UN opens way for micro-finance institutions in Kosovo.
OCTOBER 22 -- The United Nations operation in Kosovo today enacted legislation authorizing lending institutions to make loans to individuals and small business in the territory.

By the regulation signed today by the head of the Kosovo mission, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, institutions, other than banks, can now legally provide micro-credit up to 2,000 DM.

The regulation creates a quick and simple licensing scheme for donors to channel funds to finance local projects, a spokeswoman for the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said. Commercial banks are also expected to soon begin operating in Kosovo, the spokeswoman said.

In another development, UNMIK announced the start of payments to 35,000 teachers and staff in Kosovo. This is the third round of stipend payments to be made by UNMIK, as interim administrator in the territory. The funds have been drawn from a UN trust fund established to support civil administration in Kosovo, which has already been used to pay civil servants and others, including doctors.

UN agency races to prepare Kosovo for winter.
OCTOBER 22 -- The United Nations refugee agency reported today that deliveries of winterization supplies to Kosovo were being delayed due to rain in some areas.

"A race is on" to help the territory's population prepare for winter, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman, Peter Keller, told the press in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.

Roads are cut off due to heavy mud, and only wagons and horses can get to the hills above Mitrovica, he explained, noting that such challenges are symptomatic of the onset of winter.

So far, UNHCR has delivered two-thirds of the shelters materials it plans to provide to Kosovars before winter. More than 310,000 plastic sheets and 4,300 wood burning stoves have been distributed, Mr. Keller said. Although truck and trainloads of supplies continued to arrive in Kosovo daily, there was no way that all 120,000 homes damaged during recent conflict would be repaired in 1999. "People are being asked to practice 'winter solidarity' and take others in," he said.

UNHCR also reported today that it has started a bus transportation programme allowing Serbs living near the town of Grijilane, where ethnic tensions have existed, to safely travel around the area.

Speaking to the press in Geneva, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said the programme uses two buses to connects 14 Serb-populated villages and hamlets. Modelled on a project earlier used in Bosnia, the new programme will be expanded in coming weeks, he said.

Secretary-General tells Security Council more resources needed for UN to administer Kosovo.
OCTOBER 21 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Security Council today that the UN operation in Kosovo required more resources to fufil its mandate to administer the territory.

"I made a plea to the Council that we need money", Mr. Annan told the press in New York after briefing the Council on his visit last week to the Balkans. "We had all the resources for the war, and we should have a similar determination when it comes to rebuilding peace," he said, noting "we will be knocking on all the doors of the governments who have given us the mandate."

Mr. Annan pointed to the considerable ambiguities in the Security Council mandate. While the Council had mandated the UN to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Mr. Annan said that the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), in its role as interim administrator, was faced with a large portion of the population clamouring for independence from the Yugoslav Republic. Its very nature created built-in tensions, he said.

Although UNMIK was still racing against time to provide adequate housing before the onset of winter, he said all Kosovars would have a secure place to stay. Several hundred thousand people would be accommodated in shelters and others homes, until more complete reconstruction efforts could resume in the spring, he said.

Meanwhile, in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, the head of UNMIK Dr. Bernard Kouchner condemned a grenade attack last night which injured a local UNMIK employee in the southeastern town of Gnjilane.

"It was a cowardly and disgusting act by criminals whom we will pursue relentlessly," Dr. Kouchner said. UNMIK international police and UN security are investigating the incident.

According to a UN report, the Serbian interpreter working for UNMIK was seriously injured when a grenade was thrown into her apartment as she sat watching television with her aunt.

Kosovo Transitional Council rejects formation of Serb protection force.
OCTOBER 20 -- The Kosovo Transitional Council today firmly opposed the formation of a Serb force to protect the minority population.

Saying the idea of establishing a "Serb Protection Force" raised earlier this week by local Serb leaders was unacceptable, Council members emphasized that UN international police and the KFOR security force held sole responsibility for security and public order in the territory. The Council encouraged all minorities, in particular Serbs, to join the Kosovo Protection Force being mustered by the UN to help absorb demobilized Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) solders into a civilian service.

The Transitional Council, the highest political body reporting to the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), issued this statement following its weekly meeting in Kosovo's capital, Pristina. While various Albanian leaders and representatives of other groups were in attendance, Serb leaders have been boycotting the Council to protest the formation of the Kosovo Protection Corps fearing that it will, in effect, be an instrument of the KLA.

Speaking to the press following the Council meeting, UNMIK head Dr. Bernard Kouchner reiterated the UN and KFOR statement yesterday rejecting the formation of the Serb force, saying other measures were improving security for minorities.

Efforts to reduce tension between Serb and Albanian students which has prevented the opening of Pristina University were also discussed during today's session, Dr. Kouchner said. A series of high-level meetings have been held between the UN, KFOR and student representatives from all sides.

The immediate area of contention has focused on the campus in the already tense town of Mitrovica, where Albanians have sought access to the Technology, Metallurgy and Mining facility located in the Serb-dominated northern part of the city.

