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OSCE's Kosovo Mission Head inaugurates two libraries to support education effort
PRISTINA 11 September 2003
PRISTINA, 11 September 2003 - The OSCE Mission in Kosovo (OMiK) and the municipal authorities of Lipjan/Lipljan today inaugurated a library in the local house of culture, which will serve children of all communities in the municipality.
A similar project was also inaugurated today at the Mental Institution of Shtime/Stimlje, the only one of its kind in Kosovo. A number of senior Kosovo officials were in attendance, including the Minister of Work and Social Welfare, Ahmet Isufi, and the President of Shtime/Stimlje municipality, Fehmi Mujota.
"Today, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, and I personally, feel proud to see the results of our joint effort with local representatives in setting up this important cultural facility," Ambassador Pascal Fieschi, Head of the OSCE Mission said in Lipjan/Lipljan.
"I thank and congratulate the municipality as well as the Netherlands Government, whose generous contributions have made the operation of this centre possible,"he said at the opening ceremony.
The newly refurbished library contains 19,500 books in both the Albanian and Serbian languages. Besides providing books, the OSCE Mission also refurbished and adapted the old premise into a modern resource centre with a computer. In addition, a Kosovo Albanian and a Kosovo Serb employee will jointly run the library, so that each community can be served in their own language.
"The rights and needs of vulnerable groups of this society are sometimes overlooked," said Fieschi.
Next to this renovation, the library is another project aiming at the improvement of the conditions for patients in the Mental Institution. It is hoped that all layers of the society will realise the difference they can make in lives of vulnerable people and continue undertaking similar projects in the future.
The new libraries were supported through the OSCE's Small Investment Minorities Fund (SIMF), established through a grant from the Netherlands Ministry for Development Co-operation. The Netherlands currently holds the Chairmanship of the OSCE.
A similar project was also inaugurated today at the Mental Institution of Shtime/Stimlje, the only one of its kind in Kosovo. A number of senior Kosovo officials were in attendance, including the Minister of Work and Social Welfare, Ahmet Isufi, and the President of Shtime/Stimlje municipality, Fehmi Mujota.
"Today, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, and I personally, feel proud to see the results of our joint effort with local representatives in setting up this important cultural facility," Ambassador Pascal Fieschi, Head of the OSCE Mission said in Lipjan/Lipljan.
"I thank and congratulate the municipality as well as the Netherlands Government, whose generous contributions have made the operation of this centre possible,"he said at the opening ceremony.
The newly refurbished library contains 19,500 books in both the Albanian and Serbian languages. Besides providing books, the OSCE Mission also refurbished and adapted the old premise into a modern resource centre with a computer. In addition, a Kosovo Albanian and a Kosovo Serb employee will jointly run the library, so that each community can be served in their own language.
"The rights and needs of vulnerable groups of this society are sometimes overlooked," said Fieschi.
Next to this renovation, the library is another project aiming at the improvement of the conditions for patients in the Mental Institution. It is hoped that all layers of the society will realise the difference they can make in lives of vulnerable people and continue undertaking similar projects in the future.
The new libraries were supported through the OSCE's Small Investment Minorities Fund (SIMF), established through a grant from the Netherlands Ministry for Development Co-operation. The Netherlands currently holds the Chairmanship of the OSCE.