River Basin-Level Dialogue to National-Level Engagement: shaping Kosovo’s River Basin Management Plans

Water governance becomes stronger when planning is shaped through dialogue, transparency and meaningful stakeholder participation.

The development of Kosovo’s River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) is advancing through a more inclusive and participatory process, bringing together perspectives from the river basins and the national level stakeholders.

A key part of this process is the National Multi-Stakeholder Participation Mechanism (MSPM), which brings together MESP, the River Basin District Authority (RBDA), central institutions, river basin-level MSPMs, NGOs and other relevant stakeholders.

Through this process, stakeholders are contributing to:

• Better-informed RBMPs, bringing perspectives from river basin consultations into the national planning process.

• Identifying significant water management issues, contributing to the consultation on the Report on Significant Water Management Issues (SWMI) and the pressures affecting water resources.

• Greater policy coherence, reviewing the Report on Policies, Strategies and Plans (PSPs) and contributing to the harmonisation of relevant policies, with the RBMPs.

• Stronger ownership of the RBMPs, ensuring that the institutions responsible for water management, particularly MESP through RBDA, lead and own the planning process, while stakeholders contribute their knowledge, experience and perspectives.

• More inclusive and transparent planning, creating structured opportunities for stakeholders to discuss priorities, provide input and validate key elements of the process.

This marks important progress towards an RBMP process that is institutionally owned, participatory and grounded in dialogue.

Bringing Together River Basin and National Perspectives, MMPH and through RBDA, with support from the IWRM-K Program., are driving the process, with stakeholders helping shape the plans and strengthen ownership of their implementation.