Multipart thematic paper on multi-stakeholder ... - ISIS Europe

previously existing and current programmes, in case they exist(ed) cannot be determined. One of the
interviewees, however, notes: ‘All national/local actors in Kosovo and Kosovo as a whole depend on
external financial resources! Most of the population lives in poverty and has difficulties finding a proper job.
Donors do not do much to support this main problem although millions of Euros go into Kosovo each year.
ASI is such a small player is this whole lot.’ 32
1.1.3. The context in which ASI operates
Before ASI was formed, there were common complaints from MPs that they were receiving the same
training from several different donors. Co-ordination was clearly needed. ASI was founded on the initiative
of the OSCE mission (representative) in Kosovo, in October 2001, just after the first Parliamentary elections.
ASI supports the Assembly via conferences and training, workshops with the Committees, technical
assistance to the Presidency, Committee chairpersons and individual MPs, working visits to other countries
and parliaments, training for the legislative staff and interpreters of the Assembly. There are three main
international actors who have been supporting the Kosovo Assembly during under the co-ordination
umbrella of the ASI in order to avoid overlap and competition:
- the OSCE Mission in Kosovo
- National Democratic Institute (NDI) with the support of the USAID, and
- the EU (European Agency for Reconstruction – EAR)-funded Consortium of three/four European
parliaments (French, German, Belgian and later also Slovenian).
The ASI approach is based on a system of regular consultation on specific issues of parliamentary support
without a centralized system of imposed decision-making. As a result, co-ordination of the timing of
workshops and conferences helped to avoided conflicting agendas and also achieve division of labour in the
assistance given to the parliament. It has led to the practice that specific projects provide support to specific
parliamentary committees in agreement with other projects and organizations who give assistance to other
parliamentary committees or Assembly administration. The co-ordination approach sometimes had to cope
with differing partners’ interests, whereby two tensions can be exposed:
a) low initial capability of participation by the beneficiary; by this we mean abilities of need assessment
and management of multiplicity of international donors’ programmes by the Kosovo Assembly and
also civil society,
b) conflicting agendas (and sometimes leading personalities) of USAID supported NDI and EAR
supported European Consortium of three/four parliaments
c) OSCE’ role after Kosovo declaration of independence.
32 Interview with Alfons B. Lenzte.
105