Kosovo Women's Network

Sida Brings Together 400 participants in Stockholm for Internet Forum 2015

03.11.2015

Stockholm Internet Forum (SIF) is an international forum that promotes in-depth dialogue and discussions on how free, open and secure internet access promotes and strengthens human rights worldwide. Founded in 2012 by the Swedish government, SIF15 is the fourth forum in the series. This year, SIF15 was hosted by Sida in Stockholm from Oct. 21 to 22.
The Forum brought more than 400 participants, from almost 100 different countries, including policymakers, civil society representatives, activists, business representatives and technical community representatives. In addition to the mentioned participants, members of the KWN also attended.
SIF has a standing tradition of focusing on the global south. Half of the participants come from low-and middle-income countries, often from places where internet access is restricted and efforts to promote both internet freedom and human rights can be dangerous.
This year. SIF’s theme was to explore internet access from a multi-dimensional approach. The aspects of access were covered through discussions of issues related to economy, technology, policy and human rights, with a special emphasis on gender equality.
Participants raised different issues that concerned them in their countries. For example it was stated that according to ITU Worldwide, there are an estimated 200 million fewer women than men online, and this gap could grow to 350 million within the next three years. Other issues that were discussed concerning the gender disparity in internet usage can be found on SIF’s website and twitter page.

18.06.25

Workshop Held on Social Services, Rights, and Other Mechanisms

12.06.25

Activists Engage in President’s Global Forum on Women, Peace and Security

30.05.25

WCSOs Ask: What’s the Real Cost of Specialised Services for Gender-based Violence? 

30.05.25

Budget Red Lines: Community Session Calls for Action on Menstrual Poverty

30.05.25

The Institutional Crisis Continues to Contribute to Discrimination Against Women

29.05.25

Preventing and Protecting Blind Women and Girls in Kosovo from Violence

Women of Llapje Unite their Forces to Advocate

03.11.2015

On Oct. 9, the two organizations Ruka Ruci and Open Door organized a workshop where 24 girls and women from Llapje village participated.
The workshop took place in spaces of organization “Avenija” in Llapje. Participants discussed everyday problems that they deal with in life and as well as working towards creating solutions for such problems.
Representatives of both organizations presented their work and discussed the importance of women’s economic empowerment. Representatives also emphasized the importance of the worshop in increasing awareness of the issues surrounding women’s economic empowerment. “When we don’t know our own rights we cannot even ask for them,” said Belgjyzare Muharremi, Executive Director of Open Door.
The first discussion that took place was centered on the lack of implementation of laws. One participant stated that the laws are written well, but they are not implemented in practice.
Nevenka Ricallo from Ruca Ruci, stated that “we are the ones that should push the implementation of these laws. The first step is to know these laws better so we can start to advocate about it.”
The girls and women who participated had the opportunity to learn more about the Law on Gender Equality, Law on Local Self-Government, and Law on Inheritance. From the discussions, the conclusion that was reached was that most women do not know how to approach the institutions that are responsible for enforcing the laws that are supposed to protect women’s rights in theory. Both organizations will work towards educating young girls and women about how to advocate for their own rights in addition to continuing to raise awareness about the mentioned laws that are in place in order to secure women’s rights.

“This activity was organized as part of the initiative "Women’s empowerment though the establishment and activation of two women’s groups that will raise awareness for women’s rights and their participation in decision-making processes", supported by Kosova Women’s Fund (KWF) in amount of €7.740 and financed by European Union Office in Prishtina.

18.06.25

Workshop Held on Social Services, Rights, and Other Mechanisms

12.06.25

Activists Engage in President’s Global Forum on Women, Peace and Security

30.05.25

WCSOs Ask: What’s the Real Cost of Specialised Services for Gender-based Violence? 

