Poverty & Unemployment

Kosovo is a young country that is struggling to emerge from the travesties and the atrocities that occurred during the war.  How does a young country, not recognized by many emerge from poverty and become a thriving nation with a healthy economy?

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 and it has been an uphill battle that is still being fought today.

http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/articles/2009/05/18/reportage-01

 

The above article tells a compelling story about this situation.  Although these figures are more than three years old, the data is still relevant as the situation has not vastly improved today. The article says that 40,000 out of a total of 2,000,000 (at the time the article was written) have no income and are receiving some sort of government assistance.  This is a staggering figure.  The article says that the amount of aid given is not nearly enough to have a normal way of life.  What is normal for people in a situation as dire as this?  I would think that these people are grateful to have a roof over their head, heat, and food on the table.  We are very lucky, even are most needy people live in better circumstances than some of the people of Kosovo do.

 

One thing that I have witnessed is that the people of Kosovo are more likely to reach out and help one another.  Last winter, they have more snow than they had ever seen.  The snow fell faster than it could be cleared away.  Yet, once the snow did stop, everyone came out and it was a joint effort to get the neighborhood shoveled out so they could resume their day to day comings and goings.  People did not charge their neighbors; they just extended a helping hand (or shovel).

 

This is a direct quote from the article to which I have included the link to at the beginning of this blog entry,

 

“According to reports from the UNDP and other international organizations, about 37% of the population lives in poverty -- below the line of 1.42 euros a day -- and over 17% lives in extreme poverty -- below the line of 93 euro cents a day.”

 

I can’t even begin to imagine.  Unemployment in this country is a real problem.  In 2011 the unemployment rate was estimated to be 45.3%.  This is almost half of the workforce.   Young people are finishing their education but are entering a job market that has nothing to offer them.