

The overall objective of the project is to improve the conditions for the people of Kosovo. This is being done by: providing 140 Holstein and Simmental cattle over three years; providing feed concentrate to animals during the winter season; providing materials for reconstruction of animal shelters and microcredit loans for reconstruction of other buildings; training each participating family in livestock care, forage production, and soil erosion control; and contributing to farmer cooperative development for improved and sustainable management, production, and dairy processing. Located in the villages Pirane, Landovice, and Krushe in the Prizereni District, the project benefits 140 original families. Each family passes on one female offspring of its heifer to another family.

Refugee assistance in Albania
HPI works in Albania to help Kosovar refugees and their hosts alleviate hunger and improve their lives. This is being done by providing 140 families with one heifer each and agricultural supplies to improve animal shelters; increasing milk production (and thus income generation and nutrition) through the use of genetically superior livestock; providing 60 families with one ton of feed concentrate for cows (per 8 months) to stimulate milk production; increasing food production for family use and sale by providing forage seeds, fertilizers, and other agricultural supplies to 100 families in the area where refugees have relocated; providing training for participating families and refugees in livestock care, vegetable production, family strengthening and gender issues, and environmental protection; and involving over 100 families in a microcredit plan aimed at providing funds for building materials and agriculture supplies to help the farmers improve their farms. Located in villages in the Korca and Pogradeci Districts, the project benefits 140 original families. Each family passes on two female calves or one female calf and 50% of value cash. Refugees receive fresh milk, cheese, and vegetables.

International Aid

US Contact

Milton Amayun
17011 W. Hickory
Spring Lake, MI 49456
Tel: 616-846-7490
Fax: 616-846-3842
Email: amayunm@internationalaid.org

Kosovo Contact

Jeremy Konyndyk, Program Director for Kosovo
17 Rruga Istra
Pristina, Kosovo 38000
Tel: 381-38-23328
Email: Jmkonyndyk@hotmail.com

Introduction to International Aid (IA)
IA is a Christian relief and development organization providing food, health, and hope to those in need in the US and throughout the developing world, regardless of nationality or belief. It is dedicated to enabling, encouraging, and empowering those who serve the poor and needy. Committed to a holistic approach that addresses the spiritual and physical needs of individuals, IA links caring people and organizations with Christian partners worldwide and changes lives through the power of compassion.

International Aid in Kosovo
In Kosovo, International Aid aims to support the restoration of health services for the most vulnerable segments of society, including children, in remote rural locations. IA also works to enhance the sustainability of health services through community support.

IA organizes the distribution of medicines, medical equipment, and other relief items through Pristina Hospital and other hospitals and clinics in Kosovo. A total of six shipments of supplies worth an estimated $500,000 were shipped to Kosovo in the fiscal year 2000. IA conducts community health development programs and training programs for health personnel in Rahovec and Gjakova. Both the training of health personnel and the distribution of medicines and medical equipment are effecting municipalities that serve 300,000 people. Approximately 14,000 school children in and around Gjilan, a town in southeastern Kosovo, are being served by IA's psycho-social training program. The program trains teachers to counsel traumatized children.

IA works closely with other NGOs in Kosovo. In June 1999, IA joined Bethany Christian Services, Dorcas Aid International, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, and Partners for Christian Development in setting up the Alliance for Rehabilitation in Kosovo (ARK). IA was also elected to the six-member Executive Committee of the International NGO Council. Chaired by IA the Council advises the UN, WHO, and donor governments in developing and implementing relief and development initiatives.

International Catholic Migration Commission

US Contact

Mitzi Schroeder, Director
1319 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004
Tel: 202-393-2904
Fax: 202-393-2908
Email: ICMCUSA@aol.com

Kosovo Contact

Stephen Maynard, Director of Kosovo Programs
Internacionalja I St. #58Prizren 3800, Kosovo
Tel: 377-44-119-480
Email: icmc.dkp@kosovaonline.net

Introduction to International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC)
ICMC's mission is to serve and advocate on behalf of vulnerable refugees, internally displaced persons, and migrants.

