Institute of Public Health (IPH), with the support of WHO Pristina, is preparing to go on the field during November to carry out the household energy use survey. This would be a first survey of its kind in Kosovo, and the purpose is to estimate the health effects resulting from use of heating and cooking fuels from households in Kosovo. Two thousand (2,000) randomly selected households will be surveyed, using a WHO standardized questionnaire that was adapted to the Kosovo context in close consultations with health, environment, and energy experts in Kosovo. Just before the IPH team goes on the field, on 27th of October 2022 WHO Pristina organized a training for the field team so that they become fully familiar with the questionnaire, the methodology and approach to use when selecting households, using of the questionnaire in the tablets, and others.   The support to IPH is provided by WHO Pristina, in close coordination with the WHO HQ unit on Air Quality and Health and aligned with WHO guidelines and recommendations. Activities are being implemented in the frame of Healthier Kosovo 2 project, funded by Luxembourg. The state of ambient air quality and its main sources are well documented in Kosovo, and health effects have been estimated by different parties. However, the state of indoor air quality is less known. It is believed that a significant portion of the population in Kosovo are using wood & coal for heating and cooking, and due to this, the household sector has become one of the largest contributors of ambient air pollution. This survey aims to explore how the use of these fuels and devices, is contributing towards indoor air pollution. Since household air pollution is responsible for millions of premature deaths globally (3.2 million in 2020), understanding its state in Kosovo is crucial for public health measures. Once this survey is complete, WHO in close collaboration with IPH, are looking at a potential follow-up activity where a select group of households that have indicated to be more prone to household air pollution, will be selected to carry out actual measurements of the pollutants inside their dwellings. This will provide further evidence on the extent and severity of this issue in Kosovo so that relevant stakeholders can design concrete interventions to better the situation. The findings and recommendations from these studies will be communicated to all relevant Kosovo stakeholders, with the aim to plan for concrete interventions and public health measures to improve the situation. WHO will continue supporting health stakeholders in Kosovo to continue assessing and addressing the potential health implications from air pollution and other environmental factors.

During an official ceremony in Pristina, 15 Municipalities of Kosovo signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with UN Women for the advancement of gender responsive budgeting and gender equality at the local level. The MoUs foresee the support of UN Women Kosovo for the signatory municipalities on the integration of a gender perspective in all programs at the local level, the strengthening of the administration's capacities to fulfill the requirements arising from the Law on Gender Equality and the advancement of the gender responsive budgeting (GRB) processes. The cooperation agreement will facilitate UN Women’s work in supporting local institutions with capacity building and technical assistance on the implementation of GRB and ‘engendering’ municipal programmes. The signatory municipalities are Gjakova/Đakovica, Peja/Peć, Prizren, Podujeva/o, Ferizaj/Uroševac, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Mitrovica, Lipjan/Lipljan, Hani i Elezit, Vitia, Klina, Kamenica, Dragash/š, Grac/čanica, and Suhareka/Suva Reka. Present at the ceremony, the Ministry of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, stated that the achievement of full equality among women and men can be done through the equal allocation of the budget and that every budgetary organization must implement gender responsive budgeting. “How public spending is allocated can contribute to reducing gender inequalities in society. Thus, the successful implementation of the GRB approach within the governmental and municipal budget can increase the effectiveness of public spending,” he said. “For years, we have provided assistance and support to local governments in establishing mechanisms and in realizing gender analysis to address the needs of citizens, women, and men. We have accepted unconditional support from municipal officials in all processes and this ceremony caps off our work,” said Vlora Tuzi Nushi, Head of Office at UN Women Kosovo. Speaking at the event, the Ambassador of Sweden to Kosovo, Jonas Westerlund, said: “Sida -– the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency – has been supporting UN Women for a while now in the advancement of gender equality through the promotion of GRB in Kosovo and the Western Balkans. Kosovo is undertaking great efforts for reforms, and we are here to support you." Emphasizing the effectiveness of GRB, the United Nations Coordinator for Development in Kosovo, Arnhild Spence, said: “The budget is gender-responsive in that it invests in areas traditionally underrepresented by women, namely education, health, safety, and security. It centers around both men and women, boys and girls in planning and executing policies and decisions for services, facilities, and representation.” “Budget is the most important policy tool of Local Governments and is how Governments allocate resources to implement their policies. The budget is also an important indicator of the extent to which a government is gender-sensitive and the value it places to the principle of gender equality,” said Ermira Lubani, Regional Programme Manager for Gender-Responsive Budgeting at UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office. This activity was organized under the programme “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans”, funded by SIDA and implemented in Kosovo since 2020.

