N G O Voice of Kosovo and Metohia

About us

The Non-Government Organization Voice of Kosovo & Metohija was founded in June 2000 with the blessing of His Eminence, Bishop of Raska & Prizren and Kosovo & Metohija, Artemije. His Eminence has also blessed all the actions of the organization. Our goal is to help internally displaced persons from Kosovo & Metohija in every possible way, not only while they are away from their homes but also when the time comes for them to return to those homes.
Our main office is located in Belgrade, with its branches in Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Krusevac and Nis. For the future, we are planning to open our office in Gracanica, too.
For the past twelve months the NGO Voice of Kosovo & Metohija has accomplished a great deal in the area of humanitarian work and information distribution. In the collaboration with the Office for Internally Displaced Persons of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren, we have been publishing and distributing a weekly bulletin the "Herald of Kosovo & Metohija." The purpose of this bulletin is to provide the internally displaced, as well as everyone else interested, with the information related to Kosovo & Metohija. The distribution of this weekly bulletin covers most of Serbia, including Kosovo & Metohija. Since recently, the information published in the bulletin could also be found on our web site www.glaskim.co.yu as well as on the CD-ROM. The sponsors of the bulletin are the Public Affairs Section-U.S. office in Pristina and EIDHR.

We have published three editions of the publication “Crucified Kosovo”, a document of the sufferings of Serbian Orthodox Christian shrines in Kosovo & Metohija that have been damaged or utterly ruined by Albanian extremists. Each edition is bilingual, including a couple of different languages combined with each other (Serbian/English, Russian/English, etc.). For those who prefer working with computers, the publication is now available on CD-ROM. The material used for the publication has also been utilized to produce a documentary film with the same title, ”Crucified Kosovo”.

As a result of our cooperation with Mr. Radivoje Dobic from Paris, we have helped the realization of the CD "Kosovo- the Cultural Heritage of the World".

We have also organized or helped the organization of numerous panel discussions and other media events related to Kosovo & Metohija:
- 20 panel discussions around Serbia, whose main discussion topic was
"The Sufferings of Serbs and Serbian Orthodox Christian Shrines in Kosovo & Metohija"
- Numerous panel discussions around Check Republic (The topic was again "The Sufferings of Serbs and Serbian Orthodox Christian Shrines in Kosovo & Metohija.")
- A media presentation about the history of Kosovo & Metohija as well as the present situation in this province

Some of the speakers were: His Eminence, Bishop of Raska & Prizren and Kosovo & Metohija, Artemije; the abbot of the monastery Decani, Teodosije; the Adviser of the President of FR Yugoslavia, Mr. Slobodan Samardzic; the Federal Minister for Religion, Dr. Bogoljub Sijakovic; the Ambassador of FR Yugoslavia in Greece, Mr. Dusan Batakovic, and many other important figures.

We have been highly involved in the census of internally displaced persons from Kosovo & Metohija. We just completed our work (as the implementing partner of IOCC) on two projects:

1.Creation of a Database on the needs of IDPs from Kosovo & Metohija and
2. Establishment in Kragujevac of the Center for the Exchange of Information, Knowledge and Experiences Among IDP’s Associations.
In the collaboration with UMCOR, we have designed a system for the exchange of information between the internally displaced persons in central Serbia (named “Cross
Boundary Information Exchange”) and the UMCOR's office in Gnjilane.

For future realization we are preparing some projects, with the following partners:

1. UMCOR - Cross Boundary Information Exchange, which is extended to education of IDP’s that will enable them to work as craftsman.
2. IOCC (preparation of returnee through education in agricultural, legal and computer sciences).
3. Mercy Corps – Krusevac (courses in computer literacy for local residents and IDP’s)

Following projects preparation is in progress:

1. IOCC:
- Education in different crafts for IDP’s
- Preparation of IDP’s for their return to Kosovo & Metohija
2. UMCOR and partners:
- Education of lawyers among IDP’s
3. OSCE – Mission in Kosovo
-Assembling a mobile team of lawyers for Kosovo & Metohija
- Work against trafficking of persons
- Reconciliation through joint work with Albanian NGO’s.

In terms of our humanitarian work, we could proudly highlight our partnership with numerous government and non-government organizations. Some of our most important partners are: UNHCR, US Aid, EU institutions operating in the area, UMCOR, IOCC, and the Interorthodox Association "Apostle Paul".