Artpolis successfully organized the 5th edition of FemArt Festival

While listening to the sweet voice of Farah Siraj, the Jordanian singer of the jazz genre with spiritual, flamengo and Arabic motives, Artpolis –The Center for Art and Community, concluded the 5th edition of the FemArt Festival. FemArt Festival, is the festival of artists and activists which this year was held from 25 to 31 May 25, by the motto "Fearless".
       Despite the challenges during the organization of festival, in the 5th edition of  FemArt have performed artists from different countries of the region and the world, bringing us closer to their creative work: theatre plays, films, documentaries, short and long films, exhibitions, performances, concerts, lectures, workshops, panels and various art presentations.

       The artistic director of the Festival, Zana Hoxha Krasniqi, also executive director of Artpolis, emphasized that the staff together with the staff have taken care that the program has a wide variety of activities so that the public finds itself during this edition, saying "we tried to arrange A week full of art, activism and friendship ".

        The FemArt Festival, at the same time the largest feminist festival in the Balkans, is a platform for starting and presenting ideas and creations that bring forward feminist concepts and their developments in Kosovo by engaging in women’s equal rights and serving as A bridge to build peace and dialogue in the region.

      This year, the festival marked over 40 events in Pristina and North Mitrovica. For more detailed information about the participants and the program you can click on the website www.femart-ks.com or on the FemArt Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/FemartPrishtina/
This edition of FemArt was supported by donors, media sponsors and various institutional partners.

KWN empowers its members in promoting their work

     Based on members’ requests and needs during mentoring sessions and implementation of Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF) projects, the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) held a three-day workshop about “Public Relations: How to promote your work”, on 25, 26 and 27 May 2017, at Amazona Hotel, in Kosovo.
     During the first day of the workshop, members discussed about the importance and how to prepare promotional materials such as reports, brochures, including press releases and invitations for media conference, etc. Krenar Basha from Night Design Studio, demonstrated to members how they can promote their work in the best way possible by using existing resources without additional budgeting. In addition, divided in working groups, members had the opportunity to design promotional materials, depending on their needs, as well as to draft press releases, thus putting into practice everything they learned during the day.
     On the second day, members created public relations strategies, based on the needs and main activities of each organization. Considering the importance of promoting work also through social media, during the second part of this day, the discussion focused on promotional techniques, more specifically on the use of social media techniques. KWN members divided in working groups, where 15 volunteers from Girls Coding Kosovo and other KWN staff worked closely with each member in opening a new Facebook page, or updating existing ones. As a result, seven members opened a Facebook page for the first time. Continuing this, KWN members learned how to manage their pages on a daily basis.
     NGO Rona expressed her pleasure of being able to attend this workshop by saying that “thanks to the work with volunteers and KWN staff, now I have a Facebook page where I can better promote the work of my organization”.
     The third day was about public presentations and speaking on media. KWN members had the opportunity to hear stories and get advice from KWN’s own experience in media and public speeches. Later, each member individually did an exercise by conducting an interview with KWN staff in front of a camera. They said that this exercise was very useful for them, as they now have a clear idea about how an interview with a journalist might look like.
     This workshop was supported by the European Union Office in Kosovo.

Kosovo, Serbia and Turkey share their experience on the Women’s Struggle for Peace

Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES) in cooperation with the Research Center for Peace, Democracy and Alternative Politics (DEMOS) in Turkey, organized in Istanbul a conference and workshop on “Women’s Struggle for Peace: Serbia, Kosovo and Turkey”, on 12,13 and 14 May, 2017. The conference provided a space for sharing experiences and analyzed the activism of women in the peace building process of different countries, which lack the integration of women’s perspective in peace negotiation talks between the officials of the respective states.
      Among the many speakers, Kosovo was represented by Igballe Rogova, Executive Director of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), Nazlie Bala from Vetevendosje/Self-Determination Movement and Vjollca Krasniqi from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Prishtina.

On the first day of the conference, women from civil society and politics shared their experiences regarding memory and identity, whilst women from Turkey spoke about women’s participation in the peace building process.

