On 30 March 2026, KWN Executive Director Igballe “Igo” Rogova was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit for her “extraordinary commitment, courage and tireless dedication to advancing women’s rights and human rights” by the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani.
Igo Rogova co-founded the first Kosovar women’s organisation, Motrat Qiriazi, which she later directed. Motrat Qiriazi focused on educating and empowering women and girls across Kosovo, providing over 6,000 women with access to education at a time when teaching in the Albanian language was prohibited. The organisation also supported local community development initiatives amid poverty and lack of investment.
During her time as a refugee, Igo worked in refugee camps in North Macedonia, assisting and protecting women and girls through innovative approaches related to health education, therapy, and other forms of addressing the needs of Kosovar refugee women in Macedonian camps.
To support activists working under difficult conditions, Igo founded the Rural Women’s Network, which later evolved into KWN. Today, the organisation comprises over 100 civil society groups that protect and promote the rights of Kosovar women, regardless of their political beliefs, religion, age, level of education, sexual orientation or ability. Under her tireless leadership, KWN has worked to safeguard, advance, and improve the lives of women and girls, including by empowering women to engage in politics; creating a legal framework for addressing gender-based violence; drafting policies supporting victims and recognising survivors of wartime sexual violence; improving numerous laws and policies for gender equality; economically empowering hundreds of women; and improving women’s access to healthcare. KWN remains a unique example of cooperation and transformative change in the region.
Igo was an early advocate for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Kosovo. She began pushing for the involvement of diverse women in peace and reconciliation processes immediately after the Resolution’s adoption, challenged UN missions and development initiatives when they failed to ensure women’s voices were included, and documented and shared the stories of Kosovar women with senior officials and women’s rights activists in other countries, helping Kosovo’s experience serve as a model for others.
Igo also played a key role in founding the Women’s Peace Coalition, which brought together women peace activists from Kosovo and Serbia, and helped establish the Regional Women’s Lobby for Peace, Security and Justice in Southeast Europe. Both of these groups have successfully brought the voices and priorities of women from the region into Kosovo-Serbia negotiation processes and peacebuilding initiatives.
Between 2014–2015, Igo served as a member of the High-Level Advisory Group for the UN Global Study on Resolution 1325. She has served twice, and continues to serve, on NATO’s Civil Society Advisory Panel on Women, Peace and Security, further advancing the implementation of UNSCR 1325 at the global level.
