The emerging picture: poverty assessment of Kosovo

1 January 2000

Kosovo is a complex place in which to determine the status of poverty. As a United Nations (UN) protectorate, governance structures are in a high state of flux. Kosovo is in transition, not only after two years of war, but from 12 years of the organised erosion of Kosovo’s Albanian community. Although the future is unclear, the hope is that this is the beginning of a period of stability and development for Kosovo.

The collaboration between participating agencies is at all levels, in management, funding and implementation. The work itself is being carried out by a team of 20 (16 researchers and 4 drivers), drawn from UN agencies: UNICEF, the World Food Program (WFP), United National's Development Program (UNDP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); and non-governmental organisations (NGOs): Catholic Relief Services, Action Against Hunger, Mercy Corps International and World Vision International. Within CARE International, the assessment is being undertaken by CARE Kosovo in collaboration with CARE International UK.

The methodology underpinning the work is household livelihood security (HLS). HLS provides the framework for understanding, linking and describing the issues that affect and perpetuate poverty in urban and rural settlements. To these ends the study is researching how household members access resources, the barriers that prevent access, and the ability of households to build and use household assets. Importantly, it is also uncovering information on the structures that control resources. Unemployment, destruction and the scarcity of resources are paramount. A key issue is gender. Another is youth: over half of Kosovo's population is under 20 years of age.

The information is being gathered from a representative sample of 18 neighbourhoods and villages across Kosovo using participatory rapid appraisal (PRA) techniques. For four days, teams of four (two men and two women) hold meetings with community members, using activities such as mapping, focus group interviews and livelihood profiling to understand better how people live, their particular problems, and the opportunities for the future. Individual household interviews follow the group meetings. The work is completed by detailed discussion with the community of what the team understands the main issues to be.

One of the first assessments was in Kodra E Primave, a poor urban neighbourhood of Prishtina. In this neighbourhood one 64-year- old man, Abaz, currently survives on daily handouts. He tries to find work each day as a labourer. He lives in one room with his wife and daughter. Asked about his aspirations, he says he has lost all hope for himself. Yet he hopes that his 13-year-old daughter will be able to finish school and then to have a better life for herself.

In the same neighbourhood a resident asked about the assessment. The image used to describe the approach was that of completing a jigsaw. Each PRA activity produced one piece of the jigsaw. Each piece reveals something of the final picture, but in isolation the piece is not clear. Only when the pieces are put together is the picture recognisable. Abaz’s story in itself is one piece. Yet after gathering hundreds of similar pieces of information, a picture will form. PRA gives an image based on best fit - of time, energy, resources, and how much community members are prepared to reveal. Yet the final results will help to verify existing assumptions about the state of poverty in Kosovo, as well as revealing new information. And key to any understanding is the collection of first hand information.

David Sanderson is Technical and Policy Adviser for CARE International UK.