UNICEF Kosovo signs partnerships with six municipalities to accelerate progress for every child

Prishtina, 23rd of September 2026 – UNICEF Kosovo has signed Memorandum of Understanding with six municipalities: Prishtina, Fushe Kosovo, Graçanica, Obiliq, Prizren and South Mitrovica, establishing a shared commitment to improve the lives of children, adolescents and young people.

These partnerships mark an important step in advancing the UNICEF Kosovo Programme 2026-2030, translating joint commitments into local action. By working closely with municipalities, UNICEF aims to help ensure that children, particularly the most vulnerable, benefit from quality and inclusive social services. Municipalities are at the forefront of delivering results for children. Many of the services that directly shape a child’s life are planned, financed and delivered at local level. Closest to children, families and communities, municipalites are uniquely positioned to turn policies into action, and ensure that every child, especially the most vulnerable, can benefit from quality social services across health, education, child and social protection.

“For children, the quality of local services can determine whether a policy becomes a real opportunity in their lives. Through these partnerships, we want to work side by side with municipalities, using data better, investing more effectively in children and strengthening the services that children and families rely on every day,” said Veronika Vashchenko, Head of UNICEF Kosovo.

Through these partnerships, UNICEF and the municipalities will work together to strengthen child-responsive planning and budgeting, improve the use of data and evidence, enhance coordination across sectors and increase investments in children. The partnerships will also promote the meaningful participation of children, adolescents and young people in local decision-making.

Cooperation will further strengthen equitable access to quality services across key areas of child well-being, including primary health care and immunization, early childhood education, quality education and skills development, youth engagement and employment pathways, as well as coordinated child protection and social services, including prevention and response to violence against children.