Steering Committee of the Twinning Project held its regular meeting
Vushtrri 16 March 2018 – At the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS), today was held the Steering Committee meeting for the Twinning Project, which aims to further support education in the field of public safety. During the meeting, international experts presented the work that has been done during the last three months of the project.
At this meeting, besides the General Director of the Academy, Ismail Smakiqi, present were also Rafael Nievergelt, representative of the European Union Office in Kosovo, Ake Roghe, Director of Department of Justice and Security in OSCE, Nderim Gërguri, Head of Division for European Integration in the Ministry of Interior Affairs, Krista Haak, Head of Twinning Project , expert Ritva Vahakoski, Shpresa Muharremi from OSCE, Taibe Canolli, Director of Human Resources Department in Kosovo Police , Adem Shala from Kosovo Probation Service, Bujar Mustafa from Police Inspectorate of Kosovo, Nebih Halili from the Kosovo Correctional Service and Bekim Sadiku from Emergency Management Agency.
General Director of Academy Ismail Smakiqi thanked all the associates for their contribution to the implementation of the twinning project. Welcoming the attendees General Director of Kosovo Academy for Public Safety Ismail Smakqi informed the participants about two important processes that KAPS is going through as accreditation of the Academy by the National Qualifications Authority for institutional accreditation and program validation as well as from accreditation by the International Association of Standards and Law Enforcement Training Standards (IADLEST), from United States of America, in order to gain international accreditation.
Director Smakiqi also talked about the tireless work with the Twinning Project Agencies and Experts in the preparation of professional programs which were also approved at the last meeting of the Academy Board.
Speaking about about the process of accreditation, Smakiqi stated that taking into account the need and legal obligations of institutional accreditation of Academy and validation of vocational programs and taking into account the benefits that will bring KAPS and agencies, international accreditation from (IADLEST) would add the reputation to the Academy as a training and education institution for law enforcement.
In the end Director Smakiqi requested from the participants the support and participation of all members of the working groups in the creation of professional programs and other activities during the Twinning Project in the validation process of these programs on the occasion of the visit of the Fact-Finding Expert Team of NQA and IADLEST.
While, Krista Haak, project leader from the member states, said that during this phase so far have been realized all the points that were foreseen in the plan.
Haak evaluated that thanks to the good cooperation with Academy officials and other experts at this stage, good results have been achieved in the realization of the project.
Krista said that in the second component of the project the main focus has been on developing the structure and manual of the Internship, a process that started last year at a seminar started by the KAPS and funded by OSCE. Haak said that during this year there will be trainings for coordinators' internships as well as study visits in Finland and Estonia for the agency's and Academy's Internship Coordinators as well as further developments in the e-learning area including trainings to support the teaching process.
"What makes me happy is the continuity of the activity regarding the accreditation and implementation of the vocational training curriculum. As I have read from the report of the General Director that the accreditation processes are in the final phase and we hope to have the final decision during April, "said Haak.
Whereas, the Director of the Department of Public Order and Public Safety at the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Karl Ake Roghe said the Academy is a good example of the work done. Roghe during the meeting stressed the importance of establishing a master's degree in the framework of the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety.
"We are also looking at the project of EU Office in Kosovo for Police Reform, where KAPS will be interconnected in this project in the field of trainings, respectively in capacity building in the future in Kosovo," said Roghe. Roghe also noted the importance of international co-operation for KAPS, especially within the South-East European region, which he considered important.
Even Rafael Nievergelt, a manager from the European Union Office in Kosovo, by providing support said that the Academy is a good example for all other institutions. "It has been easy for the EU Office in Kosovo to co-operate with this Twinning Project," said Nievergelt
Nievergelt informed the participants about the Kosovo Police project, which will begin in late October, where, as he said, the Academy will be involved in that project in order to have solid police reform, where all the involved institutions will cooperate.
While Nderim Gërguri, Head of Division for European Integration at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was pleased with the work at the Academy and the realization of the Twinning Project.
The Director of Human Resources Department at Kosovo Police Taibe Canolli congratulated the Academy on the progress achieved so far. "I am pleased that the Academy is close to international accreditation by IADLES and that is very important for the Academy," stated Canolli, declaring also that the Kosovo Police has been part of the twinning project process and is ready to continue co-operation.
Presentation of the three-month twinning project report was done by Ritva Vahakoski, resident twinning advisor.
Vahakoski spoke of each component separately, for the second component, which has to do with the upgrading and further advancement of the bachelor program in KAPS and the component three, which has to do with the full functioning of the Institute for Research and Development at the Academy.