30.05.25

Budget Red Lines: Community Session Calls for Action on Menstrual Poverty

30.05.25

The Institutional Crisis Continues to Contribute to Discrimination Against Women

29.05.25

Preventing and Protecting Blind Women and Girls in Kosovo from Violence

KWN held its 13th Annual Meeting, KWN and Lobby for Gender Equality in Kosovo demand resolving the case of Donjeta Pajaziti and Express Solidarity with her family

31.10.2015

28.03.25

Reaction of the Kosovo Women’s Network to the Recent Killings in Kosovo due to illegal weapons

08.11.24

Press Release – Recommendations for the Kosovo Parliament

05.11.24

Response to Klan Kosova – Do Not Promote the Perpetrators

04.11.24

Violence Against the Minor is Intolerable – KWN Calls for Justice and Immediate Action

17.10.24

Letter to the Chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca

14.10.24

Reaction: KWN calls for an urgent solution to the strike of technical workers of the Assembly

Citizens Called to Contribute to Ground Breaking Research to Inform New Labour Law

31.10.2015

Download File

28.03.25

Reaction of the Kosovo Women’s Network to the Recent Killings in Kosovo due to illegal weapons

08.11.24

Press Release – Recommendations for the Kosovo Parliament

05.11.24

Response to Klan Kosova – Do Not Promote the Perpetrators

04.11.24

Violence Against the Minor is Intolerable – KWN Calls for Justice and Immediate Action

17.10.24

Letter to the Chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca

14.10.24

Reaction: KWN calls for an urgent solution to the strike of technical workers of the Assembly

KWN Condemns Woman Deputy’s Condoning of Gender Discriminatory Speech in Parliament

31.10.2015

Download File

28.03.25

Reaction of the Kosovo Women’s Network to the Recent Killings in Kosovo due to illegal weapons

08.11.24

Press Release – Recommendations for the Kosovo Parliament

05.11.24

Response to Klan Kosova – Do Not Promote the Perpetrators

04.11.24

Violence Against the Minor is Intolerable – KWN Calls for Justice and Immediate Action

17.10.24

Letter to the Chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca

14.10.24

Reaction: KWN calls for an urgent solution to the strike of technical workers of the Assembly

KWN participates in Gender in Value Chain Development Course

30.10.2015

From Oct. 5-9, thePromoting Private Sector Employment (PPSE) project in Kosovo held a Gender in Value Chain Development Course, where approximately 20 representatives participated. Among them, were representatives from the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), the public sector and other project implementing agencies, Joel Alcocer and Grania Mackie, experts of International Training Center (ITC) of the International Labour Organization (ILO), were in charge of facilitating the training. Tailored to participants with experience in value chain development, the training provided tools for the inclusion of gender aspects in the analysis of value chains and sought to devise gender strategies that enhance empowerment and incomes for all stakeholder groups.
A value chain is the full set of different activities that a business goes through in order to bring a product or service to their customer. A value chain also refers to the model of how a business receives the raw material as an input, it adds value to the raw material by going through different processes, and then sells the finished product to its customers.
“KWN participated in this training not only because gender as an issue is tackled, but also because women’s economic empowerment is one of the five programmatic areas included in KWN’s Strategy 2015-2018. The long-term goal of this program is: Women and men have equal economic opportunities at home and in the public sphere,” said KWN’s representative at the opening session of the training.

By offering different materials and a lot of group work for participants, the training aimed to:

Clarify gender goals and objectives for value chain development, distinguishing between “do no harm”, gender inclusion, women’s empowerment and gender transformation.
Equip participants with tools and knowledge to develop sustainable gender strategies comprised of gender change solutions capable of market uptake and time bound gender interventions which can catalyze these solutions.
Increase understanding of the business arguments and culturally relevant strategies for gender transformation which will improve quality of outcomes for women and men at different levels of the value chain.
Equip participants with tools and knowledge to develop convincing and sustainable business models for gender solutions to both improve chain efficiency and promote women’s empowerment and gender transformation.
Develop participatory skills to use effective participatory tools which can be transferred for gender and value chain work in different contexts and organizational settings.
Develop personal action plans to implement and communicate what participants have learned enabling them to make a difference in their work and bring others on board, mobilize resources and other leaders.

