KCDMI provides computer, English and oratory courses to students of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community

04.11.2017

On 25 October, Kosovo Center for Development and Multicultural Integration organized in Gjakova in the premises of the Center for Social Work, computer, English and oratory courses in the framework of the project titled “Economic empowerment of youth from non-majority communities: Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, with a focus on girls”. These courses were attended by a total of 8 girls and 7 boys from Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community from Gjakova Municipality and its surroundings, trainers Gjuljeta Shehu, Nexhmije Hana, Olsi Turtulli and two representatives of Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN).
Taking into account that the majority of youth from Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community face enormous difficulties in finding jobs, despite the fact that they have completed high school and university, KCDMI organization started to implement this project in order to build the capacities of youth from non-majority communities in Gjakova Municipality.
The first course, organized on Wednesday, 25 October, was the computer course, taught by prof. Gjuljeta Shehu. During this class, the attendees learned more about using PowerPoint. Until now, they h ave finished and learned how to use Excel and Word. The topics scheduled to be lectured on until the end of this project include using the Internet, preparing official documents, using photocopying and printing machines.
The second course organized on that day was the English course, taught by prof. Nexhmije Hana. The beneficiaries of this course are still at the beginner’s level. This level is scheduled to be complete by the end of this project.
The last course organized on that day was the oratory course taught by prof. Olsi Turtulli. During this course, the attendees learned more about topics such as: exercising the jaw, lips and tongue in a few variants; breathing; voice; diction; and the importance of all of these when communicating.
These courses continue to be offered every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday until the end of November, when the KCDMI-led project ends.
This project was supported by the Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF) of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) and funded by the EU Office in Kosovo.
 

 

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Rogova attended the Second Annual Meeting of the NATO Advisory Panel on Resolution 1325

02.11.2017

 The Second Annual meeting of NATO Civil Society Advisory Panel (CSAP) on Women, Peace and Security was held from 1 to 3 October 2017 in Brussels, where Igballe Rogova, Executive Director of Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) participated as a member of the Core Group. 
      By this meeting, NATO aimed at ensuring and strengthening a dialogue with actors of civil society, which will continue to contribute to the matters brought forward in the Women, Peace and Security agenda. For this purpose, CSAP worked during these days in drafting a strategic framework, recommendations and work plan for operations and missions led by NATO in the future. 
      Rogova shared the long advocacy work on the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1323. “Since the Resolution was passed in 2000, we have been using it when advocating for the women’s rights to participate in decision making. We have advanced the drafting of a report which is highly influential for NATO and other actors Facts and Fables 1325 concerning the implementation of Resolution 13225 on Women, Peace and Security in Kosovo.” 
         On the second day of this annual meeting, the Vice Secretary General of NATO, Ms. Rose Gotemoeller heard directly the Advisory Panel’s recommendations. 
       NATO and its partners acknowledge the importance of the civil society role in promoting the Women, Peace and Security agenda, women and girls’ empowerment and protection of their rights. Through the Civil Society Advisory Panel on Women, Peace and Security, NATO wishes to systematically benefit from the knowledge and expertise of civil society in order to further develop the Women, Peace and Security agenda. 
      Upon the invitation of Ambassador Marriët Schuurman, NATO Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, Rogova is a member of the NATO Civil Society Advisory Panel on Women, Peace and Security, established during 2016.

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KWN Launches research report on the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development

02.11.2017

 The priorities, needs and interests of women and men often vary. Geography (e.g., rural, urban, sub-urban areas), age, ethnicity, employment status and/or ability, among other factors, may affect different women and men’s access to   state   services   and   programs. The government has a responsibility to design and  enforce  policies  that  benefit  diverse citizens.  Budget  documents  are  public policies that  should serve the needs and interests of different beneficiaries.

