January 21, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has apologized to the Kosova Women’s Network, after UNDP officials censored the speech of the group’s leader at a conference in December.

At a UN conference on women and governance in Istanbul, officials from the agency prevented KWN Executive Director Igballe Rogova from publicly criticizing a controversial UN plan to grant Serbia control of Serb enclaves in Kosovo.

On January 16, Mr Frode Mauring, head of the UNDP in Kosovo, requested a meeting with Ms Rogova to personally deliver a letter of apology from UNDP headquarters.

KWN had cut off cooperation with UNDP because of the incident, but is now resuming its relationship with the agency. The Advocacy Project, which partners with KWN, had helped to publicize the issue.