The Coalition of NGOs for Child Protection in Kosovo – KOMF, met with the Political Advisor of the Minister of Justice Vlora Limani Hajnuni and the General Secretary Anita Kalanderi, regarding the serious situation of social services. This year, social services are in a more difficult situation in terms of funding, compared to recent years. The end of most donor programs in December 2023 has left large gaps in funding for these services.

Despite the decentralization of social services, municipalities generally do not allocate a budget for the provision of social services, with the exception of a very small number of municipalities.

The Ministry of Justice, in support of social services, has allocated 1.5 million Euros for subsidizing the services of 40 non-governmental organizations licensed to provide social services. However, this fund is not sufficient to operationalize the provision of quality social services with full capacity for vulnerable children and their families, such as children without parental care, children’s victims of violence and abuse, children in hard labor, children with disabilities, children using drugs, children in conflict with the law, as well as their families. This situation has resulted in the closure of services or the massive reduction of beneficiaries, directly affecting their well-being.

KOMF requested the support of the Ministry of Justice for the functionalization of social services through:

– Cooperation for the creation of a temporary Measure for the functionalization of social services within the Economic Revival Package, as a transitory measure until the regulation of sustainable financing for social services.

– Derivation of unit costs for each service, with the aim of fair and sustainable financing.