child inclusion and cva effectiveness in four case …...cva case study, the issues of altering the...
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Ethnographic Research Report
Child Inclusion and CVA Effectiveness in
Four Case Studies from Kosovo
20 October 2016
World Vision Albania & Kosovo
Dr. Terrence Jantzi
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................... 4
2 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ....................................................... 12 2.1 World Vision and the CVA Approach ............................................................................................... 12 2.2 LINC Project ............................................................................................................................................ 12 2.3 CVA and Child Inclusion Research Project ...................................................................................... 15
3 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 16 3.1 Overview of Research Structure ........................................................................................................ 16 3.2 Ethnographic Case Study Methodology ............................................................................................. 17
3.2.1 Ethnographic Case Studies - Background ...................................................................................................... 17 3.2.2 Ethnographic Data Collection Tools ................................................................................................................. 18 3.2.3 Ethnographic Data Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 19
3.3 Quantitative Tools, Sampling and Analysis ....................................................................................... 19 3.4 Research Team Composition and Logistics...................................................................................... 20 3.5 Controlling for Bias ................................................................................................................................ 20 3.6 Limitations to the Study ........................................................................................................................ 21
4 FINDINGS PART 1: ETHNOGRAPHIC NARRATIVES ................................. 22 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 22 4.2 Case 1: Zallq (No CVA) ...................................................................................................................... 23 4.3 Case 2: Janjeve (CVA with Adults only)........................................................................................... 25 4.4 Case 3: Plementin (CVA with Adults and Children) ..................................................................... 30 4.5 Case 4: Fushe Kosovo (CVA with Adults and Children) .............................................................. 37
5 FINDINGS PART II: QUANTITATIVE SURVEY ............................................ 43 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 43 5.2 Individual Dimensions ............................................................................................................................ 44
5.2.1 Accountability and CP Issues .................................................................................................................................. 44 5.2.2 CVA Knowledge ............................................................................................................................................................... 46 5.2.3 CVA Willingness ............................................................................................................................................................... 47 5.2.4 CVA Capacity ................................................................................................................................................................... 47 5.2.5 CVA Actions ....................................................................................................................................................................... 48 5.2.6 Changes in Relationships with Duty Bearers ................................................................................................ 49
5.3 Overall Patterns ...................................................................................................................................... 50 6 COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS ......................................................... 51
6.1 Is the CVA process application for CP? ............................................................................................ 51 6.1.1 General Observations .................................................................................................................................................. 51 6.1.2 Positive Factors ................................................................................................................................................................ 52 6.1.3 Challenges........................................................................................................................................................................... 52 6.1.4 Unintended Consequences ....................................................................................................................................... 53 6.1.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................................... 54
6.2 Does Child Inclusion in CVA Processes make a difference for CP? .......................................... 54 6.2.1 General Observations .................................................................................................................................................. 54 6.2.2 Positive Contributions ................................................................................................................................................. 55 6.2.3 Challenges........................................................................................................................................................................... 55 6.2.4 Unintended Consequences ....................................................................................................................................... 56 6.2.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................................... 56
7 RESEARCH QUESTION SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATIONS ................. 57 7.1 Research Question Summary............................................................................................................... 57 7.2 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................. 60
8 ANNEXES ............................................................................................................ 61 8.1 Annex 1: Project Documents and TOR ........................................................................................... 61 8.2 Annex 2: CVA Research Tools .......................................................................................................... 61
8.2.1 Qualitative Interview Guide ............................................................................................................................................... 61 8.2.2 Timeline Exercise ................................................................................................................................................................. 61 8.2.3 Quantitative Survey ............................................................................................................................................................. 61
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8.3 Annex 3: Qualitative Raw Data .......................................................................................................... 61 8.3.1 Baseline Data ........................................................................................................................................................................ 61 8.3.2 Post-Project Data - KIIs ...................................................................................................................................................... 61 8.3.3 Post-Project Data – Timeline FGDs ................................................................................................................................ 62
8.4 Annex 4: Quantitative Raw Data ....................................................................................................... 62 8.4.1 Baseline Raw Data .............................................................................................................................................................. 62 8.4.2 Post-Project Raw Data ........................................................................................................................................................ 62 8.4.3 Tables ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 62
8.5 Annex 5: Original Case Studies Narratives (Albanian) ................................................................. 62
Glossary
ADP Area Development Program
CP Child Protection
CPP LH Child Participation and Protection Learning Hub
CVA Citizen Voice and Action
DME Design, Monitoring and Evaluation
FGD Focus Group Discussions
KII Key informant interview
LLA LH Local Level Advocacy Learning Hub
LINC Local Initiatives for National Change
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NO National Office
SO Support Office
TOR Terms of Reference
WV World Vision
WVI World Vision International
WVA&K World Vision Albania and Kosovo
WV US World Vision United States
Acknowledgements
This report has been prepared by the research lead consultant. However, this product would not be
possible without the extensive help and collaboration provided by the staff of World Vision Albania &
Kosovo and representatives from the MEER regional office. The National Office DME staff, technical
sectors experts and Child Protection and Participation Learning Hub personnel among others along
with the Kosovo project staff willingly and enthusiastically invested their time and energy in the
trainings, preparations, and sampling of the targeted case study villages. The staff showed great fortitude
in visiting households and developing good relationships with project participants. I would like to thank
all the staff for their hard work in completing this evaluation process. In addition, this process could
not have been completed so smoothly without the help of Diana Ceci in her role as consultant assistant.
Furthermore, the World Vision US support office provide significant input into the conceptualization
of the evaluation process as well as significant financial support to research component.
Finally, I would like to thank the WV Albania and Kosovo support whose hosting and attention to detail
made it all possible.
Terrence Jantzi
Lead Consultant
Bogota, Colombia
September 2016
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1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
Citizen Voice and Action (CVA) is one of the approaches used by World Vision to build social
accountability by mobilizing and equipping citizens to monitor government services and to advocate
for service improvement. The CVA process includes steps for community gatherings which bring
together service providers, private citizens and other government and local partners to identify actions
for improving services. Historically, CVA has been used among adult citizens to improve relevant
government services in the health and education sectors.
The Local Initiatives for National Change (LINC) is a multi-country project funded by WV Australia
Support Office that aims to apply the CVA approach to child protection themes. The main focus of
the project is to modify the selection criteria for the economic aid offered by the government to poor
families and to enhance support services offered by the state to decrease child labour. The project
covers 350 community members from three villages and was implemented from January 2015-May
2016. The Theory of action for the LINC project in Kosovo contains five discrete levels or
preconditions, each with their own indicators for measuring success. These include knowledge and
ability, capacity and willingness, actions for monitoring, and policy influence leading ultimately to
improved policy and implementation.
This research is carried out in the context of a partnership between WV US and two Learning Hubs
in MEER, respectively the Child Participation and Protection (CPP) and the Local Level Advocacy (LLA)
Learning Hubs. This research project aimed to answer two questions within the structure of the LINC
project:
1. Is CVA an effective approach for influencing CP policy and Implementation?
2. Does Child Participation in CVA contribute to greater inclusion of children’s needs and
priorities in government policy than the standard adult-only CVA model?
Methodology
The preferred methodology is a three-arm study design in which one community is designated as a
comparison group and is not involved in the LINC project and the CVA process (Zallq). Two other
communities in the LINC project were differentiated between one community that only involved adults
in the CVA process (Janjeve), while the other community would involve both adults and children in
the CVA process (Plementin and Fushe Kosovo). Comparing among the three types of communities
can shed insight into answering whether the CVA approach is effective for influencing CP policy and
implementation and also determine how the inclusion of children participation in the processes affected
these outcomes.
Given conditions of short project cycle and a small number of participating villages, a case study
approach using ethnographic methods was applied to help articulate and identify subtle changes in the
case communities. The qualitative information for these case studies was collected through three
tools:
A semi-structured interview guide for Key Informant Interviews.
A Semi-structured interview guide with Focus Group Discussions
A structured group history exercise using a Timeline interview guide.
To supplement the ethnographic information, a quantitative survey measuring the dimensions of
knowledge, willingness, capacity, activeness, and change was included. However, the quantitative
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information is seen as complementary information to the ethnographies. Both the ethnographic data
and the quantitative data was collected in a baseline and post-project phase.
A research team composed of DME and NO Technical Sector staff from WV Albania and Kosovo as
well as Regional office CP Learning Hub representatives were led by an external consultant with the
support of the Kosovo Regional Office project staff. The research team members facilitated the FGDs
and the KII interviews. The quantitative data was gathered via the project staff administering the
surveys during monitoring visits or ongoing project activities. The research team participated in the
final data analysis exercises carried out over a four day period in Tirana in early September.
Findings
Comparison between the ethnographic findings and the quantitative surveys showed that
where adults or children are involved in the CVA processes, there is an increase in knowledge,
willingness, capacity, activeness, and quality of relationships to service providers and officials. It is
noteworthy that these changes across all five levels of the LINC indicators were able to happen within
a relatively short project cycle period. Actual product changes were not evident due to the short
time frame of the cycle which led to the project finishing before policy modifications were
formally approved.
Gender differences in terms of increases were not prominent for either adults or children with the
exception of adult women who tended to see more changes in their community as a result of the
process than either adult men or children saw. Child inclusion obviously does improve children’s
knowledge, willingness, capacity, activeness and relationships, however, it is interesting to note that
child inclusion also seemed to increase adult willingness to engage in CP issues. Adult knowledge,
capacity and activeness scores did not appear to be markedly changed as a result of child inclusion.
However, the effectiveness of advocacy initiatives with higher government officials was improved by
the participation of children in the spaces.
Conclusions
CVA Applicability to CP
General Observations: The analysis team noted that the first two steps of the CVA process – group
formation and awareness raising/education on CP issues - required considerably more time investment
and energy from the WV and collaborating partner staff. For many in the analysis team, the first step
– group formation – was considered to be the heart of the project. Group formation may have
required a more extensive in the CVA for CP processes because child protection concepts are
relatively new to the field in Eastern Europe and there were no pre-existing or self-organizing groups
related to this thematic focus such as might be found among collections of farmers or parents
connected to a school. In a normal CVA process, the community groups themselves would identify the elements for advocacy
or change based on their analysis of the context within a particular theme. However, in the Kosovo
CVA case study, the issues of altering the economic aid criteria and addressing child labour issues in
the child protection by-laws were identified by WV and the collaborating partner prior to beginning
to work with the community groups. It was also somewhat unusual to pick two topics for addressing
in the CVA process. Finally, the CVA process was implemented in both those villages where WV had
had previous project relationships with community groups as well as in villages where this was the first
exposure to WV.
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Positive Factors: There was a recognition that the process prompted the development of a new culture
of working – a new way of working in a group. The concept of extensive stakeholder consultation in
the development of laws and policies was not common in the Kosovo context and the CVA process
made significant contributions to creating a new mind-set of accountability and citizen engagement.
The pre-selection of the targeted themes had both positive and negative consequences but it
provided a strategic attraction for recruiting community participants. Those who were interested in
these two topics came to the initial meetings and became part of the processes. The most broadly
recognized positive factor identified by the analysis team from the ethnographies related to the
establishment of both intra- and inter- community networks of adults and children focused on CP
issues. These ethnic groups are traditionally somewhat isolated from each other and the CVA activities
did serve as a space to build these connections.
However, the energy and time involved in building these networks is quite high and the analysis team
noted that if the project has the intent of building sustainable structures that it should be recognized
that long term commitments and significant time investments for networking need to be integrated
into the project design and activities.
Challenges: There is some concern that the relatively short time of the project may inhibit long term
sustainability. The short time frame also inhibited the degree of the community group ownerships of
the processes of monitoring. In all three targeted villages, a major barrier in the process related to
the consistency of the group participants. There tended to be a core group that was consistent in
their attendance and participation. However, this was a relatively small group – often no more than 8-
10 persons. The rest of the community groups tended to consist of persons who would rotate in and
out of the spaces. Gender participation was unbalanced in the core groups (with the exception of one
village). Although both men and women were invited to participate in equal numbers, the men tended
to be disproportionately represented in the core CVA adult group and men tended to be more active
in the public spaces and raising their voice.
Adult women and adult men tended to prioritize the advocacy approach related to improving the
economic aid package. Women did tend to be more open than men to supporting the Child Rights
component – especially when children were involved in presenting the Child Rights needs.
Unintended Consequences: The involvement of key leaders in the project helped set the stage for
future engagements with the community groups around new issues. Where the CVA process was
implemented in villages with groups who were not previously connected to WV activities, or where
there were no pre-existing groups, the CVA process slowed down. However, even the slow CVA
process contributed to network formation and there did appear to be other activities unrelated to
the specific targeted policies were occurring in the targeted communities. This was likely one major
consequence of increased networking among both children and adults beyond their individual villages
because this networking have created the opportunities to be mobilized for other issues. For example,
interviewed groups cited mobilizing around a “kidnapping” issue related to child custody.
Child Inclusion in CVA Processes for CP
Positive Factors: Although somewhat obvious, the targeted villages which involved children in the CVA
activities saw increased children’s confidence and self-esteem as well as empowerment. Children
reported being more active in CP issues and stated that they were more capable of dialoguing with
stakeholders on these issues.
Girls and boys were recruited in roughly equal measures for participation, but girls were much more
active in the CVA children spaces than adult women were in the corresponding CVA adult spaces.
Girls and boys were equally represented in the core CVA children group and girls were as active as
boys in participating in these spaces and events. This suggests that children inclusion in CVA processes
can have a positive contribution to providing opportunities for girls’ empowerment that adult women
do not do.
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In addition, having children describing the challenges that they are facing increased the likelihood that
these issues would be taken seriously by government officials. The team noted that there is a greater
chance of opening doors in government with children. Another positive factor noted by the team
related to understanding better the particularities of social issues from children’s perspectives. Finally, children involved in the processes created greater interest and motivation among the adults to gather
together on CP issues. This may be particularly important for Child Protection issues rather than
traditional issues for which the CVA process is often used such as education or health.
It was noted that children tended to be more interested in the Child Rights law compared to adults
(who focused on the economic aid package) and the direct advocacy of children to the CVA adults did
help enhance the willingness of adults to take actions related to that component of the CVA process.
Thus, a CVA process for Child Protection with just adults will increase knowledge and will generate
some interest, but a CVA process for Child Protection that involved children seems to increase both
the knowledge, interest and engagement of the adults – especially on child rights related issues. The
team noted that the involvement of children also tended to facilitate speeding up the time it took to
complete some of the steps of the CVA process - especially with awareness raising activities.
Challenges: The primary challenge related to the potential sustainability of the networks and initiatives.
The ethnographies did emphasize that there was a visible difference among children regarding their
relationships, empowerment and self-esteem. But while it is hoped that this can lead to cascade effects
or more successful implementation, there is no evidence yet that empowered children would actually
lead to a policy or legal change. The children participation did establish new practices in advocacy
and accountability for the most vulnerable, but the actual plan and law have not been approved and
the groups involved in the ethnography exercises expressed considerable concern about whether their
efforts and networks can actually continue after the end of the project. There was almost unanimous
consensus that the time frame for the project cycle was insufficient to ensure actual long term gains
Unintended Consequences: An unintended consequence of children inclusion in the CVA processes related to how WV was perceived by the community. In those places where WV worked with children,
the reputation of WV itself was enhanced and greater trust was built with community adults. The
organization was seen as working for the interests of the child and this reduced suspicions that are
common in multi-ethnic collaborations. Standards related to child treatment in public spaces or in
events involving children also seemed to be enhanced in those villages where WV was implementing
the CVA processes with children. Respondents noted that they learned from seeing the actual
interactions shaped in the course of project activities.
Important Considerations: Citizen voice and Action (CVA), has three phases i.e. Enabling Citizen
engagement, Engagement via community gathering, and influencing policy. When these steps are applied
as set out, they have a huge impact on the community. However, due to context and other issues, the
implementation is not always linear.
The application of CVA to Child protection in Kosovo, therefore, encountered the same predicament.
During the enabling citizen engagement phase, the community realized that the set standards were not
to what the community desires. They thus decided to propose amended standards to government
which lead to influencing government policy. At the time the government of Kosovo was reviewing the
policy. Based on the revised standards, the community was then able to undertake phase II, engagement
via community gathering and subsequently developed an Action plan.
The Action Plan is the basis of the third phase i.e. influencing policy. Therefore, the project undertook
all the steps of CVA, though not in a linear process. It is therefore important to take note of the
following issues, as we apply CVA to CP in future:
i. CVA doesn’t normally take a linear process i.e. according to the steps as listed in the guidance
notes due to various factors. This is because the determinants of success especially willingness
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of the community (see evidence for change for more details) are not in control of World
Vision but the government, and community but especially the availability of resources.
ii. Context; related to the above is the most critical issue of context. It is for this reason that
CVA has to be contextualized so that it responds to specific context issues. For instance, like
in most countries, in Kosovo the standards based on which the Monitoring was to be done,
were rejected by the community as obsolete. The community thus had to act by engaging the
regional governor who accepted to the submissions of the community. Other factors like, the
socio-economic and political realities affect the implementation.
iii. It’s not a mistake to skips steps, so long as all steps are undertaken. The temptation is normally
for the community to avoid the Monitoring Standards (MS) and Score Card (SC) but as the
learning and evidence from Kosovo indicates, conducting the MS and SC contributes to greater
success.
iv. Give priority to community – the purpose of CVA is to enable communities to access services
through enhanced community ability to engage with their leaders. It is important to note that
the community, normally feels empowered at the enabling citizen engagement phase due to
access to information. Because of this, they at times want to immediately lobby and influence.
If this happens, it is important that the community is supported to engage or take action rather
than insist on the CVA process as written in the book. Gagging the community, is likely to
hamper motivation, confidence, will and desire to engage in the process.
Research Question Summary
QUESTION SUMMARY
Main Research Question
1: Determine whether CVA
is an effective approach for
influencing CP policy and
implementation
The CVA methodology is an effective approach for building networks,
increasing knowledge and capacity, and advocating for CP policy and
implementation. The CVA process seems to be able to contribute to
improved relationships between service providers and receivers and to build
multi-ethnic bridges in contexts of high inter-ethnic tensions.
Actual policy change requires longer term commitments in time and energy
investment than allotted in this research project cycle.
What is the level of
community members’ adults
and children, (including the
most vulnerable) knowledge
on CVA or any social
accountability tool (describe
it) to influence?
Knowledge on CVA and social accountability markedly increased for both
children and adults in those communities where children were included in
the process and just among adults in those communities where children were
not involved.
What knowledge regarding
CP Local policies, services in
their communities?
Knowledge on CP local policies and services markedly increased for both
children and adults in those communities where children were included in
the process and just among adults in those communities where children were
not involved.
To what extent have
community members used the
knowledge mentioned above
to influence CP local policies
and services?
Targeted policies for research site were national level policies. Knowledge
(in addition to other components) did lead to inter-community networks
providing input to government stakeholders on the national policies
What is the level of
community’s capacity to
Community capacity improved for advocacy related to Child Protection
issues. The inclusion of children in the processes increased the likelihood of
the groups being listened to. Since these were national level advocacy
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engage in CP related services
advocacy initiative?
initiatives, community capacity was dependent on inter-community networks
to speak to the national voice.
What is the level of
government’s capacity to
engage in CP related services
advocacy initiative?
Pre-selected national level policies meant that this questions ends up focusing
on national level capacity. The bylaws addressed in the project were not yet
finalized at the time of the project termination and subsequent implementation
not assessed. However, there were visible changes in terms of government
practice including displaying more openness to listen to children and adults
from invisible communities. Even in the context of the Law for CP, these
invisible groups’ voice had been incorporated – signalling a shift in practice.
Furthermore, within the community context, the quality of the relationship
between service providers and receivers increased and local government
officials’ relationships to invisible communities had been enhanced.
