Dear Chair of the Kosovo Prosecution Council Ardian Hajdaraj:

Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) seeks to ensure that funds are budgeted and spent towards addressing the potentially differing needs of diverse women, men, boys, and girls, as identified through gender analysis. According to Kosovo Law No. 05/L-020 on Gender Equality, GRB is mandatory for all public institutions. The non-implementation of GRB, as stipulated by this Law, constitutes a legal offense and is subject to sanctions. Further, the Government has an interest in implementing GRB in the context of its commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), precisely SDG 5, indicator 5.c.1; the Supplementary Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Framework (PEFA) for the assessment of gender responsive public financial management (GRPFM); and, most importantly, as a best practice in financial management. Implementing GRB can contribute to more effective, efficient, accountable, and transparent spending of government resources, including towards achieving gender equality. Thus, the Ministry of Finance, Labour, and Transfers, through the budget circular, has requested that all central level budget organisations provide an addendum to their budget allocation requests for 2025 explaining how their 2025 budget ensures GRB.

To support implementation of these responsibilities, the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), a network of 141 diverse women’s rights organisations, has prepared this letter with recommendations towards improving GRB in the Law on Budget Appropriations for 2025. Recommendations are based on KWN’s research and evidence of needs, towards furthering gender equality in Kosovo. We recommend that the prosecution:

• Increase the budget for the Victim Protection and Assistance Office in accordance with its needs and evidence-based budget request so that it can carry out its responsibilities.
• Ensure that the budget for Victim Advocates’ human resources covers adequate staffing, fair compensation, and necessary training to effectively support victims and promote gender equality. At present, there are not enough Victim Advocates to fulfil their responsibilities to protect survivors of gender-based violence adequately.

Additionally, we strongly encourage you to publish the addendum to the Prosecutorial Council’s 2025 Budget, requested by the Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers, in line with SDG 5.c.1., explaining transparently how your 2025 budget will contribute to furthering gender equality and the related expenditures foreseen.

Sincerely,

Igballe Rogova

Executive Director

Kosovo Women’s Network