On 26th of October 2022, a workshop was organized by WHO Pristina to facilitate the work on the draft standard operating procedures (SOP) related to the management of infectious healthcare waste. The working group (WG) assigned by Ministry of Health (MoH) has nearly finalized the SOP, and the aim of this workshop was to support the WG to put the final touches to it in accordance with WHO guidelines and with the direct support of international and local WHO consultants. This workshop is only the first step in the WHO’s plan to support the improvement of healthcare waste management in Kosovo. Besides the support to finalize this SOP, the plan is to also continue supporting stakeholders to develop SOPs for all types of waste generated by healthcare facilities. In the end, the plan is to have a complete package of SOPs that can serve as a reference point for healthcare workers and all other parties of interest. Besides SOPs, WHO is also designing a training package aimed at healthcare workers and sanitary workers to increase their knowledge on managing waste within healthcare facilities. Training of Trainers and other routes will be pursued to make these trainings mandatory and integrated into existing structures to ensure sustainability. Lastly, once SOPs and trainings are finalized, WHO will prepare awareness raising materials (leaflets, posters) to be distributed in healthcare facilities so that healthcare workers & patients will be reminded on how to handle medical waste when they come in contact with it.  

Can we ask ourselves how much we as journalists contribute to building social cohesion and trust? How much do we work to balance between important values such as diversity, inclusiveness, equal opportunities and a just, democratic, open and tolerant community? How much can we do to promote and practice gender equality on the media and with all journalists? During the 17th edition of Journalist Poverty Eradication prize 2022, we asked all these question through two panels and discussed in depth these matters of interest to Kosovo society. In the end we concluded with the award ceremony, presenting best journalistic pieces, covering the period from 18 October 2021 up to 18 October 2022. In the first panel, moderated by the Head of the Board of Association of Journalists of Kosovo, Mr. Xhemajl Rexha, composed of: Mr. Budimir Ničić, Journalist from Medija Centar-Gracanica, Ms. Ardinana Thaçi, journalist from Klan Kosova Tv, Ms. Biljana Nasteska Kalanoska, representative Association of Journalists from North Macedonia. We heard about challenges that journalists face in dealing with ever changing political climate, often fighting against borderline hate speech. While in Kosovo there is no more daily press printed, in North Macedonia there are one or two daily printed media and few periodicals. Online media taking over are extremely challenging in terms of responsibility for the published information, leaving a lot of room for misinterpretation and out of context citations published and promoted in the social media. Further the panel concluded that today's media cannot exist without the old values of journalism, but it also requires new skills. We need more critical thinking than ever before. We must question everything that is happening around us and understand what is behind every story. This will lead us all to higher levels of responsibility and professionalism. In the second panel also moderated by the Head of Board of AJK Mr. Rexha participants: Ms. Vlora Tuzi Nushi, Head of UN Women; Ms. Luljeta Demolli, Executive Director of Kosovo Gender Studies Center, and Ms. Gentiana Begolli editor from RTK1, as well as former Head of AJK Board. The panelists discussed difficulties of working as a journalist for common good, and trust building, when there is a general trend in the media and political public discourse that seems to be working against it. Citing as a good example increasingly good portrayal of strong women in the media, as well as citing as bad cases miniscule portrayal of women in some media, by talking about their appearance and housework more than about their values and contribution. We followed with the presentation of the Jury members composed of: Ms. Dafina Zuna, Communication Officer from UNICEF Ms. Donika Sabovic, Communication Officer from UNFPA Mr. Isa Myzyraj, Freelance Journalist Mr. Bojan Tomic, Journalist from RTK2 Ms. Doruntina Baliu, Journalist from Radio Free Europe Based on the evaluation from the jury, AJK and UNKT awarded following prizes: UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Mr. Niels Knudsen awarded to ‘The Best Short Video Story’ to DORUNTINA BYLYKBASHI - Discriminated in education and pocket, the piece produced for RTV Dukagjini aims to reflect the socio-economic situation and the difficulties faced by the non-majority communities in Kosovo, namely the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian citizens, and their coping with education challenge. The video story, made at the end of December 2021, focuses mostly on the new situation created due to the pandemic, which as a result had exacerbated the troubles for these communities (and not only). Protagonists in it are students of the lower education cycle, for whom permission is normally obtained from their parents for interviewing; students, who worked voluntarily for the integration of children from non-majority communities; organizations that focus on education and advocate for the integration of Roma, Egyptians and Ashkali in Kosovo; statistics from the Statistics Agency of Kosovo and statistics from the rectorate of the University of Pristina. As well as from the institutional level, the Minister of Local