A young woman participant at the YWEI meeting in Prishtina presents her group’s action plan.
The Young Women’s Empowerment Initiative (YWEI) supports young women in developing their skills and taking the lead on issues that concern them. The initiative engages young women throughout Kosova in becoming catalysts of change and mobilizing their peers to do the same.
In Gjakova, young women shared the challenges they face on 24 Sep.: struggles over limited resources, insufficient job opportunities and systematic discrimination simply because they are young women.
“As [young] women we have limited options for expressing ourselves without being judged,” said a young woman from Gjakova.
Towards addressing these challenges, young women from Gjakova are developing innovative, effective ways to improve their lives.
“We can empower each other through street actions and art,” a young woman said. “We will bring together young and old women to express their talents.”
YWEI also held meetings in Prishtina and Mitrovica in Oct. They created action plans for addressing the issues they face. Young women from Prishtina decided to prepare a theatre play, raising awareness about the importance of education for young women. They also plan to hold a peaceful march in Mother Theresa Square.
In Mitrovica, young women plan to hold meetings with young women in primary schools and high schools, raising awareness about the importance of education. By meeting directly with them, they believe that they will have great impact.
“Besides having a good time, we also have learned a lot of new things,” a young woman activist said. “These kinds of meetings are very necessary for us.”
This year, Young Women Empowerment Initiative has involved 146 young women throughout Kosova. With KWN’s support, they plan to implement their action plans in 2014. KWN seeks to empower more young women to become involved in organizing and advocacy for women’s rights, strengthening the Kosovo women’s movement. The initiative receives support from Kvinna till Kvinna.
