Today, on the 20^th of January, the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) held an Orientation Session on which occasion it allocated 19 grants to 20 beneficiary organizations in Kosovo within the Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF), amounting to a total of € 59,266.00. More specifically, the grants that were allocated in this round were supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), through the KWN initiative “Advancing Women’s Rights Initiative” co-funded by UN Women in the amount of € 48,410, and through the KWN initiative “Empowering Youth for a Peaceful, Prosperous and Successful Future in Kosovo” supported by UN Women in the amount of € 10,866.

These initiatives will directly contribute to the implementation of the current KWN Strategy for 2019-2022, which was drafted together with KWN members.

KWF Grants beneficiaries are:

Individual Advocacy Grant for an Organization:

• EcoKosWomen – EKW with the initiative: “Advocacy for easier access of women to grants in the municipality of Prishtina” (€ 3,649.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Organization of People with Disabilities, Handikos Prishtina with the initiative: “Integration of women and girls with disabilities in society” (€ 2,470.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Women Association Aureola with the initiative: “Advancing inheritance law” (€ 2,300.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Association of Retired Women “Vita-Jeta” with the initiative: “Diabetes in the Elderly” (€ 2,030.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Association of Women Beekeepers “Okarina e Runikut” with the initiative: ”Promoting the Employment for the Beneficiaries of Social Assistance Scheme in the Drenica Region” (€ 3,110.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Blind Women’s Committee of Kosovo with the initiative: “Respecting the rights of blind and visually impaired women guaranteed by law” (€ 2,832.50, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Kosovo Midwives Association with the initiative: “Promoting maternal and child health through strengthening the role of midwifery” (€ 3,857.50, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Psychotherapists in Action with the initiative: “Health and treatment of silent diseases in third age women” (€ 3,242.50, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Center for Protection of Women and Children with the initiative: “Empowering the women victims of gender-based violence through reintegration programs” (€ 3,355.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Association of Women with the initiative “Empowerment of Women in the Labour Market” (€ 3,105.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Independent Initiative of Blind People: “I want to lead a dignified life” (€ 2,955.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Center for Protection of Women and Children Raba Voca with the initiative: “Break the Silence” (€ 3,351.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired with the initiative: “Supporting the Blind and Visually Impaired for leading an independent life” (€ 2,982.50, supported by ADA and UNW)
• Women Farmers’ Association ‘Krusha e Vogel” with the initiative: “Women’s Health Education in Rural Areas” (€ 3,195.00, supported by ADA and UNW)
• NGO Drugëza with the initiative: “Advancing women’s rights to property and their economic empowerment” (€ 2,136.00, supported by UNW)
• NGO Gruaja Hyjnore with the initiative: “Raising the awareness of girls and women about reproductive health” (€ 2,995.00, supported by UNW)
• Youth Center Lipjan with the initiative: “Supporting girls and women for active participation in the economy” (€ 2,940.00, supported by UNW)
• Handikos Mitrovica- Association of People with Disabilities with the initiative: “Improving employment skills among the youth, girls and women with disabilities” (€ 2,785.00, supported by UNW)

Advocacy Grants in Partnership for Change:

• Medica Kosova & Djepi i Buzëqeshjes with the initiative: “Mobilizing women assembly members to address the needs of women traumatized by war” (€ 6,295.00, supported by ADA and UNW).

Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF) of the KWN provides small grants to women’s organizations that do not have access to other sources of funding and who seek to work for women’s rights, especially for groups working in rural areas and/or marginalized persons. Since 2012, KWF has allocated 193 grants, thus supporting 119 organizations, by a total amount of € 1,011,288. In 2020, the Kosovo Women’s Fund is supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the European Union and UN Women.