Kosovo
 |
Embassy |
|---|---|
 |
Mission / Delegation / Permanent Representation |
 |
Consulate general |
 |
Honorary representation |
 |
Cooperation office |
 |
Contribution Office |
 |
Embassy with Cooperation Office |
 |
Embassy with Regional consular center |
 |
Swiss Business Hub |
 |
Swissnex |
 |
City |
 |
Capital |
 |
Disputed border |
 |
River |
 |
Lake |
In 2008, the Kosovar parliament declared the independence of the province under UN administration. As a new nation-state, it still faces many challenges, which delay its accession to the EU. While the institutions for a democratic framework are now in place, they are not yet used systematically. The economy remains weak and unemployment high, contributing to the country’s growing social disparities. Moreover, relations between the Albanian majority and the Serb minority are still strained, although the representation of the latter in the government is guaranteed.
Swiss Bilateral ODA |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 * |
|---|---|---|---|
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) |
|||
Cooperation with Eastern Europe and CIS |
13.65 |
14.32 |
13.50 |
Humanitarian aid |
– |
– |
– |
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) |
|||
Economic Cooperation and Development |
2.87 |
0.79 |
1.78 |
Peace and Human Rights Division (PHRD) |
|||
Conflict transformation and human rights |
1.11 |
1.09 |
1.27 |
Total SDC/SECO/PHRD |
17.63 |
16.20 |
16.55 |
Other Federal Offices |
|||
Network of FDFA representations abroad |
1.15 |
1.29 |
.. |
State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) |
0.29 |
0.45 |
.. |
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) |
0.03 |
0.06 |
.. |
Total other Federal Offices |
1.47 |
1.80 |
– |
Cantons and municipalities |
0.45 |
.. |
.. |
Total |
19.55 |
18.00 |
16.55 |
Swiss government spending for development and cooperation for the current year and the past two years, broken down by institution.
* planned; total based on available data
.. = figures not available | – = nil or amount < 5'000 CHF
Democratic governance and human security
Political and administrative decentralisation is a key to peaceful co-existence in Kosovo. Switzerland supports the development of local administrations that provide high-quality services in regard to transparency, reliability and efficiency. It also encourages active citizen and civil society engagement in policy-making processes. At the national level, the focus is on inclusive institutions as key enablers of social cohesion, especially in relation to dealing with the past and the dialogue with Serbia.
Economy and employment
Switzerland’s main cooperation objectives in Kosovo include a dynamic private sector that can offer attractive career prospects and good working conditions. This means developing work skills and entrepreneurship, particularly among young people. To help achieve this, Switzerland invests in vocational training that is geared to the labour market. Career guidance and job placement programmes also increase the likelihood of jobseekers finding work and of companies finding the staff they need. Furthermore, Switzerland supports Kosovo in improving its business regulations and investment framework in order to foster a more attractive investment climate. Switzerland is currently considering additional support aimed at reducing the amount of non-performing loans in Kosovo’s banking system, with the view to free blocked assets and allow their reassignment to more productive use and thus contribute to job creation.
Water and climate change
The main objective is to ensure access to high-quality and affordable water and sanitation services that improve livelihoods. Switzerland works towards this by fostering policy dialogue, by strengthening the institutions managing and governing the water sector, and by investing in drinking water networks, sanitation systems and wastewater treatment facilities. It also raises general awareness about responsible water usage. In addition, public services are encouraged to participate in efforts to protect the environment and mitigate the impact of climate change.
Health
Switzerland contributes to modernising Kosovo’s health services by supporting the introduction of a mandatory basic healthcare insurance scheme. At the local level, the programme aims to improve healthcare by fostering capacity building among medical staff and encouraging citizens to access the services available. Particular attention is placed on the needs of disadvantaged or excluded groups. Other focus areas are the prevention of non-communicable diseases and awareness of healthy lifestyle behaviours among the population.
Migration
Switzerland has had a migration partnership with Kosovo since 2010. The programme aims to build capacities among Kosovo’s migration authorities with a set of targeted measures in migration policy and management. It also seeks to counter migratory flows by improving the social inclusion of marginalised groups, who are among those more inclined to migrate. Meanwhile, Kosovo’s diaspora contributes to the country’s social and economic development.
Organisation and partners
The 2017-2020 cooperation strategy is implemented jointly by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the FDFA’s Human Security Division (HSD).
Switzerland's main partners in Kosovo:
National partners: ministries and local governments, local civil society organisations, e.g. Community Development Initiatives, Voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians
Swiss NGOs, e.g. Helvetas/Swiss Intercooperation, Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER), Swisscontact
International companies and NGOs
Multilateral organisations, e.g. World Bank, IMF, UNDP
- Private sector and think tanks
Links
Documents
Current projects
Selection
Strengthening regional cooperation on migration in the Western Balkans
01.06.2025
- 31.12.2027
In light of diversifying migration patterns and challenges with increasing regional dimensions, the migration policy priorities of Western Balkan governments are changing and the relevance of regional dialogue, coordination and cooperation is growing. This proposal seeks to promote coherent and effective regional governance of migration in all its multifaceted dimensions contributing to greater social cohesion and regional integration in the Western Balkans.