        
Ms. Bala and Ms. Krasniqi from Kosovo shared experiences on the struggle for women’s inclusion in politics and negotiations from the political and gender point of view, while Mrs. Rogova emphasized the commitment and the role of women in civil society in this process. She further informed on international and domestic advocacy for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) since its adoption in 2000 and how after the war in Kosovo, she used the Resolution to seek more meetings of women in Kosovo with UN officials, and international decision-makers.

      By overcoming the obstacles they faced and taking into account the commitment of women to contribute to peace building and to participate in the negotiations, Rogova recalled: “This was the time period when KWN and the Women in Black Network decided to create the Women’s Peace Coalition  by joining women from Kosovo and Serbia who, based on Resolution 1325, were requesting to have at least one woman in the negotiating teams of both states by stressing the importance of lobbying for women’s participation in peacebuilding process”.

        The two-day conference was concluded with the reflections of activists on how to bring peace to agendas in difficult times and how to use the best practices and methods of women’s activism on the path of peace building.

Medica Gjakova organized the Conference “Empower Women, Now”

On 11 and 12 May, Medica Gjakova and Medica Mondiale organized the international conference “Empower Women, Now” on the situation of survivors of sexual violence in Kosovo. The "Empower Women, Now" conference was held at the Hotel Pashtrik in Gjakova, under the patronage of the Embassy of Austria, and was attended by Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga, former President of the Republic of Kosovo, Arban Abrashi, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Mimoza Kusari Lila, Mayor of Gjakova, Representatives of Embassies and Foreign Offices in Kosovo, Representatives of Women’s Organizations from Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia.
               
The objective of this conference was to raise awareness of the interrelated conflict of sexual violence and the situation of the survivors and the stigma associated with it. This two-day event focused on improving the law on the status of civilian victims of war and their families and in informing how women may have access to pensions and other benefits related to the law.

    
            “We hope that by this conference in Gjakova we will push things forward. It is important to recognize their suffering, to promote reconciliation and rehabilitation at social levels and to contribute to individual empowerment, the collective healing process and the prevention of trauma among generations”, said Ms. Monica Hauser, founder and director of Medica Mondiale as well as the German partner organization of Medica Gjakova.

               
Whereas the former President of the Republic of Kosovo, Ms. Atifete Jahjaga, as the initiator of the support of survivors of sexual violence during the war in Kosovo, emphasized  that “as a former Kosovo leader I would like to see more commitment by prioritizing issues of interest to women. Nevertheless, this should not discourage us, but empower us even more in our continuous work on the protection and support of women, especially survivors of sexual violence in Kosovo. So I think this conference is a good incentive for regional cooperation”.

               
In March 2014, the Kosovo Assembly approved the amendment of Law no. 04 / L-054 on the "Status of the Rights of Martyrs, Invalids, Veterans, Members of Kosova Liberation Army, Civilian Victims of War and their Families” to officially recognize and include the status of civilian victims of sexual violence during the war in Kosovo. Status grants to 20,000 women in Kosovo the right to monthly pensions and other benefits as prescribed by law. The National Council for the Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War in Kosovo, established in 2014 by former Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga, developed the necessary legislation and necessary sub-legal acts and created the preconditions to ensure that survivors of sexual violence will have access to the benefits mentioned in the previous law.

Medica Gjakova is also a member of the Kosova Women’s Network.

Lobby for Gender Equality and NDI list women voters’ priorities for local elections 2017

