Over 10,000 NGOs registered in Kosovo

A large number of nongovernmental organisations -- some international ones -- operate in Kosovo, but a local majority.

In a response by the Ministry of Public Administration, it is known that by this period, the total number of NGOs has reached 10,000 and 214.

“hrons NGOs are international. This year, no NGO activity has been suspended, while in the past year, the activity of several NGOs has been suspended on the request of the competent security body. Meanwhile, when NGO activities are being questioned, we can freely say that they include, almost all life activities”, said Zecir Beckoll, leader of The DKP's in MAP.

He has made it known that their activities, mostly lie in Pristina municipality.

However, according to the Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KFCS) cannot calculate the exact number of organisations exercising activity in Kosovo for two reasons.

“Initially, civil society in Kosovo consists not only of registered NGOs, but also other types of organisations that can exercise their activity without having to register to relevant state authorities. Second, even if we focus solely on registered organisations, it is impossible to calculate the exact number of organisations that exercise activity in Kosovo, and for two reasons. First, the Department for NGO (DOJQ) has no mechanisms for regular communication with all NGOs. Second, an NGO is considered active even if it does not exercise daily activity”, their response is said.

KFCS deepens that Kosovo totals 9 thousand, 545 NGOs of which 530 are foreigners

From these, 1,493 are sports clubs and sports federations, and 35 religious organisations. Unless the Public Book of NGOs numbers more than 9,500 The registered NGOs, this number does not show the real state of the sector or the number of active organisations. As a result, to approach a clearer mirror of the number of active organisations or those exercising any kind of activity over the course of a year, we have considered data from other institutions, such as the Kosovo Tax Administration (ATK) and the Kosovo Pension Savings Fund (FKPK)”, said among other things in their response.

According to them, if the organisation's financial activity, such as annual revenues, staff employment, tax payment, the number of active organisations in Kosovo is slightly less than 1,000 NGOs.

The KFCS says that compared to the previous years, the percentage of citizens doing volunteer work in these organisations has increased significantly.

To measure the level of civic engagement in Kosovo, Kosovo's 1,306 representative samples have been asked whether they are members or do volunteer work for any civil society organisation. Data from surveys show that close to 11.5% of Kosovo's citizens are members of one or more civil society organisations, and 15.2% said they have done volunteer work for civil society organisations during 2017. The 2015 data shows that only 2.9% of citizens were part of one or more of the OSC and that only 3.8% of citizens have done volunteer work for one or more of the OSC”, their response said.

While, in a document for 2018, it is known that the Department for Non-governmental Organisations in MAP has suspended the activities of 21 NGOs.

For this year, however, MAP has declared that no NGO activity or activity has been suspended. /Indesksonline/