Decentralization and Municipal Support (DEMOS III)
01.01.2022
- 31.12.2025
DEMOS III will consolidate achievements of decentralised governance in the areas of policy framework and municipal performance. A grant mechanism rewarding municipalities for their good governance practices will be institutionalised with the aim to offer better quality services to citizens. The Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM) will strengthen its advocacy role and citizens will be engaged in the oversight. Funds will be pooled by Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, the EU and the Government of Kosovo.
Promoting Private Sector Employment (PPSE)
16.11.2021
- 15.11.2025
The last phase of PPSE will continue to help enterprises in the Food and Natural Ingredients (FNI) and tourism sectors grow through increasing competiveness, product diversification and improving access to markets, thus creating jobs in Kosovo, with focus on women and minorities. Further, by improving sector coordination, PPSE improves public-private dialogue and achieves sustainable results.
Enhancing Youth Employment (EYE)
01.01.2021
- 31.12.2024
In order to contribute to the better employment perspectives for young women and men in Kosovo, the Enhancing Youth Employment project will focus its support in its last phase on improving technical and soft skills for young people through promoting non-formal training solutions. At the same time, it will facilitate the improvement of career guidance services and the labour market information system that would in turn contribute to better informed career choices for young people in Kosovo.
Social Justice for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians (SORAE)
15.07.2020
- 31.12.2022
In order to improve the social inclusion of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) in Kosovo, this project will develop their livelihoods through ensuring better access to educational opportunities, enhanced children rights and protection, upgraded housing conditions and more income generation prospects. These multi-sectorial interventions will be complemented with antigypsyism policy interventions that counter discrimination against RAE and foster equality in Kosovo.
Combating corruption in Kosovo
01.07.2020
- 30.06.2024
The purpose of this project is to address key challenges in the policy and legislative frameworks, strengthen capacities of anticorruption institutions and foster public demand for accountability through civic engagement. This will be done through concluding the framework for preventive and suppressive anti-corruption processes that lead to asset confiscation.
Improving access to good-quality healthcare services in Kosovo
01.01.2020
- 31.12.2023
AQH strengthens clinical capacity and managerial competence in partner municipalities towards increasing quality of services provided as well as enhancing the system’s understanding and response to the needs of communities, in particular vulnerable groups. At the community end, AQH generates demand for quality services, by improving health literacy and involving people in shaping the services, thus leading to an increased and rational utilization of all health services and ultimately improved health status of the population.
Democratic Society Promotion (DSP)
01.10.2019
- 31.12.2023
Through grants and capacity building, Kosovo's civil society is supported to do advocacy and fulfil its watchdog function, to become more accountable and transparent and to enhance legitimacy by reconnecting with citizens and their constituency. By providing support through a contribution to the newly established donor pool fund administered by the local partner Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF), support to civil society will become more efficient, sustainable and better coordinated.
Housing solutions for displaced persons
01.03.2019
- 31.12.2022
As a consequence of the war in the 1990s, over three million people were displaced both within and beyond the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. Twenty-five years after the Dayton Accords, the Western Balkans are still host to almost half a million vulnerable persons displaced by conflict in the former Yugoslavia. The Regional Housing Programme (RHP) aims to provide durable housing solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons in need.
| Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Western Balkans |
Migration
Forced displacement (refugees, IDP, human trafficking)
|
01.03.2019 - 31.12.2022 |
CHF 1’555’000 |
lntegrated Water Resource Management in Kosovo
01.10.2018
- 30.04.2024
The Integrated Water Resource Management project supports different stakeholders in Kosovo at the national, regional and local level for establishing an integrated water resources management approach. This approach will address issues such as pollution, rising demand for water for farming, industry and growing urban areas, and will help mitigate the impact of climate change.
Rural Water and Sanitation Support Programme in Kosovo
01.01.2018
- 31.12.2022
Since 2005, the Swiss Rural Water and Sanitation Support Programme has provided better access to safe drinking water and sanitation to 474’000 people living in rural areas. By further strengthening the capacities of the water companies and their oversight bodies and with targeted infrastructure investments, the RWSSP exit phase will contribute to a sustainable and socially inclusive provision of high-quality water and sanitation services. For the first time the program will include the Northern municipalities of Kosovo.
Improving Financial Protection and Quality of Care (Contribution to a World Bank Hybrid Trust Fund)
01.09.2013
- 31.08.2023
Kosovo has initiated a wide-ranging health sector reform, a cornerstone of which is the introduction of the mandatory health insurance. Given the complexity of the reforms, technical support will be crucial in assisting an effective implementation. Moreover, a better informed targeting of public subsidies will protect poor people from either foregoing health care or being impoverished due to out of pocket payments for health care in case of ill health.