       On 20 May, the Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality (KGLE) held its meeting in Mamusha, which was attended by 66 Lobby members, representatives of local institutions, international organizations and members of Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) staff.
Seylan Mazrek, a Lobby member of the Municipality of Mamusha and Ms. Ganimete Sadiku, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Mamusha, in their presentations spoke about the achievements of the Municipality, as well as the problems faced by them, such as high unemployment and early marriages.
       In the meantime, in his welcome speech, Mr. Arif Bütüç, Mayor of the Municipality of Mamusha, added: “We live and contribute to the state of Kosovo and I feel proud to be from Kosovo, therefore I thank our Government for their support up to today”. Afterwards, he invited participants to attend the special event organized by this municipality, “The Tomato Festival”, that will be held on 23 July.
        Following the speeches by hosts, the floor was given to Igablle Rogova, Executive Director of KWN, explaining that the Lobby has started the tradition of holding meetings in other municipalities, not only in Pristina. She explained that this meeting differs from others, as “instead of talking about the achievements of each municipality in undertaking advocacy initiatives, this time we will offer space to the international organization National Democratic Institute (NDI), whose work we appreciate, because NDI does not only provide trainings which last few days, but it does continuous works to empower women in politics”.
         The well-known artist and activist Ms. Safete Rogova, honored the audience by reciting a poem: "A poem for the woman”.
Further, Ms. Igballe Rogova, also spoke about the Women’s Economic Forum (WEE), in the capacity of a member of this Forum, by pointing out that: “The Forum has emerged as an informal mechanism in order to coordinate all international and local organizations to empower women economically as much as possible, whereby as Forum we will push the policies in this field."
She further added that within the Forum “initially they raised the issue of the lack of kindergartens, seen as a factor that affects the low participation of women in the labor market. KWN’s latest report: "Who Cares? Demand, Supply, and Options for Expanding Childcare Availability in Kosovo", gives an example, because this is affecting employed women and women in politics. Then, the property issue was raised as well; as you know many organizations are already working on property issues, including KWN, which has just completed the project "My House, My Right" with the support of PPSE Swiss Contact. Also, as a forum, we should influence vocational schools because they are offering courses that are more suitable for men, which are seen as "men’s courses", hence the curriculum needs to be changed, so that women are not offered only courses in hairdressing and tailoring, but they should be encouraged for other fields, as well as to encourage more women to register in the Regional Employment Centers."
         Meanwhile, members of Lobby shared with the attendees some successful initiatives thanks to their advocacy. By relating to the success of these initiatives, Ms. Rogova reminded those attending that “The aim of the Lobby is not to organize trainings, but to advocate together on various important issues. We as Lobby are trying to push forward three pillars: networking, solidarity and sharing experiences”.
         In the second part of the meeting, Ms. Pranvera Lipovica, Program Manager for Political Party Development Program at NDI, explained NDI’s work on empowering women in politics. She talked about the Women’s Leadership Academy that is a continuation of the “Week of Women” activity and aims to further advance the skills of women participating, as well as to bring women together to create other networks of cooperation, since they come from different parties and cities, and have different ages and professions.
        Women participating at the Academy, divided into four thematic groups: 1. Economy, 2. Health, 3. Education and 4. The role of women in decision-making positions, received dozens of recommendations from Lobby members, which they will include in a platform of concrete proposals for the leadership of political parties. Attendees were given the opportunity to submit recommendations or additional comments on these topics by e-mail to Bardha Uka at: buka@ndi.org, until 29 May 2017.
       This meeting was supported by the European Union Office in Kosovo.

Action for Mothers and Children raises awareness of women on postnatal depression

On 10 May, the Action for Mothers and Children (Organization) organized in Ferizaj a training on the project “Expanding Advocacy Curriculum Information Center for Information on Women’s Health (QIShG) and Training Center Staff”. This project was supported by the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) and funded by the European Union Office in Kosovo, and was implemented by theAction for Mothers and Children.
       The project aims advocating at Mother and Child Health Division to strengthen the existing Centres by expanding the curriculum of topics taught in centres, with an emphasis on postnatal depression so that women and girls are provided withvery important information on this topicat the level of primary health care,  training of staff at the Centre on the topic, the development of information and promotional videos, and the Cooperation Agreement with the Ministry of Health for the revision of the Notebook for Pregnant Women (collected by pregnant women and pregnant women during their first visit at the gynaecologist) with information on Center for Information on Women’s Health (i.e. the existence and location of the Centers, topics to be addressed, the benefits of counselling).