Agriculture and rural development policies may  affect women and  men  differently.  Gender  responsive budgeting    (GRB)    is    a    practice    of mainstreaming  gender  in  all  phases  of planning,    executing,    monitoring    and evaluating budgets. According to the Law on Gender Equality, GRB is a legal obligation for all budget organizations in the Republic of Kosovo. GRBmakesthe process of planning and executing the budget more transparent and inclusive, towards meeting the needs of diverse citizens.
Therefore, since August 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD) committed to implementing gender responsive budgeting, in accordance with legal obligations set forth in the Law on Gender Equality and requests made by the Ministry of Finance in recent budget circulars.
Since then, MAFRD officials have received support from the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) in conducting gender analyses of past and present programs and expenditures.
            As a result of this cooperation, on Oct. 10, KWN launched its newest report, titled “Budgeting for Better Agriculture and Rural Development”, which’s findings and recommendations seek to inform MAFRD’s  2018 budget, as well as future Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEF).
In her opening speech, the Executive Director of KWN, Mrs. Igballe Rogova expressed her gratitude to “Austrian Development Agency (ADA) for their support, as well as for the Ministrywhich enables us to work together for the state; to work together to achieve gender equality." She than added that "We will continue to give our technical support to all the institutions that invite us, because in our own way we are helping the institutions to implement the law and together we are building the state."
Further, the participants were addresead by the Head of Office of ADA in Kosovo, Mr. Gunther Zimmer, who stated that “furthering gender equality is a top priority for Austrian Development Cooperation, and the key aspect towards this includes also supporting institutions in implementing GRB. This also contributes to the implementation of EU Gender Action Plan II, which Austria as a member state is committed to implementing by supporting institutions to carry out GRB.” He added that “incorporating a gender perspective in this sector is important to ensure that both men and women and men are served well by governmental programs in agriculture, forestry and rural development in Kosovo.”
Considering this report as very important for the further work of the Ministry on implementing GRB, the Director of Finance and General Services Department at MAFRD, Mrs. Fëllanza Balaj Kurtishaj thanked KWN for its continuous support, as well as ADA for the financial support of this report.
Further, the main findings and recommendations of this report were presented to the audience, a presentation given by the co-author of the report, and at the same time Program Manager and Lead Researcher at KWN, Mrs. Nicole Farnsworth.
While you can read the full report here, the key findings and recommandations of this report are listed below:
 
  • Most MAFRD departments and bodies lack gender-disaggregated data or systems for maintaining
  • and utilizing it to inform budget planning. The Ministry should ensure that employees collect, maintain and use gender-disaggregated data about persons targeted, consulted and benefitting from MAFRD programs to better inform planning of future expenditures.
  • No known gender analyses have been carried out during processes of drafting or analyzing implementation of existing laws, policies and strategies related to agriculture, rural development and
  • forestry. Gender analyses must be conducted prior to proposing draft laws, policies, strategies, programs and action plans, analyzing how they may affect men and women differently. The Ministry
  • should ensure participation of the Gender Equality Officer in working groups.
  • In public consultations on draft laws, regulations and administrative instructions, women comprised only 19% of participants in 2016 and 17% in 2017. In all working groups, women have been underrepresented. All departments need to ensure equal participation of women and men in working groups and public consultations on policies, draft laws, strategies and capital investments.
  • In 2017, women comprised only 19% of all beneficiaries of subsidies and transfers and received only 3% of expenditures (less than €1.3 million out of €49 million). Reportedly, the existing affirmative measure of providing women applicants with additional points sometimes has been misused by men
  • relatives. MAFRD should establish better affirmative measures to increase the percentage of subsidies and grants benefitting women. Meanwhile, improved inspections and increased penalties
  • can decrease misuse of affirmative measures.
  • Women file fewer complaints on denied applications to the Appeals Review Panel of the Agriculture
  • Agency of Kosovo, perhaps because women apply and benefit less from grants and subventions than
  • men do. However, women also may be less informed about their right or how to complain. Future
  • gender analyses could examine reasons why women may not file complaints.
  • Women are underrepresented in the forestry sector due to socio-cultural norms in Kosovo. Women received 16% of all forestry development licenses issued in 2014-2016. MAFRD should install affirmative measures to increase women’s formal participation in the forestry sector, decrease women’s participation in the informal economy and seek to change traditional gender norms by promoting the notion that working in forestry is acceptable for women.
  • Of 1,039 farmers and companies licensed for agro-inputs as of April 2017, only 5% were womenowned. Women benefited less from Kosovo Forestry Agency services than men, comprising only 2% of beneficiaries in 2015-2017.
  • Fewer men have taken advantage of the opportunity for students to intern in Kosovo Agriculture Institute laboratories, than women have, comprising 17% of all interns in 2017. However, more men
  • (55%) than women (45%) have been involved in the Institute’s scientific work in 2015-2016. The Institute can use affirmative measures to further gender equality.
  • With few exceptions, more men than women have participated in trainings, workshops, and study visits in 2015-April 2017. One reason is that women are underrepresented among relevant employees and inspectors (comprising only 10% of all inspectors in 2015-2017). MAFRD shouldensure equal participation of women and men in trainings, workshops, and study visits.
  • In February 2017, 27% of MAFRD employees were women and 73% were men. Men received 75% of expenditures in 2016. More men (89%) than women (11%) consistently have worked in better paid, decision-making levels. MAFRD should use affirmative measures to hire and promote more, qualified women contributing to more balanced expenditures in the wages and salaries economic category.
  • Women officials comprised 26% of staff members that went on official travel in 2016. Consequently, only 20% of official travel expenditures were spent on women officials in 2016. MAFRD should ensure a gender balance among staff undertaking official travels.
 
