A coalition of women’s rights groups in the Western Balkan (WB) welcomes diverse civil society organisations (CSOs) in the region to submit proposals for initiatives that will further women’s labour rights and address gender-based discrimination. An estimated €200,000 is expected to be granted to 14 CSOs for their initiatives to be undertaken between 2020 and 2021.
Throughout the WB, women’s participation in the labour force remains low. Recently released evidence suggests that labour-related gender-based discrimination is widespread and represents a key barrier that undermines women’s participation in the labour force.
To address this, a coalition of women’s rights organisations has initiated a 46-month Action to ‘Empower CSOs in Combatting Discrimination and Furthering Women’s Labour Rights’ in the WB, funded by the European Union and co-funded by Swedish International Development Agency. The Action aims to empower and support diverse CSOs in holding relevant institutions accountable for implementing anti-discrimination legislation related to women’s labour rights.
The partners acknowledge the need to build a broad, diverse coalition to address the several challenges identified and forms of gender-based discrimination detailed in their recent research. Therefore, they are launching a call for proposals that will provide financial support, enabling other CSOs to engage in implementing research recommendations. The grants to be provided will support CSOs’ important work, including:
- Legal aid and court monitoring of gender-based discrimination cases
- Advocacy for legal/policy changes and/or improved institutional response, as per research recommendations
- Awareness-raising and empowering diverse women to report discrimination
Grants will be coupled with tailored support to CSOs and networking opportunities. Interested CSOs are invited to attend an information session at 13:00-15:00 on 17th Oct 2019 at Hotel Sirius – Prishtina
The partners engaged in implementing this action are: Kosovo Women’s Network, Reactor – Research in Action from North Macedonia, Gender Alliance for Development Centre from Albania, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Banja Luka from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Women’s Rights Centre from Montenegro, and the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation from Sweden through its office in Serbia.
The Application deadline: 9 November 2019
For further information please see the Call for Applications, or contact: grants@womensnetwork.org
