23 November 2020

In order to solve the problem of financing social services for children and citizens in need, KOMF with 31 member organizations, published the “Position for the Specific Grant for Social Services”.

KOMF, following the requests addressed toward Government of Kosovo for the long-term solution of the financing of social services as well as for the provision of a sustainable and fair financing of these services, requests the creation of a Specific Grant for Social Services through the approval of the Draft Law on Local Government Finances.

This Draft Law has been pending for months now, and no steps have been taken towards its approval. With the entry into force of this Draft Law, the implementation of the Specific Grant for Social Services is expected to begin, which will ensure a sustainable and the minimum financing for social services in Kosovo.

On the other hand, in 2019, out of the total 466.7 million Euros that was the total budget of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the vast majority was allocated for schemes and transfers. While for social services, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare has allocated only 3 million Euros or only 1 percent of its total budget, which is insufficient to address and cover the needs of vulnerable groups in the country.

Moreover, we recall that the current state of social services has been aggravated even more as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, where many vulnerable children have been left without services. With the lack of funding, many social service providers are closed or at risk of closing their services.

KOMF calls on the Government of Kosovo to proceed as soon as possible with the approval of the Draft Law on Local Government Finances, which foresees the creation of a Specific Grant for Social Services, in order to ensure the minimum financing of social services.

The position on the Specific Grant for Social Services is a joint position of KOMF, the Ombudsman Institution and the Association of Kosovo Municipalities.

This position was drafted in frame of the project “Joint Action for Decentralization”, funded by the European Union, managed by the European Union Kosovo and implemented by KOMF in partnership with Organizations for children without parental care – OFAP, SOS Children’s Villages in Kosovo and KMOP.