While negotiations were ongoing, Dr Kouchner said that the UN's long-standing position on the matter was that all the University facilities must be open to all students, everywhere.

UN in Kosovo repeals discriminatory housing and property laws.
OCTOBER 20 -- The United Nations in Kosovo has abolished discriminatory laws relating to housing and property ownership, after determining they violated the human rights of people of the territory.

Through a regulation enacted last week, the head of the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, repealed two specific laws - one on real estate transactions; another on granting farm land to citizens.

Also last week, Dr. Kouchner signed a regulation authorizing UNMIK to use Kosovo's Public Payment Service, headquartered in the capital, Pristina, to collect and disburse public funds. Dr. Kouchner plans to appoint a supervisory board to oversee payments for public institutions, as well as public sector salaries and pensions.

Signing a third regulation last week, Dr. Kouchner authorized the Post and Telecommunication Enterprise of Kosovo (PTK) to provide mail and phone services to Kosovo, under the overall supervision of UNMIK. By the new legislation, PTK was given use of all public postal and telecommunication assets in the territory, including any future expansions.

The European Union is funding a project to rebuild and modernize the Kosovo telephone system, a UNMIK spokeswoman said today. Phone service is expected to be available to most of the territory by spring and plans are under way to establish a mobile network by the end of 2000.

UN human rights office asks Yugoslav officials for list of Kosovars detained.
OCTOBER 20 -- The United Nations human rights office has asked the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for a list of all Kosovar citizens being held in Serbia, a UN spokeswoman said today.

Acting on behalf of the UN-supervised civilian commission seeking the release of reportedly more than 5,000 Kosovar Albanians, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Belgrade has asked the Justice Minister for an accounting of all Kosovars detained in the territory before March 1999, those held in Serbia after that date and all who have been released from Serbian prisons.

The Human Rights Office has also asked the Ministry of Justice to visit several Serbian prisons to ascertain the condition of women, children, elderly or sick detainees from Kosovo, UN spokeswoman Nadia Younes told the press in Kosovo.

Dr. Bernard Kouchner, head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), informed the press in Pristina today that no reply had yet been received from the Yugoslav authorities.

Also today, Dr. Kouchner visited a new facility providing medical and psychosocial support to victims of torture and others working to overcome the psychological trauma of war.

Some 150 doctors, nurses and teachers will be trained at the Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims to deal with traumatic stress syndrome and other effects of torture and trauma. Satellite centres will be opened in several surrounding towns.

Prosecutor for UN Tribunal for former Yugoslavia announces plans to visit Kosovo.
OCTOBER 20 -- The Prosecutor for the Yugoslav International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia will visit Kosovo and other areas in the Balkans region next week at a critical time for the Tribunal's mandate and work, the Prosecutor's Office announced today in The Hague.

A spokesman for Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said her visit would come as the work of forensic teams in Kosovo amassing evidence of war crimes and atrocities was coming to a pause with the onset of winter.

In Kosovo, Ms. Del Ponte will meet with Dr. Bernard Kouchner, the head of the UN mission, to discuss how the Tribunal can help establish a local criminal justice system and assist with the local prosecution of war crimes suspects. She will also discuss the continuing cooperation between the Tribunal and the KFOR international security forces, with its new commander, General Klaus Reinhardt.

Ms. Del Ponte will then meet with senior government officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

UN and KFOR reject proposed Kosovo Serb security force.
OCTOBER 19 -- The United Nations and the KFOR protection force today came out against the formation of a Serb security contingent in Kosovo to protect the territory's minority population.

The UN and KFOR acknowledged deep concerns over the continuing ethnic tensions and the targeting of non-Albanian minorities in Kosovo, but reiterated that KFOR would remain the only security presence there.

"While we understand fully the fears of the Serbs in terms of security, particularly in light of recent incidents, the formation of any Kosovo Serb security force is unnecessary," the UN and KFOR said in a joint statement released in the capital, Pristina. Both the UN and KFOR pledged to enhance their security presence in Serb and mixed communities to improve daily life and encourage tolerance and integration.

Yesterday, leaders of the Kosovo Serb community announced their intention to establish a "Serb Protection Corps", parallel to the Kosovo Protection Corps which is being mustered by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Serbs have protested against the Kosovo Corps since its inception last month to help absorb demobilized Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) soldiers on the grounds that it will, in effect, be an instrument of the KLA.

Today's joint statement reiterated that the Kosovo Corps would play no law enforcement role in the territory and that 10 per cent of its ranks would be drawn from minority communities. The Kosovo Corps "is conceived as a civilian emergency service agency; the only such agency for Kosovo, which needs no duplication or alternative," the statement said.

The statement noted that the 16 prospective Kosovo Protection Corps members - 10 Albanians, three Serbs, two Bosniaks and a Turk - are now in France to study the workings of the Securite Civile.

UNMIK and KFOR also rejected again an earlier Serb proposal to separate themselves into cantons, saying such a move ran counter to the basic philosophy of the UN and its mission in Kosovo.

