The Young Champions Promoting Kosovo’s Cultural Heritage

For six months, 10 young women and men deepened their understanding of the diverse cultural heritage of Kosovo by engaging in various activities and events organized by the municipalities including on educating and learning about the valuable heritage within their municipalities.

The 10 youngsters served as UN Community volunteers in the municipalities of Deçan/Dečan, Gjakovë/Ðakovica, Gjilan/Gnijlane, Kamenicë/Kamenica, Mitrovicë/Mitrovica North, Mitrovicë/Mitrovica South, Pejë/Peć, Novobërdë/ Novo Brdo, Prizren, and Prishtinë/Priština, under UNDP’s project ‘Cultural Heritage as a Driver for Intercommunity Dialogue and Social Cohesion, funded by European Union Service for Foreign Policy Instrument (FPI).

At the end of their engagement, the enthusiastic UN community volunteers gathered at the Institute of the Protection of Monuments in Prishtinë/Priština – a landmark location in Kosovo, to cherish the results of their experience.

“I am happy I had the chance to contribute to promoting the cultural heritage of my municipality and lucky to gain such an experience which will help me raise awareness of the importance of protecting our heritage”, says Ujëjeta Shatri, UN Community Volunteer in the Municipality of Pejë/Peć.

The EU-funded project has been making continuous efforts to preserve and revive Kosovo's cultural heritage - including in the municipalities where the volunteers were engaged - with interventions for the restoration, rehabilitation, and beautification of cultural heritage sites, but also by promoting intangible cultural heritage as a bond for social cohesion.

Driven by the desire to be active members of the society, the 10 volunteers have been deployed to assist and support the municipalities in implementing daily activities in an institutional setting, thus gaining knowledge and professional experience while contributing to community-based initiatives and trust-building processes.

“My municipality has a rich, diverse heritage and I wanted to be part of activities which will allow me to learn more ways of preserving and reviving it,” says Egzon, who was engaged as a volunteer in the Municipality of Novobërdë/Novo Brdo.

Egzon recalls with particular interest his visit to the Restoration Camp which took place in October of 2022, organized by the project, where he had the opportunity to see the dedication and hard work of other young women and men who were part of the preservation and restoration of the ‘Osman Efendi’ mosque.

Spiritual heritage caught the interest of Liridona Ademi, a volunteer who served as a guide at the City Museum in Gjilan/Gnjilane. While learning about the cultural heritage of her municipality she also shared her knowledge with others who visited the museum – most of them secondary school children.

“The most common questions I was asked by the kids were about the artefacts and traditional clothes. That is really a part of our cultural history, of which we should be proud of,” says Liridona.

A meeting point of cultures where the shared heritage sits proudly is the city of Prizren, the hometown of Enisa Abdiji, a student of education and healthcare programme at the University of Prishtinë/Priština“. During my time as a volunteer, many visitors stopped me on the streets and asked me what is interesting to see in Prizren, and I proudly showed them our valuable sites,” she says.

Arzije Mavriqi, who volunteered in the Municipality of Kamenicë/Kamenica, values this experience for the chance it gave her to meet youth from different communities and learn about their cultural heritage:

 “Me and my colleague from Serbian community were brainstorming every day, here at the Directorate of Culture, about ways to bring together all the communities in cultural activities.”

The contribution of the volunteers was highly appreciated by representatives of the Directorates of Culture at municipal level. 

“We need the support of young people so that we can help develop our activities which address their needs, especially in engaging with communities,” says Flamur Uka, representative of the Directorate of Education and Culture in Novobërdë/Novo Brdo.

Fisnik Caka, head of cultural sector in the Municipality of Gjakovë/Đakovica, where Jonian Doli was engaged as a volunteer says that young people need to learn also how the local level institutions work and commit to protecting and promoting cultural heritage.

“We wanted to involve Jonian in each of our activities so that he gets a glimpse of what is important and how our activities contribute to raise awareness that cultural heritage belongs to all of us, thus, we need to protect it,” he concludes

For many of the volunteers, this was the first chance they had to gain first professional work experience and in such as an important field as cultural heritage.

“This experience will serve me well in future; as it was my first official work. I gained knowledge as to how institutions work that I am sure I will be able to put in use in my future career,” says Dzemil Zaimi, a volunteer in the Municipality of Mitrovica North.

UNDP will continue to support these and similar endeavors because they help young women and men understand the work of institutions, so they are better prepared to contribute to social cohesion through cultural heritage initiatives. 

FootnotesStory by Mimoza Kqiku, Photos by UNDP Kosovo & Arben Llapashtica