Clearing the way for Kosovo's future

In 1999, when Kosovo’s refugees began returning home, they found a country devastated by war. More than 800,000 people had been displaced, and the landscape was scarred by landmines and unexploded cluster munitions.

For families returning home, the war may have ended, but the danger remained.

Today, Kosovo is a very different country.

After 27 years of work, HALO is celebrating the conclusion of its humanitarian mine clearance in Kosovo. The program’s operational work will come to an end in September 2026, with responsibility for any residual hazards handed back to Kosovo’s national mine action authorities.

This is a milestone made possible by thousands of Kosovars who worked with HALO over three decades, and by donors whose support helped make their work possible.

The impact of clearance can be seen far beyond the land that was made safe.

Kosovo’s economy has grown to more than $14 billion, while life expectancy has risen from 58 years during the war to nearly 78 today. Communities have rebuilt homes, businesses and infrastructure. Farmers have been able to safely use their land, rebuild irrigation systems and strengthen food production.

Safe ground also gave families and businesses the confidence to invest in Kosovo’s future.

Pristina Airport, now welcoming almost five million passengers each year, could only be redeveloped after a nearby minefield was cleared. Hundreds of cluster bombs had to be removed before the E851 motorway could be built through areas such as Arllat.

Around Peja, mountain trails were cleared, helping open the way for a growing tourism economy that now welcomes around 150,000 visitors each year.

As Atholl Stewart, HALO Kosovo’s recent program manager, put it: “Mine clearance was not the outcome of Kosovo’s recovery. It was one of the prerequisites that made recovery possible.”

For people living alongside explosive hazards, the impact was deeply personal.

In Moronice, Xhem Gjocaj could see cluster munitions near land he used to graze his cows and gather grapes, chestnuts, and mushrooms. Parts of his property were simply too dangerous to enter.

In September 2025, HALO completed the release of more than 35 acres, of his land (around 27 football fields) after finding 36 cluster munitions.

Today, Xhem can use his property without fear. He grazes his cows on the cleared land and plans to cultivate crops for them.

In Arllat, 77-year-old Shaha Bujupi and her family have spent years rebuilding their lives after the war destroyed their home and forced them to flee.

Before the conflict, Shaha’s family raised livestock, grew vegetables, and produced honey from their beehives. After returning home, they began rebuilding their lives and working their land again, with honey eventually becoming their main source of income. In 2023, the family sold nearly 450 pounds of honey.

But they soon discovered that danger lingered beneath the soil.

HALO teams carefully cleared the land, discovering a large submunition buried in the family's garden. By September 2024, clearance in Arllat was completed, allowing Shaha's family and others to work without fear and look toward the future.

With your support, Shaha and her family have been given the chance not only to rebuild, but to imagine a future that grows from the land they love.

The transformation of Kosovo reflects many factors: peace, political stabilization, investment, and the determination of its people.

But those things needed safe ground on which to take root.

This is the legacy of HALO’s work in Kosovo: land that was once dangerous can now support homes, farms, families, roads, and businesses.

The job is done. Now it stays done.

After 27 years, HALO is closing its Kosovo program.

And the safe ground created by HALO teams, alongside the generosity of donors and partners, will continue to support Kosovo’s future for generations to come.