What is the community’s
(adults and children, including
the most vulnerable) level of
monitor SSC services?
The community displayed some capacity to analyse and monitor SSC services
within a specific community, but the groups exhibited relatively low ownership
of the monitoring processes due to the shortened project cycle. The level of
knowledge on how to monitor had improved, but the implementation of the
action plan among the groups and the SSC seemed to be a point of concern
which has long term sustainability implications.
What is the community’s
(adults and children, including
the most vulnerable)
willingness to dialog for SSC
services?
Willingness is high among the communities that went through the CVA
process. Willingness appears to be increased with the inclusion of children.
To what extend does
government acknowledge the
value of relating with
community reps (children
included) regarding to CP
issues?
National level government appears to have taken community voices seriously
in the development of the Law for Child Protection.
At the local level, the local government officials and service providers
acknowledged the value of community representation and monitoring and
cited improved relationships with the more vulnerable groups in the villages
To what extend adults value
children’s view in influencing
CP policies and services?
The ethnographies suggest that adults who were from communities where
child inclusion was part of the CVA activities acknowledged the value of
children’s views in influencing CP policies and services. Government officials
were more likely to listen to and take seriously campaigns when the voice of
children and their views was more prominent
Are there any plans
developed and implemented
by the community jointly with
the government to address
the gaps related to CP
standards?
Not yet. Project cycle ended early and the national level focus of the pre-
selected CP targets limited the ability to develop joint action plans. But the
bylaws are set to be approved shortly.
To what extend are the CP
related services (including
social schema) effective?
Actual change to the schema and services not yet evident, but improved
relationships at the intra-community level noted
How do the services interact
with each other?
The changes to the social schema and the child labour policies are both
primarily likely to affect the Roma ethnic minority although other vulnerable
groups will also benefit from the modifications to the schema.
It is assumed that the greater inclusion in the social schema will reduce the
incidence of child street labour, but since the changes have not yet been
implemented, this cannot be confirmed.
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Main Research Question
2: Identify whether Child
Participation in CVA
contribute to greater
inclusion of children’s needs
and priorities in government
policy than the standard adult
citizen-only CVA model.
For the CP sector, the inclusion of children in the processes carried
significant implications in terms of intra-community adult willingness and
motivation as well as providing better reception by national government
officials during the campaigns.
What is the level of children’s
knowledge on CVA or social
accountability for CP?
Children knowledge of CVA and social accountability increased as a result of
inclusion in the project. The level of knowledge of CVA processes or
accountability did tend to be lower than the case study adults
What is the level of children’s
knowledge on local CP
policies and services?
Children knowledge of local CP policies and services increased as a result of
inclusion in the project. The level of knowledge tended to be the same as or
higher than the equivalent case study adults
What is the level of children’s
ability to interact in CP
related services advocacy
initiative?
Children’s abilities to interact in CP related services advocacy was good. The
national level orientation of the targeted CVA themes meant that there was
considerable dependency on inter-community mobilization and logistics
carried out by the partnering NGOs, but the capacity of the included
children was recognized by community adults, NGO workers and
government adults as being of added value
What is the level of children’s
capacity to monitor in CP
related services initiatives?
The children participated in the monitoring activities in the targeted child-
inclusion villages, but exhibited relatively low ownership over the processes –
likely due to the short period of project cycle and the fact that national level
policies were targeted which affected all villages equally. However, the
capacity to monitor had been increased.
What is the children
willingness to dialog for SSC
services?
Willingness of children is very high according to both the quantitative survey
and the ethnographies.
What is the level of children’s
communication and
presentations’ skills dialogue
with adults regarding CP
related policy and services?
Adults engaged in the inter-community dialogues and campaigns affirmed
good children skills in communication and presentation and noted the
importance of child presence in the advocacy spaces at the national level
How effective is the
monitoring carried out to CP
related services by children?
Since the targeted policies and services are national level and were not
modified prior to the end of the project, the monitoring effectiveness could
not be confirmed. Within the Centres for Social Work at the local level, the
groups had agreed to an action plan related to local level monitoring, but had
not yet been implemented before the short project cycle ended.
What is the children’s
(including the most
vulnerable) level of
satisfaction with the SSCs
services?
Satisfaction with services not changed because the targeted policies haven’t
changed, but children did report improved relationships with service
providers within the village level (adults also reported this)
Children’s
contribution/recommendation
s taken up by key decision
makers (in order to
demonstrate the value of
their inclusion in the process).
The ethnographies suggest that children’s voice on specific issues was taken
seriously and children’s suggestions on the implementation of CVA activities
was noted. The key draft Law for CP had included children’s voices in the
development of the draft by the decision makers. The law has not yet been
approved due to political instability in Kosovo.
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Recommendations
The findings suggest that the CVA process is applicable for CP and that the children inclusion in the
CVA processes does have positive impact for CP than might necessarily be found in other CVA themes.
Some of the more significant best practice implications found in the ethnographies are re-summarized
here as recommendations.
Recommendation 1: For working with itinerant community contexts, consider developing CVA
related interventions that don’t rely on consistent attendance from a core group
Recommendation 2: In contexts of unbalanced gender dynamics, consider over-recruiting adult
women or exploring other ways to encourage greater women activeness in CVA spaces.
Recommendation 3: For CP Integration, CVA processes should be built into longer time frames of
project cycles of 4-5 years as opposed to 12-18 months
Recommendation 4: CVA processes for CP should be implemented within the context of ongoing
CP programming to maximize effectiveness and synergy
Recommendation 5: Building inter-community networks should be integrated into all CVA
processes for CP since many of the policies require national level adjustments
Recommendation 6: Identify mechanisms for increasing the sustainability of inter-community
network construction
Recommendation 7: CVA for CP should focus on a single topic rather than two themes together
even though the two themes together can contribute to greater synergy
Recommendation 8: Pre-selecting CP topics at project design can be used to strategically attract
multi-ethnic groups and build bridges as well as creating closer alignment with ongoing CP campaigns.
Recommendation 9: In project design, allocate significant time and energy investments to Step
1(group formation) before proceeding to the other steps or only consider working with pre-existing
groups
Recommendation 10: CVA application in divided communities requires significant time investment
for Step 1 or only consider working with homogenous ethnic groups
Recommendation 11: Children groups should be integrated into all CVA processes for CP due to
positive contributions to enhanced adult willingness and motivation and improved access to key officials
and service providers
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2 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
2.1 World Vision and the CVA Approach
World Vision Albania & Kosovo is a child focused organization which seeks to create and enable – in
collaboration with local communities and partners – an environment which contributes to the
enhanced well-being of children throughout Albania and Kosovo. World Vision focuses on different
sectors including Child Protection, Advocacy, Education, Faith and Development, Economic
Development and Youth Mobilization.
Citizen Voice and Action (CVA) is one of the approaches used by World Vision to build social
accountability by mobilizing and equipping citizens to monitor government services and to advocate
for service improvement. The CVA approach aims to empower communities to influence the quality,
efficiency and accountability of public services. A key component is the development of a score card
system to compare actual services with the standards of service that the government has committed
to providing. The CVA process includes steps for community gatherings which bring together service
providers, private citizens and other government and local partners to identify actions for improving
services. The ultimate aim of the approach is to strengthen the relationship between citizens and
government and to promote increased dialogue with government service providers and officials
regarding the provision of targeted services. Historically, CVA has been used among adult citizens to
improve relevant government services in the health and education sectors.
2.2 LINC Project
The Local Initiatives for National Change (LINC) is a multi-country project funded by WV Australia
Support Office that aims to apply the CVA approach to child protection themes. Specifically to improve
the social protection services for children and their communities by raising the capacities of children,
community members and service provides through local and national advocacy. The main focus of the
project is to improve the economic aid offered by the government to poor families and to enhance
support services offered by the state to decrease child labour. The following table summarizes the key
goals and outcomes for the LINC project.
Table 1: LINC Project Summary
Goal Improved social protection services for children and their communities
Outcomes 1. Children and Youth Groups empowered to influence Child Protection services
at local level (with special focus on vulnerable groups-Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian
and similar).
2. Community Groups empowered to influence Child Protection services at local
level (with special focus on vulnerable groups-Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian and
similar).
3. Policy implementation on Social Protection Service Centers with special focus
on enhancing Social Assistance Scheme and reducing cases of Child Labour (local
and national level).
Target
Population
350 community members from three villages (Janjeve, Fushe Kosove & Plementin)
where WV has worked in previous projects
Timeline January 2015 – May 2016
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The project was implemented using the CVA model, but with an extra component involved child
participation in the CVA process. The project was facilitated jointly by the MEER Child Protection and
Participation and Local Level Advocacy Learning Hubs and implemented in five different countries in
the MEER region. WV Albania & Kosovo developed a collaboration agreement with a national NGO
called “Health for All” (H4ALL) which is a cooperative organization representing the Egyptian
community – one of the more marginalized ethnic groups in Kosove. H4ALL is considered to have a
good reputation among both the dominant Kosovar groups as well as the ethnic minorities of Roma,
Ashkali, Egyptian, Croatian and Serbian communities. H4ALL focuses on issues of advocacy and human
rights and has connections with the communities targeted in the LINC project.
The project’s theory of action describes the projected results.
Graph 1: LINC Project Theory of Action
LINC Levels and Indicators
The Theory of action for the LINC project in Kosovo contains five discrete levels or preconditions,
each with their own indicators for measuring success. The first level in the theory of action (the lowest
on the chart) describes the knowledge and ability dimension for both children and adults. The
assumption is that this knowledge and ability are necessary precursors for increasing the willingness
and capacity for action found in Level two. The Third level assumes that the willingness and capacity
Improved CP services available
1. Action Plans developed to influence government for CP services.
2. Action Plans implemented to influence government for CP services
(Actual policy change).
CP services monitored by
adults
CP services monitored by children
Enhancing
capacities
community and
government reps
on monitoring CP
services according
to CVA
Enhanced
willingness to
dialog for CP
services with
children
Enhanced
willingness of
children to
dialog for CP
services with
adults
Enhancing
capacities of
children on
monitoring CP
services
according to
CVA
Ability for
children to
interact with adults for
monitoring CP
services
Community
(adults)
Knowledge on CVA CP
Ability for
adults to
interact with children for
monitoring CP
services
Children’s
Knowledge on
CVA for CP
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will translate into targeted CP services being monitoring by both children and adults. The fourth level
focuses on the development of action plans for influence and policy change while the fifth level assumes
that these preceding preconditions will lead to improved CP services being available in the targeted
communities. The following table describes the indicators for success associated with each level in the
project documents.
Table 2: Dimension and Indicators for LINC Project
LEVEL DIMENSION INDICATORS
1 Children and Adult
Knowledge and Ability
regarding CP and
CVA
1. Level of children’s knowledge on CVA for CP
2. Children’s ability to interact with adults in the context of
monitoring CP services
3. Level of adult’s knowledge on CVA for CP
4. Adults ability to interact with adults in the context of
monitoring CP services
2 Children and Adult
willingness and
capacity for CP and
CVA
1. Level of children’s willingness to dialog with adults and
children for CP services
2. Children’s capacity to monitor CP services according to
CVA
3. Level of adults’ willingness to dialog with adults and children
for CP services
4. Adults’ capacities to monitor CP services according to CVA
3 CP services
monitored by children
and adults
1. Level of monitoring of CP services based on the CVA
standards
2. # of children’s recommendations drawn as a result of
monitoring
3. # of adults recommendations drawn as a result of
monitoring
4 Action plans
development for
influence and policy
change
1. Children’s contributions are taken up by key decision
makers
2. Community’s contributions are taken up by key decision
makers
3. # of recommendations adopted by key decision makers
4. # of initiatives carried out at sub-national and national
forums to influence policy reform or implementation
5 Improved CP services
and availability
1. Needs for services met
2. Satisfaction with services increased
The criteria for integration into the economic assistance programme is standard for all villages in
Kosovo and includes a general criteria and must also meet one of the criteria in either category 1 or
category 2:
15
Table 3: Economic Assistance Qualification Criteria
Collective Criteria Own less than 0.5 Hectares
No family income
Category 1 Permanently disabled adult incapable of work
Adult over 65 years of age
Caregivers present in family for disabled and elderly
Children in family less than 14 years
Children 15-18 in family are regularly attending school
Single Parent with at least one child under 15 years of age
Category 2 Adult able to work and one child under 5 years of age
Adult caregiver provides support to an orphan under 15 years of age.
2.3 CVA and Child Inclusion Research Project
Given the relatively experimental nature of the LINC project in applying CVA to Child Protection
issues and also seeking to integrate children participations, it was determined to be a suitable case for
additional research beyond the standard M&E processes integrated into the LINC processes.
Consequently, the MEER Child Protection and Participation and the Local Level Advocacy Learning
Hubs proposed a joint research initiative to test the effectiveness of the CVA approach with a child
participation component to influence Child Protection policy and implementation. This research
initiative was funded and supported by the WV US Support Office.
The research project aimed to answer two questions within the structure of the LINC project:
3. Is CVA an effective approach for influencing CP policy and Implementation?
4. Does Child Participation in CVA contribute to greater inclusion of children’s needs and
priorities in government policy than the standard adult-only CVA model?
This research project was developed in addition to the standard monitoring and evaluation processes
and sought to explore more deeply the interaction of children and child participation on project
outcomes as well as unintended consequences. The research project employed a mix methods
approach prioritizing an ethnographic case-study approach supplemented by quantitative surveys to
explore these research questions within the Kosovo Zonal Office CVA project.
The research study also explored a series of sub-questions related to the two main questions of CVA
effectiveness and child participation articulated in the table below.
Table 4: Research Key Questions
KEY OBJECTIVES KEY QUESTIONS
(1) Determine whether
CVA is an effective
approach for
influencing CP policy
and implementation
1. What is the level of community members’ adults and children, (including
the most vulnerable) knowledge on CVA or any social accountability tool
(describe it) to influence?
2. What knowledge regarding CP Local policies, services in their
communities?
3. To what extent have community members used the knowledge
mentioned above to influence CP local policies and services?
4. What is the level of community’s capacity to engage in CP related
services advocacy initiative?
5. What is the level of government’s capacity to engage in CP related
services advocacy initiative?
6. What is the community’s (adults and children, including the most
vulnerable) level of monitor SSC services?
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7. What is the community’s (adults and children, including the most
vulnerable) willingness to dialog for SSC services?
8. To what extend does government acknowledge the value of relating with
community reps (children included) regarding to CP issues?
9. To what extend adults value children’s view in influencing CP policies and
services?
10. Are there any plans developed and implemented by the community jointly
with the government to address the gaps related to CP standards?
11. To what extend are the CP related services (including social schema)
effective?
12. How do the services interact with each other?
(2) Identify whether
Child Participation in
CVA contribute to
greater inclusion of
children’s needs and
priorities in government
policy than the standard
adult citizen-only CVA
model.
1. What is the level of children’s knowledge on CVA or social accountability
for CP?
2. What is the level of children’s knowledge on local CP policies and
services?
3. What is the level of children’s ability to interact in CP related services
advocacy initiative?
4. What is the level of children’s capacity to monitor in CP related services
initiatives?
5. What is the children willingness to dialog for SSC services?
6. What is the level of children’s communication and presentations’ skills
dialogue with adults regarding CP related policy and services?
7. How effective is the monitoring carried out to CP related services by
children?
8. What is the children’s (including the most vulnerable) level of satisfaction
with the SSCs services?
9. Children’s contribution/recommendations taken up by key decision
makers (in order to demonstrate the value of their inclusion in the
process).
3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Overview of Research Structure The preferred methodology is a three-arm study design in which one community is designated as a
comparison group and is not involved in the LINC project and the CVA process. Two other
communities in the LINC project were differentiated between one community that only involved adults
in the CVA process, while the other community would involve both adults and children in the CVA
process. Comparing among the three types of communities can shed insight into answering whether
the CVA approach is effective for influencing CP policy and implementation and also determine how
the inclusion of children participation in the processes affected these outcomes.
The project area covered three villages for implementation of LINC – Janjeve, Plementin and Fushe
Kosove. Due to the already relatively small size of the project coverage and also ethical concerns
regarding treatment groups, the decision was made to have the Comparison group that did not receive
CVA interventions to be a community from outside the project area – although one where WV did
have some pre-existing connections through earlier projects. The comparison community – Zallq -
was selected for similarities to the project communities – although significant differences would exist
due to geographic location. Within the project site, Janjeve was chosen to be the community that only
involved adults in the CVA process for CP issues. Plementin and Fushe Kosove both involved both
adults and children in the process.
The exact approaches selected for the research process were dictated by the relatively small number
of groups involved and the concern that the project was only operational for 18 months. The CVA
process is normally considered to be a process that may take four or five years to achieve changes.
The short period of implementation was likely to limit the degree of outcome level changes to policy
17
or action, although changes may be achievable in some of the lower levels of the theory of action (such
as knowledge or willingness). Any changes that would be seen – and differences between the respective
treatment groups – were likely to be subtle rather than significant. To articulate these more subtle
changes, methodologies which emphasized a more in-depth exploration of processes would be more
appropriate. In addition, the small number of community involved also limited the utility of quantitative
approaches that would be based on assumptions of larger sample sizes and generalizability.
Given these factors, it was determined that a case study approach using ethnographic methods would
be the most helpful for articulating subtle changes and addressing the primary research questions. To
supplement the ethnographic information, quantitative data consisting of fixed response questionnaire
was administered to both children and adults that measured factors related to knowledge, ability,
willingness, actions and perceived degree of change. However, the quantitative information is seen as
complementary information to the ethnographies. Both the ethnographic data and the quantitative
data was collected in a baseline and post-project phase.
3.2 Ethnographic Case Study Methodology
3.2.1 Ethnographic Case Studies - Background
Ethnographic approaches are not commonly used in World Vision M&E systems, but they can be useful
for certain conditions. An ethnographic approach is most useful when there are relatively few cases –
as is the context of the Kosovo CVA research project – and there is a need to gather detailed and
complex information regarding a situation, context, or phenomenon. Ethnographies focus on
describing processes and the emphasis is on exploring a social phenomenon (in this case a CVA
intervention). Data is primarily unconstructed data – not coded for themes or integrated within a set
of analytic categories. Data analysis involved interpretation of functions and meanings. Ethnographies
gather enormous amounts of detailed information on a situation and one of the main methodological
discussions is concerned with how to best report the findings.
There are many ways to report on ethnography. These variations can be categorized as one of three
forms: Narrative, Report, or Analysis, although these are not distinctive categories and approaches
may overlap between them. The following table summarizes the differences in the three forms of
presentation.
Table 5: Forms of Ethnography Presentation1
NARRATIVE REPORT ANALYSIS
Master Trope Narrative or Story
Telling
Presentation, presenting
information
Interpretation,
Interpreting Information
Type of Description Stories Data Sets Puzzles
Type of Analysis Narrative Explanation Interpretation
Objects of
Description
Lived experiences in
diverse forms
Observable behaviours,
social relations, social
patterns
Texts, narratives,
symbols
1 From: Ethnographic Essentials: Designing, Conducting, and Presenting Your Research. Julian Murchison.
2010, Josey-Bass
18
Goal of Analysis Existential, dialogical,
intersubjective,
subjectivist
To make or test models
of reality
Radical critique in the
sense of breaking down
of an object into
elements through
understanding the
“root” of how it works
or exists
Goal of the
Ethnography
Communicate
experience
Explain Social Reality Understand cultural
realities
Rationale of the
Ethnographic Project
To understand the
nature of human
existence
Build or test theory,
produce knowledge of
social reality
To intervene in the
world through the
production of
knowledge
For the purposes of this research project, a form of presentation ranging between Narrative and
Report was used given the nature of the research questions. Narratives were compiled for each
community involved in the research process: Zallq (no CVA), Janjeve (CVA with Adults), and
Plementin and Fushe Kosovo (CVA with Adults and Children). The individual narratives were then
compared with each other to identify patterns in the processes related to the three conditions. The
comparisons were used to generate conclusions and recommendations related to the research
questions.
