Trauma & Reconciliation
Licensing of Psychosocial Counsellors in Kosovo Enabled by One to One Children’s Fund
In late 1999, immediately after the war, One to One Children’s Fund set
up two counselling centres in the Prizren and Peja regions, where some
of the worst atrocities took place. One to One employed and trained 14
local people to work as trauma counsellors. As there were no local professionally
trained counsellors, they were selected on the basis of their life experiences,
high levels of empathy and first-hand knowledge of many of the issues affecting
potential clients.
In 2005, while many other NGOs were pulling out of the region, we took
the decision to solidify our efforts by initiating an 18-month accredited
counselling course, followed by a second course in 2008-2009 for government
social workers working in the 10 municipalities of the country to develop
their skills and strengthen the capacity of social services. These courses
were delivered by Jasenka Pregrad and Lidija Arambasic, two highly skilled
trainers from the Zagreb based Society for Psychological Assistance.
With all our work in Kosovo and specifically with the training of psychosocial
counsellors, we partnered with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare,
the Ministry of Health and the University of Pristina. However, because
of the General Health Law, those who graduated from the One to One training
courses could not receive a license to practice as Psychosocial Counsellors.
The profession had never existed in Kosovo.
We have been advocating and petitioning for the licensing of Psychosocial
Counsellors for the past two years and were delighted to hear that the
long awaited Administrative Instruction from the Ministry of Health was
adopted. Psychosocial counsellors can now apply for a license, providing
that they graduated from an accredited course and worked in the One to
One Counselling Centres or within Social Services for at least one year.
This not only means that counsellors can practice and that their qualification
is validated by the Ministry of Health, but also that the profession of
psychosocial counsellor is now a fully recognised profession in Kosovo.
We at One to One Children’s Fund are very proud of this achievement, as
evidence of our mission to deliver sustainable projects. As a result, our
psychosocial services and training in Kosovo will have a lasting impact
on existing and future counsellors and their clients.
This also a great opportunity to thank our donors and supporters, who believed
in the vision and work of the Charity in the aftermath of the war in Kosovo,
including ARK and the Medicor Foundation, who trusted us with substantial
funds to provide professional services to victims of conflict and hardship.
The work of One to One Children’s Fund in Kosovo was also recognised by the European Commission, when we received a 2-year grant to provide social and educational services to children with special needs – click here for more information.
Impact Assessment of Kosovo counselling work, 2006/2007
Evaluation of One to One Kosovo Project 2009
Final Report on Counselling Centres and Training Programmes February 2010
Background on One to One CF Trauma Healing Programmes in Kosovo
Lessons from South Africa that help change lives in Kosovo