Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality Established

03.12.2014

Since 2010, the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) has supported Gender Equality Advocacy Groups (GEAG) in several Kosovo municipalities. During the third GEAG meeting, “Women Advocate in Local and Central Level,” on 21-23 Nov. in Struga, Macedonia, 64 women from politics and civil society from 17 municipalities established the Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality with a declaration signed by all participants. The establishment of the Lobby provides space for men and boys of Kosovo who support equal rights between women and men to join the movement in support of gender equality in Kosovo.
     GEAG representatives reported several advocacy achievements within their municipalities in 2014: informal education for women and girls; employment and self-employment of women; increased participation of women on municipal committees; support for women farmers and businesses; providing mammographies and free check-ups for breast cancer; financing shelters; and the start-up of a reintegration program for gender-based violence survivors. KWN has been supporting their advocacy initiatives towards achieving these aims, among others, in 2014.
     Afterwards, participants divided into groups based on their municipalities to identify three issues for which they will advocate in 2015. Some of the planned initiatives include: raise awareness among women for them to exercise their right to participate in budget policy making; ensure regular, free health check-ups; build day care centres and homes for elderly persons where they do not exist; support women in business; advance women’s position in decision-making; advocate, lobby and monitor the implementation of planned gender responsive budgeting; and support women farmers and their access to support for agriculture.
     During the meeting, Igballe Rogova, KWN Executive Director, also presented the new KWN Strategy for 2015-2018. Participants discussed in particular KWN’s program “Empowering women in politics and decision-making”.
     "KWN’s Strategy includes in a very detailed and clear way all of KWN’s work for the three coming years,” said a participant. “And it is a huge work, so all that is left for us to do is to support you and give our contributions towards achieving it.”
     Further, Nicole Farnsworth, KWN Program Manager, presented on the topic of “Institutionalizing gender responsive budgeting,” offering participants specific techniques and examples. Participants received a Practical Guide handbook by KWN on how to carry out gender responsive budgeting at the local level (printing funded by GIZ).
     “The presentation was very much needed and clear,” said one participant. “Therefore I think the same one should be presented to other officials, in municipalities and ministries throughout Kosovo.”
     This meeting was supported by Austrian Development Agency (ADA) towards empowering more women’s participation in politics and decision-making.

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KWN Receives EU Support for First Time

03.12.2014

The Kosova Women’s Network (KWN) is pleased to officially announce that on 12 Nov., for the first time, we signed a contract with the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo.
The two-year “Strengthening Women-led Civil Society Organisations in Kosovo” Initiative is set to begin on 1 Jan. 2015 and to continue through 31 Dec. 2016. The purpose of the project is to strengthen local civil society organizations’ (CSOs) capacities; increase participation; and improve quality of input in decision and policy making processes at the local level.

Through this initiative, KWN will achieve the following expected results:

1. KWN members will be better able to plan, fundraise for, and undertake effective advocacy initiatives at the local level
2. KWN members will involve more women in decision-making processes, particularly in rural areas and from minority or marginalized groups

KWN will achieve these aims through interactive workshops and individualized mentoring for its members; bimonthly meetings; transparently distributing at least 25 grants to women-led CSOs amounting to €100,000; networking; awareness-raising; and advocacy.

The EU’s support will be crucial in contributing to the implementation of KWN’s recently adopted Strategy for 2015-2018.

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KWN, ADA Sign Three-year Contract to Advance Women’s Rights in Kosovo

28.11.2014

On 27 November 2014, The Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) announced their continued cooperation for three years via the “Advancing Women’s Rights Initiative”.

Mr. Karlheinz Kopf, the Vice President of the Austrian Parliament; Christian Geosits, Head of Office of ADA in Kosovo; Igballe Rogova, Executive Director of KWN; and Ariana Qosaj-Mustafa, Chair of the KWN Board of Directors, spoke at a press conference yesterday, announcing this continued cooperation. Mr. Johann Brieger, the Ambassador of Austria in Kosovo also attended.

“On behalf of our parliament, allow me to say that we are very happy that our state is supporting the agenda of women’s issues in Kosovo. With this cooperation, today we are opening a new chapter,” said Mr. Karlheinz Kopf. “To have an open society, we need women also to have important decision-making positions. That is why it is important to have organizations such as yours that create opportunities for women. When we support KWN, we are supporting all women and girls of Kosovo.”

The contract was officially signed by Christian Geosits, ADA Head of Office in Kosovo and Igballe Rogova, KWN Executive Director.

“One of the main issues where ADA works is advancing women’s rights,” said Christian Geosits. “We work with partners where we know that the outcome will be what we were hoping for in the beginning. We found a very strong, I think the strongest actor in this country for women’s rights in the Kosovo Women’s Network.”