3.2.2 Ethnographic Data Collection Tools
The qualitative information for these case studies was collected through three tools:
A semi-structured interview guide for Key Informant Interviews.
A Semi-structured interview guide with Focus Group Discussions
A structured group history exercise using a Timeline interview guide.
Qualitative Interviews: FGDs and KIIs
The research team developed a semi-structured interview guide for interviewing groups of adults and
children as well as an interview guide to interview key informants knowledgeable of the communities
and familiar with CP issues in the context. These interview guides primarily focused on gains achieved
in the project – with an emphasis on exploring the standard evaluation dimensions of relevance,
appropriateness, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability. A semi-structured interview guide is
intended to provide some guidance to a conversation, but it is not intended to be read word for word
such as might be the case for a questionnaire. Semi-structured guides have only a few general
questions, but with numerous optional probes connected to each general question. The interview
facilitators have the flexibility to re-phrase the questions to make them more appropriate for the
general audience and to follow the direction of the conversation as it emerges with the group. For
FGDs, the purpose is to encourage respondents to tell stories or describe incidents that illustrate their
perceptions or opinions. The KII and FGD interview guides are located in Annex 2.
For both the FGDs and the KIIs, sampling was based on purposeful sampling for information richness.
Participants were recruited who had knowledge of the community, who were familiar with WV
programming and who would be considered sufficiently empowered to give direct opinions. FGDs
were intended to have between 8-12 participants although this varied somewhat in specific cases.
In each community, as baseline picture was developed via KII interviews during the summer of 2015.
For the Key Informant Interviews, two KIIs were carried out in each community with local government
officials or social workers knowledgeable about CP issues related to economic aid, child labour, and
marginalized ethnic groups. In the post-project phase, an FGD was carried out with adults and another
FGD was carried out with children in each of the four community sites.
19
Timeline Exercise
The Timeline Exercise is a tool developed to capture stakeholders’ understandings of the history of
the project intervention and the entire range of activities that World Vision had carried out over the
entire project cycle. The tool also elicits from participants reflections on the successes and challenges
over the years. The exercise is intended to be done collectively with a group of 6-8 community
stakeholders who have extensive knowledge of the project from its origins. The facilitation guide for
the timeline is found in Annex 2. In each community, a timeline exercise was carried out with a group
of adults and a separate timeline exercise was carried out with a group of children. The timeline
exercise was modified slightly for Zallq community since no CVA project activities had been done in
that community.
Individuals participating in the timeline exercise were those who would be information rich regarding
the range of project activities and who were familiar with community dynamics.
3.2.3 Ethnographic Data Analysis
Although the process was overseen by an external researcher, due to distance and language issues, the
actual data collection processes were carried out by WV Albania & Kosovo DME staff based in the
National Office in Tirana and CPP LH personnel in Tirana. All data compiled and all interview notes
were carried out in Albanian.
Interview notes from the FGDs and KIIs were transcribed (in Albanian) as well as summary notes
entered into an evaluation matrix (see Annex 3). The transcriptions of all four communities in pre-
and post-project phases amounted to more than 250 pages of notes and narratives.
Data analysis was done via a participatory exercise in Tirana over a four day period. Twelve staff
representing from WV Albania & Kosovo DME department, WV Albania & Kosovo technical sectors
department, the Kosovo Zonal Office, and the Child Protection and Participation Learning Hub met
together over the four days. The 12 staff were divided into three sub-teams with each sub-team
focusing on a different case. Each sub-team read all of the notes related to the community in question
and then went through a guided exercise led by the external research to construct the narratives for
each of the case studies.
The four narratives were then presented in plenary to the entire group and the last day was devoted
to identifying commonalities and differences among the case study narratives for application to respond
to the primary research questions. The raw material for this analysis exercise are found in Annex 3
and Annex 4 and the Albanian versions of the ethnographies are found in Annex 5.
3.3 Quantitative Tools, Sampling and Analysis
Because of the limitations in terms of time and a small number of cases, the research process is
emphasizing an ethnographic approach to provide a deep insight into the particular cases. However,
as a supplementary tool, the research process also used a quantitative survey administered to children
and adults. This 43 question fixed-response survey addressed all five levels of the LINC project
variables (see page 8) but emphasized the first and second level concepts – knowledge and willingness
to address CP issues.
The survey questions were classified into composite measures that explored four dimensions:
Knowledge of CP issues and of CVA process, Willingness to engage with different stakeholders on CP
issues, Capacity to engage on CP issues, and frequency of Actions taken. The survey also assessed the
degree of change in citizen relationships to public services or local government stakeholders. The
English version of the survey can be found in Annex 2.
20
For the three villages involved in the CVA process, the survey was administered to the adults and
children who were involved in the CVA activities. A baseline was obtained for the village (differentiated
between adults and children) during the first organizational meetings in the village. At the end of the
18 month period, this same group was re-surveyed with the same tool. The responses before and
after the project for the participants were compared to assess the degree of change in the targeted
dimensions. For Zallq village, which was not involved in the CVA processes, the same groups were
surveyed before and after the project, but not during the organizational meetings. The raw data on
responses is found in Annex 4.
The changes in response was tracked at the level of the individual questions per village, but to facilitate
comparative analysis, the changes were also tracked per dimension (Knowledge, Willingness, Capacity,
Actions, and Change). A composite measure scaled to 100 points was developed for each measure
and changes in the point totals per dimension was tracked. The summary tables by question and by
dimension are found in Annex 4.
The data from the groups sampled is not generalizable to the entire community or region since
purposeful sampling was used. However, the survey data does provide insight into how the specific
groups with whom WV is working in the CVA process have changed in terms of their knowledge and
capacities for CVA implementation.
3.4 Research Team Composition and Logistics
A research team composed of DME and NO Technical Sector staff from WV Albania and Kosovo as
well as Regional office CP Learning Hub representatives were led by an external consultant with the
support of the Kosovo Regional Office project staff. The research team members facilitated the FGDs
and the KII interviews. The quantitative data was gathered via the project staff administering the
surveys during monitoring visits or ongoing project activities.
Prior to administering the surveys and FGD tools, the NO DME staff spent time validating the interview
guides and participated in a virtual orientation and training session with the external consultant. The
main focus on the orientation days was to ensure a clear and shared understanding among all
participants regarding the research objectives and how to use the research tools.
The quantitative survey information was entered into a database by the Kosovo Regional office staff.
The database had been developed by the WV National Office DME staff. The qualitative information
was summarized into a research matrix by the FGD and KII administrators. However, the FGDs were
also recorded and the transcriptions were developed by external contractors.
3.5 Controlling for Bias
In order to control for possible evaluator bias, a series of layered triangulation techniques were applied
to the data collection and data analysis processes. These included the triangulation of data types, the
triangulation of data sources, and the triangulation of data collectors. Participatory techniques were
used in the qualitative analysis to expand the options for identifying possible themes and patterns.
Data Types: The research gathered information via qualitative and quantitative tools.
Questions to be explored were addressed in both a qualitative and a quantitative tool to serve
as possible checks against each other. The qualitative data is considered the primary data
sources for the research process, but the quantitative data is intended to provide
supplementary information and to triangulate with the qualitative findings.
Data Sources: The qualitative interviews were done with participants who were intended
to represent a mix of different villages as well as from different key groups within the village
who participated in the project.
Data Collectors: in the quantitative data, the data was primarily obtained by the Kosovo
local staff administering the surveys although National Office DME staff and CPP LH staff also
21
helped administer the surveys at certain points. However, the qualitative data was obtained
through a cadre of different data collectors. The data collectors were mixed in terms of which
villages they went to and which people they were paired with to avoid having a single
perspective or person dominate. The research team members rotated leading interviews and
taking notes to ensure that no single person had too much influence over the facilitation
processes.
Participatory Analysis: as mentioned earlier, for the qualitative data, a participatory process
for identifying key themes was carried out with the research team and other WV staff to
ensure that the findings were not just coming from a single source.
3.6 Limitations to the Study
Generally, limitations to a study can be classified into one of three categories: Data collection logistics,
methodology constraints, and project implementation or logframe constraints. Overall, the research
process went relatively smoothly and the diversity of tools and approaches employed provided
generally high quality insights into the CVA programming. Nevertheless, some potential limitations
should be recognized:
Data collection logistics
o The research process relied heavily on internal WV staff from the national office and
Kosovo because of their deep contextual knowledge. However, due to the
simultaneous responsibilities, there was a limited amount of time and relatively few
personnel who could support the process. Ideally, for this type of qualitative research
process with participatory analysis, the team should be as diverse and mixed as possible
and include community stakeholders, partner organizations as well as WV staff and
external consultants. Timing and language issues did constrain the degree of diversity
in the analysis team, but using staff with extensive local context knowledge did help
mitigate this dimension somewhat
o The shortage of time and the smaller team also limited the number of interview events
that could be developed during the time. This was not problematic for the targeted
data collection, but given the desire to explore deeply the particularities of the CVA
processes in each case study village, it would have been interesting to generate more
interview events with adult and children stakeholders as well as other organizational
representatives or local government officials and service providers regarding the
overall dynamics and processes in the project.
o Ideally, an ethnographic study would also be comprised of extended periods of
participant observation. Due to the time and personnel constraints, it was not possible
to have staff based in the villages for the entire 18 month period taking ethnographic
notes. Some participant observation notes were elicited by the WV project officer
and the collaborating NGO representative based on their interactions during project
visits, but full participant observation was not possible.
Methodology Constraints
o The mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection tools provided a good mixture
of complementary information. However, a potential limitation affecting the long term
assessment of the history of the CVA processes is recency bias. Individuals will recall
in greater detail and emotion those events that happened most recently and will play
down or ignore impacts from events that happened earlier. The timeline technique is
intended to mitigate possible recency bias, but this is always a potential limitation when
trying to assess the long term impact and history of a project.
Project Implementation or Logframe Constraints
o The project implementation in general did allow for an information rich case study
context comparing different villages, but two factors did present limitations to the
research processes.
22
o The first significant limitation in the project implementation structure for addressing
the research questions is that the targeted CVA policies (child labor and economic aid
parameters) are national level policies rather than village level policies. Although the
groups were technically divided in terms of CVA with adults or CVA with adults or
children, or no CVA, the communities were actually all targeting the same national
level actors. The project brought stakeholders from the different project villages
together to collectively meet with national government officials at different spaces. As
a consequence, although the activity and output level work within the villages could be
disaggregated across the case studies, the outcome or impact level (changes in policies)
could not be disaggregated to track the contributions of different villages.
o A second limitation is the length of time within the project cycle. A CVA process may
take several years to show evidence of change, but the LINC project cycle was only
18 months from design to end of project (less for actual implementation). The short
time period meant that although some changes could be tracked across the groups,
the full effect of a long term CVA process would not necessarily be easily visible –
especially for some of the higher level (slower change) aspects.
4 FINDINGS PART 1: ETHNOGRAPHIC NARRATIVES
4.1 Introduction
Ethnographic data is constructed from a set of qualitative or quantitative data sources including
participant observation, key informant interview, or focus group discussions. However, the
information is compiled and presented in one of three general narrative formats (story, report, analysis)
depending on the purpose of the case study research. The format used for this research process is a
combination between story and report. The four narratives presented here in the findings section
were developed during a participatory analysis over four days in Tirana in September 2016 with a team
of 12 WV staff.
Small working groups focused on developing the case study for a specific village. Each group developed
a slightly different format for presenting their narratives. However, the overall structure of each of
the narratives are consistent with the criteria for a case study presentation. The narratives are specific
to each village in the case study and are presented in the findings section in order from the least
engaged (no CVA process) to the most engaged (CVA processes with children and adults). The order
is intentional to provide an insight into additional elements that enter the narratives as more
engagement factors are added.
The case study teams also developed case-specific reflections on the success and challenges and impact
of the processes in the villages. These are integrated into the end of each individual case narrative.
The Comparison and Conclusion sections of the report provides the comparative analysis between
the four narratives and based on this analysis, articulates responses to the primary research questions.
The narratives were originally developed in Albanian based on transcripts and interviews done in
Albanian. The presentations below are translations from the original Albanian. Translation
idiosyncrasies are maintained in the narratives to reflect original thought patterns. The original
Albanian versions of the narratives are found in Annex 5.
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4.2 Case 1: Zallq (No CVA)
The municipality of Istog is located in the north-western part of Kosovo. It has 46 cadastral zones, with
an area of 453.84 km² and it comprises of the municipal centre, 51 villages and two suburban centres:
Gurrakoc and Banja. Istog has 39.2892 residents, with a considerable number that belong to ethnic
communities, such as Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities.
Village of Zallq is part of municipality of Istog, with a distance of about 4 km from the municipal centre.
The village school has about 1300 pupils who come from 5 surrounding villages including Zallq. The
village has a clinic for primary health services while other social and economic services can be obtained
at the municipal centre of Istog. In this village WV has never implemented any of its own programmes
and currently there are no other non-profit organizations that operate there that provide alternative
services for improving the living conditions of the residents in the area, with the exception of Red
Cross that sometimes provides assistance for children of RAE communities.
The main economic activity through which the families earn their living in this area is agriculture, which
allows residents to provide food for their own consumption and financial income through the sale of
products in the closest markets such as the markets of Istog, Klina and Peja. Road infrastructure and
climatic conditions favour the access of these markets in every season of the year.
During the two visits made by the WV staff in village of Zallq, in 2015 and 2016 the same concerns for
local residents are noticed by the staff. During 2015, the staff had the opportunity to talk with the head
of the social assistance scheme, director of the centre for social work and the head of the social
services that helped in establishing a general idea about the social and economic situation of Zallq
village. The same people were contacted again in 2016, including the principal of the primary school
and were conducted meetings with adults and children of this area.
The main problems in this area continue to be economic and social conditions such as poverty,
unemployment, the mentality regarding the employment of children and early marriages. “The economic
situation is bad, there is high unemployment and the opportunities for employment are scarce”– says the head
of the social assistance scheme. Despite the fact that investments were made in infrastructure, there
is nothing else that has changed from the everyday life of the residents in the area. “I heard that they
have built more offices, more desks, so that the waiting lines are reduced in the office of social assistance when
we go to apply for documents. Investments were also made in school which did not have central heating but it
has been installed now. New windows have been put in because there were old windows. They made some
changes, the sports field is completed now. Some small streets were paved… however, they did not show any
interest about citizens at all…” The difficult economic conditions have forced a great part of the
population to migrate outside their residential area towards bigger cities in search for employment
opportunities. “The number of pupils is reduced every year, mainly from the great migration. In 2015 many
families abandoned this place, especially families of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities” states the
principal of the elementary school. Even the children themselves tell how “teachers try to bring back the
pupils who dropped out from the school”.
Another problematic phenomenon faced by residents in Zallq is the difficulty in accessing social
services, which has created a situation of distrust in institutions. They find support only from each
other's families “we help each other, or in other words one family helps another family” but in institutions
“it isn’t worth going. It isn't worth”. Adults tell they feel unsupported in accessing social services, “the only
solution is to have a relative in power, or to support a political party in power. Otherwise you have no solution.
If you support that party, they will help you, if you don't, they won't help you”. Residents in Zallq are not only
sceptical towards institutions but also pessimistic that in their area, nothing will change even if they
organize in groups of individuals “we did not think of that, but even if we did, it will be useless to go, nothing
will change, it is useless. Nothing changes in here”.
2http://www.institutigap.org/documents/10022_ISTOGU.pdf
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The lack of residents' knowledge regarding the functioning of the institutions and the legal basis for
social assistance and services also affects the deterioration of this situation. “People know very little on
the activities of social centre and on the social services that we provide” – state CSW officials. Among the
ethnic communities it is also noted the discrimination that residents are facing during the process of
obtaining the relevant documentation for benefiting social assistance. The category of ethnic
communities suffers more from the problems mentioned above, namely the one on the low access to
services. “We have problems with the census of Roma and Ashkali population and especially with the
registration of children and the issuance of certificates since their parents moved from the country of residence”
says the head of social assistance scheme.
Locally, the structure that has the mandate to provide social services is the centre for social work.
CSW consists of two departments, which are: Department of Social Services and the Department of
Social Scheme. This centre provides services for all categories in need, from the newborn children up
to older persons. In the centres for social work, there is a commission, whose function is to gather
complaints, observations or suggestions of the employees about the mechanism of services and policies
for social scheme. These shortcomings are addressed to the line ministries for consideration and then
to the assembly for possible legal changes. The budget allocated by the line ministry for the social
scheme is too small to respond to the needs of citizens.
Three categories are determined regarding the criteria for benefiting from the social scheme. The first
category is the families that have no person capable of work, or who have only one capable person,
who should look after someone else, whether a child, a person with special needs or someone else.
The second category is the families that have both parents incapable of work, with children under 18
years old. The other category in economic difficulties that should benefit from economic schemes is
the category of families with children under 5 years old. The legal basis has undergone changes in 2015,
including the creation of a database at the central level where all the data are entered online in order
to determine the families benefiting from social scheme. Every family that benefits from social scheme
is calculated according to the criterion of the number of family members. The maximum amount that
can be obtained from the social scheme is 170 Euros. There are also some small additions e.g. for each
child under 18 years old, 5 additional Euros are calculated. In Istog about 500 families benefit from the
social scheme but there is no information on families who benefit in Zallq village. The category of 5
year old children, who upon reaching this age are out of the scheme, represents a very big problem.
In order to remove this criterion the state shall have many millions.
With regard to protection of children, the principal of the primary school admits that “I know that there
is a law that protects children but its application, I don’t believe that is implemented here. I see many of my
former pupils doing hazardous work and not only of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians communities, but all the
children in general”, meanwhile the employees in CSW state that they encounter difficulties in identifying
the situations of children in street. The director of the centre for social work in the municipality says
that “the information on this area is scarce, it is not worked with cases of children who are working, and there
is no focus on the issue of child labour”.
The works, in which the children in this area are included, are works of agriculture; wood logging and
transport as well as collection and sale of recycling materials (scrap metal, cans, plastic). However,
child labour is not seen as detrimental to their development of almost all stakeholders in the area, “in
here it is a habit for the child to help his/her parents in agricultural work, but it cannot be considered as forced
or hazardous work for the child” says the director of social services. The child protection system in
Kosovo has legal gaps with regard to situation of children in street, which does not provide the
measures that need to be taken for the protection of children in street. For institutions that need to
address these issues, a problem is the identification and reporting of cases of children in street, due to
the low number of staff, budget and lack of coordination of structures to address and prosecute the
cases.
Children in Zallq do not have leisure and empowerment opportunities to ensure a better future. Their
daily life is school, homework and games with friends. "We come from school, we do our homework then
we go out to play with our friends" and in our free time "we play cards, ride bicycles, some play with their
cell-phones, we play computer games" say the children. No organization has gone in their village to
implement parts of their projects. Children have never gathered as a group of children to assist in
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solving problems of social nature that the village has. However, there are some children that individually
through an awareness campaign of the water company "Rugova" have helped in purchasing wheelchairs
for children with special needs. “There are children who collect bottle caps and if they can, they sell them
and buy wheelchairs for children who cannot walk”, but they have never gathered together in a group say
the children during their conversation with the WV staff. With regard to the child labour, they say
that there are children who work in transporting wood just as there are children who collect and sell
cans/plastic to buy “shoes and other things”.
While the months pass, the everyday life and the future of Zallq residents, for children and adults
appear to be gloomy for as long as the institutions or non-profit organizations do not invest in this
area.
