Joint Communiqué from the High-level Forum on durable solutions for displaced persons from Kosovo

PODGORICA, 25 November 2017 - At the OSCE and UNHCR-supported High-Level Forum on Durable Solutions for Displaced Persons from Kosovo[1], participating institutions, including State Secretary Vukica Jelić (Podgorica), Deputy Prime Minister Dalibor Jevtić (Pristina), Deputy Director Dušan Kozarev (Belgrade) and Migration Unit Director Dejan Ivkovski (Skopje), welcomed further progress achieved in the implementation of the Action Points of  the ‘Skopje Process’, and agreed to reinforce commitment to removing obstacles to finding durable solutions for the remaining displaced persons.  

The aim of this meeting of the High-Level Forum was to review progress on the agreements noted in the Belgrade Joint Communique issued in June 2016 ‘to fully engage all institutions to implement the adopted Action Points and to regularly track and report on their implementation with the continued support of the OSCE and UNHCR.’ 

The participants expressed their satisfaction with the endorsement of the Action Points (Property Rights; Security, Dialogue and Reintegration; Personal Documentation; Data Management; Solutions Planning) and concrete steps made towards their implementation, in particular the establishment of the Implementation Working Group for Action Points for all five thematic groups. This model will be very important in the operationalization and implementation of concrete solutions benefitting the displaced, as it has been reiterated by all participants.

The cooperation and positive results achieved with solutions for the displaced by Skopje and Podgorica raise optimism in the process of cooperation within the ‘Skopje Process’. These good practice examples have strengthened the solutions framework for the remaining displaced population, reaffirming the right of the displaced to voluntarily return or integrate in their places of displacement. 

The participating institutions agreed to evaluate progress in the implementation of the Action Points and resource mobilisation at the next high-level meeting by mid-2018, with the continued support and guidance of OSCE and UNHCR and in accordance with the guiding principles of the Process.

[1] All reference to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).