International Catholic Migration Commission in Kosovo
ICMC, active in Kosovo since June 1999, manages three field offices located in Prizren, Djakovica and Pec. The agency's activities are aimed at achieving the following objectives: to assist the most vulnerable returnees and remaining minorities through emergency aid, re-integration assistance, advocacy, protection monitoring, and the coordination of service delivery; to enable returnees to re-start their lives and achieve self-sufficiency through a variety of economic programs; to foster the return to normalcy through community and individual recovery including tolerance building and trauma education; and to assist with rebuilding community capacity in order to enable local people to care for their own vulnerable community members through training and strengthening of the local Centers for Social Work.

Since June 1999, ICMC-Kosovo has assisted over 40,000 EVI Albanian, Serb, Bosniak, Gorani, Turk, Roma, Egyptian, and Ashkaelia refugees and returnee families in the regions of Prizren, Djakovica and Pec.

Kosovo Enterprise Program (KEP)
The KEP Peje/Gjakove Branch provides group guaranteed micro-loans to low income, small business entrepreneurs in viable economic activities as start up or expansion capital. A special emphasis is placed on enabling women to qualify as loan recipients. To date, loans have been disbursed to 1,753 clients, 56% to women, and 136 business/induction training sessions have been held, serving 1,867 participants.

The KEP Prizren Branch provides small enterprise loans to existing enterprises in villages and centers within the municipalities of Prizren, Orahovac, Malishevo/Maliseva and Suva Reka. The focus is on small enterprises involved in manufacturing, repair, and services, with a bias towards those that support agriculture and reconstruction. To date, 112 loans have been disbursed, with an average loan size of DM 7,196. The recovery rate is 100%. UNHCR, UNDP, US State Department/ BPRM, and Caritas - New Zealand have provided $3 million for this project.

Casework and Community Mobilization Services for Vulnerable Minorities
Teams of ICMC caseworkers and advocacy advocates in Prizren, Peja and Gjakova are providing support to vulnerable minorities. Through this program ICMC aims to promote fair and full access for vulnerable minority populations to social services (particularly the CSW system) and provide direct services to fill gaps in the near term; to help stabilize and build greater minority community self-reliance; to assist UNHCR and other partners to assess the safety and viability of minority returns in 2001; and, if appropriate, to facilitate the integration/reintegration of vulnerable minority returnees and IDPs to their home locations; and to assist and collaborate with UNHCR and other agencies in the monitoring of minority protection concerns. UNHCR has provided $1.5 million for this program in 2000 and 2001.

Trauma Awareness Education
Beginning in May 1999, 104 Trauma Awareness Education workshops have been conducted in 31 villages for 2,074 in the municipalities of Orahovac, Djakovica, Decani, Pec and Klina. Additional workshops will be provided in Rahovec (Orahovac) and Suhareke/Suva Reke before the schedule close of the project at the end of April 2001. CORDAID - Netherlands has provided $400,000 for this program.

Tolerance Building
ICMC began a new program in November 2000 to implement Tolerance Building workshops for single and multi-ethnic groups. A Tolerance Fund will provide grants to follow-up groups interested in implement local, inter-ethnic projects. The location and breadth of this project is currently being assessed. The long-range plan is to establish the program in all three ICMC offices in Kosovo. The US State Department and Canada Development and Peace have provided $650,000 for this program.

ICMC works closely with the UN Mission in Kosovo, OSCE, UNHCR, and local and international organizations providing food, shelter, and non-food aid and who assist our target beneficiaries: female heads of household, the physically and mentally disabled, the frail and /or unaccompanied elderly and at-risk minorities.

International Medical Corps

US Contacts

Martin Zogg, Operations Director
11500 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 506
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Tel: 310-826-7800
Fax: 310-442-6622
Email: zogg@imc-la.org

Jennifer Rowland, Communications Manager
Email: rowland@imc-la.org

Kosovo Contact

David Wightwick, Acting Country Director
Nazim Gafurri, 11938000 Pristina
Tel: 381-38-549-027
Fax: 381-38-549-001
Email: director@ipko-imc.org

Introduction to International Medical Corps (IMC)
IMC is a global humanitarian nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and medical relief programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer United States doctors and nurses, IMC is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in areas worldwide where few organizations dare to serve. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, IMC rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.