Reflection
Since no CVA process was carried out in the village, the community serves as a reference against the
processes implemented in the other sections. During the implementation period of the project, little
change happened in the village with respect to children’s empowerment, economic assistance, or child
labor issues. This suggests that changes identified in the other villages are not likely to have been the
result of larger national level forces affecting all villages in Kosovo.
In Kosovo as a general region, women’s participation is generally relatively low and men tend to be
more active in community level issues and men also tend to occupy roles as local government officials
and social service providers. The community of Zallq is typical in terms of these gender dynamics.
4.3 Case 2: Janjeve (CVA with Adults only)
The municipality of Lipjan is located in central Kosovo. It covers an area of approximately 422 km² and
a total population of 57,500 residents3. Janjeva is a village that is part of the municipality of Lipjan, with
a population of 2137 residents4. The population in the area is multi-ethnic, which consists of Albanians,
Croats, Roma, Ashkali, Serbs and Bosniaks. Despite the proximity of the village with Prishtina and
other urban areas, it is worth mentioning the road infrastructure. The village has only one road, which
is not connected with any of the surrounding villages, resulting on one way in a type of isolation of the
local population in terms of exchange of information or interaction of residents of this area with
residents from surrounding areas.
Prior conflict of 1999, the industrial activity flourished in some factories in Janjeva (among which, the
vehicle spare parts manufacturing factory had a major importance in the industrial activity of this area).
These ceased to operate immediately after the war, thus leading to deterioration of the economic
situation and causing this area to be among the poorest in Kosovo.
In terms of education, the school in Janjeva serves to all communities of the area, and has three
principals, one for Serbo-Croatian community, one for the Albanian community and one for the RAE
community.
After the conflict in Kosovo, in 2012, World Vision started to work in this area through the peace-
making project "Children for Peace", during which children of this area were organized in groups
established with the aim of improving inter-ethnic relations. Thanks to the work during these years,
WV managed to build trust relations with the residents of the village. However, the colleagues of the
"Children for Peace" project informed us that the efforts made in the area to bring people together
have been very challenging. Meanwhile the project Children for Peace continues to be implemented in
Janjeva, so the LINC project is not the only project being implemented in this area. In initial phase of
implementation of the project LINC on 2015, it was planned to engage some children from the group
of Children for Peace project for the establishment of a group of children who would be engaged in
3 According to the Kosovo Population and Housing Census 2011 4 According to the Kosovo Population and Housing Census 2011, Albanians numbered 1586, Croatians - 270, Roma - 177, Turks - 118, Ashkali - 11, Bosniaks - 5, Unknown - 4, Serbs - 1, Undeclared - 1
26
the LINC project. Efforts to establish a group of children, who would be included in the process of
advocating the protection for the children in streets, were not successful. Due to this reason, it was
concluded that it would be proper if the project in this village continued to work only with the group
of adults, whereas with children to work in terms of awareness raising for the rights of children and
other matters related to protection of children. Parents say they are grateful about the work of WV
through KfP and the knowledge that children acquired in trainings on life skills. The parents consider
the regular meeting of their children as an added value for their wellbeing. This contribution provided
by WV with KfP made it easier for adult groups to gather.
The Principal responsible for Serbo-Croatian community, since the beginning of the project "Local
Initiative for National Change" has closely cooperated with WV and H4A to identify influential people
in the village and engaged in inviting them to the first meetings for establishment of the group.
Specifically, WV worked with Roma community, who according to representatives of the H4A after
the war were self-declared that they belong to Serbo-Croatian nationality. This enables these
communities to benefit health and social services by the Serbian state. This automatically excludes them
from benefiting from social scheme provided by the state of Kosovo. Another characteristic of this
community is that they have linguistic difficulties, are not even able to write their own names. These
families are finding hard to accept that they cannot also benefit from the social scheme system in
Kosovo, given that they live here.
Residents of the area were gathered by World Vision and H4All in cooperation with local stakeholders
(we are mentioning again the school principal), in order to establish a community group, which will aim
at influencing the policies for protection of children and improve the services of centres for social
work. Persons who expressed interest to be involved in further meetings, have established a group
which held regular monthly meetings with WV and H4A representatives throughout the 18 months
period of the project implementation. During these meetings, people met and became more familiar
with each other, as well as discussed about issues related to the rights and protection of children. In
these meetings, the members of the group state that they gained more knowledge about children's
rights. In the first six months, in addition to meetings with WV, members of the group have met with
each other without WV once every two months. At these meeting were discussed issues pertaining to
the children in streets “...those kids in traffic lights, they don’t have conditions for living… to get proper
education, and that is the situation. We must protect and educate the children”.
Coordinator of the H4A organization, with whom WV cooperated to implement the project, informed
us that the group of adults has gone through all the steps of the CVA. Janjeva residents, called by WV
and H4A, have gathered every month to establish and strengthen the group as well as to spend time
together. However, based on the project documentation, it is noticed that the participants of the group
entered and left the group, thus some members did not participate in all meetings with WV and H4A
in regular basis. This is also stated by the core group members, who identify this inconsistency in
participation as one of the main challenges that the group faced throughout the project lifecycle. There
were sporadic meetings held between children of Janjeva and other groups of children with whom
CVA (1 June) worked and were exchanged experiences regarding CVA in Prishtina, where groups of
children of Fushe Kosova and Plemetin realized a drama play, so that all children and adults in the room
could be informed about their rights.
Meanwhile, parents have received training (within the CVA process) about the rights and protection
of children as well as civic engagement (Ori, Muharrem and Brikena). Trainings about the law on social
scheme (compared to the law on social scheme in FYROM) were realized by Vehbi, in order to get
acquainted with EU standards on children protection. As a result of trainings, groups of parents have
come up with recommendations for the social scheme which were exchanged with the deputy
representative of RAE communities.
At the beginning of the second half of the year, the group from Janjeva together with the adult group
of Fushe Kosova and Plemetin joined to meet Vehbi, in the capacity of expert for social policy and
services. In this meeting, the members of the group became familiar with the law on social scheme and
European standards on children protection (the latter due to the absence of law for protection of
children). Furthermore, being aware now about the draft law on protection of children, as well as with
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the support of WV and under leadership of an expert on child protection policies, the group from
Janjeva along with groups of children and adults of Fushe Kosova and Plemetin have identified gaps in
this draft law, which was still in the hands of legal experts at the time. Together, these groups have
provided several recommendations for improving the law with particular focus for the children on
streets, which were drafted by Vehbi in the official legal language in order to present them at the
Assembly and the Office of the Prime Minister. WV, with the help of legal expert on policies and
children protection issues, has organized several meetings with representatives of the legal office of
the Office of the Prime Minister and Assembly of Kosovo, whereby with these representatives were
exchanged recommendations regarding few amendments to be made in the Draft Law on children
protection. Later on, the groups jointly met with representatives of the Assembly of Kosovo and the
Deputy representing the RAE community, to be better informed about the relevant structures in the
Assembly regarding social issues.
Furthermore, in addition to regular monthly meetings with WV, in March 2016, the group of Janjeva
conducted training with a policy and public services expert during which they acquainted with the
function of the Centre for Social Work (CSW), CSW's roles and responsibilities concerning the
services provided by this institution. During this training they received response to some questions
regarding benefiting from social scheme and the criteria that need to be fulfilled to obtain this
assistance. As a next step after the training for CSW roles, project implementers, WV and H4All in
cooperation with CSW in Lipjan have organized joint meeting of the group of Janjeva with officials of
this institution. Visits to the centres for social work, as well as the meetings with officials of this
institution to closely observe the quality of services provided in the CSW and infrastructure served to
hold a discussion between CSW officials and members about the matters that concerns them, difficult
conditions in which they live and the need to be supported financially by the state of Kosovo. They
become aware of the impossibility of benefiting from dual services from the Serbian and Kosovo state,
in terms of social scheme. During the meeting with the director of the CSW in the municipality of
Lipjan, members of the group seem to have become aware of the reasons for their exclusion from
social schemes.
The group, by comparing standards of CSW operation with the current conditions in which this
institution operates, have selected some of them for which they wanted to do something. Among the
selected standards, it is mentioned the professionalism of social workers, number of workers, budget
and the number of cases managed by a social worker. In order to assess the conditions of CSW, the
group met with Director of CSW, a representative of the social scheme and a representative of the
social services. The group focused on changes to the scheme criteria, in order to include them in the
social scheme of the state of Kosovo.
Based on conversations with group members, it is clearly understood that the group members feel
unsupported by the services provided by CSW. "I would recommend to CSW to pay more attention
to children, our children have no rights, CSW does not care whether our children should receive
education, grow up, we should not allow them to be on the street, we must protect them.” However,
they are aware that this situation is not created artificially by employees of the CSW, but is part of a
broader legal and social framework. On the other hand, as a result of the work done by WV and H4All
with the group of Janjeva, it is noticed that the an awareness of adults that are members of the group
about the rights of children and also regarding the need to work together in this direction.
Members of the group mention as success the fact they had the opportunity to sit together and
communicate with each other about their problems. There were discussions about the need for
representation at national level, through the formation of a new party for the rights of Roma. Members
of the group believe that by creating a party of their own they will be able to address the issues of
concern and influence policies at the national level to improve their living conditions. After the visit to
the Assembly and the meeting with the deputy representing the RAE community, this representative
visited the group in Janjeva which has led to the establishment of a branch of the party with the aim of
protection of rights of Roma, this party’s headquarter is in Prishtina, and is represented in legislative
and executive branch. Although this is not made deliberately by the WV, it is achieved as a result of
increased self-confidence of the members of the group, thanks to the awareness work that WV made
with the residents in this village. Therefore, familiarization of group members, increased self-confidence
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and expansion of knowledge with other people, state officials and ordinary citizens, was sufficient for
the group to set up branches of their Roma party in Janjeva. During these meetings there have been
discussions for children who are staying in the street, those who do not have opportunity to get
education. Group members express their gratitude for the opportunity that WV provided, so they can
create connections with official representatives of RAE community. Now, the representative of RAE
community maintains direct contacts with this group, constantly visiting them in the area where they
live.
From the standpoint of the officials of CSW, the success of the project has been the meetings held
between community group with employees of CSW. The meeting between service providers and
members of the group enabled to know each other better and reduced the tensions between service
providers and members of the group. "They are not aggressive as before ..." - says one of the employees
of CSW. CSW representatives also stated that after these meetings, they have a clearer idea about the
real problems that the Roma community faces in their daily lives. On the other hand, knowledge of the
group with the operation of the social scheme, criteria to benefit, as well as roles and responsibilities
of these institutions, made the group members more open to talk about how to find a solution, instead
of creating conflicts with employees of CSW. This is considered as a success by both parties (providers
and benefiters of services) because before it was difficult to bring a group together to advocate on an
issue that affects the entire community and not for personal gain.
However, a significant challenge with the group was to keep them motivated to gather and work on
common issues, such as the children wellbeing and specifically the protection of the most vulnerable
children, such as those in the street. The focus of the group has remained in the social benefit scheme
and they have failed to come out of from this frame of thinking beyond the direct and personal benefits.
This has been occasionally observed in joint meetings between structures and group of Janjeva as well
as meetings with other groups (those from Plemetin and Fushe Kosova), where members of the group
from Janjeva have continued to occasionally bring the issue of obstacles they face in benefiting from
the social scheme.
Members of the group mention that one of the challenges faced during these steps was the language,
since it has limited their direct engagement with Albanian speaking people, project implementers and
representatives of institutions. Whereas from the children standpoint, even though they are involved
in different meetings that WV has organized in the area (such as summer camps, meetings for building
life skills), they said they would have loved to be part of the group to raise the voice for their rights,
which came as a result of hearing from adults about the groups of children in areas of Fushe Kosova
and Plemetin and after they saw the drama play performed by the children of Fushe Kosova and
Plemetin (whose aim was to raising the awareness of children and adults about the right of children).
Reflection
In this area, the project has worked directly with Roma community, which is considered as the most
discriminated and vulnerable in this area compared to other communities. It is noted (as mentioned
by members of the group) that the group of Janjeva has not been proactive in its approach to have an
impact in the draft law on children protection, but has joined the efforts of groups of Fushe Kosova
and Plemetin to affect this draft law.
Kosovo is still a fragile country when it comes to women’s participation. However, the Janjeve core
group of both adults and children were more or less gender balanced. The rotating group members
– the ones who came in and out of meetings – were also mostly gender balanced. Interestingly, in this
community, the local service providers and local government representatives were mostly female
which may have been a factor in terms of maintaining gender balance – and women’s participation – in
the CVA groups.
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Of the two themes of focus for the project, the group was primarily interested in advocacy work for
improving the economic aid packages, although there was also willingness to be engaged on the Child
Rights law as well. There was no gender differentiation with respect to these adult interests.
Successes
An achievement of the project that is highly valued by members of the group is the fact that they met
people that are in similar situations, but come from other areas and belong to the Roma community
and other communities. This has resulted not only in cooperation between group members, but also
between groups of three areas where the project is implemented. In addition to cooperation for the
social scheme policy and situation of children in street, the community must extend beyond the
residential area and interact with people from other villages, acknowledge by the members of the
group as the added value of the project. The members of the group consider as a success joining their
forces on issues focused on children, their protection, schooling and education.
The knowledge that they have acquired from the trainings organized within the project, with regard
to the rights of children, helped them to better understand what their children are entitled to.
The meeting that took place with CSW, which was requested to be held by the group, is considered
successful in its entirety because it helped group members and the employees of this institution to see
problems from a different perspective, thus contributing in better understanding and resulted in
reduction of tension between providers and recipients of services provided by CSW.
The greatest success, for which members of the group agreed unanimously in the meeting is the fact
that they have managed to gather together, to establish relations between each other and communicate
about issues that concerns any of the members, as well other issues that concern the community and
Challenges
The difficulty in establishing a sustainable group mentioned as a challenge by the group, is supported
by the data of the project and its implementers.
The language that is fluently spoken by members of the group is Serbo-Croatian. This has led to
obstacles in communication and interaction between the group and the stakeholders in the area, as
well as implementers of the project (WV), especially in cases of various important trainings the
contacted experts did not speak Serbo-Croatian language. The situation is complicated in cases when
there was a lack of sustainable translations during activities.
On the other hand, the members of the group themselves agreed that they were not very active, but
even when they were active they still had trouble understanding some things. Another element that
members of the group remind us during the meetings is that if the project does not continue the group
will dissolve, although a bond is created between them.
Observations
Based on a general observation of the situation in Janjeva and the progress of the group involved in
the LINC project as well as from discussion with them, it is noticed the lack of motivation of these
members to constantly work on matters of children protection. Despite the work done by H4A and
WV in the area, the group did not manage to stay committed in terms of common issues, which is not
the case in Fushe Kosova or Plemetin. However, it is not difficult to perceive that among the group
members there is a positive energy in the area as well as a commitment to be involved in meetings and
30
discuss about improving the living conditions. If the project would continue, because if the project stops
then we have nothing, children will be in the streets again and we will not be able to gather them, therefore
World Vision deserves every kind word, they support the children and if this is stopped, then the children will
be left with nothing. Therefore, this project must continue in order to orient children towards society.” It is
worth mentioning that parents through this quote are referring to their children, who are involved in
KfP activities, such as summer camps and lifeskills.
In the end it is worth re-emphasizing that for members of the group from Janjeva, the project’s
approach was very interesting, and gathered together children and adults in meetings. According to
them, addition to this success is the success of children from Fushe Kosova and Plemetin who managed
to work on some recommendations for the draft law on child protection. They say that from what
they seen in the joint meetings with the groups from Fushe Kosova and Plemetin, the involvement of
children was one of the factors that has led to success of this project. The support given to them by
the project to raise the voice for their rights is considered as one of the most important success, which
was absent before among the residents. This, together with the exchange of information in terms of
where to address to seek their rights, has enhanced the self-confidence of residents that it is worth
the efforts to be organized in groups and to hold accountable service providers, by using the dialogue.
Seeing the progress of the group and their work together with H4All and WV, it seems that a way to
challenge the mentality of this area to go beyond the personal interests, and to be oriented towards
the common issues in community, would be to involve the children and to enhance the cooperation
between adults and children and this is due to the fact that adults say that they would do anything for
the sake of their children. “We support our children, so they can learn, be successful, and every parent must
support their child”.
4.4 Case 3: Plementin (CVA with Adults and Children)
This is the journey to the village of Plemetin. Plemetin is a village in the municipality of Obiliq, just 9
km away from Prishtina. It lies in a flat area where the eye does not catch modern buildings and arable
lands. It is a picture frozen in time, where in the entrance of the municipality is TermoKos, which
produces electricity for the entire Kosovo, and ironically this municipality itself is in darkness.
While entering the village of Plemetin, you will see that windows of the vehicles will be covered with
gray ashes, and you can smell the scent of coal. While passing the TermoKos, we see in front of us
two apartment buildings, a mosque and several widely spread private houses. What can be noticed
while you stare at the houses are the gray ashes on their tiles, unlike any other village.
As the vehicle enters deeper into the village, you feel that the residents follow you with wonder and
curiosity. This is because, for them it is a rare thing for the "foreigners" to visit their village. For an
unaccustomed person, you will manage to clearly distinguish two groups, due to their skin colour, but
if you stop and spend some time you will begin to notice the differences between residents of this
village. Apartment buildings and houses with tiles covered in grey ashes are inhabited by 5 communities,
respectively Roma, Egyptians, Ashkali, Albanians and Serbians. Majority of residents in Plemetin
belonging to these communities face severe difficulties in reading and writing and a considerable part
of them are illiterate.
What impresses you is that in such a small village there are two schools which share a common yard,
and the person who accompanies us explains that one school is for Roma, Egyptian, Ashkali and
Albanian children whereas the other school is for Serbian children. Also, these schools depend on two
different countries, respectively Republic of Kosovo and Serbia. Poverty is noticeable when you watch
people staring at you. You can notice small children playing barefoot, with old clothes and petit body.
How old can they be? 7, 8 or 9? The person who accompanies us explains us that in here there is high
poverty, while the economic assistance that they receive in many cases is the only income they have.5
5 Economic Assistance Criteria Summarized in Section 2.2
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Rukija, a social scheme employee, explained us that 657 families of this municipality receive social
assistance. She told us that the criteria for assistance were tightened last year and the economic
assistance itself was a "charity" and should be given only for that category for which is truly impossible
to provide minimum living conditions.
Rakip, an employee of social services, emphasized the fact that in terms of protection of children and
specifically with regard to child labour, this is foreseen in the law on family and social services that the
child must not conduct any work or activity which may cause harm to his/her health and development,
and namely the hard and dangerous work for the health. He says:
“it is difficult to identify these cases. We know that the most common cases are when the children go
to Prishtina during the season when immigrants come and they beg for money or wash car windows
in the street. Then people give money to them because they want to do good deed and feel good.
Usually the children that do these activities belong to Roma and Ashkali communities but overall they
come from poor families with a great need. Children in our villages usually work in farming and livestock
and this is normal, and this work is not included in the dangerous or harmful work for the children.
Non-governmental organizations are dealing more with cases of children who are working”.
A year and a half ago in this village occurred something different from normality. It was the first time
that a non-governmental organization came in this village to work with parents and children. Residents
of the village were invited to gather in a meeting with the aim of raising their voice and to feel valuable
and that they can feel that they can make a difference, not only in their village, but throughout Kosovo.
About 15 parents and 25 children from Plemetin became part of the project "Local initiative for national
change". The project was implemented by WVA&K and Heath4All represented by Ori (project
coordinator) and Muharrem (director of H4A).
In the project were included groups of children and adults from Roma (x parents and x children),
Ashkali (x parents and x children), Egyptians (x x parents and children) and Albanians (x parents and x
children). It can be said that the participation in meetings and trainings has not been consistent in
entirely but a smaller group of them has been the essential part throughout the duration of the project.
