On 26 April 2021, the Head of the Council of Europe Office Frank Power in Pristina, and the project team Merita Limani and Beatrice Sopa-Citaku met with Mentor Morina, Director of the Division for Social Services and Family and his colleagues Adile Shaqiri and Magbule Koci from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to hand over a newly developed Quality Guidelines for Shelters for Victims of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

Mr Morina acknowledged the support to enhance the services for shelters based on the standards set in the Istanbul Convention, and stated that the Ministry and shelters are strongly committed to implement the guidelines.

The quality guidelines for shelters of violence against women and domestic violence are rooted in the Istanbul Convention and other international standards, as well as by practical experiences and good practice examples for running women’s shelters and women’s support services.

On the basis of the guidelines, the project will support the Ministry to train social workers and staff of shelters.

These guidelines are developed as part of the project ‘’Reinforcing the fight against violence against women and domestic violence in Kosovo* - Phase II’’.

* All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.