South Eastern Europe | Kosovo

Helping people in Kosovo | ASB Foreign Aid

The Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) has been active in the social sector in Kosovo since 1998. It supports the reconstruction of housing and the restoration of social and public infrastructure. The ASB was one of the first aid organisations to return to Kosovo after the cessation of hostilities and began emergency aid for the inhabitants directly. Over the past five years, the ASB has focused much of its activities in Kosovo on strengthening vulnerable and rural households socio-economically.

Projects in Kosovo | Overview

These are the ASB Foreign Aid projects in Kosovo:

Assistance to disadvantaged families, minorities and internally displaced persons

Support for start-ups in agriculture and food processing

Helping to fight COVID-19

Emergency relief after earthquakes

Projects in Kosovo | Details

Assistance to disadvantaged families, minorities and internally displaced persons

The ASB supports disadvantaged families in Kosovo and pays them subsidies for material assets and training. It also helps to draw up business plans for family businesses. It provides operating equipment for institutions and non-governmental organisations in the partner municipalities and trains officials on the implementation of projects. The ASB is also active in the rebuilding homes and providing urgently needed winter assistance to Roma, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptian communities and internally displaced persons. To protect them from the cold, the ASB supplies firewood for heating and cooking as well as sofa beds. The ASB is supported by the Federal Foreign Office through the financing of annual projects.

Project title: Stabilising and preventing conflict through socio-economic support for disadvantaged families (several phases with Stability Pact funding)
Project region: Kosovo
Project volume: currently € 2,940,500
Financing: Federal Foreign Office
Run time: since 2006

Find out more about the current project here.

Support in the founding and development of small enterprises and micro-enterprises

The ASB supports entrepreneurs in Kosovo, micro-enterprises, associations as well as local municipalities and business development institutions with start-ups in the area of agriculture and food processing. In addition, the ASB specifically promotes cooperation between companies and cooperation partners, provides training for representatives of agricultural associations and promotes projects for community development. For instance, among other things, the ASB fitted out a children’s playground in Gračanica, redeveloped a city park in Malisheva and renovated a kindergarten in Kamenica. The projects are implemented in Kosovo together with the local partner organisations Preda Plus and WEntrepreneur.

Project title: Socio-economic stabilisation of ethnic minority and majority communities in Kosovo – Socio-project (Phase 1 and 2)
Project region: Kosovo
Project volume: € 2,640,000
Financing: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Duration: 2017 – 2022

The ASB supports the fight against COVID-19

The ASB supports the fight against COVID-19 in the Western Balkans. ASB funds have already enabled the delivery of 44,509 medical supply units (gloves, masks and bottles of disinfectant liquid) to three municipalities to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Municipalities in Kosovo, HandiKos centres and local health centres in Kosovo are among the main beneficiaries.

Project title: Response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Western Balkans (various projects)
Project region: Kosovo
Project volume: € 82,000
Financing: Federal Foreign Office, Aktion Deutschland-Hilft (ADH), ASB
Duration: 2020 - 2022

The ASB provides emergency relief after earthquakes

After the earthquake in Albania, the ASB distributed food and hygiene packages, provided psychological support to those affected and organised workshops for children affected by the earthquake. The project was implemented in cooperation with the initiative for social change ARSIS from Tirana.

Project title: Emergency assistance in the event of earthquakes in Albania
Project region: Kosovo and Albania
Project volume: € 28,000
Financing: Aktion Deutschland Hilft (ADH)
Duration: 2020 – 2021

You can help by donating to ASB Foreign Aid

As a member of the German Donation Council (Deutscher Spendenrat), the ASB has undertaken to comply with the core values: transparency, safety, credibility, ethical standards and accountability.

What your donation can do

100 euros

100 euros can pay for regular maintenance work on the milking machine and concentrated animal feed for six months. The animal feed contains additional minerals and proteins which ensure a balanced nutrient supply for the animals.