The project aimed to improve social services in Kosovo. From here two groups of parents and children
began the journey that profoundly changed their lives. Ori and Muharrem initially organized meetings
in municipalities and municipal departments, namely Department for Health and Welfare and the
Department for Education in order to sign the cooperation agreements for the project. Meetings were
also held with school directorates for the establishment of the group of children. Children were
selected through an interview process by the children of Kids for Peace groups 6, who had defined the
criteria and conducted interviews with children in Plemetin. Hereinafter were organized continuous
monthly meetings by Ori and Muharrem with the aim of establishing the group.
Bajrush is a parent from Plemetin and representative of Ashkali community, he will tell us more about
this experience:
“Indeed, many good things happened… many things…
What I liked at Muharrem and Ori is that they were trustful since the beginning, because it is difficult
to enter in a village and earn the trust...namely I like the method they used to earn the trust… because
e.g. the parents were required to sign that they are allowing their children to come by bus and they
have requested the permits from the parents.
When they presented their program, I have thought that they are just saying nonsense words… I did
not believe they will reach this level… and when they described their role and what work will be done
regarding the project on human rights… in accordance with constitution and regulations, human rights
are exercised by European actors, and in reality are two things not one.
There are people who abuse children, they force them to work and beg, and it is a considerable
number, we were able to obtain information, we have tried to establish the group and we did it.
To summarize it, I didn’t believe that we will achieve this level, we established the group and we
commenced in municipality of Obiliq.”
6 Kids for Peace project is implemented by WVA&K in several areas in Kosovo but not in Plemetin.
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After telling us how they were introduced to the project, Bajrush tells us about a concrete cooperation,
regarding the risk of a child kidnapping in Plemetin:
“We as a group of parents we were lucky with children, because we cooperated as a group… and we
reports the case related to kidnapping of a child, together with Ori, Muharrem and Krasniqi to the
police and we had a direct cooperation with police, meanwhile we conducted patrols with police even
in the school, and in the environment where we live.…with paperwork and everything … Together
with Ori we submitted the documents and we conducted a joint activity… We have worked and we
have sent the case to the police, and it was registered in the municipal assembly, in the group for
security and protection and there is an officer in police department who deals with issue of this nature
and we reached an agreement to have more frequent patrols around the school and this is a positive
thing and served as an experience to work in group.
This is not the last cooperation with Ori and Muharrem. There were many activities that for the
moment I don't remember. Each activity that we conducted with Ori and Muharrem had its purpose…
and had many activities. We worked hard during the first half of the year… every activity had a
purpose and there were many activities that were undertaken, and I can’t remember them all.
WVA & K and H4A facilitated by Ori and Muharrem organized a set of one-day trainings and meetings
about the rights and protection of children. Bajrush tells us below about the experience gained during
the training on children's rights that took place in Durres.
“This training was interesting for me and had a good purpose. In August we went in Durres together
with participants from Fushe Kosova, Obiliq and Janjeva, and I was impressed by some things that we
encountered there, for some of participants this was the first time that they saw the sea. Wv and their
staff did took a great initiative, organized a walk in Durres, we swam, tried different foods and stood
overnight. Not just the children, but also we as parents have learned many things from this training,
namely the convention of the rights, because some children never heard about it. So, it was very helpful
and we benefited a lot, not just regarding entertainment, but also in terms of activation as a society
and their familiarity with these issues.
Participants came from various communities... and were accompanied with their wives… this was a
little problem because, for example, my colleagues were afraid of their wives… I was alone and free
and I was making fun at my colleagues who were afraid of their wives… I had fun and I was honoured
to be in charge to represent the school, we made a speech among men, and we recite it, specifically,
no actually we sang a song dedicated to Elizabeth, and she knew it was meant for her, this impressed
me…hahaha
Another thing that impressed me is the support of minorities. That impressed me very much because
except the majority which is a key to this project, it was given priorities to Ashkali, Egyptian and Roma
communities, that was a real democracy... and gave a clear message that: "In Kosovo there is room
for everyone"... in fact, I would assess the support given to minorities with 5 stars ..."
Hence, with the group of parents in Plemetin were organized trainings on:
Methodology of CVA in Prizren. The training was facilitated by methodology experts in WVA &
K, Brikena, Ori and Muharrem. In Prizren were also trained a group of children on the same topic.
Law on Social Assistance Scheme in Kosovo. Vebi, an expert on social matters and protection of
children in Kosovo, has facilitated this training. He has also trained the children's group on this
topic.
European standards on protection of children. This training was also facilitated by Vebi and was
also organized with a group of children.
Vebi compared the Law on Social Assistance Scheme in Kosovo with that in Macedonia, and this helped
them to better understand how this Law functions and are its shortcomings. Vebi has supported groups
step by step. After these meetings, the group of parents came up with some recommendations for the
Law on Social Assistance Scheme which was shared with the members representing the community in
Assembly. Moreover in Assembly the groups of parents met with the commission of the draft law on
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humans rights and shared the recommendations and the work of children on the article (regarding the
engagement of the children in the project it will be discussed below).
Another way that parents were involved in the project has been through the monitoring of standards
of social work centres. They made a comparison of standards of the centre with the standards in the
law and voted on how this centre fulfils the minimum standards for provision of its primary service.
Within this component of the project, the following meetings were organized by WVA&K and H4A:
Minimum standards of CSW with adults and children groups. Scoring and rating the CSW together
adults and children, discussions with CSW where children and parents shared their observations.
Bajrush tell us about the experience of meeting at CSW:
“At the centre for social work, we have met with the director of the centre for social work, who
answered many questions of the pupils. We conducted several theoretical training, and when we went
in these meetings, we were able to see how this functions in practice…
The question that I have made in the centre for social work was "Is it possible for a social worker to
handle 8 cases at the same time", i.e. cannot have more cases, and is it true that in your Centre for
Social Work every employee has 8 cases? There were employees that had 15 or more cases. There
were no conditions in this centre, there was no vehicle which could be used by the staff to go and see
the situation on the ground”
Over the period of several months and after trainings on structures and children's rights, the parents
report that they are feeling safer and more confident since from now they know where to obtain
information and where to address their problems.
“Now we feel capable and safe to make referrals of cases, we know the law and know how to demand
our rights. It makes us feel confident to act, a thing that we lacked before. Now we know how to take
care for ourselves, for our families. We know how to refer the cases, to help our neighbours in the
village and this makes us feel very good.”
The added value of this project was also the intensive engagement of children. Parents feel confident
about their children's skills. They see a difference concerning the initiative to make decisions and to
demand their rights. Bajrush told us that:
“Another thing that has surprised us with this project was the engagement of children. We never
thought that the children will have the chance to meet the Prime Minister.
I was happy to see children were able to speak, for example my son was elected as the head of the
group and he discussed with Isa Mustafa ... so, the children had the opportunity to express their
opinions…”
This impression on the productivity of children is shared by teacher Tefta, who is surprised by the fact
that how does a pupil who does not perform well in school, can be so active and can raise his/her voice
regarding his/her rights.
“One of my pupils surprised us a lot when we had the general meeting, we got surprised when she
started talking in that manner... because she was not performing well in school …
She surprised us because she was talking about the rights, knew how to take the floor and to express
herself... i.e. she expresses interest and this has motivated her even more, she was performing better
here than in school ... which means that if we would make learning more interesting to the pupils,
perhaps this would make them more active.”
Children were highly engaged during the project, in regular meetings and numerous trainings and
activities. They have shared this knowledge and information with other children in their community.
Some of the activities they were engaged and involved are as follows:
Joint activity with 3 groups of children (Plemetin, Fushe Kosove and Janjeva) for the 1 June.
Activity for International Day of Peace with children of KfP among KfP and LINC
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Initiative by the group KfP in cooperation with Plemetin children for the school children in
Plemetin
Workshop for Most Vulnerable Children with children and adults facilitated by Ori and
Muharrem
Training for the role and responsibilities of the CSW with parents, children and CSW
employees
They went 2 times in Prizren and had fun over there, they learned about their rights and children's
protection. We went to Prizren as well in order to take care of them.
“As a difficulty I would mention when we weren’t for a visit in Prizren, more specifically when we went
to the city centre... so, we were as a group of parents, we had same t-shirts... so, they had to deal only
with me, my group, but when we got out in Prizren, it was difficult to supervise 10 people…”
Several activities below with the aim of supporting the children in their initiative for improvement of
the law were facilitated by Ori and Muharrem:
Preparatory meetings for drafting the article with the group of children
Preparatory meeting with representatives of children who will go to the meeting at the legal
office of the Prime Minister.
Meetings with the Prime Minister and with legal office
Meeting with the Ombudsperson
Bajrush says that:
“Vebi has trained children as well. They learned a lot form instructions of Vebi, and they drafted an
article about the begging children. Children wrote the article based on their knowledge, but Vebi
improved it. Children submitted the article to the Office of Prime Minister, legal office and at the
Ombudsperson.
And I told you before... when we went there... for example present was Isa Mustafa, and World Vision
made a request to meet with Prime Minister and now a group of children will meet with the Prime
Minister, this is a big thing, and they were prepared and expressed what they had to say. Children
were well prepared as were the representatives from different communities, such as Egyptian, Albanian
and Roma, they were a multiethnic group who conducted a presentation in front of the Prime Minister
... this is great, and they told the Prime Minister about their work with WV regarding children's rights,
and even the Prime Minister knew that this was a well prepared group for the regulation on the
children's rights in Kosovo.
During the beginning of the 6 months of the project, the children got an identity, and knew their rights
... that even when they were talking about WV, they were like parrots, they constantly spoke... i.e. they
knew what were my rights, what the project was. The child got an identity in the first 6 months, was
active and directly active in protection of children rights, they were more serious.”
One of the things that we as parents remember is the drama play prepared by the children after
meetings on monitoring the CSW.
After monitoring the standards of CSW, groups of children and parents came together to make an
action plan based on the findings of the monitoring and scoring that they conducted later on. The group
of children took an activity to realize a drama play about the rights and protection of children.
We never thought that our children can accomplish something so professional. In drama play, except
members of the community were also invited ministers, assembly members and representatives from
municipalities and education departments.
Parents wanted the drama to be performed in more villages but this was not possible due to the limited
budget of the project. Ori and Muharrem with the support of a theatre expert worked hard with the
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children for the drama script, roles and staging. While the project came to an end, there were some
moments that will remain for a long time in the memory of participants:
“when you are given the opportunity just to meet them (government officials/decision-makers), it gives
you some confidence…they have understood that the centre for social work is the first step that
children and adults should address”
Although the months went by very quickly and the project came to an end, group of parents feel that
they have an important role in the follow-up of this process until the adoption of the law. They also
believe that the adoption of the law is not enough to improve the situation, and its implementation
remains the key issue. However, they have already learned that the success of the project and its
achievements lies in communication:
“We had a will and mutual communication as well as communication and cooperation, and for me
this is a success.”
“Word Vision will not stay always here, they will move to another place, but after the completion of
the project, it should be established a management of this group consisting of parents and children to
continue the work...
“And if the project will continue as you recommended, then it would be good to have specific points of
the entire project containing information on activities of the project and where to address the issues.”
As our journey in Plemetin comes to an end, the grey colour is fainting now. The hope of the children
and their parents to improve their lives is filling with oxygen in this forgotten village.
Reflection
Plemetin is an unexposed area by non-governmental organizations, and therefore it is worth
mentioning only a contribution provided by the Balkan Sunflower that works with illiterate children
with several language courses.
The CVA participants for both adults and children were purposely invited to represent equal gender
distribution. However, for the adults, the core group of most constant active participants were mostly
men. Women were more likely to be occasional attendees in the rotating group. For the children,
the core group was of equal gender balance between boys and girls. The adults – both men and women
– were more interested in the advocacy theme of improving the economic aid package while the
children – both girls and boys – were more interested in the advocacy theme of speaking to the Child
Rights law.
However, after the children brought their concern for child rights issues, the adult women in the CVA
group were more open to accept this as a problem in Kosovo as opposed to the men. The adult
women ended up playing a role in persuading the men in the group that children should be supported
in their advocacy for child rights.
In terms of activeness, the adult CVA group tended to have men being more active in raising their
voice and taking actions. However, in the children’s group, girls were about as active as boys in raising
their voice and taking actions.
Challenges
The project was intended to work in the poorest and most forgotten areas of Kosovo. Difficulties
were faced in bringing different communities together with an inter-ethnic history and different
interests. Another element that has created difficulties in the implementation of the project was the
limited knowledge of these communities on children's rights and that in some cases the participants
36
did not know how to read and write. This has made the adaptation of curriculum more difficult, when
within the group there was a diverse educational level.
CVA for child protection in an environment where knowledge of the rights of children are limited
requires extended periods of time in order to initially allow the assimilation of basic concepts of child
protection.
Self-prejudice as a marginalized community (at parents and children) led to a lack of confidence in their
abilities and in achievement of the objectives of the project. Therefore a clearly articulated challenge
from the two groups (parents and children) has been the drafting of article, since this initiative requires
advanced skills in the field of law.
We can say that also the organization of activities at the beginning of the project was a challenge that
was overcome later on. However, consistent participation in the project remained problematic, only
a core of the group of parents as well as of children took part in every step of this project. Even
though this project has had an important achievement, the limited time for project implementation
leaves no room to see the first concrete result of the approval and subsequently its implementation.
Successes
One of the main successes of this project was the building of good cooperative relations and trust
between communities and project staff, Ori and Muharrem. It also led to more trust in the work of
the two organizations. The community in question had largely been overlooked by NGO projects in
the region and as a result, there had been fairly high levels of suspicion and distrust when the initiative
first began. Establishing trust was an important pre-condition for project success.
Establishment of groups (of parents and children) who continued their activity until the end of the
project has been a success, thanks to the commitment of staff that did not backed down from the initial
challenges. They managed to translate the project in the language of the community and make it
understandable and interesting for these communities.
Children and parents have increased the self-confidence due to their involvement in this project, they
now feel capable of raising their voice and to know where to address the violated cases.
During the project were improved the knowledge of children and parents on child protection and also
this knowledge was shared by members of other groups and members of the community. In this
manner, the project also raised an interest beyond these groups with which the project worked.
The greatest achievement of the project is the establishment of inter-ethnic relations between different
ethnic groups in Plemetin.
Changes
Within a year of implementation of the project it became possible to establish a dialogue between
communities and responsible structures (municipalities, CSW, school, police). This was achieved as a
result of the work of coordinators of the project who created space for discussion between members
of different communities within the group and facilitated their work by reaching concrete results.
During the period of project in Plemetin, life became more vibrant between communities, by bringing
to their attention that "Kosovo has room for all.
Participants understood that the communication is the best way to solve the problems in their
community. Although it exist a paralyzing prejudice about the state structures perceived by the project,
the group members were informed more closely with the people who work in these structures by
making them more reachable and understandable by these communities. They also went through some
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positive experiences, as the increase of patrols in schools and meetings for submitting the article in
Assembly. This gave them enough confidence about possible changes.
Parents saw the value in engaging and involving the children in the process of influencing the law on
child protection. They realized that drafting of the article and its consideration by the legislative
authority (Assembly, Prime Minister, Ombudsperson) was a very big step even for parents, and was
achieved since the children were part of it. Children were the ones who brought the added value in
the process.
Children established relations with their peers from other ethnicities. It is noticed a growing confidence
among them, they know better their rights and were able to express their opinions on them.
4.5 Case 4: Fushe Kosovo (CVA with Adults and Children)
Fushe Kosovo is a town and municipality in the central part of Kosovo. The municipality belongs to
the Region of Prishtina and was established in 1989 from a part of the then municipality of Prishtina.
The town is located approximately 6 km in south-east of the centre of Prishtina. The demography of
this municipality changed in recent decades. In 2001, this municipality had 7 settlements, 5.866
inhabitants, 479 houses and 19 schools.
WV started operating for the first time in Fushe Kosovo in December 2014 with the project “Local
Initiative for National Change (LINC).” Within the project, WV started cooperation with the local
organization “Health for All (H4ALL),” especially in implementing the initiative “CVA with Children for
Child Protection.” Local organization H4All represents one of most marginalized communities in
Kosovo, namely Egyptian community. It has a very good reputation at all communities in Kosovo, as
Kosovar, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, and Croatian and Serbian communities regarding the technical
expertise in issues of avocation for human rights. WVA&K is cooperating with this local partner for
the first time for implementing the project.
“CVA with Children for Child Protection” in Fushe Kosove aimed at improving the dialogue between
citizens and service providers, thus improving policies of services related to working children.
To this end, a group of children and a group of adults were established to work together with WVA&K
and H4ALL to fulfil the objective. Children group was established by the children. Thus, H4ALL elected
a representation of 4 children, good pupils in schools of Fushe Kosovo, Plemetin and Lipjan to establish
criteria for selecting other members of the group and to prepare the questionnaire for children to be
selected. “Kids for Peace (K4P),” a children group who implement project promoting peace in Kosovo,
joined this group. Children together conducted the interviews and selected the children group to be
supported to raise the voice for two abovementioned objectives. Children contacted other children
and the school principal helped them to select children who would become part of CVA group. As a
result it was established a group with 11 boys and 9 girls, totally 20 children, of whom 9 were Ashkali,
4 Egyptians and 7 Albanians.
During the same month, H4ALL invited parents and organizations to become members of adults group.
During the meetings organized for this purpose, participants shared information on project, discussed
about children in this area and especially for their problems in school. In addition to the group meeting,
H4ALL had also individual conversations with parents to inform them on the project. As a result, an
adult group was established, composed of 3 females and 10 males, totally 13 adults, of whom 9 were
Ashkali, 2 Egyptians, 1 Roma and 1 Albanian. Among them were parents, teachers and employees of
Centre for Social Work.
In April, members of both groups had meetings to get acquainted with each other, to strengthen
relations and to become familiar with objectives of each group. From this period up to July, the children
group organized activities in school with other children about the knowledge on children rights, as well
as the desire to join the established children group. These conversations resulted in the increase of
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children number in the group in May. WVA&K, H4ALL and school principal supported the group in
organizing these activities in school. The first activity of the group was the preparation for 1st of June,
International Children Day. Together with other groups of Municipality of Plementin and Janjeva,
children of Fushe Kosovo convened in Prishtina to plan the activity for 1st of June and divided the roles
for each group member in activity. These meetings helped in creating group work culture, as well as
to learn avocation forms by applying them. On 1st of June, the activity was organized in square of
Prishtina, where children of three municipalities gave their messages through games, art and drawings.
Forming the group was a success. Without the group, we would not have achieved things that we
mentioned. A girl from the group
Regarding adults in this preparatory phase, they had monthly meetings, discussed about problems that
children face and where to address for solving these problems. This also informed for the activity plan
that adults drafted and implemented by the end of the project. This group shared the experience with
other community groups of Plementin and Janjeva about plans drafted and activities implemented within
the project. Among issues discussed it was the meeting in the municipality to request the allocation of
the budget for local organizations focused on children protection for carrying out activities with
children.
In autumn, meetings took place between all groups to share experiences and all together in Prizren,
where training was delivered on children protection, with a special focus on children in street situation
who beg, as well as to raise the voice for issues concerning children. The participants discussed on
how to access institutions responsible to guarantee rights of children, and more specifically, protection.
Meetings with government institutions were a success. Quote from a child
Following this, it was deemed necessary to deliver training sessions for adults on rights, including the
topic for gender equality. The training was delivered using different educational techniques, where the
technique used to show the importance of gender equality aroused particular interest of participants.
