OSCE Mission in Kosovo trains former ‘Civil Protection’ members

VUSHTRRI/VUČITRN, 8 February 2016 – The OSCE Mission today started a basic training course for 378 former members of the ‘Civilian Protection’ from northern Kosovo on the institutional and legal framework in Kosovo, including community rights.

The six-week course is organized at the request of the Kosovo Ministry for Dialogue and takes place at the Public Safety Academy in Vushtrri/Vučitrn.  

“The OSCE Mission is providing this training course as part of its effort to support the implementation of Brussels Agreements reached between Prishtinë/Priština and Belgrade under the facilitation of the European Union,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Jean-Claude Schlumberger.

“We are happy we could contribute to this process and we believe that the end result will be the provision of better services to the people of all communities in Kosovo. On the behalf of stakeholders, I also want to thank the Public Safety Academy and its staff for their general support and for providing facilities for the training.” 

Along with Ambassador Schlumberger, Dialogue Minister Edita Tahiri, the General Secretary of the Local Government Administration Ministry Besnik Osmani, the Public Safety Academy’s General Director Ismail Smakiqi and EULEX representative Eva Gutjahr spoke at the opening of the event.  

The 378 trainees have recently signed their contracts and will be working in various ministries and agencies in Kosovo. The training course will be followed by a more specific civil-service-related module, offered by the Kosovo Institute of Public Administration.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is mandated with the protection and promotion of human and community rights, as well as strengthening the rule of law and developing the public safety sector. It regularly delivers advanced and specialized training courses for law enforcement agencies.