Lulzim Bucolli – Storytelling in the form of a podcast

In our fourth podcast episode for this year, we were pleased to have Lulzim Bucolli as a guest.
Lulzim is an actor, producer, and writer from Pristina. He finished his Bachelor’s studies in Pristina, Kosovo, and continued his Master’s studies at New York University, School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. He has been part of many successful projects and worked for various NGOs on youth program development, developing skills, youth training skills, TOT, etc., in the Balkans, Western Europe and USA-Hawaii. Currently, he is more engaged in training, he is Chief Executive Officer of “Theta Training”.

Tune in to his narrative on our podcast:

This event was a part of the Reconciliation & Conflict Transformation Activity, implemented by Community Building Mitrovica and partners from New Social Initiative and Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Kosovo, and supported by the American people through USAID Kosovo.

Storytelling in a form of a podcast – Trailer, Lulzim Bucolli

In our fourth podcast episode for this year, we were pleased to have as a guest Lulzim Bucolli, actor, producer, and writer.
He shared with us stories from his 20 years of background, being an actor, trainer, and writer, and actively participating in civil society activities on cooperation and peacebuilding in Kosovo.

This event was a part of the Reconciliation & Conflict Transformation Activity, implemented by Community Building Mitrovica and partners from New Social Initiative and Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Kosovo (YIHR KS), and supported by the American people through USAID Kosovo.

Call for Youth Peace Camp

Do you want to work together with young people from different communities?

Do you want to contribute to creating a better and safer society for everyone?

Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation Activity invites all interested young people from the region of Gjilan to apply to the Youth Peace Week training.

The “Youth Peace Camp” activity will offer the opportunity for 20 young men and women from different communities of the Gjilan region to be part of a three-day interactive and creative training about transitional justice and reconciliation, where the young people will have opportunities to associate and exchange experiences, knowledge, and parts of their culture.

At the end of the training, the youth will come up with an idea to organize a street action to raise awareness about the importance of living together in a safe and inclusive environment for all.

This residential activity will be held in Gjilan from August 4-6, 2022.

All transportation and food expenses are covered by the organizer.

All participants in this activity will be certified.

You can apply by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/2Bq9jGTAZuuDJGTf9

The application is open until July 31, 2022.

This event is part of the Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation Activity, implemented by the Community Building Mitrovica and partners NSI and YIHR KS and supported by the American people through USAID in Kosovo.

Nevena Radosavjević – Storytelling in a form of podcast

In our third podcast episode for this year, we were pleased to have Nevena Radosavljević as a guest. Nevena is a coach in the field of reconciliation, peace building and conflict transformation, and dialogue building. At the same time, she is engaged with academic research. She finished her Bachelor’s studies in Belgrade and continued her master’s degree in Germany in the program for peace and security, whereas now she is a doctoral student at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. She grew up in Leposavic, where her family still lives today.

Tune in to her narrative on our podcast:

[EXTENDED DEADLINE] ToR: One Senior and One Junior Researcher for Think and Do Tank

The RCT team is looking for a Senior and a Junior Researcher for Think and Do Tank.

The applications should be sent to procurement@cbmitrovica.org, no later than Sunday, June 5^th, COB (4 pm).

Click below for further information on each position.

ToR – Senior Researcher for Think and Do Tank

ToR – Junior Researcher for Think and Do Tank

USAID Kosovo’s Mission Director visits Community Building Mitrovica

CBM had the utmost pleasure to host USAID Kosovo’s Mission Director Ms. Zeinah Salahi at its premises. Ms. Salahi was interested to meet Cohesion Circle members and know more about their joint work and initiatives derived from them in cooperation with the Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation (RCT) team and CBM. In 2020, one of the most challenging years globally, CBM started implementing Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation Activity (RCT), supported by the American people through USAID in Kosovo. The Activity initiated many fruitful actions, one of them being the establishment of the informal group of active individuals from Mitrovica region – the Cohesion Circle.

👍 Besides the RCT team and CBM and USAID representatives, the meeting hosted five CC members from the Mitrovica region. In an open discussion, Ms. Salahi was interested to know why is it beneficial for CC members to be part of the group and participate in joint initiatives, and what changes their joint initiatives are bringing to the citizens of the Mitrovica region? Ultimately, participants discussed how this innovative approach is contributing to peacebuilding, transforming conflict, and granting the catalytic effect in the communities.

After the meeting, Ms. Salahi visited the second Community Market on the Mitrovica main bridge, and firsthand witness the RCT initiatives in action, bringing people from different communities who are leading examples of cohabitation.

Our CC members provided great information, about the current challenges our communities face, but more importantly, how can we bring the activity to the next level, trying to find the best ways for the voices of communities to be heard at the upper levels.

🙌 We want to thank Ms. Salahi and the rest of the USAID representatives for dedicated time to visit Mitrovica and the RCT Activity in action. We are thankful for our CC member’s time and continuous support.

Dhurata Prokshi – Storytelling in the form of podcast

In our second podcast episode for this year, we were pleased to have Dhurata Prokshi as a guest. Dhurata is a translator and language teacher from South Mitrovica. She graduated in Sociology and has finished her Ph.D. at University St Kiril and Metody, Skopje, North Macedonia. She has been working in a civil society organization for 16 years while pursuing her passion for language teaching for the last 6 years, throughout which she was contributing to teaching the Albanian language to Serbian-speaking communities.

Tune in to her narrative on our podcast:

Storytelling in a form of a podcast – Dhurata Prokshi

Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation Activity is continuing with its activities and contribution toward the reconciliation and peacebuilding process in Kosovo. As part of the already established Storytelling component from this year, we have started recording podcasts with inspiring and hardworking guests, until now we have already one podcast published with Mevlude Skuroshi, a civil society activist from South Mitrovica.

For the second RCT podcast, we had the pleasure to host Dhurata Prokshi, a language teacher and translator in the court of Mitrovica.

The full video of the podcast will be available soon on the RCT website.

Grant Scheme – Call for proposals

The RCT Activity is opening a small-grant call for individuals and grassroots organizations to address the needs related to trust-building among ethnic groups in Kosovo. The deadline for applications is May 18th, 2022. Click the document below for further information.

In the links below please find the following documents:

RCT Grant Scheme – Application Form: Click Here
Frequently Asked Questions: Click Here
Budget Form: Click Here

1. OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL

This small-scale grant scheme aims to offer community support for problem-solving ideas on the topic of reconciliation, conflict transformation, and peacebuilding. The small-scale grant scheme will be implemented in the Mitrovicë/Mitrovica region for individuals and grassroots organizations addressing the needs related to the trust-building among different ethnic groups in Kosovo.

2. ELIGIBILITY
Two types of applicants will be eligible to apply for this call:
● The lead applicant, i.e. the entity submitting the application form
● and co-applicant(s).

2.1 Eligible applicants:

Grassroots:
● Legally registered in Kosovo for a minimum period of 12 months prior to the deadline for submission of proposal.
● Based in northern Kosovo – Mitrovica/Mitrovice (north and south) Zvečan/Zveqan, Leposavić/Leposaviq, Zubin Potok, Vučitrn/Vushtrri, Srbica/Skenderaj.
● Directly responsible for the preparation and management of the project with the coapplicant(s), not acting as an intermediary.

Individuals:
● Be part of the Cohesion Circle from Mitrovica region (an informal group of citizens and civil activists- part of the RCT Activity).
● Must apply in cooperation with grassroot/NGO and promotes inter-ethnic social cohesion, by integrating cross-community contact and confidence-building into aims and activities.

Note that applicants:
● May not submit more than one application under this call
● May not be awarded more than one grant under this call
● May not be a co-applicant in another application under this call.

Project proposals that include the following will NOT be accepted:
● Proposals that DO NOT in any way contribute to the achievement of the objective of this call
● Actions related to political parties and/or political campaigns
● Actions that are mainly related to individual sponsorships for participation in workshops,
seminars, conferences, and congresses.

3. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION

Please follow all instructions below carefully. Proposals that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible:
● Proposals should be submitted with forms available and provided with this call; narrative and
budget
● All applications must be written in English
● All pages should be consecutively numbered
● Any annexes should be clearly marked and referenced in the body of the application
● All budgets are in U.S. dollars.
● Valid organizational registration, as a legal entity in Kosovo, with the Department of Registration and Liaison of NGOs within the Kosovo Ministry of Public Administration
● Unique entity identifier from Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS number) is not required
● An MoU between applicants and co-applicants clearly stating the leader applicant and the coapplicant (s).
● Tax administration certificate on entity obligations
● 2021 official tax declaration or audit report, if available.

4. Application Forms
Narrative form should not exceed 6 pages; The proposal should contain sufficient information for an
independent reader to understand exactly what the applicant wants to achieve.

4.1. Budget Proposal

Budget Justification: Applicants must present budgets that are directly and exclusively related to the successful implementation of the proposed activities. Therefore, all prices/costs should be realistic and should be in line with market prices for proposed actions and staff payments. It is imperative that the budget be distributed logically and is approved by the two or more parties applying to this call. Below, you can find the list of expenses that are included/ accepted and those that are not included/accepted. Community Building Mitrovica (CBM) has the right to request modifications/budget changes if the need arises.

4.2 Covered costs
All costs must be clearly stated in the initial form of the budget and must occur during the
implementation phase of the project activities:

● Expenses for staff members; including payments for experts, and individuals directly
involved in the implementation of the activity
● Compensation for travel and food for those involved in the project, and for the purpose
of implementing activities as provided in the application
● Expenses for the purchase of supplies related to the proposed activities
● Prices of bank fees related to the activities listed in the application
● Expenses that come directly from the requirements of the Contract (dissemination of
information, specific evaluation for the Activity, accounting, auditing, translation)
● Office operating expenses such as rent, utilities, telecommunication, maintenance,
stationery, hygienic products, office equipment repair, and cleaning.

Costs that will not be covered:
● Debt and debt services (interest)
● Expenses that occur before the implementation phase of this grant, and/or after the end
of its duration
● Provisions for future losses or potential liabilities
● Expenses declared by the beneficiary (s) and financed by other grants
● Purchases of land or objects

5. VISIBILITY
Applicants must be prepared to publicize the fact that they are financed within the framework of the Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation Activity. Applicants must be prepared to acknowledge specific donors’ visibility guidelines and regulations.

6. APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS
All applications will be analyzed with the criteria below:

7. REVIEW AND SELECTION
A Grants Review Committee will evaluate all eligible applications. This Committee will consist of three (3) individuals and will evaluate and select all eligible applications. The committee will be composed of individuals who are not in any way connected with the overall implementation of the Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation Activity.

8. WORKSHOPS
CBM will organize a workshop for all interested individuals/ non-governmental organizations from the Mitrovica region that want to apply for the small-scale grants under this call for proposals. The workshop will serve as a guide to potential applicants, i.e. it will provide them with all necessary details and requirements needed to be eligible to apply for this call for proposals. For more information about the workshop please visit the CBM’s Facebook Page or contact us through email at info@cbmitrovica.org.

9. TIMELINE
April 14th, 2022 – The workshop

April 26th, 2022 – The call is opened
May 10th, 2022– Submission of final proposals and closure of the call
May 15th – Awarding winning applicants (TBC)

Tentatively the project implementation should start on May 2022 and not last longer than October 2022.

All applications should be submitted their proposals at: procurement@cbmitrovica.org with the subject: RCT Small Grants Scheme no later than April 28th, CoB. Late applications will not be accepted.

Questions: All questions can be directed to Mr. Kenan Beqiri, by email at kenan.beqiri@cbmitrovica.org no later than May 3rd 2022.

ToR – Activity Assurance Function

For the purposes of the #RCT Activity, we are opening a call for all interested parties to apply for a position of “Activity Assurance Function (AAF)”.

The AAF will be assigned to an independent Kosovan or international implementing organization (an academic or research institution, think tank, private sector firm, or non-governmental organization), or a consortium, which meets the following minimum criteria:

Established, widely recognized, and externally validated expertise in at least two of the following three substantive areas:

Reconciliation, peacebuilding, and the relevant legislative and regulatory framework in Kosovo.

Civil society and community oversight and monitoring and fostering (esp. in relation to peacebuilding and reconciliation), capacity development, and coordination.

Media and positive messaging sharing in Kosovo.

A demonstrated track record of producing outstanding analytical insights for clients and/or partners, including government and international stakeholders in Kosovo; as well as a well-documented experience in monitoring and evaluation of projects/ development programs, preferably in post-conflict contexts, inc. in the Balkan region and Kosovo.

An externally validated reputation for independence, integrity, objectivity, and analytical rigor.

Deep and long-term familiarity with the political and social context in the Balkan region and preferably in Kosovo, including established knowledge of and relationships with key stakeholders at the local and national institutions and community level and media.

Capacity to operate at a professional level (including research and technical writing) in the Albanian, English, and Serbian languages.

The deadline for application is April 1st.

Check out this detailed Word document: ToR-Programme-Assurance

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