       The direct beneficiaries of the project, through lectures held at the Center, are women with difficult living conditions, with low levels of education, up to illiteracy, and women deprived of their rights by all communities (Albanian, Serbian, RAE, Turkish, Bosniak) in the Municipality of Prishtina, Ferizaj, Shtërpcë, and Mitrovica where the Centers for Information on Women’s Health are functional. There is a total of 19 trained medical servants in these centers on the topic of postnatal depression.

        The participants were delighted with the provision of this training, improving the quality of services and communication between them and the patients, and referring girls and women to these centers, and then to the psychologist or professional psychiatrist.

       Given that in some cases postnatal depression is a consequence of domestic violence, it has been possible to reduce the effect of gender-based violence by providing information on the state of postnatal depression and treatment of these symptoms to girls and women in the post-natal period.

       In addition to the provided trainings, the Action for Mothers and Children Action successfully advocated at the Main Family Medicine Center in the Municipality of Prizren for opening the  "Mother’s Classes" Center as a part of educational programs on mother and child health in Kosovo. These classes provide educational health services for girls, women and their partners, including among others: preparing for a healthy pregnancy, its course and birth process, baby care, the importance of breastfeeding, psychic and physical preparation for the delivery room as well as other information on the child’s care and development. Classes offer advices in an interactive manner in a pleasant room environment.

       The opening of Mother’s Classes Center took place in Prizren on May 31st, thus marking the program’s 7th location point. Up to the present, around 3,000 women have benefited from the support of these classes. During March this year, a center was opened in the municipality of Kaçanik, whilst last year were officially opened the centers in Shterpce and Mitrovica, and a year ago in Prishtina and Ferizaj. The Action for Mothers and Children aims to expand such information centers for pregnant women and their partners also in other municipalities of Kosovo to help increase health education in the country within the primary health care level.

Students from the University of Vienna meet with KWN

During the month of May, students from the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Vienna, on the subject of State Building in the Suburbs of Europe, conducted a study visit to Kosovo and Albania. In the framework of this visit, on 17 May the students also met with Igballe Rogova, Executive Director of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) at the Ethnological Museum in Prishtina.
     They showed interest in learning more about the experiences of women’s rights activists in Kosovo, recent developments, human rights challenges, peace and security, as well as obstacles and opportunities in the future.

      Ms. Rogova initially spoke about activism during the 1990s in Kosovo, for the ‘Sisters Qiriazi’ Association, as well as for the war period in Kosovo, when this association did not cease at all its activity to help Kosovars who were placed in camps as refugees. Attendees also had the opportunity to be informed about the history of the women’s movement in Kosovo, how the first women’s rights organizations in Kosovo were founded, and the history and work of KWN since its founding in 2000 as an informal network. Among other things Rogova also mentioned investigative reports on gender-based violence and sexual harassment in Kosovo; Establishment of the Council for Survivors of Sexual Violence in Kosovo; As well as for initiatives and researches with regard to the monitoring of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in Kosovo, Resolution on Women, Peace and Security.

      
By expressing their gratitude for the meeting, the students said that this was one of the best, most informative visits they had during their stay in Kosovo.

Members and staff of KWN participate in the knowledge exchange program on Gender Based Violence

From 1 to 5 May, 2017, three representatives from Kosovo participated in the Knowledge Exchange Program on Gender Based Violence, held in Stockholm, Sweden, and organized by the Kvinna Till Kvinna Foundation. Adelina Berisha from the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), Shpresa Agushi from the Network of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Women’s Organizations of Kosovo, and Zana Hoxha Krasniqi from Artpolis, represented Kosovo in this event, wherein they had the opportunity to share their experience with other participants.
       The purpose of these meetings was that the beneficiaries of the Kvinna Till Kvinna Foundation from the Balkans and the Middle East share their experiences and best practices in combating Gender-Based Violence. The program was divided into three main pillars, namely: Providing Psycho-Social Assistance to Survivors of Gender-Based Violence; Cooperation with a Comprehensive Approach to Assistance to Gender-Based Survivors; As well as Advocacy as a Form of Prevention.

