Prishtina, April 28, 2026 – The Ombudsperson, Mr. Naim Qelaj, hosted a meeting with representatives of civil society organizations that are part of the Forum for Dialogue between the OIK and Civil Society Organizations.

The Ombudsperson emphasized the importance and role that this Forum has played throughout the years of its establishment, leaving room for continued cooperation between Civil Society and the Ombudsperson’s Institution to achieve common goals.

The Ombudsperson presented the work of the OI during 2025 in fulfilling the objectives set out in the work plan of the Forum for Dialogue, which presentation resulted in a constructive debate regarding the actions taken by both the OIK and CSOs to achieve these goals.

Following the discussion, various issues were raised, such as the environment, where stone crushers and the abuse of drinking water by citizens who use it for agricultural lands were presented as problems, and the lack of institutional response to protect the environment from the exercise of this activity.

Another issue that was raised was related to the shelter in Novo Brdo, which has problems finding foster families in this municipality for children who have both parents unable to care for them.

Domestic violence and gender-based violence were also topics of discussion, while representatives of organizations working on this issue emphasized that greater focus should be given to sexual violence and the access offered to them by the relevant institutions for investigating these cases.

Participants raised the presence of minor victims of sexual violence in judicial processes where the perpetrator of violence is also in the same environment. It was also requested that sexual education be included and more actively taught in regular schools in order to raise awareness throughout society. In connection with this issue, a concern was also raised that there is no common data center between the Police, the Prosecution and the Courts for identifying these cases, and therefore the data recorded is not accurate.

Another concern raised was the lack of birth registers for the registration of persons from the Serbian community in Kosovo, a problem encountered in the Civil Registration Agency and the Department of Citizenship, Migration and Asylum at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.