After the presentation, the participants had the opportunity to discuss the findings and recommendations outlined in the report. This report includes specific objectives and activities for every Department, Agency and Institute, towards furthering gender equality via future expenditures. The report was publishet with the financial support of Austrian Development Agency (ADA). 

 

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KWN advocates during meetings with new Ministers

02.11.2017

On 12 October, the Minister of Health, Uran Ismaili, received in a meeting the Executive Director of Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), Igballe Rogova and the Executive Director of Kosovo Midwife Association, Magbule Elezi.
Rogova and Elezi told the Minister their concerns raised during the last meeting of Women’s Lobby for Gender Equality and KWN Assembly members including: 1. Maternity closures in municipalities and the negative influence in women’s accessing health care; 2. Importance of midwives in the provision of health services in maternities and definition of their job description; 3. Proximity of communities with the health care providers through decentralization.
Minister Ismaili expressed his willingness to work towards fulfilling these demands. He promised maximum commitment so that all the people of Kosovo be provided with quality health care services.
The meeting was closed upon the request of Minister Ismaili who had to hold another meeting with a larger number of women who work in the protection, promotion and support of women and girls’ rights in Kosovo, with a particular focus on matters that affect women and girls’ access to health system.
On 19 October, the KWN Executive Director, Igballe Rogova and Program Manager and Head of Research, Nicole Farnsworth, met with the Minister and Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development of the Republic of Kosovo to introduce the main findings from the last report on Budgeting for better Agriculture and Rural Development.
The minister said that, “I wish to strongly support this initiative and will find ways to cooperate in solving the problems and improving the gender equality in the Ministry”.
The Secretary General said that he will invite KWN to participate in the drafting process of the new program of the Ministry and that the Ministry will continue to share information with the KWN members concerning the opportunities for grands and subsidies.
The KWN representatives congratulated Minister Rikalo on his new duty and thanked him for his willingness to continue the support and cooperation with this association. MAFRD and KWN have cooperated closely in conducting gender analysis in order to promote the gender equality through the work of Ministry.

 

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CSOs Support Implementation of the EU Gender Action Plan

02.11.2017

 On 11-12 Oct., Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) representative Nicole Farnsworth accompanied colleagues from the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation to Brussels to meet key actors involved in implementing the European Union (EU) Gender Action Plan and to advocate for its implementation, including improved involvement and support of women’s civil society organizations (WCSOs).

In 2015, the European Commission (EC) and the European External Action Service (EEAS) adopted the Joint Staff Working Document – Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations ‎2016-2020, better known as the Gender Action Plan (GAP II). The GAP II has several aims, which include, among others, using more gender analysis to inform the planning of EU-funded programs; involving WCSOs and National Gender Equality Mechanisms (NGEMs) like gender equality officers in programming; supporting WCSOs and women human rights defenders; and increasing funding to improve results for girls and women. Needless to say, GAP II is a very important document for WCSOs.
The first annual report on the implementation of GAP II worldwide was published in August. However, it lacked information regarding GAP II implementation in Kosovo and the region. Therefore, KWN collaborated with partners in the region to undertake a rapid independent assessment of GAP II, which involved interviewing 83 representatives of EU delegations, governments and WCSOs in six Western Balkans (WB) countries. The resulting report is forthcoming.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General for the European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), the body responsible for the WB, invited KWN and the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation to present initial findings and recommendations during the EC Gender Focal Points Annual Meeting in Brussels on 11 Oct. Some of the key recommendations made, in accordance with GAP II, included that EU delegations need to:
 
  • Involve and encourage governments toinvolve WCSOs in the EU Accession process, including in all sector planning;
  • Consult WCSOs regarding political developments in countries, not only related to “women’s issues”;
  • Discuss issues related to gender equality with government officials as part of political dialogues; 
  • Ensure that programming budgets for furthering gender equality, including for gender analysis related to specific sectors, for actions to address inequalities identified through gender analysis and for funding for WCSOs to be involved in these processes.
 
Brigitta Jaksa from the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation spoke about the importance of supporting WCSOs in the long-term and how such support contributes to social change and sustainable impact.
KWN and the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation also used the opportunity of being in Brussels to meet and share information with:
 
  • Aishih Wehbe-Herrera, the Policy Officer on Gender Equality at DG NEAR, to discuss strategies for furthering implementation of GAP II;
  • The Centre of Thematic Expertise on Civil Society Support to discuss funding needs and modalities for WCSOs;
  • Concord Europe which just launched a commentary on the evaluation of the GAP II report for 2016; and
  • The Association for Women in Development (AWID), regarding opportunities for collaboration on joint advocacy for funding for WCSOs and women’s movements.
 
