Category Archives: Information

Information

PRIVACY POLICY

Our Privacy Policy is to protect and secure the personal information you provide to our ministry online
Balkans Partners Inc. is committed to maintaining your trust and confidence. The following Privacy Policy is to protect and secure the personal information you provide to our ministry online.

AWARENESS
Balkans Partners Inc. provides this Privacy Policy to make sure you are aware of our security practices and to inform you of the way your information is collected and used. We also provide you with the opportunity to remove your name from our mailing list, if you desire to do so.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT
There are two different ways in which we collect information from visitors on our Web site:
1. From people interested in requesting information or materials from our organization.
2. From our online donations.
The online information that we collect includes: name, address, city, state, zip code, telephone number, e-mail address, and in the case of online giving: credit card number and expiration date. In order to continuously improve your service and tailor our subsequent communications to you, we may also ask you to provide us with additional information regarding your demographics, comments, professional interests, and contact preferences.

HOW THE INFORMATION IS USED
Balkans Partners Inc. uses your information to understand your needs and also provide you with better service. We may use your information to complete a transaction, issue you a tax income receipt for a donation, or to personalize our Web site for you. If you so desire, we may also use this information to update you on ministry projects and activities. Credit card numbers are used only for donation or payment processing and are not retained for any other purposes. We also provide you the opportunity to remove your name from our mailing list, if you desire to do so. Please review the corresponding section of this Privacy Policy below.

NO SHARING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Balkans Partners Inc. never sells, rents, leases, or exchanges your personal information with other organizations. The identity of all who BECOME A PARTNER through this Web site will be kept confidential. Use of personal information, will be limited to the internal purposes of Balkans Partners Inc. and only to further our ministry activities and purposes.

SECURITY
Balkans Partners Inc.is committed to ensuring the security of your personal information. To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the proper use of information, we have established and implemented appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. Balkans Partners Inc. uses Internet Encryption Software, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Protocol when collecting or transferring sensitive data such as credit card information. Any information you enter is encrypted at your browser, sent over the public Internet in encrypted form, then de-encrypted at our server.

REMOVING YOUR NAME FROM OUR MAILING LIST
Our Web site gives you the opportunity to remove your name from our mailing list so that you do not receive any future communications from our ministry. If you desire to remove your name, use our BECOME A PARTNER form.
If you determine that information in our database is inaccurate or it has changed, you may modify the previous provided information by using our BECOME A PARTNER form.

CONTACTING US
If you have comments or questions about our privacy policy, please use our BECOME A PARTNER form.

Information

Country Profile: Kosovo


Kosovo_State_Flag-1Population: 1.8 million

Capital: Prishtina

Languages: Albanian, Serbian 

Religion: Muslim, Serbian Orthodox, Roman Catholic & other Christian groups

Climate: Very cold and snowy winters and very hot and humid summers.

Time Zone: GMT +1

Currency: Euro

Map of Balkan countries

kosoregion

The central part of Kosovo is a basin surrounded by beautiful mountains. It is located in what was the south-east of the state union of Serbia.  The ethnic cleansing of Kosovo by the Serbs in 1999 resulted in over one million refugees – almost half the population – becoming internally displaced persons, leaving over 300,000 people homeless and an estimated 10,000 dead. Since that time, the Kosovars,  UNMIK,  NATO and the international community have endeavored to rebuild the country, restore its economy, and establish democracy and self-government.  Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17th,  2008.

Where is Kosovo?

The Albanian population in Kosovo shares the ethnic background of the population of neighboring Albania. They speak the Albanian language and are largely Muslim. The horror of the conflict in Kosovo has long since disappeared from television screens, but many widows and their children are still living in appalling conditions, as they have lost their men folk and cannot afford to repair their homes. Around 11% of houses still have considerable damage and about 40% of houses in rural areas are still without mains water or flush toilets. The unemployment rate is approximately 60% with two thirds of job-seekers being unqualified. One third of the population is under 14 years old. Illiteracy rates among women are high, especially in rural areas. 60% of household income is spent on food. Primary healthcare has not been given priority and is beyond the means of the poor people and there is little provision for the many disabled people in Kosovo. An indirect effect of the war has been high levels of pollution which, together with stress, has led to an increase in rates of cancer. Also dental health among children is particularly poor.