Kurti: Property registration in the names of both spouses has increased 300-fold

The PIAKOS project has concluded its activities with an event titled “From rights to action,” where the results achieved in the field of property registration were presented.

Also attending the event was Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, who highlighted the project’s impact on improving the legal security, well-being and dignity of families through proper property documentation.

Kurti said that the registration of properties in the names of both spouses has increased 300-fold in less than a decade. According to him, in 2016, around 100 properties across Kosovo were registered in the names of both spouses, whereas today that figure has reached approximately 31,000.

He stressed that the government’s cooperation with the Advocacy and Training Resource Center, ATRC, through the PIAKOS program, was not limited to providing information, but extended directly to citizens in 16 municipalities of Kosovo. Kurti highlighted the contribution of activists and said that the main beneficiaries were women, who received support in organizing property documents, inheritance procedures with notaries and geodetic services.

ATRC Executive Director Kushtrim Kaloshi said that the right to property should not be viewed solely as a matter of documents, parcels or administrative procedures. According to him, it is directly linked to family security, the economic independence of families and women, opportunities for young people, as well as the dignity and equality of citizens.

Kaloshi said that women, non-majority communities and vulnerable groups continue to face difficulties in exercising their property rights, particularly due to a lack of information. For this reason, he emphasized that ATRC has conducted information and awareness campaigns.

Odeta Noks, manager of the PAKOS project at ATRC, said that more than 7,000 families in Kosovo had been supported during the project’s three-year implementation. She added that more than 600 officials had been trained on property rights issues as part of the project.

Noks said the project had a budget of $3.2 million, which was distributed to civil society organizations and various businesses in Kosovo that participated in its implementation. She said that representatives of Kosovo’s associations of blind and deaf-mute people were also among the beneficiaries.

According to her, a gender quota was guaranteed for 50% of the beneficiary families, while more than 50% of them were women. The project also organized 1,800 information activities.

The closing event also featured a screening of the documentary “Make it yours. Register the property,” which presented the project’s functions, activities, beneficiaries and results.