FemACT Raises Awareness about Breast Cancer in Gjilan

18.11.2014

 On 9 Nov., young women in femACT Gjilan organized an awareness-raising event on breast cancer. Their goal was to raise awareness among their fellow citizens on preventive methods and dangers of breast cancer.
They positioned themselves in the city center, in front of the theater. Their strategy was to stop citizens passing by and offer them brochures with all necessary information regarding breast cancer. They brought cakes and sweets, so as to gain the attention of as many people as possible.
“We were afraid that people would just throw away our brochures immediately, without reading them. So we prepared cakes and sweets so that people will stop and talk to us,” said one young woman.
In general, the organizers were very happy with how the event went.
“We had a great time today,” said Klementina Kastrati, one of the young women who organized the event. “Most citizens were very happy to stop and talk to us, and they were thankful that we had organized this activity.”
Unfortunately, the organizers soon learned that many of their fellow citizens were not informed at all about this topic and lacked basic knowledge about breast cancer.
“Some citizens were not interested in hearing us out at all. The men would tell us that it is not their business, while many women just turned their head away,” said Majla Salihu. “We even experienced one woman who thought that breast cancer is caused by poor hygiene and “love”.”
Qendresa Hjdari, a representative from the local organization Gruaja Hyjnore came to show her support for femACT’s initiative. “I am very happy to see young women organizing such activities in our city,” she said.
This was the first public initiative organized by young women involved in FemAct. They said that this is only their first activity and that there will be many more to come in the near future.

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Coalition Calls on Kosovars to Register Property, “For Our Common Good”

05.11.2014

 On 30 Oct. in Prishtina, a broad coalition of local and international actors launched the national campaign “For Our Common Good,” which seeks to improve gender equality in property registration.
     Approximately 14% of property in Kosovo is registered under women’s names or as property jointly owned by women and men, according to the Cadastral Agency of Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Country Gender Profile, only approximately 7.9% of property is owned solely by women. Women’s unequal ownership of property hampers their access to loans for opening or expanding businesses because they lack collateral. It also places women in a precarious position economically as they must rely on family members’ good will and support.
     “Property and inheritance rights offer an opportunity for women to escape from poverty,” the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, said during the launching ceremony.
     In her remarks, U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Tracy Ann Jacobson emphasized the importance of “fair and efficient property procedures,” lest women be disempowered economically, lack economic security and lack access to credit. The U.S. is investing in improving court procedures in Kosovo. However, in addition to these, Ambassador Jacobson emphasized that ensuring women’s access to property requires “an attitude adjustment” within the society as well.
     Several other speakers similarly emphasized the importance of shifting current cultural norms according to which women rarely inherit or register property in Kosovo.
     “We are not Harry Potter and things will not change with the wave of a magic wand,” said GIZ Country Director James Macbeth. “But we can continue to work towards it.”
     The campaign involves a catchy video spot available here and website with information about property registration web. KWN and its member organizations are part of the campaign and plan to support awareness-raising at the local level in the near future.
     Following the official launching of the campaign, two panel discussions examined gender equality, property and inheritance in further detail. In general, panelists in both sessions agreed that there are two primary, interrelated challenges facing Kosovar society when it comes to property and inheritance rights: the non-implementation of legislation and the conflict between traditional laws and current legislation.
     During the second panel, Mr. Gunther Fehlinger from GIZ noted that a key problem is the lack of coordination between cadasters and courts regarding property registration. Baki Gimolli, Head of the Legal Department in the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kosovo added that now that the Notary System is functioning, it should also be harmonized with the courts and cadaster offices.
     According to the non-contentious procedure, there should be coordination between municipalities and courts. After someone’s death, the first step should be taken by municipalities, who compile a list of the assets of the deceased person and forward it to the court. The court then has to invite all inheritors and discuss the matter with them. