Report on Initial Meeting in Prishtina Held on September 20

Report on Initial Meeting in Prishtina 20, September
Based to the planned activities of the project “Increasing capacities and strengthening the role of regional CSOs for improving labour conditions and labour dialogue with public institutions”, on 20-th of September it was held  the initial meeting, in Prishtina.
The objective of the meeting was:
Identifying needs, shortcomings and problems of civil society organizations and media organizations, in their involvement and policy-making in the society; building partnerships in the process of decision-making, encouraging dialogue to enhance cooperation between regional organizations and public institutions for social inclusion and improve of working conditions; establishing cooperation and creating regional partnership between BALcanOSH network and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the IPA region; to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, skills and connections as well as increasing and expanding their influence in campaigns and advocacy in the strategic operational plans and policies at national and regional level; and raising public awareness of the importance of professional practices, social issues and civil organizations.
Attendees at this meeting were all social partners, CSOs, educational institutions, media organizations, representatives of relevant sectors and other involved stakeholders, representatives from Ministry of Labour,  State Labour Inspectorate, University of Business in Prishtina, Media organizations, Trade Unions, Employers Organizations, different NGOs, OSH experts etc.
Also, attendance took Mr.Milan Petkovski, Project Manager and President of MOSHA, giving short presentation of the project activities and BALcanOSH Network. The participants discussed about the OSH situation in Kosovo, what are the current and emerging needs and how will these issues affect the safety and health of workers and how will this reflect on the implementation of OSH law.
They were interested in regional experience on OSH situation and partnerships in the process of decision-making regarding OSH issues. It was highlighted by the participants that Cross-sector activities are very important because they describe characteristics and differences of cultures, between Balkan countries. The cross-sector cooperation helps on exchange of knowledge, skills, literature and connections because protection at work knows no boundaries as well that it speaks the same language. So implementation of regional projects helps on managing cultural diversity in occupational safety and health that benefit multicultural work teams.
Current and emerging problem in the OSH sector, is the lack of OSH experts, immediate need for the preparation and certification of them, and also requested support from the BALcanOSH.net in solving of this problem.
The participants agreed that this project should help regional partners to cooperate and to expand their activities in the future. This meeting showed to the partners a clear picture of the future work both in terms of project implementation as well as in the expansion of the OSH activities.
Finally the participants filled out a Questionnaire which will help in the development of the project in the future. Below are some photos from the Initial Meeting held in Prishtina.