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The overall objective of the GPKT Project is to
foster sustainable inter-ethnic and cross-border practices for
systematic co-operation in the
Gjilan/Gnjilane-Presevo-Kumanovo-Trgoviste (GPKT) micro-region. This
is seen as a concrete underpinning to promoting security and
co-operation in the wider region. The GPKT Project began in the field in Spring 2003, with
the second phase of the Project starting in December 2005 and
running until May 2008, supported by the EWI offices in
Gjilan/Gnjilane (Kosovo), Skopje ( Macedonia) and Vranje
(Serbia).
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 Inclusion of the southern Serbia
municipality of Trgoviste as a fully integrated partner in the project,
following the March 2004 violence in Kosovo and the Gjilan/Gnjilane,
Presevo and Kumanovo mayors’ decision to invite a predominantly ethnic
Serbian municipality to join the micro-region, sending a positive
message for peace and inter-ethnic dialogue;
Establishment and consolidation
of four cross-border multiethnic community working groups in the areas
of youth, education, media and women’s rights;
Planning and undertaking
concrete cross-border and multi-ethnic activities with working group
members, ranging from joint school competitions, to youth concerts and
publications, to multi-lingual televised debates;
Improvement of the capacities of
civil society and municipal representatives through training in the
fields of project cycle management, advocacy, computer literacy,
journalism, HIV/AIDS awareness, first aid and team-building;
Increase in cross-border
exchange and enhancement of the capacities of local civil society
organizations to apply for and implement cross-border projects through
the GPKT Micro-project Launch Facility (MPLF) programme, in the
framework of which 11 projects were funded in two rounds;
Research and publication of four
policy briefs on key issues in the micro-region - border management,
gender mechanisms in local government, conflict and development
dynamics, and youth policy;
Implementation of a 6-month
consultation process on economic development and cross-border planning,
and launch of the GPKT Integrated Development Policy Plan for the
micro-region in July 2005 (undertaken by the Berlin-based consultancy
firm inSAR);
High-level advocacy and policy
work, including the September 2004 Kumanovo Conference, the February
2005 Brussels Policy Roundtable and the July 2005 Conference
Transfrontier Co-operation between Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia –
the Gjilan/Gnjilane-Presevo-Kumanovo-Trgoviste (GPKT) Initiative:
Achievements, Challenges and Next Steps.
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