KOMF in partnership with the UNICEF Office in Kosovo held a consultative roundtable: “Regulation of the contracting of social services provided by non-governmental organizations”.

The Law on Social and Family Services entered into force in January 2024. The adoption of the new Law on Social and Family Services has paved the way for the regulation of the contracting of social services in Kosovo, through the drafting of the Administrative Instruction on the procedure, conditions and principles of the implementation of public-private partnerships in the field of social and family services. KOMF in partnership with UNICEF will support the Ministry of Justice in the drafting of this administrative instruction.

Around 50 licensed non-governmental organizations provide social services, such as residential services for children victims of domestic violence, abuse and trafficking, specialized services for children and adults with disabilities, services in support of alternative care for children without parental care, services for children using narcotic substances, children in street situations, children involved in hard labor, etc. The main challenge of social service providers from the non-governmental sector remains the unstable financing for the provision of social services, as a result of the lack of a sustainable contracting scheme for the purchase of social services from the non-governmental sector.

KOMF held this roundtable with the aim of consulting social service providers from the non-governmental sector, representatives from the Centers for Social Work, and municipalities, to provide perspectives on the needs and modalities for regulating public-private partnerships, regulating contracting to contribute to the process of drafting the Administrative Instruction on the procedure, conditions and principles of implementing public-private partnerships, in the field of social and family services.