End Year Letter by Program Coordinator

Dear colleagues, family members, friends, and associates,

Today, we thank all of you who were with us together in our journey and your support during the year. Solidar Suisse Kosovo, together with many partners and associates, has been dedicated and committed in the improvement of the education system in the primary and professional education, offering better services in the determination of the career path for our youth and providing better employment opportunities. We have worked every day with goodwill and enthusiasm in the improvement of health services through advocacy and lobbying for better health packages for our citizens. These changes have been implemented thanks to our friends and supporters.
We are grateful for your contributions and support, and the year 2016 is considered to be a successful year for the projects of Solidar Suisse Kosovo. Together with all of you we have achieved as follows:
-The training and licensing of 73 teachers of the elementary education in the career orientation and counselling in six municipalities such as: Peja, Gjakova, Istog, Klina, Deçan and Junik,
-Application of career orientation and counselling in primary schools in the region of Peja, benefiting approximately 60 classes with 2000 students,
-Drafting of action and work plan for teachers in guidance and counselling in career,
-Drafting of action and work plan for teachers in career orientation and counselling,
-Adaptation of career orientation and counselling curriculum by MEST and its distribution to regional MEDs.
-Over 80 tourism industry businesses in the Peja region have expressed their interest for interns/students.
-36 signed agreements between tourism industry businesses in the region of Peja and the vocational school- tourism department in order to perform the practical part for the students. As a result, all students have completed the practical part,
-The promotion of professional education by printing of guidelines and organizing of profession fairs, that resulted in the participation increase of the professional education by the students to 108 students in 2016 from 32 in 2013.

The regional project “Youth and Employment” has resulted as successful in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia as well, achieving the following changes:
-The training of 120 counsellors of secondary education career orientation,
-20.000 prepared guidance for the selection of professions,
-setting up of monitoring system to students for careers,
-15 young offenders have been trained for educators,
-36 young offenders have benefited from the education of educators,
-4 realized visits to companies and the possibility of practical work performance for 40 young delinquents,

As far as the health project KOSANA is concerned, always thanking to the commitment and cooperation of our partners, we are pleased to share with you these below achievements:

-The project KOSANA has supported and contributed to the approval and drafting of health insurance scheme, that means the coverage and safety of the Kosovo citizens from the financial burdens coming out of diseases.
-Support in drafting and functionalization of the newborns’ referral system,
-Quality improvement and empowerment programs of the patients in the pregnancy system and the manner of childbirths,
-The three-year plan development for the national Association of Autism,
-Identification of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community needs compared with the health insurance scheme giving a full reflection on the life duration, identification of diseases, access to health services,
-Drafting of Regulation for systematization of work places and drafting of Administrative Instructions on hazards that will result in the improvement of work conditions of approximately 15.000 health workers vis- a- vis health insurance scheme,
-Representation of patient interests and the rights vis-à-vis the health insurance scheme at decision-making institutions by the Patient’s Rights Association in Kosovo,

Solidar Suisse Kosovo, together with its partners, has achieved all these results and every day is making significant changes toward a better country and community. Therefore, Solidar Suisse Kosovo will continue to be further devoted for a better social, political and economic society.
We are very grateful to all of you for your contribution so far and in the future. All this
achievement wouldn’t be possible without the goodwill and commitment of the Kosovo and Switzerland teams and therefore special thanks belongs to them.

Good health, prosperity and happiness in 2017!
Happy New Year 2017!

Respectfully,

Syzane Baja
Program Coordinator of Solidar Suisse for Kosovo