Kosovo

“FUTURE FOR YOU(TH): YOUNG PEOPLE AS LEADERS OF LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION IN THE BALKANS”

The final evaluation of the “Future for You(th): Young people as Leaders of Life Skills Education in the Balkans” was conducted between December 2023 and March 2024. This end-term evaluation has addressed the full period of the project implementation (March 2021 – February 2024). Its scope covered all four target countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania) and main project beneficiaries (partner organizations, institutional representatives, teachers, youth, parents, movement leaders, etc.).
The evaluation process employed a mixed-methods approach with a non-experimental design. Its purpose was to assess the intervention's impact on advancing gender equality, examining shifts in cultural norms, behaviors and attitudes, and power dynamics, along with changes in participation, access to resources, and policy adjustments. It also aimed to summarize the main findings, conclusions and recommendations to inform the project's design and implementation phase.
The evaluation process was based on OECD-DAC evaluation criteria, but the priority was given to relevance, effectiveness, (immediate) impact and sustainability of the intervention. The rest of the criteria were not prioritized considering the given time frame, budget and purpose of the evaluation.
The project evaluation has embedded gender-responsive approaches and human rights frameworks from its inception. This approach was instrumental in establishing a holistic evaluation framework, with the aim of ensuring that these aspects were not treated as peripheral concerns but rather integral components of the project's core objectives and activities.
The data collection process comprised a desk review of relevant documents, semi-structured interviews with key informants, focus groups involving young individuals, and validation sessions to confirm clarity and authenticate key findings with project partners and other stakeholders. Data triangulation involved consolidating various methods and sources, thereby enhancing credibility through cross-referencing information from diverse origins.
Key limitations in the evaluation included a lack of representation from policymakers in some countries, restricted involvement of young individuals not engaged in BMCs and limited participation of young law offenders and professionals from youth at risk centers in the evaluation process. Related findings from the informants were cross-referenced with other information extracted from reviewed documents to mitigate potential bias.

Young men and women who participated in a greater number of project activities, including workshops or events related to campaigns, demonstrated more gender-equal attitudes towards gender roles and norms, violence, gender equality. All young people have increased their knowledge in sexual and reproductive health. Parents of BMC members have confirmed that the BMC program serves as a vehicle for continuous and holistic personal growth of their children, positively impacting diverse aspects of their lives.
School staff and professionals from juvenile correctional centers have gained qualitative content and the necessary competencies to effectively present crucial topics to youth in a non-formal manner that aligns with the needs of young people.
BMCs have progressed to comprehensive resource centers, providing safe spaces where young individuals can openly discuss their most sensitive concerns and receive professional referrals to address their diverse needs.
The project has managed to reach out to a remarkable number of people. The partners organized campaigns at the local level, resulting in the implementation of 35 school-based initiatives that reached 9,356 young individuals, and conducted 68 community-based campaigns, engaging with 20,218 citizens spanning across youth and adults alike, significantly increasing awareness on promoting peaceful masculinities, gender equality, and addressing hate speech and intolerance within the targeted demographics.
Despite challenges, such as navigating political instability, the project demonstrated resilience and effectiveness, significantly influencing community attitudes on social issues. It made a substantial impact on policy and practice regarding life skills education, underscoring its commitment to gender equality. Read More...

Young Men’s Initiative (YMI) Impact Study Research

Since 2006, a coalition of local, regional, and international organizations has been promoting positive masculine identities under the banner of the Young Men Initiative (YMI). YMI is a regional program built upon CARE’s comprehensive and programmatic effort to fight interpersonal and gender based violence (GBV), as well as improve gender equality in the region and address preventative measures related to youth extremism and violence. The program is being implemented in municipalities and high schools in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, Kosovo*1, and Serbia. The heart of YMI is “Program Y” (youth), which focuses on transforming the school environment into one that promotes gender equality and a culture of non-violence. The core of Program Y’s intervention is a series of group educational workshops accompanied by social norms campaigns that promote a
critical and personal reflection on gender, masculinities, and health, with a strong focus on violence prevention. The objective of the impact study is to discover the changes that occurred in implementation sites in terms of the
perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of young people in the period from 2014 until 2020 in key program areas: (1) gender attitudes; (2) violence prevention; (3) sexual and reproductive health; (4) alcohol and drug abuse; and (5) the prevention of sexual violence, as a result of the direct engagement of CARE and its partners. The study also aims to identify which methods and approaches Read More...

