On 3 Feb. at Hotel Prishtina, KWN held its Bimonthly Meeting. In the beginning participants recalled the training provided by Shqipe Malushi in Durres. She encouraged positive thought in overcoming the negative experiences we have in life.

      After welcoming 70 participants, Igballe Rogova, KWN Executive Director, spoke about the possibility of Shqipe Malushi coming to Kosova for three months to visit member organizations in their offices.

    Towards better planning, members were asked to send a request expressing their needs regarding the trainings that Shqipe Malushi will organize.

     Members were briefed regarding the delegation of KWN board and staff members’ visit to Mayor Mimoza Kusari – Lila in her office in the Municipality of Gjakova. They congratulated Mrs. Kusari – Lila for her victory in the local elections and both parties discussed ideas for women’s empowerment in Gjakova.

       Mimoza Paçuku,Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF) Coordinator at KWN, presented information about the Fund, its accomplishments and challenges in 2013.

      In 2014, the Fund will focus on supporting members in their advocacy initiatives. In the past, some beneficiary organizations took part in handcrafts and agriculture. KWN’s Strategic Plan for 2011-2014 includes a program towards Economic Empowerment, so KWF supported these projects in 2013. In the future such initiatives will no longer be funded since other funds exist in Kosova, which support business development.

     KWN informed its members about the establishment of the G7, a group of seven strong women entrepreneurs. This group, supported by the President of the Republic of Kosova and the U.S. Embassy, has created the Women’s Economic Chamber, and they are in the final stages of creating the Women’s Business Network (WBN). In the future KWN will support this network. KWN’s Economic Empowerment Program will not offer support to business development, but will focus solely on supporting advocacy initiatives. KWN will cooperate with WBN, which will directly support organizations involved in supporting business development. All members present at the meeting unanimously agreed to revise some of the activities within KWN’s Economic Empowerment Program, based on these changes in the Kosova context. KWF will only support advocacy initiatives in the future.

     KWN congratulated and thanked Lina Andeer, the Kvinna till Kvinna (KtK) representative in Kosova, for trusting in the Network, and for continuous support from her and KtK. Lina was not present at the meeting, but all members expressed their pleasure to have worked with her. Lina will finish her work at KtK in the end of March. Meanwhile KtK will finish its mission in Kosova at the end of 2014.