CIVIKOS Platform – Partnership between the Kosovar Government and Kosovar Civil Society

In June 2007 the Foundation organized a seminar in Oher, Macedonia, which it brought together numerous civil society organizations and government representatives establish and continue developing further the foundations of cooperation between the two.  In a participatory manner, which has marked this process since the very beginning, it has been identified that the agreement for cooperation needs to be formalized, and as such become the cornerstone for any initiative in future.  During the workshop, participants identified four key aspects where cooperation needs to be strengthened, including the general position of the civil society, responsibilities of the government towards the civil society, the responsibility of the civil society organizations towards fulfillment of their organization missions, and the cooperation between government and civil society. In spite of the openness of the Kosovar government to cooperate with the civil society, one could rarely see such initiatives taking place. The civil society organizations were rarely invited to engage with the policy making processes of the government.  Earlier this year, the Foundation met with the Prime Minister to address this issue and identify ways that would ensure a constructive and regular engagement of the Kosovar civil society organizations into policy processes that would benefit not only the government by Kosovars in general.  At this meeting, both parties agreed on the necessity for the issue to be address on an institutional manner. The Prime Minister committed to organizing and mobilizing the Kosovar government, while the Foundation committed to do the same with the civil society organizations towards building and concluding a functional partnership between the two.  To begin with the fulfillment of this commitment, in June 2007 the Foundation organized a seminar in Oher, Macedonia, which it brought together numerous civil society organizations and government representatives establish and continue developing further the foundations of cooperation between the two.  In a participatory manner, which has marked this process since the very beginning, it has been identified that the agreement for cooperation needs to be formalized, and as such become the cornerstone for any initiative in future.  During the workshop, participants identified four key aspects where cooperation needs to be strengthened, including the general position of the civil society, responsibilities of the government towards the civil society, the responsibility of the civil society organizations towards fulfillment of their organization missions, and the cooperation between government and civil society. Applying SWOT analysis,   the participants identified 149 issues needed to be addressed.  The Oher meeting was followed by comprehensive consultations and meetings throughout summer Kosova-wide, with the aim of spearheading the process in an open way, and enabling every interested organization to find the place to contribute. Further, the initiative for building this shared vision for institutional cooperation between civil society and the government, was made formal with the establishment of CiviKos Platform, a forum that is open for all civil society organizations in Kosova.  Representing numerous civil society organizations, CiviKos Platform, in partnership with the Kosovar government drafted the text of Memorandum of Cooperation, which had been agreed in Oher workshop. On a ceremonial and inaugurate manner, the CiviKos Platform, represented by the head of its board, Ms. Linda Bunjaku, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Agim Ceku, on behalf of the Kosovar government signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on November 9th, 2007.  As such, the memorandum becomes the very first formal and institutional agreement that enables the Kosovar civil society organizations to engage constructively in building a partnership with the Kosovar government that will benefit Kosova’s future development in all aspects. The next step of this cooperation is the drafting of the Strategy of the Government of Kosova for Cooperation with Civil Society, which is expected to start by the end of the year, after establishment of the new government, to result from the upcoming elections of November 17th, 2007.

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