information sharing with the Kosovo Police Press and Public Information Office, hence the
number of press conferences covering issues of interest to the public increases. The majority
of stories covered by the media involve the efforts of the police officers to deal with crisis
situations but also include public safety awareness-raising campaigns. The Communication
Strategy and Action Plan 2014-2016 and the Kosovo Police Standard Operating Procedures,
which specifically relate to the media and public relation and were drafted with the help of the
Mission, provide clear and straightforward guidance on how to deal with the media and the
public. As a result, the Kosovo Police, Police Inspectorate of Kosovo, Agency for Emergency
Management and the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety, operating under the umbrella of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs, also engage with the community through the interactive accounts
on social networks, which are helping them to become more transparent and closer to the
public.
2014 activities commenced with the media-relations training delivered by the Mission on 3
and 4 March to 17 Kosovo Police and Kosovo Customs supervisors as part of their first-line
supervision course. The training covered issues that relate to the media landscape in
Kosovo, the legal framework and media monitoring bodies. Through a presentation of
several job-specific examples during the training, it was emphasized that professional and
resourceful communication between the public safety agencies and the media is of great
importance and ultimately beneficial to all communities in Kosovo. Additionally, on 10 and 11
June a similar training was delivered to 120 senior police officers, which mainly covered
concrete police-media relation issues, the importance of strategic communication with the
media and aspects linked to the media monitoring bodies.
With the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, the Mission organized and facilitated a
regional conference “Women in the Public Safety Sector”, held on 28 and 29 May in Budva,
Montenegro. The conference aimed to strengthen the involvement, role and position of
women in the public safety sector at the regional level. It predominantly gathered the
representatives of the interior ministries and police services from Albania, Montenegro and
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as well as Kosovo, to share their experiences
and challenges in this area, as well as to enhance their future co-operation.
Recommendations that all participants agreed upon were compiled at the conclusion of the
conference.
On 4 July, the Mission together with the Kosovo Police and the Forum for Civic Initiatives
organized a press conference launching the Kosovo-wide traffic safety awareness-raising
campaign “Have a nice and SAFE trip during your holidays”. At the press conference,
attending media were informed about the content of the campaign, i.e. educating traffic
participants on the traffic rules and the drivers’ role in preventing traffic accidents. The traffic
safety awareness-raising campaign will be conducted throughout the summer season,
including the distribution of leaflets at all border crossings points.
Between 7-10 July, the Mission organized a regional conference on “Youth and Security”,
where participants shared their experiences by offering insight into various topics, ranging
from school violence, municipal and local safety mechanisms and co-operation between law
enforcement and youth. The Conference resulted in a number of joint findings and
recommendations to be shared with all relevant institutions and stakeholders. The
conference gathered representatives of the OSCE field operations in South-Eastern Europe,
as well as the representatives of ICITAP, Forum for Civic Initiatives, Safer World, KFOR,
Kosovo Police, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology,
Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety and Youth
NGO’s involved in the field of youth security.
From 15 September to 3 October, the Mission provided a series of trainings to around 100
Kosovo Police dispatchers and Agency for Emergency Management operators responsible
for emergency calls on 192 and 112 phone numbers. Designed by the Mission, the series of
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