Fields of work

Since 2017, New Social Initiative (NSI) has worked from North Mitrovica to build a society where every community has a real stake in its institutions and its future. Our work is organised in five clusters: non-majority community rights, good governance, dealing with the past, dealing with the future, and the dialogue on normalization. Inter-ethnic participation is an umbrella for all our clusters of projects. Whatever the topic, we look for ways to bring people from different communities into the same processes, the same rooms and, when possible, joint decisions.

Non-majority community rights

Closing the gap between what the law guarantees and what people experience

Kosovo’s legal framework for protecting non-majority communities is among the most comprehensive in Europe, but the gap between what the law guarantees and what people experience remains wide. NSI works to close it, focusing on the Kosovo Serb community and covering other non-majority communities too.

Language rights. With the Office of the Language Commissioner, we have supported institutions in complying with the Law on the Use of Languages and promoted multilingualism.
Access to institutions. We research how accessible public institutions are in practice and advocate for removing the barriers we identify.
Human rights and media. We strengthen human rights organisations, monitor Serbian-language media and amplify minority voices.

Selected work: #LetsShareOurLanguages; Research into Institutional Accessibility for Non-Majority Communities; Media Monitoring.

Good governance

Transparent, accountable and responsive institutions

Institutions earn trust when they are transparent, accountable and responsive to everyone they serve. NSI works on both sides: we strengthen institutions’ capacity to deliver, and citizens’ ability to demand.

Local governance. We have partnered with numerous municipalities, particularly in northern Kosovo, on transparency, youth participation in local decision-making, and monitoring of public procurement and municipal spending.
Policy development. NSI has contributed to drafting government strategies and legislation through working groups of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.

Selected work: Procurement and Public Trust: An Assessment of Municipal Spending in Northern Kosovo; Towards Transparent Public Procurement in North Kosovo; Community Pulse Forums in northern Kosovo.

Dealing with the past

A victim-centred, inclusive approach to transitional justice

A sustainable peace requires an honest reckoning with the legacy of the 1990s conflicts, in which every victim is recognised regardless of ethnicity. NSI works with victims and their associations across the region on a victim-centred, inclusive approach to transitional justice.

Joint principles. We have supported victim groups from different communities and countries in defining shared principles of transitional justice and advocating for them.
Stronger associations. We build the capacity of victim groups to engage institutions as equal partners.
Shaping policy. We have facilitated civil society input into a citizen-centred National Strategy for Transitional Justice in Kosovo.

Selected work: Strengthening Inclusive Victim Voices, Transforming Narratives (with PAX, ICTJ and Integra); Civil Society Facilitation for a Citizen-Centred National Strategy for Transitional Justice.

Dealing with the future

Building trust by working side by side

Reconciliation also means building something together. Our youth-oriented work brings young people from different communities into joint educational and cultural activities. We do not ask them to start by confronting the past; instead, they build trust by working side by side.

Joint activities. Trainings, creative production, media and shared projects that bring young people together.
Shared interests. Trust grows as young people work side by side and discover what they have in common.
Counter-narratives. Young people develop the skills to counter divisive narratives.

Selected work: Linking Through Lenses and #LTLChange; Kosovo Trustbuilding Platform; Fostering Inter-Ethnic Cooperation and Reconciliation; Kosovo–Serbia: Different Approach.

Dialogue on normalization

Monitoring the Belgrade–Pristina dialogue and what it means on the ground

The EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina shapes everyday life in Kosovo, above all for the Kosovo Serb community. NSI monitors the dialogue and analyses how its agreements are implemented, or left unimplemented, and what that means on the ground.

Research and analysis. Evidence-based recommendations to decision-makers, from trade barriers and Gazivode to the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Vehicles.
Track II and Track III exchange that brings Kosovo Albanian, Kosovo Serb and Serbian voices into the same room.
The Kosovo Peace and Democracy Summit (KPDS), co-organised annually with Kosovo Civic Alternative and the European Institute of Peace.

Selected work: Kosovo–Serbia by 2030: Possible Scenarios; Changing Tides: What Opposition Gains Mean for the Kosovo–Serbia Dialogue; Research, Propose, Engage.