       Apart from the sharing of experience among participants, there were alsoheld by professors, psychologists, activists, and experts of gender-based violence from Sweden and other countries of the world. Among them, Dr. Allan Wade, who spoke of the resistance that survivors of violence use as a mechanism to cope with violence; Vidar Vetterfalk, who spoke on masculinity norms and violence as a necessary perspective to combat gender-based violence; As well as lectures by the psychologist Josefin Grände, who spoke about Secondary Trauma that people who work in providing psycho-social treatment to survivors of gender-based violence may have.

      Adelina Berisha from the KWN invited by Kvinna Till Kvinna, presented the KWN advocacy initiatives in the area of ”‹”‹gender-based violence, while Zana Hoxha Krasniqi from Artpolis held a workshop on how to use the Forum Theatre as a form of raising awareness about Gender-based violence.

In addition to exchanging experiences and knowledge on gender-based violence, an important part of this program was networking between non-governmental organizations from the region and the Middle East.

 

 

 

“Liria” and “Legjenda” advocate for involvement of GRB

Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) represents the inclusion of a gender perspective in budget planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. GRB helps government budgets and their execution to be more equitable, effective and transparent. The new Law on Gender Equality (2015) has made BPG a legal obligation for all central and local budget organizations in Kosovo. Further, Budget Circular no. 2017/01, distributed by the Ministry of Finance in June 2017, specifically encouraged all municipalities to integrate GRB into their budget documents.
          
However, GRB is a fairly new concept, both in Kosovo and elsewhere. At the beginning of 2016, there were few budget organizations in Kosovo that began implementing this legal obligation, including the municipalities of Vitia and Gjilan. For this reason, KWN member organizations, the Centre for Protection and Rehabilitation of Women and Children “Liria” in Gjilan and “Legjenda” of Viti, decided to establish a joint team in order to advance the process of institutionalization of GRB in their municipalities.

       Supported by the Kosovo Women’s Fund (FGK), “Liria” and “Legjenda” organized informative meetings with the Formal Group of Women Assembly Members of Ferizaj and Kllokot Municipality, the Lobby for Gender Equality as well as Directors of Municipal Directorates of both Municipalities. 75 women and men of both municipalities were the beneficiaries of these informative meetings.

        Topics in these informative meetings were mainly related to integration steps such as decision-making, gender agenda and reports, research and analysis to be undertaken at the municipal level, as well as gender expertise.

         Women’s rights activist and activist Nazlie Bala emphasized to the participants that “gender equality means that men and women have equal access to the policies the state offers, have equal access to the well-being and overall development of society and equal access to the material goods that the state provides”.

        The result of this cooperation was raising the awareness of officials and activists in these two municipalities regarding GRB, what this concept means and how should it be applied in their municipalities. Women in decision-making became aware of gender budgeting and were encouraged to be part of budget policy drafting.

        
This presents another important step towards advancing gender equality. These actions are foreseen in the Law on Gender Equality although up to date few institutions have used them. The cooperation of these two organizations and their advocacy towards the sustainable institutionalization of the GRB in the municipalities of Ferizaj and Kllokot is a very positive example from which other municipalities and central level institutions can learn.

KWN advocates for easier movement of citizens on the street

On 25 May, 2017, KWN participated in the first workshop organized by the Municipality of Prishtina “Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for Prishtina”.
      During the discussion on the problems of citizens, KWN asked for steps to be taken regarding the key issues faced by women, such as: to free the sidewalks from the cars in order to have enough space for the movement of women / mothers with children carriages, to make necessary adjustments ofroads in order to meet the needs of people with limited abilities, including installation/placement of street signals for blind persons.

     In this process of drafting this Plan for carrying out adjustments to the road for the needs of the citizens, this workshop was attended by women and men, representatives of urban traffic companies, professors of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Prishtina, representatives of various profile organizations, people with disabilities and representative of the Kosovo Women’s Network.

     To assist in gathering information on drafting the Plan, please complete the following online survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Pristina Travel