International Medical Corps in Kosovo
IMC's objectives in Kosovo are to attend to the health needs of the resident, former refugee, and internally displaced populations, to increase public awareness regarding proper health care, and to establish a framework for a sustainable medical system. Its activities focus on the areas of disaster and emergency relief, education and training, gender issues, primary, emergency, and reproductive health care, refugee and migration services, psycho-social programs for youth, water and sanitation, and reconstruction of health facilities.

IMC's programs, funded by the BPRM, OFDA, USAID, ECHO, Stichting Vluchteling, UNMIK, the Canadian International Development Agency, WHO, and UNICEF, are located in the following municipalities: Klina, Pristina, Podujevo, Kacanik, Kamenica, Gjilan, Ferizaj, Lipjan, Mitrovica, Stimje, Viti, Novo Brdo, Zvecan, and Zubin Potok. IMC works in cooperation with UNICEF, WHO, IOM, UNHCR, Save the Children US, and the Institute of Public Health. IMC's programs benefit more than 800,000 residents, former refugees, and internally displaced populations.

Primary Health Care
Through the provision of mobile clinics, IMC is providing primary health care services and health education in more than 80 isolated communities. IMC has trained local doctors and nurses to operate the mobile clinics. Beneficiaries receive vaccinations, essential drugs, and appropriate health information.

Training
IMC improves the capacity and professional skills of local doctors, nurses, midwives, and other local health care providers through on-the-job training, seminars, and coaching. In addition, IMC provides administrative and management training for local staff to facilitate program hand-over and ensure that local staff will be self-reliant once IMC's role is complete.

Maternal and Child Health
IMC supports mobile clinics, ambulantas, and health houses that offer reproductive and primary health care for more than 18,000 women and children in rural and urban areas. IMC also has increased health care access for women and children who come from ethnic minority backgrounds. IMC trains health care providers in comprehensive reproductive health care services and promotes maternal and family health through education campaigns.

Psycho-social program
Through its five youth centers in both rural and urban areas, IMC is improving the life skills of more than 18,000 youths who were exposed to armed conflict and trauma during the Kosovo crisis. The youth centers offer activities that promote self-esteem, decision-making, and conflict resolution skills, and contribute to the development of a peaceful and tolerant society. Activities include job training, sports, art programs, counseling, and health education. Plans are underway to add four additional youth centers, in partnership with Save the Children US.

Construction
IMC has nearly completed the rehabilitation of all the ambulantas in its area of responsibility and has rehabilitated an emergency department and a maternity center.

Of special concern to IMC is the increased incidence of theft. The agency has had computers and vehicles stolen. Furthermore, land mines and the insecurity of travel between minority and majority areas impede the agency in its activities.

International Orthodox Christian Charities

US Contact

Samir Ishak, Director of Operations
110 West Road, Suite 360
Baltimore, MD 21204
Tel: 410-423-9820
Fax: 410-243-9824
Email: relief@iocc.org

Regional Contacts

Robert Harris
Palmoticeva 24/1Belgrade
Serbia, Yugoslavia
Tel: 381-11-323-2706
Email: ioccyu@Eunet.yu

Tina Wolfe
Jola Piletica 23/1Podgorica, Montenegro, Yugoslavia
Tel: 381-81-248-205
Email: ioccpg@cg.yu

Introduction to International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC)
IOCC was established by the Standing Conference on Cananical Orthodox Bishops in America as the official humanitarian aid agency of Orthodox Christians to work in cooperation with the Orthodox Churches worldwide. The mission of IOCC is to respond to the call of our Lord Jesus Christ to minister to those who are suffering and are in need throughout the world, sharing with them God's gifts of food, shelter, economic self-sufficiency, and hope.

International Orthodox Christian Charities in Kosovo
IOCC's activities in Kosovo aim to provide limited humanitarian relief to IDPs and residents in Kosovo. IOCC also provides IDPs in Serbia and Montenegro with immediate humanitarian relief and assistance to prepare for eventual return or integration. In the past year, the total value of IOCC projects supporting these groups amounted to more than $2.5 million. IOCC's programs, located in the Decani Monastery, Gnjilane, and Vitina municipalities in Kosovo focus on the areas of agriculture and food production, emergency relief, and refugee and migration services.