ECONOMIC STRENGTHENING FOR A SUSTAINABLE RETURN TO KOSOVO

This report is an external evaluation of “Economic Strengthening for a Sustainable Return to Kosovo* ” project, implemented by CARE Interrnational Balkan, Serbia Office and two co-applicants – NEXUS Vranje and the City of Vranje, financed by the European Union (IPA/2017/154545-2/7, Contract no. 2018/397-386). Lead applicant of the project was CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg e.V. Project implementation period under review was from the 11th July 2018 to 10th September 2020. The evaluation was carried out by the external evaluator in the September 2020.
Overall objective of the project was to enable IDPs and returnees from the readmission process exercise full rights, supported by enabling migration policies and processes in Republic of Serbia. This overall goal was planned to be achieved through reaching the specific objective - Support the prospect of sustainable return to Kosovo by increasing the skills and employability of IDPs and readmissants in their current place of living to provide the necessary basis for an eventual return when the political situation has altered in a way that return becomes more realistic.
This project was well designed, led and implemented. The results achieved until the end of the implementation of the project have been assessed as fully accomplished. The entirety of planned activities, in spite of some of them being delayed due to COVID19 pandemic, was realized until the end of the project cycle. The estimated number of beneficiaries that was to be covered with this Action was reached, while the number of beneficiaries of in-kind grants was surpassed. As was planned all project activities were based on the needs of direct beneficiaries, matching those needs to available resources, supporting and nurturing communication and cooperation between all relevant stakeholders. Read More...

Final Evaluation of the Regional Project: Men and Boys as Partners in Promoting Gender Equality and the Prevention of Youth Extremism and Violence in the Balkans – Young Men Initiative – YMI II

The Men and Boys as Partners in Promoting Gender Equality and prevention of Youth Extremism and Violence in the Balkans or Young Men Initiative II (YMI II) project was set to enable positive and peaceful societies for young people in Serbia, Kosovo , Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, that support gender equality and decrease interpersonal violence and its extremism. The project builds on the efforts dating from 2007 when YMI started to encourage gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors amongst young men, to decrease violence against (young) women and peer violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. YMI II project started on October 1, 2017 and ended on December 31, 2020.
The evaluation addressed the whole implementation period, all four target countries and main target and beneficiary groups – representatives of partner organizations, teachers, youth, movement leaders and governments. With the purpose to assess results achieved based on OECD-DAC evaluation criteria, the evaluation focused on relevance, impact, and sustainability of project activities – in relation to the expected results, outcome and outputs, as well as on key learning on approaches to inform future programming.
This report is 55 pages long. Read More...

Rural Economic Sustainability Initiative (RESI)

The Rural Economic Sustainability Initiative (RESI) aimed to support inclusive and sustainable rural economic development in four target municipalities in Kosovo: Prishtinë/Priština, Novo Brdo/Novobrdë, Kamenicë/a and Ranil(l)ug. It was financed by Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and the Municipality of Prishtinë/Priština and implemented by CARE International in Kosovo.
The approach utilised built on a very successful previous project and featured grants to MSME in agriculture, capacity development of municipality agriculture departments and a special focus on empowerment of women and socio-economically vulnerable groups.
The final evaluation of the RESI took place between 6th October and 11th November 2019. The evaluation aimed to make an independent assessment of the outputs, outcomes and impact of the project towards the end of its 36 month cycle. The evaluation also set out to identify lesson learned, avenues for replication and practical recommendations for the future. Read More...