The training also emphasized the rationale for promoting gender equality, including information on how equality of opportunity and women’s empowerment are essential for economic growth, enterprise efficiency, poverty reduction strategies, as well as a key goal of national and international commitments to women’s human rights and gender justice.

The Promoting Private Sector Employment (PPSE)project in Kosovo, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Kosovo (SDC) and implemented by Swiss contact (lead partner), Riinvest Institute and PEM Consult, is a project working with the private sector and aims to enhance its competency in supporting women’s economic empowerment.

18.06.25

Workshop Held on Social Services, Rights, and Other Mechanisms

12.06.25

Activists Engage in President’s Global Forum on Women, Peace and Security

30.05.25

WCSOs Ask: What’s the Real Cost of Specialised Services for Gender-based Violence? 

30.05.25

Budget Red Lines: Community Session Calls for Action on Menstrual Poverty

30.05.25

The Institutional Crisis Continues to Contribute to Discrimination Against Women

29.05.25

Preventing and Protecting Blind Women and Girls in Kosovo from Violence

Citizens Called to Contribute to Ground Breaking Research to Inform New Labour Law

28.10.2015

True or false: the maternity leave provisions in Kosovo are contributing to unemployment among women, due to discrimination in hiring? How much are businesses suffering financially from maternity leave provisions? Are men discriminated against considering the short time allotted for paternity leave? KWN believes that these and other questions pertaining to the Labour Law have not been sufficiently answered by existing research.

Therefore, KWN is currently conducting research with the aim of informing the new Labour Law with research based findings on topics such as maternity leave and paternity leave. Driven by an official request from the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Mr Arban Abrashi, to come up with recommendations and our believe that an important law like this one should be drafted based on citizens’ input, KWN is working on this influential policy changing research. As no public consultations concerning this law have taken place yet, this is a good and important opportunity for Kosovo citizens to express their ideas and concerns related to this law and the policies stemming from it which directly affect their daily lives. KWN has not received any funding or donation for this initiative and depends on citizens’ contributions and voluntarism to realize this important research.

Citizens can contribute their important experiences and opinions to this research by taking these online surveys, which will close this Friday, Oct. 30:

for women: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Ligji_i_Punes_per_Grate and

for men:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CKBY32F

Its also available in Serbian:

for women: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Upitnik_o_novom_Zakonu_o_radu_za_zene and

for men: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5YTD9ZK

KWN welcomes citizens’ input to inform this new law!

18.06.25

Workshop Held on Social Services, Rights, and Other Mechanisms

12.06.25

Activists Engage in President’s Global Forum on Women, Peace and Security

30.05.25

WCSOs Ask: What’s the Real Cost of Specialised Services for Gender-based Violence? 

30.05.25

Budget Red Lines: Community Session Calls for Action on Menstrual Poverty

30.05.25

The Institutional Crisis Continues to Contribute to Discrimination Against Women

29.05.25

Preventing and Protecting Blind Women and Girls in Kosovo from Violence

KWN Condemns Woman Deputy’s Condoning of Gender Discriminatory Speech in Parliament

27.10.2015

Last night on the television program InfoMagazine on KLAN Kosova, LDK Assembly Member Besa Gaxherri said that the offensive words used by President of the Parliament Kadri Veseli during last Friday’s parliamentary session can be forgiven because “he is a man.”

As a woman deputy, Ms. Gaxherri should be embarrassed for condoning rather than condemning discriminatory speech used against women in the parliament.

First, Mr. Veseli violated aspects of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovothat he has the responsibility to implement in accordance with Article 41. Rather than ensuring order, he engaged in “discourteous and inappropriate conduct”, used “unparliamentary language” and, more specifically, used “offensive, defamatory, [and] offending language” against women. Further, he arguably violated the Law on Protection from Discrimination (2015) and more specifically the Law on Gender Equality (2015) by engaging in gender “discrimination”: “when an individual is treated less favourably on grounds of gender.”

