Adequate financing of social services, a guarantee of social welfare

The Kosovo Local Government Institute (KLGI) organised a virtual workshop on the topic “Social Policies at Local Level”. Participants in this training session were representatives of the local Directorates of Health and Social Welfare (DHSW) and of the Centres for Social Work (CSW).

The aim of the meeting was to discuss the financing of social services at local level, with an emphasis on the Specific Grant for Social Services and the Law on Social and Family Services.

Social policies are a set of public policies that aim to ensure social protection and welfare as a moral and political requirement. Above all, municipalities have full and exclusive competences, insofar as they concern local interest and while respecting the standards set out in applicable legislation, in the provision of family services and other social welfare services.

The Specific Grant for Social Services serves to finance the cost of providing social services at municipal level on the basis of minimum standards. The financing criteria therefore aim to address the problems in current financing and the new policies in this field.

However, it is evident that state institutions must provide appropriate financial support for the provision of social services, as this represents an effective investment and an essential element in improving citizens’ lives.

In this respect, municipal plans for social services are an important instrument and can pave the way for greater coordination and efficiency in implementing new policies, such as the Specific Grant for Social Services, through the Law on Local Government Finance, the Law on Social and Family Services, and other laws that aim to regulate social policies in the Republic of Kosovo.

This activity was carried out within the framework of the platform “The Kosovo We Want”, with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.