This due to the fact that the number of male participants in this training was significantly large compared
to females, and gender-based discussions presumed this reality. At the same time, on September 2015,
children joined forces in Rahovec, Semetisht, with children groups of K4P, to prepare messages for
children in street situation, while celebrating the international day of peace. For this occasion, the
square of Prishtina was crowded not only by these children, but also from other children who were
grouped in three groupings. The first grouping included children who danced, the second grouping
included children who made bracelets or handmade with other children, and the third grouping with
children who handed out brochures on rights of children. At the end of activity, all children formed
the peace symbol; furthermore, they said that they were trained for group work, avocation activities
and those for rights.
In October of that year, the children group met with the children of “K4P”" of Sallagrazhde (Suhareke)
to meet closely families in need. “KfP” brought clothes for families in need. Children group cooperated
by diving clothes by age and handed them over to the families in need. To this end, work was divided
and organized by neighbourhoods and age-groups. Adults group cooperated with the children group
in identifying the families in need. Then, children visited by themselves all identified families
“We know these families because we meet them daily”- a child from Fushe Kosova.
According to a child, the direct contact with poor families made him/her feel bad.
“I saw, e.g. parents of those children who were seriously ill. They could not care for themselves, or for
their children.”
Thus, children learned more about families who they will serve later with avocation activities.
November 2015 marks the moment when both groups, children and adults, received thorough training
in Prizren, organized by H4ALL and WV on steps of the initiative “CVA with children for CP.” Steps
include information on services and policies of CHP, assessment of criteria for economic assistance and
39
situation of protecting children in street situation and seeking accountability from decision-makers to
improve the situation. Components for children protection, and especially for children in street
situation, were integral part of the training. Find below processes for each step.
Regarding information step, adults and children groups were assisted by H4ALL and Director of CSW
in Prishtina, who is an expert who has reputation in the field of children protection at Balkans and
European level. During the information phase, the groups learned about laws, policies and procedures
for children in street situation and criteria for economic assistance, as well as for institutions
responsible for each of them. Visual materials have been used to facilitate the breaking down of such
topics. The abovementioned expert made a simple description of the draft law on children protection
being drafted for the first time in Kosovo, and precisely in that period. Groups noticed that there is a
shortcoming, namely lacks an article concerning the protection of children in street situation.
Therefore, they requested from the expert to enable them to provide several ideas to fulfil this
shortcoming within the deadline for submission of the draft law. Expert helped by facilitating meetings
where groups provided ideas on the article concerning the children in street situation. The
abovementioned was not part of the initiative or initial plan of groups, but emerged as an immediate
need, given that the law on children rights was being drafted for the first time in Kosovo, so take the
chance to include the children in street situation in the law.
Thus, during the following two months, groups organized by H4ALL and WV worked with the expert
to give the abovementioned ideas. In order to achieve inclusion, as well as achieve successful influence,
children and adults were divided into groups, several to meet the Prime Minister, several for the legal
office in the Office of the Prime Minister and several with the Ombudsperson; all these meetings were
mediated by H4ALL and WV. During the meeting with the Prime Minister, children and adults
presented the work of the group, and submitted the draft article concerning the children in street
situation. During this meeting, children expressed the concern that how come that there is a law for
animal protection, whereas no law for children.
“...I had a lot to say to the Prime Minister and it was mentioned there that there is a law on animals,
but no article on children protection, I also had another sheet with the articles for that law”.
Prime Minister was pressured to approve the law and he promised that the article will be approved.
During the meeting with the Legal Office of the Office of the Prime Minister, children and adults asked
questions about the mandate of the Legal Office for drafting the article, and employees in the office
answered to these questions. The article concerning children in street situation was submitted even
there. Then, during the meeting with the Ombudsman, the latter showed his work. Then, children
expressed their surprise on how he did not insist to include the article concerning children in street
situation. Ombudsman agrees with the insistence of the groups and decided to support the initiative
to add the relevant law in the draft law for CHP. Given the valuable contribution, he even considers
them as partners in his efforts for children protection. The group felt appreciated and supported.
Further, adults group visited Parliament and met a member of parliament, member of the Commission
for the law on CHP. The group discussed about the draft law on CHP and opportunities for approval.
During the same day, a meeting was held with the Commission for laws, for the draft law on CHP. And
finally it was held the meeting with the person responsible for administration of Assembly to explain
the work of the Assembly and relevant offices impacting the approval. Group visited the room where
the Commission for children rights holds its meetings. Meetings of groups with individuals or decision-
making institutions are continuing and groups are committed to complete the issue of law approval.
The contribution of these groups is not a common contribution that may be provided by
representatives of communities. These are most marginalized groups in Kosovo, given that are ethnic
communities and a part of adults are illiterate. Thus, the employee of CSW stated:
Therefore, the work with groups, communities and WV consisted in provision of several suggestions for
the work of children and of Vehbi, Director of CSW, enabled the inclusion in draft law.
“…I consider that this law is not only for communities but for all Kosovo citizens in general” stated a
member of community
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To influence the law approval, a member of the group met on March 2016 with the ambassador, EU
representative. "I felt good that she appreciated our work". During the same month, other local partners,
e.g. SOS Children’s Village, were engaged to advocate, and in addition to the discussion about the law,
it was also discussed on the topic “Discrimination against Communities,” as an important topic for the
said groups. The abovementioned meetings were organized by H4ALL.
Regarding the assessment step, on March 2016 was delivered the training for CSW, where it was
discussed on the work of CSW for children protection, including children in street situation, children
of divorced parents and adopted children. A special discussion was about the topic related to divorces
and custody of parents in such cases. Furthermore, information was shared about the reporting of
cases of violation of the right for protection. During the training, employees of CSW explained on the
cases of children that come to CSW. During the following three months, meeting was held with the
Director of CSW of F. Kosovo. It has been discussed for social assistance and criteria to benefit this
assistance, what happens where children are harmed, what happens when their parents are divorced,
how the decision on the custody of child is taken, how many licensed employees work in the centre?
As a result, groups learned about the importance of conditions for interviewing children coming to the
centre, or about the meetings with parents who do not have the custody. They found out that it is
important to have a room with all necessary conditions, whether for interviews or waiting during the
referring for children in street situation. Also, this room may serve for parallel interviews. Children
and adults are aware that this room may serve for parallel interviews. Children and adults are aware
on the role of CSW and that should report cases of physical violence against them in this centre.
Groups learned that centre not only serves for the report or to interview and take decisions for CHP,
but also to conduct visits at homes to ensure the progress of CHP. After being informed, groups
assessed with points or score cards, comparing CSW standards and current services that it provides
about children in street situation, including how CSW should be.
Regarding the step of seeking accountability, two months after, groups presented to the Director of
CSW what they need to improve services in CSW for children in street situation, based on the
assessment of groups. H4ALL and WV assisted groups to be prepared for such a meeting. Director of
CSW in Fushe Kosovo was provided with recommendations about the increase of the number of
employees managing cases. Also, it was recommended to increase the minimum age of a child for the
family to benefit the social assistance at least from 5 to 10 years. Both groups provided
recommendations about reviewing the criteria to benefit social assistance and one of them is the age
of young children. The increase of minimum age was argued with many needs of children of pre-age
school and due to the inability of parents to fulfil these needs children often not attend school.
Groups discussed about another issue raised by the community regarding the financial support to be
provided by the municipality for organizations working with children. This community group did not
manage to benefit from the funds of municipal budget for supporting organizations that work with
children. According to the recent changes in the law on decentralization of services, it foreseen that
5% from the budget allocated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare for municipalities be
allocated for supporting non-profit organizations focused on children protection. Adults group feels
motivated that even though did not manage to benefit from this fund they may use it in the future to
carry out activities following the completion of project. In the end, groups and CSW drafted a joint
plan on how to address the issue of conditions for interviewing, as well as improving criteria to receive
social assistance.
The abovementioned purpose was also promoted through a video spot (which included also messages
of children for children protection) and documentary. The latter is a summary of the work of groups
since the beginning of the project and up to now. Regarding the video spot, 6 children were assisted
by adults to write a scenario. Then, based on the scenario, a TV made a video for children in street
situation and following the video, children were invited again to provide their opinion on the video
spot. At the same time, children, supported by adults group, prepared the drama. Children were
divided into groups; one group for the video spot and the other for drama. Then, children agreed to
prepare both, drama and video spot (where every child gives messages). “We wanted that children who
do not know about their rights to learn more through their roles in drama.”
41
The topic of drama was related to children protection and was performed in FK and in July in Prishtina
in theatre “Dodona”. Through the drama, i.e. through their roles, children wanted to communicate
with children that do not know about their rights, making them learn about their rights and the message
for non-discrimination was given. Adults continuously supported dramas performed by children. Based
on the abovementioned, relations of community with service providers or decision-makers have
changed.
Employees took their work seriously; they noticed that someone is supervising them. So, it is someone
that is controlling them, and thus we are more attentive. We are more sensitive, is like someone coming
for the rights, as a child to his/her father. You become more attentive when you know that someone
is supervising you. Raising citizens and communities awareness on the opportunity to suggest had a
great effect, whether to the employees in institutions or law itself. – Employee in CSW
At the end of the project was organized a concluding meeting where groups celebrated the progress
and at the same time expressed the need for more support to implement the plan and approve the
article.
Reflection
The Fushe Kosovo community showed significant changes in capacity, willingness, activeness, and
effectiveness as a result of participation in the children and adult combined CVA processes.
The CVA participants for both adults and children were purposely invited to represent equal gender
distribution. However, for the adults, the core group of most constant active participants were mostly
men. Women were more likely to be occasional attendees in the rotating group. For the children,
the core group was of equal gender balance between boys and girls. The adults – both men and women
– were more interested in the advocacy theme of improving the economic aid package while the
children – both girls and boys – were more interested in the advocacy theme of speaking to the Child
Rights law.
However, after the children brought their concern for child rights issues, the adult women in the CVA
group were more open to accept this as a problem in Kosovo as opposed to the men. The adult
women ended up playing a role in persuading the men in the group that children should be supported
in their advocacy for child rights.
In terms of activeness, the adult CVA group tended to have men being more active in raising their
voice and taking actions. However, in the children’s group, girls were seen by project staff to be about
as active as boys in raising their voice and taking actions.
Challenges
The short time for project implementation was a challenge. The establishment of groups without any
previous experience in group work, furthermore in avocation work, spent more time than it was
foreseen. This challenge becomes even more visible given that the group was not consistent and only
a small group was the core group, which managed to part since the beginning. Furthermore, the group
was composed even by illiterate persons and educated persons who work in institutions. The fact that
not educated persons faced difficulties in understanding steps made the other part passive, thus delaying
the process. The involvement of educated persons in facilitation may be a way.
The issues of children protection is a challenge, and thus requires whether groups that have worked
earlier on avocation or groups for children protection. If such groups do not exist, then a longer period
should be planned for information phase, or influencing phase. In any case, it should be taken into
account that providing them with knowledge on children rights, especially the right for protection for
children working in street, as well as the social scheme, requested more time as it challenges beliefs
and practices that have become a norm.
42
Working under a systemic approach compared to the individual work, the group was composed of
children who work, whereas the group tries to bring a change regarding children working at the level
of policies and services. Adapting an approach that helps children individually while working for the
protection system remains a challenge.
Successes
The beginning of a new mentality of accountability was a success: As participants indicate, CSW have
already taken the work very seriously, as they feel that the community is supervising them. They
became more attentive, more open and sensitive. Furthermore, they are open “to be controlled” by
the community. Raising citizens and communities awareness on the opportunity to suggest had a great
effect, whether for employees of institutions or the law itself. As a result, communities already know
what they can request and understand mandates, roles and standards of the centre more clearly.
However, the CSW understood that by opening the door for accountability, at the same time helps
itself. They now know better the communities the community understands better their work. The
common plan for CSW service improvement marks a new reality for Kosovo.
Influencing groups in the draft law for CP was an undisputed success of the project. A vulnerable group,
including children, managed to have for the first time an impact on the draft law. It is not about for
common communities, but for the most invisible and vulnerable communities that are often forgotten.
This success is more real if it is considered that in fact a part of adults that contributed to the law are
illiterate. This is confirmed even by adult groups: “Children wrote the article, submitted the article to include
in the law on children protection. We had the opportunity to ask questions and the Member of Parliament
supported and assumed the responsibility to address further our opinions.”
The change of mentality for the role of children in changing policies and services. Thus, children, even
though are insignificant in Kosovo, a group already managed to receive the engagement of highest
decision-making institutions in the village, but also in the country, to improve services and law. The voice
of children reached the Office of the Prime Minister and Legal Office, as well as the Commission for
the laws in parliament.
The project brought hope that things can be changed and it is their duty to influence the change. The
submission of the article for the law on children protection in state authorities (Commission for Laws) is an
achievement. We heard that it will be approved in September and then it will be a success because a lot of
children will benefit and will not go in streets. – Adults group
Changes
Relations of community with service providers. Community knows best what belongs and what does
not belong. Further, CSW commenced the practice of open doors, i.e. allowing the community to
assess or score, even though this was never thought before. Mentality of CSW was challenged regarding
the vulnerable groups, as the latter managed to compare standards of centre with the reality, and
managed to formulate relevant recommendations for CSW. However, the mentality of vulnerable
groups changed. Considering that they were given the opportunity to assess standards, to seek
accountability and to give their opinion for change, it was created the confidence that they can and
should bring the change even at the level of services or policies.
The beginning of a new practice for drafting a policy: This was the only consultation with the community
of FK, WV and CSW. The paragraph was drafted on the work of children and was included in the law on
children protection. It never happened before – Employee of CSW
The perception of, and cooperation with, children may be listed as a change. The involvement of
children in assessing services, drafting an article or avocation with the Prime Minister and Members of
Parliament, brought a change to all levels, as governors, service providers, parents and communities.
43
This is how adults group describe: “We do not see problems as children do; therefore confrontation with
them helped us in identifying the problem. Children in groups motivated us to work for them. When we talk
about a problem, we should involve them who face or faced that problem." Children also changed; they
became confident and open regarding the sharing of opinion: "I was not so open to share things in the
beginning. Later on, I started to feel free, to share things. I wanted to listen and learn firstly, and then get
involved "; "We could not express our opinions in the beginning "- state children.
The common plan for CSW services improvement and inclusion of an article for children in street
situation in the draft law, mark significant changes brought by the project.
The initiative reduced cooperation barriers created before because most of the members of groups
belong to different communities. In this initiative, they can come together and even manage to reduce
together tensions between communities. Quote: “We visit each other houses and visit each other”: i.e.
the landscape of relations between ethnicities has been changed.
Surprises
Socialization with each other, as well as the opportunity to exchange experience is a success factor.
This fact has been reported by all groups and it was a surprise for project. Therefore, the project was
adapted to the context of groups.
The parent – child relationships changed. Even though the project was not aimed at improving relations
between families, participants proved that by being part of the avocation for children protection,
parents became more careful for their own children.
Discrepancy regarding the continuity. On the one hand groups report that they had begun to carry
out activities with new parents without WV or H4All, but on the other hand they express the concern
that they cannot continue without WV or H4All. An example they mention is the fact they could not
meet government institutions without the support of WV and H4All. This discrepancy is even more
expressed when groups report that commenced to address cases to CSW, without the assistance of
WV and H4All.
Professional background and expert communication had a positive impact in making children
understand the law (draft law on CHP) and notice that there is no article concerning the protection
of children in street situation.
5 FINDINGS PART II: QUANTITATIVE SURVEY
5.1 Introduction The quantitative survey is considered supplementary data to the qualitative ethnographies. Small
sample sizes and purposeful sampling limits larger generalizability7, but the quantitative survey can
provide insights into changes within the targeted groups with whom WV has worked. The community
of Zallq – which was not involved in the CVA project – can provide a de facto point of comparison to
the CVA projects. While this is not necessarily definitive evidence that the CVA project interventions
are the primary factors contributing to the observed changes, it does help differentiate between forces
affecting all villages with those forces only present in the targeted case study villages.
The 43 question survey data in the baseline and post-project surveys is described at the level of
individual questions in Annex 4. For ease of analysis, five composite measures were constructed
7 In all, 34 adults and 65 children were surveyed across the four villages with per village sizes ranging from 5-21
respondents per group per village.
44
clustering responses to certain concepts. The following table summarizes which questions are included
in each composite measure. In addition to the five composites, two individual questions were asked;
one relating to what constitutes accountability and one relating to what might be considered a child
protection issue. The following table summarizes which questions in the survey (Annex 2) are
integrated into the composite measures.
Table 6: Composite Measures and Survey Questions
Concept Question Numbers included
What is accountability? 6a-6d
What is considered a Child Protection Issue? 7a-7e
CVA Knowledge 8.1-8.11
CVA Willingness 9-12
CVA Capacity 13.1-13.9
CVA Activeness 14.1-14.8
Change in Relationship to Government service
providers and officials
15.1, 15.3
All questions related to the composite measures were based on a four point Likert Scale based
responses to statements with options ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree or else a four
point frequency measure ranging from “Often” to “Never”. The most appropriate responses were
given 4 points, least appropriate responses were given 1 point. All variables are reported as either
percentage of respondents reporting x or – in the case of composite measures – they have been scaled
to 100 points with 100 points reflecting the maximum possible positive response on all elements in the
composite measure. The data presented below is disaggregated by village and adult/child. Because of
the very low numbers, gender disaggregation is problematic because of the very high margin of error
(and lack of generalizability) but gender patterns are mentioned in the narrative. Gender disaggregation
can be found in the raw data in Annex 4.
5.2 Individual Dimensions
5.2.1 Accountability and CP Issues
Accountability
Within the CVA process, accountability has a very specific meaning related to the importance of citizen
monitoring. Respondents were given a range of possible options for what accountability means. The
details of the percentages responding to each option are found in Annex 4. The table below
summarizes the percentage of respondents among both adults and children who answered correctly
(Citizen monitoring) in the baseline and post-project surveys.
45
Table 7: Percentage of Adults or Children in Villages Answering Correctly
VILLAGE ADULTS CHILDREN
Baseline Post-Project Baseline Post-Project
Zallq 0.0 53.8 52.9 18.2
Janjeve 0.0 90.0 15.4 50.0
Plementin 50.0 57.1 42.9 65.0
Fushe Kosovo8 N/A 60.0 N/A 30.0
The percentage of adults and children who responded correctly (as considered by CVA) generally
increased for all villages from baseline to post-project administration. Somewhat unusually, the adults
in Zallq village also had an increased percentage answering correctly in the post-project compared to
the baseline while the percentage children in Zallq responding correctly declined. The children of
Janjeve also improved in their understanding of accountability even though the project was not working
with children in the processes. Some of this variation is likely due to small sample sizes. However,
this may have been influenced as well by the presence of the Kids for Peace project also operating in
the case study communities which might have influenced general concept understandings related to
Child Protection.
For adults, there were no significant gender differences in terms of percentages reporting the correct
response. However, among children in the two CVA villages, girls were about twice as likely as boys
to report the correct response (57% vs. 25%) in the post-project measurement. Girls also showed
considerably greater changes compared to the baseline. The percentage of girls reporting the correct
responses for accountability increased by four fold from the baseline (16% vs. 57.1%), while among
boys, the percentages reporting correctly held constant from baseline to post-project (about 25%).
CP Issues
Survey respondents were asked to select which element – hitting a children, child labour, or bullying –
would be considered a Child Protection issue. Within the framework of the project interventions, the
correct answer would have been that all of these elements are child protection issues. The details of
the percentages responding to each option are found in Annex 4. The table below summarizes the
percentage of respondents among both adults and children who answered correctly (all of the above)
in the baseline and post-project surveys. As can be seen, the percentage of both adults and children
who responded correctly increased in all villages, although the percentages increased to a much greater
degree in those villages that carried out CVA processes with both adults and children.