These meetings took place in the context of several important processes currently happening at the EU. In addition to the first annual evaluation of GAP II, the EC is finalizing its midterm review of financing under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). This is the instrument through which most EU funding is provided to Kosovo and other WB countries, supporting their EU accession processes. This review will set the stage for the last three years of IPA funding to the region (2018-2020). It is being informed by several external evaluations, including on IPA assistance and on the Civil Society Facility that provides EU funding to civil society, including WCSOs. KWN, the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation and our partners in the region are providing input to inform the review, towards furthering gender equality and better meeting the needs and interests of WCSOs as crucial actors in these processes.  

 

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Alter Habitus organized the International Conference on “Facing the past”

02.11.2017

The International Conference on “Facing the past: Social movements in Kosovo during socialism and ‘90s”, was organized on 6, 7 and 8 October in Prishtina by Alter Habitus, Institute for Studies in Society and Culture, the Center for Southeast European Studies (Graz University) and the University of Prishtina, thereby marking the 20th anniversary of student demonstrations of ’97 in Prishtina. There were discussions on the social movements in Kosovo.
      This conference was attended by various political and public figures, including activities of civil society, professors and scholars of social sciences, artists from Kosovo and the region who discussed on various aspects and the influence of social movements in Kosovo.
Igballe Rogova, Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) Executive Director and Shukrije Gashi, Partners Kosovo Executive Director were among those who delivered an address at the opening of the conference; they talked about the women’s activation and movement of ‘90s.
      The Conference was structured in eight discussion panels, research presentations and the publication of Mary Mote’s Book ‘Kosovo, a prelude of war’. More specifically, the first panel discussed on the role of the University of Prishtina in the social movements in Kosovo. The second and third panel discussed about the various dimensions of demonstrations of 1981. The fourth panel discussed the aspects of art and culture in the social movements in Kosovo, particularly during ‘90s. The fifth and seventh panel discussed on the working class, social movements, women’s movement in Kosovo and the feminist epistemology in researching social movements. The seventh panel discussed about the social movements and solidarity of ‘90s, and the conference ended with the eight panel where a discussion about 1997 demonstrations took place.
 
 

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Kvinna till Kvinna organized a training on Monitoring and Assessment

02.11.2017

 From 17 until 20 October, Kvinna till Kvinna brought together in Tirana eight partner organizations from Kosovo in a networking meeting to discuss on the process of monitoring and evaluation of projects and programs. Mirjeta Dibrani, Grant Assistant of Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF) participated as representative of Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN). 
       On the first day of the meeting, Yllka Soba, program officer of Kvinna till Kvinna held a presentation on training and the points planned for discussion during these days. This topic was selected upon the request of members. After the end of the first meeting, the members visited the Bunkart Museum where they were informed of its background and construction and the functions of each of those 24 rooms. 
        On the following days, trainer Refki Morina explained topics such as: what is monitoring and evaluation, cycles and importance of monitoring and evaluation for the existence and sustainability of an organization. It was also discussed about the logical framework—what logical framework is and why it is needed. 
        Some of the present organizations had previously not carried out any monitoring and assessment for their work and they understood during this meeting the importance of such process. Meanwhile, KWN shared the work experience with databases for monitoring and assessment, stating that during January-June 2017, it fulfilled 76% of its strategy. 
        During the training, it was also discussed about the results and challenges faced by organizations. When introducing the results, Zana Hoxha Krasniqi from Artpolis Organization said that, “The network in general and the Kosovo Women’s Fund in particular, is an example for the countries of the region and we, as members, should promote it as much as possible because they do make a marvelous work”. 
The participants were happy with the training and said that they will attempt to create a database in their organization which will enable them to monitor and assess the achievements and deficiencies of the organization.

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“Jeta Vita” marks the month of awareness of breast cancer

02.11.2017

 On 28 October, Kosovo Center for Fighting Breast Cancer (KCFBC) Jeta Vita organized their already traditional, cultural and informing program, where citizens marched together holding the organization’s moto: “Early detection=Survival”, to express their solidarity and increase awareness of breast cancer among Kosovo society. 
         Citizens, representatives of women-led organizations and representatives of high-rank public authorities gathered in Prishtina square holding pink balloons, ribbons and scarfs in support of women who suffer from breast cancer. 
        The attendees were welcomed by an occasional speech delivered by the Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, former Kosovo President, Atifete Jahjaga, Prishtina Mayor, Shpend Ahmeti and Executive Director of Jeta Vita, Nafije Latifi, who transmitted the joint message that these women are not alone because it is only when we stand together that we can win any battle. In addition, an emphasis was put on early check-ups so that this disease can be fought on time. 
        Jeta Vita has been cooperating for more than 10 years with various organizations and institutions in organizing this march and carrying out numerous advocacy activities for a quality health care service for women in Kosovo.

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