Today, KWN sent a recommendation letter to the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation in the context of ongoing preparations for the 2026 budget. Our recommendations focus on gender-responsive budgeting (GRB). That is, ensuring that public funds address the differing needs of women, men, boys, and girls, in line with Kosovo’s legal framework and international best practices. Implementing GRB strengthens transparency, accountability, and efficiency in government spending, while advancing gender equality. Drawing from KWN’s research, KWN provided to the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation the following recommendations:

• We strongly recommend that the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) invest directly in and encourage municipalities to budget for establishing more affordable public childcare centres and kindergartens, particularly in rural areas. By setting concrete targets and budget allocations based on comprehensive needs assessments, municipalities can address high unemployment and inactivity rates. KWN has estimated that expanding childcare options can create approximately 9,899 new jobs, transforming unpaid care work into paid employment. This also will enable more women to enter the labour market and improve educational outcomes in line with the EU Barcelona Objectives. The Government has committed to these investments in the National Development Strategy, and now budget allocations must be made. While the Government has relied on international donations for improving childcare availability, we implore MESTI to allocate more such funds and to strongly encourage municipalities to do similarly. We hope for reduced reliance on external funding to ensure sufficient and sustainable budgetary resources for the future for this important national development priority.

• We strongly encourage MESTI to include GRB in the Education Strategy and Action Plans, the annual education budget, and other early childhood education (ECE) and social assistance policies and legislation to improve the quality of ECE and promote learning that challenges harmful stereotypes. Please budget for implementing gender-responsive pedagogy and quality assurance, including indicators for assessing the implementation of curricula, the quality of services, and the beneficiaries of services for girls and boys, using KWN’s established methodology. Budget lines should allocate funding for quality assurance strategies, social schemes, recruitment strategies (particularly for men in ECE), community engagement activities, and training, including obligatory teacher training to ensure teachers can implement curricula that provide diverse girls and boys with equitable learning opportunities. Investing in quality education can ensure that budget allocations translate into meaningful gender equality outcomes, in line with the EU Gender Action Plan III, CEDAW, SDGs, and the EU Barcelona Objectives.

• We also recommend that MESTI invest directly in and encourage municipalities to budget for achieving universal access to computers and the internet within all Kosovo schools, particularly in rural areas. Resources should be allocated to ensure gender-responsive digital skills are integrated into curricula, so that both girls and boys gain the competencies needed for labour market participation. Evidence shows that while women and men have similar access to smartphones and the internet, 41% of rural women (compared to 33% of rural men) lack digital skills required by the labour market. Investing in equitable information and communications technology access and skills training will enable rural women and men alike to use digital tools for farming, markets, and public services, supporting women’s economic empowerment, and expanding their opportunities in the labour market.

• We also strongly encourage MESTI to publish the annex to your Ministry’s 2026 Budget, requested by the Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers and in line with SDG 5.c.1., explaining transparently how your 2026 budget will contribute to furthering gender equality and the related expenditures foreseen.

Read the full letter here.