Table 8: Percentage of Adults or Children in Villages Answering Correctly
VILLAGE ADULTS CHILDREN
Baseline Post-Project Baseline Post-Project
Zallq 30.0 7.7 29.4 18.2
Janjeve 0.0 40.0 0.0 7.1
Plementin 40.0 100.0 33.3 80.0
Fushe Kosovo9 N/A 100.0 N/A 80.0
8 Fushe Kosovo was only measured in the post-project phase. 9 Fushe Kosovo was only measured in the post-project phase.
46
For adults, there were no significant gender differences in terms of percentages reporting the correct
response. However, among children in the two CVA villages, girls were about 50% as likely as boys to
report the correct response (93% vs. 69%) in the post-project measurement. Girls also showed
considerably greater changes compared to the baseline. The percentage of girls reporting the correct
responses for accountability increased from none correctly reporting in the baseline to nearly all
correctly reporting (0 vs. 93%), while among boys, the percentages reporting correctly did increase,
but not as drastically (12.5% vs. 69%).
5.2.2 CVA Knowledge
Eleven questions regarding the CVA process and principles were included in the survey and associated
with the composite measure: CVA Knowledge. The raw values were adjusted to a 100 point scale
with 100 points being maximum response.10 The following table describes the average point value for
the knowledge dimension disaggregated by village and by adult/child.
Table 9: Average Point Values for CVA Knowledge (100 points Max)
VILLAGE ADULTS CHILDREN
Baseline Post-Project Baseline Post-Project
Zallq 56.4 61.3 62.2 53.2
Janjeve 43.4 66.7 46.9 25.3
Plementin 48.2 71.9 32.3 82.7
Fushe Kosovo11 N/A 75.8 N/A 75.2
In the CVA villages, children in the villages where children were included in the CVA processes
reported significantly greater knowledge scores compared to the village of Janjeve where children were
not involved. However, there were no differences seen between the knowledge scores of girls
compared to the knowledge scores of boys. For adults in the CVA villages, women and men were
roughly equal in their knowledge scores, although – as was the case for all of the dimensions – women
tended to have slightly higher scores than men (78 vs. 65) although not to a level of significance given
the very small sample sizes.
For the village of Zallq, the average number of points tended to hold steady (given the small sample
size variation) and the point values increased for CVA knowledge in the case study villages. The
children in the village of Janjeve, where only adults were involved in the processes, showed a decline
in knowledge from the baseline, but the two villages that included children in the CVA processes
showed marked increase in the CVA knowledge scores. This suggests that the CVA project activities
were successful in improving the level 1 indicators - knowledge of CVA – even within the short project
cycle of implementation.
10 Knowledge = (Sum(8.1:8.11)-11)/33*100 11 Fushe Kosovo was only measured in the post-project phase.
47
5.2.3 CVA Willingness
Four questions regarding the CVA process and principles were included in the survey and associated
with the composite measure: CVA Willingness. These correspond to part of the Level 2 indicators
in the LINC project logframe. The raw values were adjusted to a 100 point scale with 100 points being
maximum response.12 The following table describes the average point value for the willingness
dimension disaggregated by village and by adult/child.
Table 10: Average Point Values for CVA Willingness (100 points Max)
VILLAGE ADULTS CHILDREN
Baseline Post-Project Baseline Post-Project
Zallq 36.7 75.0 62.5 62.3
Janjeve 25.0 76.7 57.1 34.5
Plementin 76.7 100.0 52.0 90.8
Fushe Kosovo13 N/A 88.3 N/A 90.0
For the village of Zallq, the average number of points for the adults in terms of willingness to engage
with stakeholders actually increased significantly and was in line with the village of Janjeve where the
CVA process had been done only with adults. The point values for willingness among adults were
higher in the two villages that included CVA with children and adults. The point values for children
that were not involved in the CVA processes either declined or held study, but willingness increased
markedly for the children in those villages where they were included in the process.
In the CVA villages, children in the villages where children were included in the CVA processes
reported significantly greater willingness scores compared to the village of Janjeve where children were
not involved. However, there were no differences seen between the knowledge scores of girls
compared to the knowledge scores of boys. For adults in the CVA villages, women and men were
roughly equal in their willingness scores, although – as was the case for all of the dimensions – women
tended to have slightly higher scores than men (94 vs. 82) although not to a level of significance given
the very small sample sizes.
These patterns do suggest that the CVA process is successful in increasing the level 2 indicators –
willingness to engage with stakeholders on CP issues. Interestingly, there is some evidence to suggest
that when adults are engaged in the CVA process for CP issues, their willingness increases even more
when they are actually interacting with children as part of the process. The small sample sizes and high
degree of variation do have a high degree of error, but this pattern was also observed in the
ethnographic analyses as well. But there does seem to be some value to children inclusion with respect
to increasing willingness for engagement among adults.
5.2.4 CVA Capacity
Four questions regarding the CVA process and principles were included in the survey and associated
with the composite measure: CVA Capacity. These correspond to part of the Level 2 indicators in
the LINC project logframe. The raw values were adjusted to a 100 point scale with 100 points being
maximum response.14 The following table describes the average point value for the capacity dimension
disaggregated by village and by adult/child.
12 Willingness = (Sum(9:13)-4)/12*100 13 Fushe Kosovo was only measured in the post-project phase. 14 Capacity = (Sum(13.1:13.9)-9)/27*100
48
Table 11: Average Point Values for CVA Capacity (100 points Max)
VILLAGE ADULTS CHILDREN
Baseline Post-Project Baseline Post-Project
Zallq 24.6 36.5 16.7 46.8
Janjeve 5.1 67.5 32.7 9.0
Plementin 47.1 75.0 14.1 87.4
Fushe Kosovo15 N/A 60.0 N/A 81.5
For the village of Zallq, the groups did show some increase in their reported capacity to address
stakeholders on CP issues, however, the degree of magnitude was much less than in the CVA targeted
villages which had almost double the number of points for adults in the composite measure. Children
in Janjeve (were no children were involved in the CVA process) actually decline in scores from the
baseline, but the children in the two CVA villages with child inclusion reported very high average point
values – both in raw scores and also compared to the baselines.
In the CVA villages, children in the villages where children were included in the CVA processes
reported significantly greater capacity scores compared to the village of Janjeve where children were
not involved. However, there were no differences seen between the knowledge scores of girls
compared to the knowledge scores of boys in any of the villages. For adults in the CVA villages, women
and men were roughly equal in their capacity scores, although – as was the case for all of the dimensions
– women tended to have slightly higher scores than men (85 vs. 77) although not to a level of
significance given the very small sample sizes.
These patterns do suggest that the CVA process is successful in increasing the level 2 indicators –
willingness to engage with stakeholders on CP issues. Child inclusion didn’t seem to affect adult
capacity in the same way that it affected adult willingness. Nevertheless, children included in the
process reported very high changes in their capacities to address various stakeholders as a result of
participation in the CVA processes.
5.2.5 CVA Actions
The fourth dimension measured in the survey related to activeness of the adults and children in getting
involved in CP issues. Activeness was measured through 8 questions with responses ranging from
“Very Often” to “Never” in terms of frequency taken. A composite measure - CVA Action - was built
from these collected set of responses with raw scores adjusted to a 0-100 point scale.16 This is a proxy
measure for the Level 3 and 4 sets of indicators in the LINC project related to monitoring CP issues
and developing advocacy plans. The following table describes the average point value for the action
dimension disaggregated by village and by adult/child.
15 Fushe Kosovo was only measured in the post-project phase. 16 Actions = (1-((sum(14.1:14.8)-8))/24)*100
49
Table 12: Average Point Values for CVA Actions (100 points Max)
VILLAGE ADULTS CHILDREN
Baseline Post-Project Baseline Post-Project
Zallq 24.6 36.5 16.7 29.4
Janjeve 5.1 67.5 32.7 2.7
Plementin 47.1 75.0 14.1 77.7
Fushe Kosovo17 N/A 60.0 N/A 64.6
In the CVA villages, children in the villages where children were included in the CVA processes
reported significantly greater activeness scores compared to the village of Janjeve where children were
not involved. There was some difference in the reported activeness scores between girls and boys in
the CVA children-included villages. Boys tended to have scores of about 71 points while girls scored
around 50 points. This is somewhat significant in terms of differences – roughly the difference between
“somewhat active” and “somewhat inactive” in terms of a Likert scale. For adults in the CVA villages,
women and men were roughly equal in their activeness scores, although the analysis team observations
reported that they saw the men as being more active in public spaces and raising their voice then
women.
As with the previous dimensions, the same patterns in terms of gains and losses held true with Zallq
holding relatively steady, Janjeve children declining in activeness but with the adults in the three villages
and the children in the two child-inclusion villages showing marked increases in their Action scores
post project. These patterns do suggest that the CVA processes do contribute to increasing the level
3 and 4 indicators as a result of respondents reporting increased activeness in engaging around child
protection issues. This particular composite measure doesn’t differentiate between activeness around
the monitoring score cards from activeness around advocacy or influence building. However, the
qualitative case studies do show respondents citing both elements in their reflections. The advocacy
elements were in many ways more visible in the case studies, but this may be more due to participants
recalling particularly exciting events around campaigns more than those elements related to meetings
and systematic analysis exercises.
5.2.6 Changes in Relationships with Duty Bearers
The final measure focused on whether respondents perceive there to be any changes in the relationship
with government officials or the relationships to social service providers. This measure was only
administered on the post-project survey and was framed as a perceived degree of change.
This was scored based on three point response set: No change, maybe some change, yes there was
a clear change. A composite measure - CVA Action - was built from these collected set of responses
with raw scores adjusted to a 0-100 point scale.18 This is a proxy measure for the level 5 indicators
related to impact in the LINC project logframe. The following table describes the average point value
for the perceived changes in relationships disaggregated by village and by adult/child.
17 Fushe Kosovo was only measured in the post-project phase. 18 Change = sum(15.1+15.3)-2/6*100
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Table 13: Average Point Values for CVA Changes (100 points Max)
ADULTS CHILDREN
Zallq 36.5 9.1
Janjeve 67.5 0.0
Plementing 75.0 66.3
Fushe Kosovo 60.0 60.0
The same patterns of reporting are showing in the quantitative data. Those villages where adults (Zallq)
or children (Zallq, Janjeve) were not involved in CVA processes, there was little perceived change in
the relationships with officials or service providers. In those villages where adults (Janjeve, Pelementine,
Fushe Kosovo) or children (Pelementine, Fushe Kosovo) were involved in CVA processes, they
reported perceiving more changes.
In the villages where the CVA process included children, there were no gender differences in the
patterns of response regarding changes seen (about 55-60 points). This was the same level of change
perceived by adult men as well (54 points). Interestingly, adult women were much more likely to point
to perceived changes compared to men or children (94 points vs. 55 points). Qualitative data suggests
that part of this may be due to women having had at least SOME contact with local social service
providers which they may not have had before.
This measure is not actually examining impact of the CVA process in terms of specific products but
rather is suggesting that engagement with the CVA process within CP issues does result in the
participating citizens perceiving the relationship to service providers and officials as having been
improved.
5.3 Overall Patterns
In general, the patterns reflect what might be expected to be found in the application of the CVA
processes. Where adults or children are involved in the CVA processes, there is an increase in
knowledge, willingness, capacity, activeness, and quality of relationships to service providers and
officials. In those places where adults or children are not involved in the CVA processes, the survey
does not show marked changes. Gender differences in responses are not marked with the exception
of adult women perceiving more changes to have occurred compared to adult men or children.
It is noteworthy that these changes across all five levels of the LINC indicators were able to happen
within a relatively short project cycle period. Actual product changes are not measured in the survey
though. While child inclusion obviously does improve children’s knowledge, willingness, capacity,
activeness and relationships, it is interesting to note that child inclusion also seemed to increase adult
willingness to engage in CP issues. But this was the only dimension that seemed to be affected by child
inclusion. Adult knowledge, capacity and activeness scores did not appear to be markedly changed as
a result of child inclusion. However, this would need to be confirmed with a more extensive
comparative survey.
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6 COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS
This section provides a more detailed comparison between the case studies (including the quantitative
survey data) to develop conclusions related to the primary research questions. Summary points of the
entire group of research questions are included in the final section of this segment.
6.1 Is the CVA process application for CP?
6.1.1 General Observations
The CVA process can be considered to consist of four different steps:
Step 1: Forming the Group
Step 2: Awareness raising on CP issues
Step 3: Engaging the groups to do assessment of standards
Step 4: Improving services and influencing policies
The analysis team noted that although the steps may be listed in order, the degree of time invested in
each step was not equal within the case studies. The first two steps – group formation and awareness
raising/education on CP issues received considerably more time investment and energy from the WV
and collaborating partner staff. More time in community meetings were also invested in these first
two steps. For many in the analysis team, the first step – group formation – was considered to be the
heart of the project.
Analysis participants reflected that the degree of time and energy invested in the different steps may
have balanced out over the life of the project, but the short cycle of implementation meant that in the
time available, the bulk was invested in steps 1 and 2. Steps 3 and 4 were considered to be done “more
in a rush” due to the project cycle ending so rapidly. Their conclusion was that the CVA approach
cannot be completed in a year or 18 months of implementation, but it is possible to build a foundation
within that time.
Some elements of the CVA process were adapted to the specific context and timeframe. The most
notable adaptation related to the pre-selection of the items to be addressed. In a normal CVA process,
the community groups themselves would identify the elements for advocacy or change based on their
analysis of the context within a particular theme. However, in the Kosovo CVA case study, the issues
of altering the economic aid criteria and addressing child labour issues in the child protection by-laws
were identified by WV and the collaborating partner prior to beginning to work with the community
groups. These were pre-selected by the partner as being the most appropriate to begin building citizen
voice around because there were already discussions in the government on improving the social
schema and the street children. It was reasoned that building the CVA process around these already
ongoing discussions would improve the likelihood of the community voice being able to influence the
results of these discussions.
It was also somewhat unusual to pick two topics for addressing in the CVA process. Often it is just a
single theme or targeted action that become identified – although communities may identify subsequent
new themes to address after completion.
Finally, the CVA process was implemented in both those villages where WV had had previous project
relationships with community groups as well as in villages where this was the first exposure to WV.
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6.1.2 Positive Factors
The primary effects in the case studies appeared to be in the steps 1 and 2 as well. There was a
recognition that the process prompted the development of a new culture of working – a new way of
working in a group. The concept of extensive stakeholder consultation in the development of laws
and policies was not common in the Kosovo context and the CVA process made significant
contributions to creating a new mindset on accountability and citizen engagement.
It was fortuitous that some bylaws were being considered for policy revisions related to both child
labour and economic aid criteria. The CVA process was seen as occurring at an appropriate time to
have an influence. The analysis participants noted that while the government did have consultation
processes on the bylaws, it was primarily done with NGOs and International agencies. The only
communities in all of Kosovo who were involved in the consultation processes as communities were
the three CVA communities of Janjeve, Fushe Kosovo and Plementin.
The pre-selection of the targeted themes had both positive and negative consequences. On the
positive side, it provides a strategic attraction for recruiting community participants. Those who were
interested in these two topics came to the initial meetings and became part of the processes. However,
those who were not particularly interested remained disconnected form the activities.
The most broadly recognized positive factor identified by the analysis team from the ethnographies
related to the establishment of both intra- and inter- community networks of adults and children
focused on CP issues. Project participants cited the value and importance of being able to build these
connections – both across villages but also across the different ethnic groups present in the targeted
communities. These ethnic groups are traditionally somewhat isolated from each other and the CVA
activities did serve as a space to build these connections. Respondents placed considerable emphasis
on the interpersonal connections developed from the processes.
However, the energy and time involved in building these networks is quite high and the analysis team
noted that if the project has the intent of building sustainable structures that it should be recognized
that long term commitments and significant time investments for networking need to be integrated
into the project design and activities.
6.1.3 Challenges
There is some concern that the relatively short time of the project may inhibit long term sustainability.
The participant team noted that most respondents in the ethnographies affirmed that a good
foundation had been built and the group culture had been changed, but there was considerable
uncertainty about whether these gains would be able to be sustained once WV programming
interventions and relationships were no longer present.
The short time frame also inhibited the degree of the community group ownerships of the processes.
The act of coming together did help to raise the voice of the communities in these governmental
spaces, but the actual process of monitoring – the systematic analysis of CP standards on a scorecard
system – was less visible in the ethnographies. Analysis participants noted that there appeared to be
less ownership of this step because of the shortened window. Community groups did the scoring
system when led and instructed by the WV and collaborating partner staff, but did not appear to
consider it as “theirs”. Community respondents in the ethnographies were much more excited about
and discussed more often the collective gatherings of Step 4 where WV brought all the villages together
to address government stakeholders and service providers.
In other words, it appeared that the inter-community events were more visible and more impacting in
the minds of the participants than the intra-community events such as the scorecard analysis. The
analysis team noted that although these intra-community events were designed to be as friendly as
53
possible, there may be room to make these more interesting and engaging when communities do them
– especially when children are involved.
In all three targeted villages, a major barrier in the process related to the consistency of the group
participants. In all villages, there tended to be a core group that was consistent in their attendance and
participation in all of the steps and activities emerging from the CVA process. However, this was a
relatively small group – often no more than 5 o 6 persons. The rest of the community groups tended
to consist of persons who would rotate in and out of the spaces. They may come for a time, but then
due to work or other constraints, they would have to stop attending. Sometimes they would reappear
in the group spaces, but other times they would disappear while new families or members would start
coming. However, these new members would not necessarily have all the necessary knowledge or
awareness of what had gone before – thus requiring more time invested in re-orientation. This was
especially true of the Roma ethnic groups who were participating in the processes because of their
semi-itinerant economies.
The CVA process tends to carry a default assumption that groups who are participating in these
processes have some consistency in terms of membership and levels of participation. The analysis
team noted that a CVA process that can take into account how to work with inconsistent community
membership and differing levels of participation in different steps might be worth considering to
maximize success in those contexts where consistent membership and participation cannot be
assumed.
Kosovo is still a fragile country when it comes to women’s participation. The CVA participants for
both adults and children were purposely invited to represent equal gender distribution. However, for
the adults, the core group of most constant active participants were usually mostly men (with the
exception of Janjeve). Women were more likely to be occasional attendees in the rotating group. For
the children, the core group was of equal gender balance between boys and girls. The adults – both
men and women – were more interested in the advocacy theme of improving the economic aid package
while the children – both girls and boys – were more interested in the advocacy theme of speaking to
the Child Rights law.
However, after the children brought their concern for child rights issues, the adult women in the CVA
group were more open to accept this as a problem in Kosovo as opposed to the men. The adult
women ended up playing a role in persuading the men in the group that children should be supported
in their advocacy for child rights.
In terms of activeness, the adult CVA group tended to have men being more active in raising their
voice and taking actions. However, in the children’s group, girls were seen by project staff to be about
as active as boys in raising their voice and taking actions.
6.1.4 Unintended Consequences
There were some unintended consequences in the application of the CVA process in the project sites.
The involvement of key leaders in the project helped set the stage for future engagements with the
community groups around new issues. However, WV won’t be able to track all of these cascade
effects because the project is ending. Service providers and receivers reported that they had better
relationships with each other because of the spaces created in the process to connect with each other.
The service providers noted that they have a clearer idea of the community needs because of the
opportunity of speaking directly with the community members because of the community gathering
meetings and the scorecard exercises. This was especially true in the Roma communities which are
often marginalized from direct service provider connections.
Where the CVA process was implemented in villages with groups who were not previously connected
to WV activities, or where there were no pre-existing groups, the CVA process slowed down.
However, even the slow CVA process contributed to network formation. The analysis team noted
that if one wants to maximize success related to a specific targeted theme (such as altering the
54
economic aid criteria) which would be better done with homogenous groups that are already pre-
existing. However, if long term sustainability and cascade impact is desired, CVA can be done where
there are no pre-existing groups and with mixed groups, but there needs to be an awareness that these
efforts will require greater investment and longer time to see short term results.
