Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), on 7th of December 2015 in Prishtina, has organized the conference on “Job Security in Civil Society Organizations: Implementation of Labour Legislation”. The aim of this event was to launch the preliminary findings of the research paper that focuses on the treatment of CSOs in the framework of labor legislation and employment programs in Kosovo, prepared in the framework of BCSDN’s Balkan Public Policy Fund (BPPF).
This report aims to analyse how the civil society sector works based on the broad human security concept. Respectively, it aims to analyse sustainability of the engagement of civil society based on how secure the civil society activists feel for their job position and which is its impact for consistency in their work, by presenting the key findings on job security in the Kosovar civil society sector. Law on Labour and development of civil society sector in Kosovo have been listed as priority by the EU Commission in Kosovo. The latest country report on Kosovo 2015 shows that there is a serious challenge in implementing the current legal framework tackling the labour rights in Kosovo. In spite of lack of implementation the law should also be implemented properly, and the mechanism to implement and oversee the implementation of this law should be increased. Moreover, one of the key recommendations in relation to the civil society development was “Public funding for civil society organisations has to be provided in a transparent way using clearly defined criteria”.
The paper is divided in two parts; the first part covering the assessment of the legal framework, with particular focus on Law on Labour and as it relates to the CSOs. The second part of this paper analyses the challenges in the implementation process of the legal framework. Furthermore, the paper takes a comparative turn, and provides a comparative analysis between the case of Kosovo and that of Slovakia, with particular focus on the CSOs treatment within their respective Laws on Labour and regulations on Maternity Leave. The second part provides challenges faced by CSOs in Kosovo by offering alternatives for getting out of this situation.
The full paper is available for download here, and a photo gallery of the conference is available here.