On July 24^th, Ambassador Greg Delawie and USAID Mission Director Jim Hope visited USAID projects and met with local officials in the Vushtrri/Vucitrn municipality.  The Ambassador began the day with of tour of the Binni Furniture Company’s impressive factory and showroom floors.  Binni got its start as a small family company with an EMPOWER private sector grant, and has now grown to approximately 120 permanent employees with a market reach well into the European Union.  The Ambassador also visited the Fatlumi metal processing plant, an Advancing Kosovo Together-Local Solutions (AKT-LS) business grantee.  Fatlumi stands out as an exemplar of an inter-ethnic workplace, with nearly a third of its 16 employees coming from the Kosovo Serb and Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) communities. 

Finally, Ambassador Delawie met with the Acting Court President and officials from the Basic Court of Mitrovica (BCM), which is actually located in Vushtrri/Vucitrn.  The discussion touched on a number of the unique challenges the Court faces, including coping with parallel institutions in the North despite BCM’s jurisdiction there; the non-implementation of the Justice Sector Agreement which hampers the BCM’s daily work and prevents even the appointment of a permanent Court President; and the physical space itself, which is not adequate for the number of judges and court staff that it houses.  To mitigate some of these challenges, USAID’s Justice System Strengthening Program is working with the BCM on backlog reduction, case-flow management, publication of decisions, and integration of the North.  In addition, the Contract Law Enforcement Project is providing assistance on the enforcement of judgments.