By excusing his acts “because he is a man”, Ms. Gaxherri accepted Mr. Veseli’s engagement in direct gender discrimination, violating Kosovo law and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.

Second, the condoning of men’s discriminatory behaviour only allows such behaviour to continue by considering it socially acceptable. As a woman deputy, Ms. Gaxherri has an even greater responsibility to condemn gender discrimination when it occurs. In condoning his statement, she is undermining her own as well as other women’s ability to lead, by creating an enabling environment for the spread of gender discrimination that ultimately undermines women’s position as political leaders.

We call upon all deputies to follow the Rules of Procedure and implement the laws of Kosovo by not engaging in discriminatory speech or supporting persons who do.

Further, we strongly encourage the Group of Women Deputies to come forward with a public reaction against gender discrimination and any justification of such gender discrimination as violations of Kosovo law. If the Group of Women Deputies does not react they are, in their inaction, allowing for continued gender discrimination to occur, which undermines their positions as women leaders as well as the opportunities for women to lead in the future.

18.06.25

Workshop Held on Social Services, Rights, and Other Mechanisms

12.06.25

Activists Engage in President’s Global Forum on Women, Peace and Security

30.05.25

WCSOs Ask: What’s the Real Cost of Specialised Services for Gender-based Violence? 

30.05.25

Budget Red Lines: Community Session Calls for Action on Menstrual Poverty

30.05.25

The Institutional Crisis Continues to Contribute to Discrimination Against Women

29.05.25

Preventing and Protecting Blind Women and Girls in Kosovo from Violence

AGE launches First Monitoring Report on the Progress of Implementation of the Action Plan to implement Resoultion 1325

08.10.2015

On 8 October, the Agency for Gender Equality (AGE) launched the first monitoring report on the progress of implementation of the Action Plan to implement Resolution 1325. Participants in this event included representatives of various institutions of Kosovo, most of whom have also been part of the technical group for the drafting of the Action plan itself. This report was drafted by Linda Eriksson in close cooperation with AGE.
The launch included presentations of the main findings of this report, the methodology of data collection, as well as the research limitations. It should be kept in mind that the reporting period includes only the year 2014, results achieved in 2015 will be reflected in the second monitoring report, to be launched in 2016.
The Action Plan foresees three main pillars according to which the objectives were drafted

Increased participation of women in decisio nmaking, peacebuilding and peacekeeping processes
Integrated gender perspective in security affairs and increased women’s participation in the security forces
Survivors of sexual violence, torture and other forms of violence associated with conflict have improved access to protection, access to justice, rehabilitation and re-integration.

The main findings of the report, include figures showing that during the reporting period (2014), 33.3% of all indicators have been achieved, 39,4% of the planned activities have began; while 21.2% of activities have not began at all. On the other hand, for 6.1% of activities, no data was abailable.

The publication of this report was supported by UN Women.

18.06.25

Workshop Held on Social Services, Rights, and Other Mechanisms

12.06.25

Activists Engage in President’s Global Forum on Women, Peace and Security

30.05.25

WCSOs Ask: What’s the Real Cost of Specialised Services for Gender-based Violence? 

30.05.25

Budget Red Lines: Community Session Calls for Action on Menstrual Poverty

30.05.25

The Institutional Crisis Continues to Contribute to Discrimination Against Women

29.05.25

Preventing and Protecting Blind Women and Girls in Kosovo from Violence

The 11th Handicraft Fair has Started

07.10.2015

Women’s Center “Open Door” organized the 11^thedition of the Handicraft Fair. The fair is taking place at Square “Skenderbeu” in Prishtina from 6 until 8 October. Its aim is to promote culturalheritage and also to empower women.

“There are 120 participants in this fair and most of them are women.” Said Belgjyzare Muharremi, the organizer. “This fair is a great opportunity for women that are participating, because this way they can economically empower themselves and promote their work.”

For three days, the fair brings for visitors, applied art works, unique craft work in different materials, in textile, stone metal, folk, costumes, works in different styles and also traditional food that are part of the traditional culture in heritage of Kosovo and region.

18.06.25