War, civil strife and discriminatory practices leave two-thirds of Kosovo unemployed, says UN labour agency report.
OCTOBER 19 -- At least two-thirds of Kosovo's adults are unemployed, with the remainder working in a vast gray market devoid of legal protection, the United Nations labour agency says.

Civil strife and warfare in the past decade, which have combined to cause a 50 per cent drop in Kosovo's gross domestic product (GDP), have also reduced basic labour market institutions to a catastrophic extent, according to a report of the International Labour Organization (ILO) released today in Geneva.

The new report, entitled "Employment and Workers Protection in Kosovo", finds that out of a working-age population of 1.33 million, only 470,000 Kosovars are economically active. Many are men and nearly a quarter work in agricultural activities.

The report emphasizes that the employment problem is not only due to declining economic performance and military action, but can also be traced back to discriminatory legislation and hiring practices of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the 1990s.

Along with the degradation of the employment system, ILO finds that the territory's wage system has collapsed and the administrative machinery has been greatly weakened.

The result is that many who work are not being paid and those on pensions or unemployed are having their revenues cut, according to the author of the report Lajos Hethy, former Labour Minister for Hungary. "The current labour market and social systems must be turned around in order to provide badly needed jobs, income and social protection to a sorely affected population in a highly volatile situation," said Mr. Hethy.

Commenting on the report, ILO Director General, Juan Somavia, said social inequity that brought catastrophe to Kosovo had been deepened by decades of distortions in the labour market. "The social instrument of the labour market which once served to divide ethnic groups needs to be developed as a fundamental tool for healing the economic and social fabric of post-war Kosovo," Mr. Somavia said.

The report highlights the need to restart production in public enterprise, which had accounted for nearly 80 per cent of Kosovo's GDP. The ILO also urges direct job creation in the labour intensive reconstruction projects and assistance to employment generating small and medium size enterprises. A revival of unemployment benefits and pensions payments is also encouraged.

Already, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and other international organization are decreasing unemployment by hiring local technical staff, the report finds. The UN, as interim administrator of the territory, is also in a position to help fortify the labor protection system by enforcing labor laws and other regulations.

First Kosovar police cadets graduate UN-sponsored academy.
OCTOBER 18 -- The premier class of Kosovar police has graduated from the UN-sponsored academy, completing five weeks of training to become the first officers of an independent, indigenous police force on Saturday.

A total of 173 students of the Kosovo Police Service School were presented graduation certificates by the head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, during a ceremony at Pristina University.

The cadets will go on to 19 weeks of practical field training after completing two more weeks of coursework, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which operates the Police School. Only after successfully completing field training focusing on community-oriented police service, will new officers be given executive authority, the OSCE said in a statement released this weekend in Pristina, Kosovo's capital.

Speaking at the ceremony, the UNMIK deputy charged with developing democratic institutions Daan Everts commended the graduates for their dedication to fostering a new role for police in Kosovo. He reminded the graduates that their primary task was to serve the population of Kosovo in an egalitarian and unbiased way.

The first group of officers of the new Kosovo Police Service, which is set to number 3,500, were selected for training by the UN from among nearly 20,000 applicants. There are eight Serbs in the first class, with a total of 17 minority students. There are 39 women among the class.

The second class of police cadets is scheduled to begin training in November.

People-centred development assistance needed in Kosovo, says UNDP-sponsored study.
OCTOBER 18 -- A new model of development assistance, focusing on the overall security of citizens, must be applied for post-conflict reconstruction and development to be effective in Kosovo, according to a new study commissioned by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Social, economic and political security of the people must be the priority of international assistance, not the rebuilding of physical infrastructure, say the authors of the UNDP report released late last week at The Hague. "A better way to reduce conflict would be to invest less in roads and more in people," say the group of analysts from such nations as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia.

The report, entitled "Human Security in South East Europe", argues that unless the "human security approach" is used, reconstruction of South East Europe is doomed to fail. "In the end, the major criteria for the success of reconstruction should be improvements in access to education, better quality of health care, less unemployment and guaranteed political, civil and cultural rights," says the report.

Earlier this year, UNDP launched a $5 million programme to create jobs in Kosovo using human security principles. The aim of the UNDP project, being undertaken in Kosovo in partnership with the European Commission, is to create some 10,000 labor-intensive jobs for unemployed youth, demobilized solders and others affected by the recent conflict.

UN Volunteers begin training to register Kosovars.
OCTOBER 18 -- The United Nations in Kosovo today began training teams of UN Volunteers to register the population of the territory.

More than 50 UN Volunteers started the three-day programme covering Kosovo's history, politics economics and aspects of the territory's new legal framework being established by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), UN spokeswoman Nadia Younes told the press in Kosovo's capital, Pristina. UN Volunteers plan to open 120 registration centres throughout the territory.

All Kosovars 16 years and older will be given UNMIK identity cards and their names will be added to rosters for future elections, a UN spokesman said in New York.

However, no date has been set to begin the overall registration process, due to a shortage in funds to buy necessary computers and cameras, the spokesman said.