The Advancing Women’s Rights Initiative is set to begin on 15 December 2014 and to continue through 31 December 2017. The purpose of the project is to improve the capacities of women-led civil society organizations (CSOs) and public officials in supporting, protecting and promoting women’s and girls’ rights and interests. Through this initiative, KWN will achieve the following expected results:

  1. Women-led CSOs will have formed, cooperated in coalitions towards and engaged with officials in rights-based advocacy.
  2. Women’s participation in politics and decision-making in municipal and national levels will be further increased and improved, as per the Law on Gender Equality.
  3. Awareness of and attention to addressing gender-based violence will be improved among officials and citizens.

KWN will achieve these aims through interactive workshops and individualized mentoring for its members and public officials (including towards institutionalizing gender responsive budgeting); transparently distributing at least 29 grants to women-led CSOs amounting to €122,000; networking; awareness-raising; research; and advocacy.

ADA’s support will be crucial in contributing to the implementation of KWN’s recently adopted Strategy for 2015-2018. Further, it will build on key results achieved during ADA’s prior two years of supporting KWN.

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Feminist Forum FemACT Organizes March against Sexual Harassment in Public Spaces, as part of #TakeBackTheNight Campaign

27.11.2014

                                                                    

                                                                                               29 November 2014, 20:00
                                                                            In front of National Theatre, Prishtina, Kosovo

On 29 Nov., in front of the National Theatre in Prishtina at 20:00, The Feminist Forum FemACT, a Kosova Women’s Network (KWN) supported initiative, will organize a march against sexual harassment in public spaces.
 
On 22 Nov. the Feminist Forum FemACT initiated a debate in social media as part of the campaign #TakeBackTheNight (#NataËshtëEJona), and this debate will continue until 29 Nov., when the march will take place.  
 
Through this campaign, the Feminist Forum FemACT has achieved to trigger different reactions: positive and negative. The unification and mobilizing of women and girls, men and boys, regardless of their age and profession, is very inspiring for everyone who supported #TakeBackTheNight by posting different quotations about sexual harassment on their Facebook statuses each day.  
We invite you to join us in the march that will be held on 29 Nov. at 20:00 in front of the National Theatre.
 
 
The Strategy of KWN includes a program for empowering young women and girls to participate more in the women’s movement. As part of this program, the group “femACT – we go beyond talking” was founded. It consists of many young feminists and activists from different regions of Kosovo. FemACT is open for everyone, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or religion.  

FemACT is a platform where young women feminists and men feminists can share information and organize public actions towards gender equality. Also, it offers a space for discussions related to feminism, societal issues in Kosovo related to gender, as well as mobilizing for different causes of great importance. FemACT is a combination of a discussion group and action group. Its main mission is to raise awareness of the population and institutions about issues relating to gender equality present in Kosovo’s society.  

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About Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality

27.11.2014

Since 2010, the Kosova Women’s Network (KWN) has supported the activities of Gender Equality Advocacy Groups (GEAG) in different municipalities of Kosova. The third GEAGs’ meeting marked the establishment of Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality, with a declaration signed by all participants.
     The etablishment of the Lobby provides space for men and boys of Kosovo who support equal rights between women and men, to join the group.
     Members of this Lobby can be women and men, boys and girls, from throughout Kosovo who share this vision, regardless of political party affiliation, gender, age, ethnicity, ability, religion, geographic location, level of education, or socioeconomic status.
    Lobby groups continue to operate at the municipal level and have selected issues on which they will advocate in 2015 towards gender equality. They will also collaborate for national level advocacy initiatives.
     For further details, please contact info@womensnetwork.org 

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CSOs Learn Techniques on “How to Approach Media”

25.11.2014

During the workshop “How to Approach Media?”, led by Xheraldina Buçinca Vula, Deputy Director of RTV21, paricipants learned techniques regarding when and how to approach media. Also, attention was paid to methods of expression, modes of creation, management, promotion and dissemination of information, as well as the code of conduct in media appearances. Participants also learned about skills, types, dynamics and styles of communication.
     “Today when the media plays such a big role in society, where 90% of the information comes precisely from them, communication skills have a great importance,” said Xheraldina Buçinca Vula during the workshop. “Whether you develop a simple or short interview, if you receive a statement or do a stand-up, or read on microphone or camera a message for journalists, you must be a person with whom the audience feels good and believes in.”
     Given the dynamics of technology development and the place of social networks, participants also discussed how these networks operate, why should they be used to promote organizations’ work and how to use them well.
     “Media presentation and the forwarding of information to the public through the media is very important for promoting the work of organizations,” said one participant. “This workshop offered us the opportunity to learn many new things in this area. We will undoubtedly use it in our everyday work.”
 