In the same vein of unintended consequences, there did appear to be some suggestion in the
ethnographies that other activities unrelated to the specific targeted policies were occurring in the
targeted communities. It’s not clear how much of this can be attributed to the CVA process, although
one major consequence was increased networking among both children and adults beyond their
individual villages and this networking may have created the opportunities to be mobilized for other
issues.
6.1.5 Conclusion
The overall conclusion of these trends suggests that the CVA process is applicable for Child Protection
issues and can generate positive outcomes and establish positive unintended consequences beyond the
life of the project. However, some elements should be taken into account in CVA implementation
design:
Extra Emphasis on Group Formation and Awareness Raising: The lack of easily
organisable pre-existing groups around this issue – compared to education or health – suggests
that considerable investment in time and energy is necessary for group formation and group
strengthening with the goal of building a strong network foundation
Longer Timeframes: The CVA processes for CP likely require much longer timeframes –
especially when focused on national level policies or issues. Therefore, project cycles are likely
to require multiple year or multiple cycles to achieve substantive impacts.
Consistent Participation: The core group involved in CP issues may be more fluid or less
defined than in other local level CVA contexts. This may need to be address by either
developing methodologies that take into account inconsistent or rotational participation or
extend longer time frames to ensure group formation across inconsistent participation.
Pre-Selection of Targeted Advocacy: The pre-selection of the targeted advocacy themes
presented both challenges and positive outcomes. However, since Child Protection is not as
familiar a concept in Eastern Europe as some other CVA themes, the pre-selection of the
advocacy initiatives did help provide a grounded focus for the initial meetings and allowed for
a level of self-organizing by those attracted to these themes.
Gender Balance: Although efforts are made to balance genders in the CVA groups, the
Kosovo context tends to result in men becoming more dominant in activeness and raising
voices and in consistent attendance. In contexts of significant gender differentiation, it may be
important to place extra emphasis on promoting consistent attendance of women or to
explore unbalanced recruitment that brings in more women than men to ensure adequate
gender voice.
6.2 Does Child Inclusion in CVA Processes make a difference for CP?
6.2.1 General Observations
In the implementation of the steps in the experimental villages, the processes involved both activities
which were only done with children’s groups and then only done with adult groups as well as activities
where the children and the adults within a village met together. When the inter-community events
and the national level events occurred in the project, these were done with both children and adults
present.
55
6.2.2 Positive Contributions
Although somewhat obvious, the targeted villages which involved children in the CVA activities saw
increased children’s confidence and self-esteem as well as empowerment. Children reported being
more active in CP issues and stated that they were more capable of dialoguing with stakeholders on
these issues.
In addition, strategically, respondents noted that having children describing the challenges that they are
facing increased the likelihood that these issues would be taken seriously by government officials. The
team noted that there is a greater chance of opening doors in government with children. Even by
politicians, adults are seen as potentially corrupt and advancing their own interests, but when the issues
are raised by children – who are seen as more innocent – their requests to government as seen as
more legitimate. The team noted that in one of the ethnographies, when the prime minister had heard
about these mobilizing children, he wanted to meet them. This created interest in other officials to
also meet with the children. It’s harder to say no to children as well. Adults associated with the
children found that there themselves were also more visible in their campaigns and influence as a result.
Another positive factor noted by the team related to understanding better the particularities of social
issues from children’s perspectives. Some interviewed respondents noted that adults tend not to
perceive the social problems that children face in the same way that children see them. Talking with
children in the CVA processes allowed adults to gain insight into how these issues are perceived from
a child’s perspective. This had an effect on shaping the details of the interventions. The team noted
that many ideas related to the implementation had been taken from the suggestions of participating
children.
The team perceived in the targeted communities that having children involved in the processes created
greater interest and motivation among the adults to gather together on CP issues. It was felt that this
may be particular important for Child Protection issues rather than traditional issues for which the
CVA process is often used such as economic development or health. The analysis team noted that
when the children were not involved, the level of adult engagement and interest for CP issues also
declined. The team also noted, that in the control group (Zallq) where no CVA process had happened,
there were places where adults could even connect to each other on CP issues and they didn’t even
consider actions such as child labour to be a CP issue, reflecting very low understanding of CP.
Thus, a CVA process for Child Protection with just adults will increased knowledge and will generate
some interest, but a CVA process for Child Protection that involved children seems to increase both
the knowledge, interest and engagement of the adults.
The team noted that the involvement of children also tended to facilitate speeding up the time it took
to complete some of the steps of the CVA process. Especially with awareness raising activities. This
is likely related to the dynamic identified by the team that when children are involved in the discussions
of CP issues, adults tend to take these elements more seriously than when it is just adults discussing
the topic.
In terms of gender balance, girls and boys were invited in roughly equal proportions and the core group
maintained a gender balance throughout. The quantitative and qualitative data suggests that girls were
equally as active and knowledgeable and participatory as boys. Given the greater gender imbalance
among adults, the CVA process including children seems to have contributed to increased
opportunities for girls to act equally with boys and to raise their voices in ways that adult women do
not do as much in the Kosovo context.
6.2.3 Challenges
Once again, the primary challenge noted in the ethnographies related to the potential sustainability of
the networks and initiatives. The ethnographies did emphasize that there was a visible difference
56
among children regarding their relationships, empowerment and self-esteem. But while it is hoped
that this can lead to cascade effects or more successful implementation, there is no evidence yet that
empowered children would actually lead to a law change.
The children participation did establish new practices in advocacy and accountability for the most
vulnerable, but the actual plan and law have not been approved and the groups involved in the
ethnography exercises expressed considerable concern about whether their efforts and networks can
actually continue after the end of the project. There was almost unanimous consensus that the time
frame for the project cycle was insufficient to ensure actual long term gains. Some respondents noted
that they felt that they had just gotten to the point after the 18 months where their groups could
actually now begin to do some real wok just as the project is finishing. The analysis team felt it
important to re-emphasize, that the CVA process can be used for Child Protection but it requires
more time than allotted in this project.
The same sustainability question also relates to the inter-community networks – especially the
children’s networks. The project participants all reported perceiving high value in the groups –
especially the children. There were numerous citations of how much the groups enjoyed interacting
beyond their community and ethnicity. However, these inter-community groups are particularly fragile
because of the distance and logistics barriers. Nevertheless, the project did promote confidence and
connections and provided an opportunity for children to be more visible on these public issues.
6.2.4 Unintended Consequences
An unintended consequence of children inclusion in the CVA processes identified by the team related
to how WV was perceived by the community. In those places where WV worked with children, the
reputation of WV itself was enhanced and greater trust was built with community adults. The
organization was seen as working for the interests of the child and this reduced suspicions that are
common in multi-ethnic collaborations.
Standards related to child treatment in public spaces or in events involving children also seemed to be
enhanced in those villages where WV was implementing the CVA processes with children.
Respondents noted that they learned from seeing the actual interactions shaped in the course of
project activities.
6.2.5 Conclusion
The overall conclusion of these trends suggests that the Child Inclusion in the CVA process provides
positive outcomes and can establish positive unintended consequences beyond the scope of the
project. For Child Protection in particular, children participation appeared to open advocacy spaces
not always available to adults – especially those adults from invisible communities. The effect of
empowerment on children outcomes would need to be measured in a longer term study, but in the
short term, community and local government stakeholders reacted positively to child participation.
There is some evidence to suggest that the CVA process with including children can provide an
important space for allowing girls to raise their voice in a way that adult women do not do. A major
challenge with regards to children participation is determining how to maintain children networks –
especially inter-community networks – in the absence of the logistical and financial support supplied by
the project. Children are more dependent on others in their post-project actions than adult
stakeholders who can act more autonomously afterwards.
57
7 RESEARCH QUESTION SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Research Question Summary
This section provides a summary of the findings related to the key research questions and sub-
questions based on the ethnographies, quantitative data, and analysis team conclusions.
Table 14: Research Questions Finding Summary19
QUESTION SUMMARY
Main Research
Question 1: Determine
whether CVA is an
effective approach for
influencing CP policy and
implementation
The CVA methodology is an effective approach for building networks, increasing
knowledge and capacity, and advocating for CP policy and implementation. The
CVA process seems to be able to contribute to improved relationships between
service providers and receivers and to build multi-ethnic bridges in contexts of
high inter-ethnic tensions.
Actual policy change requires longer term commitments in time and energy
investment than allotted in this research project cycle.
What is the level of
community members’
adults and children,
(including the most
vulnerable) knowledge on
CVA or any social
accountability tool
(describe it) to influence?
Knowledge on CVA and social accountability markedly increased for both
children and adults in those communities where children were included in the
process and just among adults in those communities where children were not
involved.
What knowledge
regarding CP Local
policies, services in their
communities?
Knowledge on CP local policies and services markedly increased for both
children and adults in those communities where children were included in the
process and just among adults in those communities where children were not
involved.
To what extent have
community members used
the knowledge mentioned
above to influence CP
local policies and services?
Targeted policies for research site were national level policies. Knowledge (in
addition to other components) did lead to inter-community networks providing
input to government stakeholders on the national policies
What is the level of
community’s capacity to
engage in CP related
services advocacy
initiative?
Community capacity improved for advocacy related to Child Protection issues.
The inclusion of children in the processes increased the likelihood of the groups
being listened to. Since these were national level advocacy initiatives, community
capacity was dependent on inter-community networks to speak to the national
voice.
What is the level of
government’s capacity to
engage in CP related
services advocacy
initiative?
Pre-selected national level policies meant that this questions ends up focusing on
national level capacity. The bylaws addressed in the project were not yet
finalized at the time of the project termination and subsequent implementation
not assessed. However, there were visible changes in terms of government
practice including displaying more openness to listen to children and adults from
invisible communities. Even in the context of the Law for CP, these invisible
groups’ voice had been incorporated – signalling a shift in practice.
19 Taken from Research TOR
58
Furthermore, within the community context, the quality of the relationship
between service providers and receivers increased and local government officials’
relationships to invisible communities had been enhanced.
What is the community’s
(adults and children,
including the most
vulnerable) level of
monitor SSC services?
The community displayed some capacity to analyse and monitor SSC services
within a specific community, but the groups exhibited relatively low ownership of
the monitoring processes due to the shortened project cycle. The level of
knowledge on how to monitor had improved, but the implementation of the
action plan among the groups and the SSC seemed to be a point of concern
which has long term sustainability implications.
What is the community’s
(adults and children,
including the most
vulnerable) willingness to
dialog for SSC services?
Willingness is high among the communities that went through the CVA process.
Willingness appears to be increased with the inclusion of children.
To what extend does
government acknowledge
the value of relating with
community reps (children
included) regarding to CP
issues?
National level government appears to have taken community voices seriously in
the development of the Law for Child Protection.
At the local level, the local government officials and service providers
acknowledged the value of community representation and monitoring and cited
improved relationships with the more vulnerable groups in the villages
To what extend adults
value children’s view in
influencing CP policies and
services?
The ethnographies suggest that adults who were from communities where child
inclusion was part of the CVA activities acknowledged the value of children’s
views in influencing CP policies and services. Government officials were more
likely to listen to and take seriously campaigns when the voice of children and
their views was more prominent
Are there any plans
developed and
implemented by the
community jointly with
the government to
address the gaps related
to CP standards?
Not yet. Project cycle ended early and the national level focus of the pre-
selected CP targets limited the ability to develop joint action plans. But the
bylaws are set to be approved shortly.
To what extend are the
CP related services
(including social schema)
effective?
Actual change to the schema and services not yet evident, but improved
relationships at the intra-community level noted
How do the services
interact with each other?
The changes to the social schema and the child labour policies are both primarily
likely to affect the Roma ethnic minority although other vulnerable groups will
also benefit from the modifications to the schema.
It is assumed that the greater inclusion in the social schema will reduce the
incidence of child street labour, but since the changes have not yet been
implemented, this cannot be confirmed.
Main Research
Question 2: Identify
whether Child
Participation in CVA
contribute to greater
inclusion of children’s
needs and priorities in
government policy than
the standard adult citizen-
only CVA model.
For the CP sector, the inclusion of children in the processes carried significant
implications in terms of intra-community adult willingness and motivation as well
as providing better reception by national government officials during the
campaigns.
59
What is the level of
children’s knowledge on
CVA or social
accountability for CP?
Children knowledge of CVA and social accountability increased as a result of
inclusion in the project. The level of knowledge of CVA processes or
accountability did tend to be lower than the case study adults
What is the level of
children’s knowledge on
local CP policies and
services?
Children knowledge of local CP policies and services increased as a result of
inclusion in the project. The level of knowledge tended to be the same as or
higher than the equivalent case study adults
What is the level of
children’s ability to
interact in CP related
services advocacy
initiative?
Children’s abilities to interact in CP related services advocacy was good. The
national level orientation of the targeted CVA themes meant that there was
considerable dependency on inter-community mobilization and logistics carried
out by the partnering NGOs, but the capacity of the included children was
recognized by community adults, NGO workers and government adults as being
of added value
What is the level of
children’s capacity to
monitor in CP related
services initiatives?
The children participated in the monitoring activities in the targeted child-
inclusion villages, but exhibited relatively low ownership over the processes –
likely due to the short period of project cycle and the fact that national level
policies were targeted which affected all villages equally. However, the capacity
to monitor had been increased.
What is the children
willingness to dialog for
SSC services?
Willingness of children is very high according to both the quantitative survey and
the ethnographies.
What is the level of
children’s communication
and presentations’ skills
dialogue with adults
regarding CP related
policy and services?
Adults engaged in the inter-community dialogues and campaigns affirmed good
children skills in communication and presentation and noted the importance of
child presence in the advocacy spaces at the national level
How effective is the
monitoring carried out to
CP related services by
children?
Since the targeted policies and services are national level and were not modified
prior to the end of the project, the monitoring effectiveness could not be
confirmed. Within the Centres for Social Work at the local level, the groups had
agreed to an action plan related to local level monitoring, but had not yet been
implemented before the short project cycle ended.
What is the children’s
(including the most
vulnerable) level of
satisfaction with the SSCs
services?
Satisfaction with services not changed because the targeted policies haven’t
changed, but children did report improved relationships with service providers
within the village level (adults also reported this)
Children’s
contribution/recommenda
tions taken up by key
decision makers (in order
to demonstrate the value
of their inclusion in the
process).
The ethnographies suggest that children’s voice on specific issues was taken
seriously and children’s suggestions on the implementation of CVA activities was
noted. The key draft Law for CP had included children’s voices in the
development of the draft by the decision makers. The law has not yet been
approved due to political instability in Kosovo.
60
7.2 Recommendations
The ethnographic comparisons have already elicited a range of possible best practices and
consequences for children’s inclusion in CVA. Recommendations are not necessarily called for except
the general recommendation that the CVA process is applicable for CP and that the children inclusion
in the CVA processes does have positive impact for CP than might necessarily be found in other CVA
themes. Nevertheless, some of the more significant best practice implications found in the
ethnographies are re-summarized here as recommendations.
A challenge in studies is that too many recommendations are the functional equivalent of no
recommendations. Too many suggestions become unfeasible to implement or even address
systematically. For that reason, there are only 11 recommendations presented below.
Recommendation 1: For working with itinerant community contexts, consider developing CVA
related interventions that don’t rely on consistent attendance from a core group
Recommendation 2: In contexts of unbalanced gender dynamics, consider over-recruiting adult
women or exploring other ways to encourage greater women activeness in CVA spaces.
Recommendation 3: For CP Integration, CVA processes should be built into longer time frames of
project cycles of 4-5 years as opposed to 12-18 months
Recommendation 4: CVA processes for CP should be implemented within the context of ongoing
CP programming to maximize effectiveness and synergy
Recommendation 5: Building inter-community networks should be integrated into all CVA
processes for CP since many of the policies require national level adjustments
Recommendation 6: Identify mechanisms for increasing the sustainability of inter-community
network construction
Recommendation 7: CVA for CP should focus on a single topic rather than two themes together
even though the two themes together can contribute to greater synergy
Recommendation 8: Pre-selecting CP topics at project design can be used to strategically attract
multi-ethnic groups and build bridges as well as creating closer alignment with ongoing CP campaigns.
Recommendation 9: In project design, allocate significant time and energy investments to Step
1(group formation) before proceeding to the other steps or only consider working with pre-existing
groups
Recommendation 10: CVA application in divided communities requires significant time investment
for Step 1 or only consider working with homogenous ethnic groups
Recommendation 11: Children groups should be integrated into all CVA processes for CP due to
positive contributions to enhanced adult willingness and motivation and improved access to key officials
and service providers
61
8 ANNEXES
8.1 Annex 1: Project Documents and TOR
LINC Proposal Research TOR Agenda for Analysis Process
Baseline_Proposal_
LINC Final Version 31.07.2015.docx
Rev ToR CVA with
children for CP Study.docx
Agenda for
CVA.docx
8.2 Annex 2: CVA Research Tools
8.2.1 Qualitative Interview Guide
KII interview guide
final CVA Research project.docx
8.2.2 Timeline Exercise
FGD Timeline
Facilitation Guide CVA Research project.docx
8.2.3 Quantitative Survey
Quantitative Survey
CVA Research project.docx
8.3 Annex 3: Qualitative Raw Data
8.3.1 Baseline Data
Janjeve Village Plementin Village Zallq Village
CVA KII
Matrix_Komuna Lipjan.docx
CVA KII
Matrix_Komuna Obiliq.docx
CVA KII
Matrix_Komuna Istog.docx
8.3.2 Post-Project Data - KIIs
Janjeve Village Plementin Village
CVA KII
Matrix_Drejtore QPS_Lipjan.docx
CVA KII
Matrix_Pergjegjese e sherbimeve sociale_Lipjan.docx
CVA KII
Matrix_Mesuese shkolle_Obiliq.docx
CVA KII
Matrix_Punonjesi i sherbimeve sociale QPS_Obiliq.docx
Fushe Kosovo Village Zallq Village
CVA KII
Matrix_Mesuese_Fushe Kosove.docx
CVA KII
Matrix_Punonjes i skemes sociale_Fushe Kosove.docx
CVA KII
Matrix_Drejtori i shkolles Zallq_Istog_August 2016.docx
CVA KII
Matrix_Pergjegjesi i sherbimeve sociale_Istog.docx
62
8.3.3 Post-Project Data – Timeline FGDs
Janjeve Village
Shenimet e
FGDs_CVA ethnographic research Plemetin,Janjeve,FKosove.xlsx
FGD
Children_Janjeve.docx
FGD_Adults,
Janjeve.doc
Plementin Village
Shenimet e
FGDs_CVA ethnographic research Plemetin,Janjeve,FKosove.xlsx
FDG
Adults_Plemetin.docx
FGD
Children_Plementin.docx
Fushe Kosovo Village
Shenimet e
FGDs_CVA ethnographic research Plemetin,Janjeve,FKosove.xlsx
FDG Adults_Fushë
Kosovë.docx
FGDs
Children_Fushe Kosove.docx
Zallq Village
Shenimet e
FGDs_CVA ethnographic research Plemetin,Janjeve,FKosove.xlsx
FGD
Adults_Zallq.docx
FGD Children_
Zallq.docx
8.4 Annex 4: Quantitative Raw Data
8.4.1 Baseline Raw Data
CVA Baseline
quantiative survey database_October 2015.xlsx
8.4.2 Post-Project Raw Data
CVA quantitative
survey database_September 1, 2016.xlsx
8.4.3 Tables
CVA quantitative
survey database_Tables.xlsx
8.5 Annex 5: Original Case Studies Narratives (Albanian)
Janjeve Plementine Fushe Kosovo Zallq
CVA Janjeve
Ethnography Final.docx
Historia per
Plementin_CVA Final 08.09.2016(2).docx
V3 Rev Na ishte nje
here_Fushe Kosove story_V3.docx
Zallq_Komuna
Istog_story final.docx