Government, Elbert Krasniqi, is also a part of the story, who not only speaks in the name of his official position, but also as a member and representative of the Egyptian community. The images show the condition of over 100 residents of these communities. In general, they face poor conditions and many difficulties in everyday life, also affecting the non-existence of basic rights. The place where the story took place is the village Plemetine/a, in the municipality of Obiliq/ć. UN VOLUNTEERS Coordinator, Mr. Blerim Azizi presented the award for ‘The Best TV Documentary’ to DIAMANT BAJRA - Nothing for the minority, for his on Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. In this documentary, the life of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities living in Kosovo is reflected. Inequality and discrimination in society make these residents of minority communities in Kosovo live with minimal living conditions. In this documentary, some members of the non-majority communities who live in Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje are interviewed. Also, part of the documentary are their representatives in institutions, who show their role and commitment to the members of the communities. From what is reflected in the documentary, it can be seen that in the absence of the necessary support from the authorities and inequality in society, being a member of minority communities is a challenge in itself. According to the data of the population census conducted in 2011, it is said that 8,824 Roma, 15,436 Ashkali and 11,524 Egyptians live in Kosovo. The purpose of making this documentary was to highlight the real situation and the challenges they face, with the aim of improving this situation. UNICEF Operations Menager, Shpend Selimi presented the award for ‘The Best Written Story’ to DAFINA HALILI- Ghost school, ghetto school and Segregated shifts, for her inspiring investigative written piece about consequence of poverty and children segregation based on their ethnic lines in schools. In this investigative story, K2.0 tracked and documented that hundreds of Roma and some Ashkali children are separated from their peers in several Serbian system schools in ethnically mixed cities and towns across Kosovo. K2.0 confirmed that there are ethnically segregated shifts in North Mitrovica, an almost empty school in Obiliq/ć and a ghettoized branch of a Roma-only school in Gjilan/Gnjlane, and how there are indications of similar practices in Janjevë/o, Plemetine/a, and in Fushë Kosovë/KosovoPolje. The story also traced and verified how the schools of the official school system of Kosovo have illegally discriminated against Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children, while attempts at such segregation practices continue. K2.0 shows how decision-making by parallel Serbian education structures and tacit acceptance by Kosovo's official education system allow discrimination in education to continue. But at the root of all this are the continuous deprivation of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian from economic rights, the gaps in supervision that are the result of the dual education system in Kosovo. Representative of UNOPS, Mr. Sherafedin Mustafa presented ‘The Best Photograph’ between VALDRIN FETAHU - Perspective and ADNAN BEQIRI - Survival, and in addition announced that in the future this category will include also the video category under the name Best Camera. WHO Officer, Mr Bujar Rexhepi presented the award for ‘The Best Audio Story’ to the journalist MILENA TODOROVIĆ - Position of Roma in Graçanicë/Gračanica, for her radio piece. On World Roma Day, which is celebrated on April 8, we visited Graçanicë/Gračanica, in order to see for ourselves how members of the Roma community live on the territory of this municipality. Through conversation with our interlocutors, we learned that, like most of the Roma population throughout Kosovo, the Roma in Graçanicë/Gračanica face numerous challenges, but the most pronounced are socio-economic problems. Due to high inflation in Kosovo, due to low incomes, members of this community are particularly affected, who expect help from the Government of Kosovo. Roma in Graçanicë/Gračanica are mostly engaged in physical work, the number of employees in institutions is small, therefore they are still a very sensitive category of the population in terms of existence. UNFPA Head of Office, Dr. Visare Mujko-Nimani presented a special prize for ‘The Best Audio/Radio Story’ to journalist MAJLINDA DODA - Dismissal of pregnant women from work, for her piece of employment insecurity for pregnant women. The chronicle "Dismissal of pregnant women from work" elaborates the challenges of the female gender in a workplace, at the moment when they become pregnant. Working or starting a family is one of the dilemmas faced by women in Kosovo, mainly those who are employed in the private sector or even claim to get a job, where during the past year, over 1 thousand 500 women have left the workplace due to pregnancy. The character of this material, Donjeta, mother of three daughters, tells how she was accepted to work twice and passed all the tests, but she did not manage to get a job, because she was expecting a child, and this was to the detriment of businesses. who also told him on the spot. Meanwhile, the story further emphasizes that for the implementation of the Maternity Law, there are not enough inspectors in the field, while the official data do not have data on what percentage of women have left work for this reason. Work or family, a phenomenon that is affecting the decrease in the birth rate, considering that the unemployment level in Kosovo is 20.5 percent.