Today, June 7, a joint meeting was held with members of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), the Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality (Lobby) and the Coalition for Equality.
Around 70 participants discussed the participation of women in local elections expected to be held in October this year. They also talked about opportunities for advocacy and support for women who want to participate in this election.
At the beginning of the meeting, Igballe Rogova, KWN Executive Director, mentioned the work of the Lobby, Coalition for Equality and all KWN member organizations working towards increasing women’s participation in politics, both at central and local level.
“For many years now, we have been advocating together to increase and strengthen women’s participation in decision-making processes. This time, we will support all the women participating in the upcoming local elections. We will demand for the Law on General Election to be aligned with the Law on Gender Equality”, said Rogova.
She also informed the participants that the 15th Round of the Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF) would be open until June 8.
READ ALSO: The Lobby for Gender Equality Discusses Women and Local Elections
Further, the activist Shqipe Malushi, a member of the KWN Advisory Board, congratulated women’s rights activists for their persistence and hard work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am delighted to be here with women’s right activists. I will be together with you in every activity. You did not stop your work even during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is a change. Currently, local elections are very important to us. Women are the majority and the time is now to empower each-other”, said Malushi.
Another speaker, Antigona Baxhaku – Idrizi, Director of SHE Solutions, said her organisation aims to empower girls and women in all areas, with emphasis on decision-making, strategic planning and counselling, strategy development for political and lobbying campaigns, and media analysis.
“For many years now, I have worked with and supported various women’s rights groups. We are currently working together with KWN to support and empower women in the upcoming local elections. Today, more than ever, women in politics are supporting each other and we will be here to seize this opportunity”, said she.
In the second part of the meeting the participants were divided into working groups where they discussed broadly about the campaigns and advocacy needed to increase women’s participation in local elections.
Main suggestions from the group discussions:
- Increase cooperation between assembly members and organizations in various activities for gender equality,
- Organize campaign in support of women candidates,
- Create funding for women’s campaigns within political parties.
- All participants agreed that the door-to-door campaign should continue in this election as well, to call for more women to be voted in the local elections.
READ ALSO: KWN Calls: Vote for More Women in Parliament
This meeting was supported by the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo, within the four-year initiative “Strengthening Women’s Participation in Politics”. Read more HERE.
