Registrar Fidelma Donlon, on behalf of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC), has signed an agreement with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), pursuant to which Switzerland will continue its financial support to the KSC’s outreach activities in Kosovo in 2020 and 2021.
The KSC outreach team has been traveling to Kosovo about once a month to conduct meetings at which participants have the opportunity to learn about the KSC and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, ask questions and raise concerns. In 2018 and 2019, with the support of the Swiss FDFA and in cooperation with Non-Governmental Organisations from Kosovo, 53 such events were held in 17 locations all over Kosovo reaching some 1300 participants.
The new grant will be used to fund the second phase of the KSC’s Outreach Programme, during which the KSC will continue cooperating with civil society and meeting directly with citizens, while seeking to engage more people through the media and social media. The KSC will also be informing people about the different stages of its legal proceedings.
In the light of the current COVID-19 outbreak, the KSC Outreach team is planning additional activities using video conferencing and other technical means to ensure that people are informed about the court and that a robust dialogue with citizens about the court can continue if current public health measures to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus remain in place for an extended period.
“Outreach has been an integral part of the KSC’s activities from the very beginning. I want to thank Switzerland for its vital and ongoing contribution to our efforts to establish a transparent dialogue with people in Kosovo and to inform them about the court and its activities,” the Registrar said.
“I am very pleased and grateful to Switzerland, as a Contributing State, for its decision to support the Outreach Programme for another two years,” said President Ekaterina Trendafilova.
