The United Nations Population Fund - UNFPA
 in Kosovo



Reproductive Health
including Family Planning and Sexual Health

   UNFPA’s involvement in the Kosovo crisis began in April 1999 in the hastily erected refugee camps located in Albania and Macedonia. UNFPA supplied emergency reproductive health kits, along with psychological support and counseling for victims of sexual violence and abuse. In November 1999, UNFPA carried out an extensive needs assessment of all maternity clinics and hospitals in Kosovo. Through a donation by the Government of Canada, UNFPA was able to provide badly needed equipment and drugs to improve reproductive health care in Pristina, Prizren, Gjakova, Gjilane and Ferisaj.

   In September 1999, UNFPA supported the creation of a National Committee of Healthy Families in order to improve reproductive health care in Kosovo. The Committee organized a workshop in February 2000 to define needs, priorities and strategies.

   The Committee identified child spacing as one of the key strategies to reduce infant and maternal mortality. UNFPA, working with UNHRC, purchased contraceptives and organized their distribution.

   In addition, UNFPA funded a five-day training course in reproductive health for 1,500 health care workers in 2000. The training course was carried out in collaboration with three major international NGOs: CARE International, the International Rescue Committee and Relief International. The training course was more of an awareness building exercise. But it was followed in 2001 with a more in-depth theoretical and clinical course based on specialties.

   In the initial phase of the conflict, UNFPA played an important role in providing support to woman who were victims of sexual violence and abuse, especially those suffering from the consequences of rape. In this respect, UNFPA is collaborating closely with the International Office of Migration (IOM), in particular the Center for the Protection of Women and Children and the Center for Social Work.

   The combination of a very young population – half are under the age of 25 – and the presence of some 50,000 UN troops in the country, has greatly increased the risk of HIV/AIDS infections. A UNAIDS theme group was formed in December 2000. In addition, a National AIDS Committee was established in the Institute of Public Health.

Population and Development

   UNFPA is concentrating its efforts at institutionalizing reproductive health care as an integral part of the Kosovar health system. As part of this initiative, UNFPA is working to improve gender equality by enhancing the reproductive rights of Kosovar women, improving access to quality services and information.

   In order to improve the Government’s access to vital statistics, UNFPA supported the Office of Statistics enabling them to carry out an assessment of all 215 "register offices" in the country. The assessment revealed that under-reporting of all vital statistics is rampant: only 80% of births, 36% of deaths and 90% of marriages are actually registered.

Advocacy

   UNFPA continues to work with political leaders and decision-makers in an effort to keep population issues on the national agenda. As part of these on-going activities, the Fund works with the media in Kosovo in order to ensure accurate reporting on population issues.


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