MEN AND BOYS AS PARTNERS IN PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY AND PREVENTION OF YOUTH EXTREMISM AND VIOLENCE IN THE BALKANS

The Men and Boys as Partners in Promoting Gender Equality and Prevention of Youth Extremism and Violence in the Balkans or the Young Men’s Initiative II (YMI II) project is a follow-up to CARE’s comprehensive and programmatic effort to fight interpersonal and gender-based violence (GBV), as well as to improve gender equality in the region and address preventative issues related to youth extremism and violence.

The Endline Assessment was carried out to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the overall project progress, focusing on changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to gender-based violence, gender equality, healthy lifestyles amongst young men and young women from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo* who participated in ‘Program Y’ in target schools in the period 2018-2020. The endline assessment examined the effects of project activities on: views regarding gender relations; health of young men and women, including mental health, use of psychoactive substances; knowledge about sexual reproductive health; experience of young people who suffered and perpetrated violence. Read More...

RESI – Rural Economic Sustainability Initiative

The Rural Economic Sustainability Initiative (RESI) aimed to support inclusive and sustainable rural economic development in four target municipalities in Kosovo: Prishtinë/Priština, Novo Brdo/Novobrdë, Kamenicë/a and Ranil(l)ug. It was financed by Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and the Municipality of Prishtinë/Priština and implemented by CARE International in Kosovo.
The approach utilised built on a very successful previous project and featured grants to MSME in agriculture, capacity development of municipality agriculture departments and a special focus on empowerment of women and socio-economically vulnerable groups.
The final evaluation of the RESI took place between 6th October and 11th November 2019. The evaluation aimed to make an independent assessment of the outputs, outcomes and impact of the project towards the end of its 36 month cycle. The evaluation also set out to identify lesson learned, avenues for replication and practical recommendations for the future. Read More...

RESI Final Evaluation

The Rural Economic Sustainability Initiative (RESI) aimed to support inclusive and sustainable rural economic
development in four target municipalities in Kosovo: Prishtinë/Priština, Novo Brdo/Novobrdë, Kamenicë/a and
Ranil(l)ug. The approach utilised built on a very successful previous project and featured grants to MSME in agriculture,
capacity development of municipality agriculture departments and a special focus on empowerment of women and
socio-economically vulnerable groups.

Relevance. RESI was found to be highly relevant to the four chosen municipalities and filled critical gaps that were
impeding rural economic development at farmer, processor and local government levels.

Effectiveness. RESI has delivered its outputs which is a massive achievement in such a short 3 year period. The
project met or exceeded each of its targets as per the output indicators. In terms of outcomes, specific targets were
not set but increased income and job creation has occurred and can be linked to RESI.

Efficiency. RESI was highly efficient. As compared to the previous (IRDS) project the RESI team scaled up all aspects
of the project across 4 municipalities and dispersed twice as many grants in only 3 year (as compared with 5).

Impact. Data gathered by the RESI team shows that 285 new full-time jobs and 490 seasonal jobs have been created
so far. Income of grant recipients has increased by 53% on average.

Sustainability. Overall signs are good, but it is too soon to concretely assess sustainability.



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Evidence of Change In Gender Equality and Women‘s Empowerment in the Balkans 2005-2012

This is a report about CARE’s work to advance gender equality in the Balkans and what we have achieved over the past seven years. Our goal is to give account and to demonstrate our commitment to change the lives of the people we serve. We want to illustrate the real life impact of the work we do with our partners and to document the process, methods and the tools used. We want to show that what we and partners have achieved, is relevant to the regional context and that our approaches and methodologies make a demonstrable difference. We also want to learn from our challenges and limitations, and we will use these lessons in our future work. Read More...

Child Labour on the Rise in Kosovo: Study on Working Children

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the habits and activities of working children be... Read More...

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