The Kosovo Foundation for Civil Society (KCSF) awarded the 2021 Democracy Award to the activist, writer and literature researcher, Ervina Halili, for her strong commitment to preserving and collecting the scattered archive of the former social enterprise "Rilindja".

For several years in a row, completely voluntarily, Ervina Halili has continued the efforts for the revival of "Rilindja".

It has collected materials that document an important part of the intellectual resistance in Kosovo, has served as a mediator between the institutions for the preservation of the archive, has stopped the disposal of many materials and aims to create a dignified space for the exhibition and preservation of the archive of newspaper and the first publishing house in Kosovo "Rilindjes".

During the award ceremony, Taulant Hoxha, executive director of KCSF, emphasized that Ervina worked to preserve the intellectual and collective memory of the social enterprise "Rilindja".

"Forgetfulness is dangerous, especially when it comes to collective identity, because it destroys the foundation on which we are built, whether that foundation is good or bad, and especially it clouds our future in which direction we want to go as a society .

This initiative of Ervina helps to clear the foundations of our society and to show that not everything started in 1999 or 2008, but has much deeper roots", added Hoxha.

The award ceremony was broadcast on KCSF's social networks and on Kohavision television, along with a short documentary produced by KCSF, which shows Ervina Halil's journey towards the realization of this cause.

This now traditional award aims to appreciate the contributions of individuals, unregistered initiatives and non-governmental organizations in various fields, which are the result of community mobilization and citizen engagement, intellectual courage or outstanding achievements, and which have contributed in the democratization of Kosovar society through their work and dedication.

The Democracy Award is part of the EJA Kosovo program, a KCSF program for supporting civil society that is co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Sweden and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

For more details about Ervina's initiative, watch the mini-documentary here.