The Office of Community Affairs supported the inter-institutional working group for the reporting and prevention of early marriages in Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, which prepared a plan with activities that can contribute to resolving this phenomenon. The presentation of the plan was organized on June 7, 2024 in Hotel Sirius, and was attended by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu, Minister of Communities and Return, Nenad Rašić, Deputy Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports, Sylejman Elshani, representative of Office for Good Governance, Habit Hajredini, Prime Minister’s advisers from communities, media representatives, as well as municipal Deputy Mayors for Communities, representatives of Municipal Offices for Communities and Returns, including Offices for Human Rights and Gender Equality. The meeting was also attended by representatives of international organizations such as KFOR and OSCE, as well as local organizations.
The participants had the opportunity to share their experiences, as well as suggestions that should be included in the Action Plan aimed at resolving the issue, which according to the latest research and data shows about 200 cases per year. This is only one step towards resolving the issue, and in the coming period the Working Group will visit every municipality with significant Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian population, where together with all competent officials in the respective municipality, they will discuss the prevalence of early marriages in the municipality, as well as the ways to prevent it.
The Chairperson of the Working Group for the Prevention of Early Marriages is the Prime Minister’s Advisor for Communities, Elizabeth Goving, and if you have any suggestions or experiences, you can contact her via e-mail at: Elizabeth.k.goving@rks-gov.net
Finally, the representative of the Office of Community Affairs, Besart Tasholi, shared information about the opportunities that the Government provides to all non-majority communities that could affect the decrease of early marriages and school dropout of children, in particular from Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. One of the ways to be informed about all these opportunities is through the Platform of the Office of Community Affairs (https://zck-kpz-platform.rks-gov.net/en/home/ ) which is offering information on calls and various opportunities for positive economic and social influence.
Below are photos from this meeting:
