Kosovo Women‘s Network (KWN) on April 3 organized in Prishtina a one-day interactive workshop to support the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) partners to better reflect a gender perspective in their programming, particularly including tailored guidance in adjusting indicators in line with the Gender Action plan (GAP II) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) relating to gender equality.
The workshop that gathered 37 participants, started with a review of the main concepts related to gender equality. Prior to the workshop, and funded through KWN’s existing ADA-funded Action, KWN reviewed partners’ current Actions, their reports, and the comments made by the ADA Gender Expert in order to inform the preparation of the workshop.
Gunther Zimmer, Counsellor and Country Director of the Coordination Office for Technical Cooperation, Austrian Embassy Pristina and Selma Cekic-Dincsoy, Gender Focal Point of the European Union Office in Kosovo made their opening remarks.
“I have to thank KWN on organizing a very much needed workshop with very useful information for the organizations present”, said Zimmer.
Nicole Farnsworth, Program Director and Lead Researcher of KWN, elaborated the concepts and gender roles, the way they are perceived by the majority of Kosovar society and their sociological and biological aspects.
David Svab, Programme and Project M&E Specialist from United Nation Development Program (UNDP), presented the “Leave no one behind” approach. He presented the concrete measures proposed by UNDP for governments and other state actors of the United Nations Member states on implementing Sustainable Development Goals. Whereas, Martin Schaller, Atashé of Austrian Embassy in Prishtina, shared briefly the reflections from the Austrian experience in reporting on the EU Gender Action Plan II.
Furthermore, Farnsworth continued with the background, indicators and objectives of the EU Gender Action Plan II. On the second part of the workshop, she explained concrete ways through which participating NGOs can conduct gender analysis prior to incorporating indicators from GAP II in their programmes. The workshop proceeded with participants discussing in working groups. They analysed their logical frameworks and identified potential gaps where GAP II indicators or SDGs can be incorporated.
Zimmer and Arsim Aziri, Head of Administration, ADA, praised KWN’s long term work in increasing social and institutional awareness on gender equality, and in accomplishing their objectives on empowering women in Kosovo.
Concluding the workshop, participants expressed deep gratitude on the knowledge they had obtained. They have stated that as ADA partners they are now more capable to use the reviewed documents, and furthermore they have improved their skills in developing better programs in the future.
The EU Gender Action Plan II (GAP II) is a continuance of objectives undertaken by states to ensure gender equality and women’s empowerment. This document was adapted on Sep. 21, 2015 by the European Commission and European External Action Service. The new Action Plan obliges all EU actors to report systematically on objectives pertaining to “institutional cultural shift”.
This workshop was implemented by KWN and supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).