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Artpolis, KWN Members Discuss Art, Advocacy

25.11.2014

During the KWN retreat in Durres, member organizations had the opportunity to learn new methods for using art in advocacy. The workshop began creatively with deep meditation. As members held each other’s hands with their eyes closed, they discovered parts of themselves for which they were unaware before.
    “I felt good, but it was a bit of a problem for me to keep my eyes closed,” said Drita Citaku from Down Syndrome Kosova.
   The trainer, Zana Hoxha – Krasniqi, Director of Artpolis, said that “This happens to us because we do not face ourselves as women (individual beings), but mostly as women and girls who surrender to their family, their work and to the norms established by society. We need to learn how to communicate with ourselves.”
     Zana briefly presented Artpolis as an organization and the work they have done since 2004 when the organization was established. They mentioned the Femme Fatale festival, which was the first feminist festival organized in the region. One participant expressed her will to participate in the next festival as a performer.
     “I have always wanted to be an actor. When I was little, I once performed in a play so therefore I would like to try it again,” she said.
    After this, participants divided in groups. Each group chose a social issue that they would like to advocate for through art. They chose different ways of using art to present problems to the public. The first group chose to advocate for the issue of sexual harassment in workplaces through a skit. The second group chose poverty as an issue they would present through an art exhibition. They planned to organize this for 1June, a day celebrating Children’s Day. The third group chose to advocate for the issue of violence against women by organizing a protest with banners.
     In the end of the session, participants shared their impressions about the workshop.
    “Advocacy through art is the best way to understand our work as activists. Participating in this training made me realize that we can all give our own contribution through art. I think that your performances are very useful and important and that is why we should work following your example,” said Zuhra Kani from MWAHR organization.

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Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality Established

22.11.2014

On 21 November 2014, 64 women from politics and civil society from 17 municipalities established the Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality.
The Lobby for Gender Equality was established during the third meeting of Gender Equality Advocacy Groups, which currently is taking place in Struga, Macedonia.

Since 2010, the Kosova Women’s Network (KWN) has supported the activities of Gender Equality Advocacy Groups (GEAG) in different municipalities of Kosova. During this meeting in Struga, GEAG members decided that men and boys who support equal rights for women and men may also have the opportunity to join this group.

“The Declaration establishing the Lobby for Gender Equality” stated:

We, the undersigned, from politics and civil society, on 21 November 2014 establish the Lobby for Gender Equality. As members of this Lobby, we commit to working together towards achieving gender equality in Kosovo, regardless of our political party affiliation, gender, age, ethnicity, ability, religion, geographic location, level of education, or socioeconomic status. We collaborate towards realizing our shared vision of gender equality through exchanging experiences and information, partnerships, networking, advocacy, and serving the needs of all citizens of Kosovo.

Members of this Lobby can be women and men, boys and girls, from throughout Kosovo who share this vision.

The meeting in Struga was supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).
 

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KWN Launches New Strategy for 2015-2018, Documentary for Kosovo Women’s Fund

20.11.2014

Today the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) launched its new Strategy for 2015-2018. The audience included KWN members, police, officials from the judiciary, officers for gender equality, international partners and representatives from the KWN Board of Directors, among others.
   “The Kosovo Women’s Network is a reflection of emancipated women in our society, an example and an inspiration for future generations,” said the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga in her video message.
   While mentioning KWN’s current work, Edona Hajrullahu, Chief Executive Officer of the Agency for Gender Equality in the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo expressed her readiness to continue cooperation in the future.
   “From their very cooperative and inclusive approach, KWN is one of the most powerful networks in the region,”
said Hajrullahu. “With KWN we have worked very closely and will continue in the future, towards addressing issues that are a priority for women and girls.”
   During this event, Christian Geosits from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) also announced officially that ADA will continue its support for KWN for the next three years. Further, for the first time KWN will receive financial support from the European Union Office in Kosovo, for two years. Support from ADA and the EU will be crucial for KWN in implementing its new strategy.
   “Strategies are not written to stay on paper; only we together are able to transform strategies into working agendas so that we can really shake the world and make it a better place,” said Gaby Hagmuller, Team Leader, Social Development, European Union Office in Kosovo/EU Special Representative. “We will support KWN and its member organizations to effectively raise capacities and involve women in decision-making.”
   A further topic of discussion was KWN’s cooperation with other actors and interest groups.
   “It is important to understand the role of civil society because what they do is create a channel to transform these ideas and commitments into action,” said Andrew Russell, UN Development Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative.
    Ariana Qosaj-Mustafa, Chair of the KWN Board of Directors presented KWN’s new Strategy for 2015-2018. KWN members, its Board of Directors, partners and other stakeholders compiled KWN’s new Strategy, identifying five priorities for KWN:

  • Building the Capacities of KWN;
  • Women in Politics and Decision-making;
  • Women’s Right to Quality Healthcare;
  • Against Gender-based Violence; and
  • Women’s Economic Empowerment.

     Also during this event KWN screened for the first time its documentary film about the Kosovo Women’s Fund, which began in 2012 to support the activities of KWN’s member organizations.

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Documentary Kosovo Women’s Fund

20.11.2014

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