POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE enable the schoolchildren to develop their skills and compete with other friends with special needs in different sport activities. These assets will also enable students to take part in the next Mini-Olympic games supported by the Mission in 2019, while the professional cameras aim at enabling the children to develop new skills in taking professional photos and video footage for their school and society in general. On 22 and 25 October, the DHRC of the Mission organized two regional capacity-building workshops on the implementation of the guidelines for local-level mechanisms on how to efficiently respond to incidents affecting communities and returnees. The workshop was tailored for representatives of municipal communities’ protection mechanisms from north and south of the Ibër/Ibar River, who also had the chance to exchange best practices. Participants were encouraged to introduce gender mainstreaming approaches when developing their work plan and strategies. The first workshop gathered 43 participants, including representatives of the MCSCs, KP, municipal offices for communities and returns (MOCRs), LPSCs and Communities Committees from Gllogoc/Glogovac, Mitrovicë/Mitrovica South, Podujevë/ Podujevo, Skenderaj/Srbica and Vushtrri/Vučitrn, as well as KFOR-liaison monitoring teams covering the municipalities involved in the activity. The second workshop gathered 25 participants, including co-ordinators of municipal community protection mechanisms of Leposavić/Leposaviq and Zvečan/ Zveçan municipalities, deputy chairpersons of the municipal assembly for communities (DCMAC) of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North and Zubin Potok municipalities, municipal officials and the commander of the fire brigade of Zvečan/Zveçan municipality, the KP, as well as representatives of MOCRs and LPSCs from the four northern municipalities. Since MCSCs have not been established in these four municipalities, the event also served as a platform to discuss the relevance of this mechanism. On 21 November, the Mission supported the MoI in organizing a workshop for the first annual revision of the Community Safety Strategy and Action Plan 2018-2023. The event brought together 21 participants, including members of the steering group and all relevant local institutions and international organizations working in the field of community safety, with the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs as co-ordinator of the strategy. During the workshop, the Mission and other participating institutions and organizations provided an update on their contributions to the implementation of activities planned in the Action Plan for the preceding year, and suggested activities for the next period of implementation. The Mission highlighted its assistance to community safety forums benefitting from the implementation of the strategy, which it will continue to also offer in the future, in compliance with its programmatic objective. On 21 November, in Prishtinë/Priština, the DHRC of the Mission supported the inauguration of the Women Security Network, gathering MCSC co-ordinators, active women in the security forums of Gračanica/Graçanicë and Obiliq/ Obilić municipalities and deputy mayors and deputy mayors for communities, the KP, Centre for Social Work, municipal officers for gender equality, and women NGOs from Obiliq/ Obilić and Gračanica/Graçanicë municipalities. The inauguration meeting targeted the KP, women MCSCs coordinators, LPSCs female members, municipal officers for gender equality and civil society activists for promoting and advocating the enhanced role of women in the community safety forums. The activity resulted in a landmark event with a very positive outcome and an immediate request to enlarge the Women Security Network by inclusion of other municipalities in the region. The Network was greeted by selected partners from safety forums and community police officers assigned by the KP headquarters and respective police stations from Gračanica/Graçanicë and Obiliq/Obilić. On 27 November, the DHRC of the Mission organized a roundtable meeting with MCSC co-ordinators, the KP commander from Istog/Istok municipality, members of LPSCs, and the heads of MOCRs from the Pejë/Peć region. The purpose of the event was to familiarize the MCSC coordinators and members of the LPSCs from the region with the role and composition of both MSCSs and LPSCs, and those areas where security concerns can be raised for the benefit of all communities. The activity contributed to the enhancement of co-operation and co-ordination between the two mechanisms and the KP, as a way of strengthening the confidence of residents in the KP and local protection mechanisms, especially when it comes to security concerns of non-majority communities. The forum issued a number of recommendations. On 6 December, the Mission completed the facilitation of eight communication and co-ordination meetings for all community safety forums in northern municipalities3, which were attended by representatives of the community safety forums, KP, civil society and municipal officials. These meetings were held in line with the objective of the Community Safety Strategy, which aims to strengthen the capacity of safety mechanisms through the establishment and support of MCSCs. In two bi-seasonal meetings in each northern municipality held in March and November, over 75 participants voiced their concerns on the current security and safety conditions in this part of Kosovo. In addition, discussions were held on existing hindrances to the community safety mechanism’s integration, gender mainstreaming, domestic 3 Meetings were held in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North, Leposavić/Leposaviq, Zvečan/ Zveçan and Zubin Potok. 63

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