UNITED NATIONS, March 7 (UPI) -- The U.N. mission in Kosovo launched an outreach program on integrating minorities and good government into the Albanian-majority province of Serbia.
The effort was revealed in a statement Wednesday from U.N. Interim Mission in Kosovo in the province's capital of Pristina.
The latest UNMIK effort includes town hall and youth meetings, public gatherings and round table discussions.
The meetings come as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari continues discussions with Serbia and the Albanian-led government on a plan he presented earlier this year, which would give Kosovo the right to govern itself.
The proposal also would allow the Serbian province to conclude international agreements, including membership in international bodies, under international civilian and military supervision to help to ensure peace and stability.
While the Ahtisaari plan does not specifically mention independence, which Serbia rejects but which many ethnic Albanians seek, Ahtisaari reported last week the sides remain "diametrically opposed" to his proposals.
He plans to present a revised version to the U.N. Security Council by the end of the month following further talks.
The United Nations has run the province since NATO forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting..
