Poverty, unemployment still plague Kosovo

18/05/2009

According to the UNDP, more than 17% of Kosovo's population lives in extreme poverty. Many more require the assistance of the government or family members who work abroad.

By Besa Beqiri for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 18/05/09

According to the UNDP, more than 17% of the Kosovo population lives in extreme poverty. [Getty Images]

Unemployment and poverty are the main factors that could derail Kosovo's stability, Kosovo citizens said in a recent UNDP survey. Almost 40,000 people in the former Serbian province -- whose population totals around 2 million -- have no regular income and require government assistance.

The government aid totals 45 to 75 euros a month -- much less than what a family needs to make a normal living in the country. According to Kosovo Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Welfare Gjergj Dedaj, there are also over 150,000 retirees who also take pensions -- at an average of 70 euros a month -- from the ministry and have been transformed into a category of poor people.

According to reports from the UNDP and other international organisations, about 37% of the population lives in poverty -- below the line of 1.42 euros a day -- and over 17% lives in extreme poverty -- below the line of 93 euro cents a day.

"Poverty cannot be reduced through giving people social assistance alone, the opening of the new jobs would reduce poverty. Let's not transform Kosovo into a social state in which people live with social assistance; let's transform it into a place of work," Dedaj said.

"We have an emergency strategy, which is not enough," he said, adding that the ministry does not have its own official figures for the rate of poverty in Kosovo due to the lack of a census and the lack of a registration for family economies.

About 30,000 people enter the job market every year in Kosovo, with little prospect of employment. [Getty Images]

Emigration plays a major role in keeping families out of extreme poverty, the minister noted. More than half a million Kosovars work in Western countries and send money home, helping to keep their loved ones afloat financially.

A study last year by the Statistical Office of Kosovo and the World Bank said "migration and remittances have been effective ways for households to protect themselves from falling into poverty". It estimated that one in five Kosovars has at least one relative abroad sending them funding.

Because of the global financial crisis, as well as social changes within Kosovo, the amount of remittances has been decreasing, however.

The UNDP says Kosovo has the highest unemployment rate in the Western Balkans -- around 45% of the working-age population is without a job. It also has an extremely young population, with half of its citizens under the age of 25.

"This means that some 30,000 people join the job market every year with little prospect of employment," the UN organisation says.

The deputy minister appealed to local and international companies to employ Kosovo young people.

Kosovo's rural areas are home to nearly half of its population. [Getty Images]

"We have a very young population, willing to work. Our labor force is vital", Dedaj said, noting that the economy and jobs are priorities for his government. He pointed to a recent agreement reached by his ministry with the ITT contracting company from Camp Bondsteel, under which 250 young Kosovars will be employed at US bases in Afghanistan.

With the majority of Kosovo's population living in villages, it is in rural areas that poverty poses the most serious problem. Nearly two thirds of the poor are in rural parts of Kosovo, official statistics show.

"Rural areas are of particular concern; they are home to 60% of Kosovo's population. [The] UNDP is helping to bring together agricultural co-operatives and connecting them with new markets in a scheme that promotes employment and boosts Kosovo's productivity," the UNDP says.

According to the organisation, economic growth is the best answer to poverty and unemployment problems in the new country. However, with the global crisis still looming, the solution may be long in coming.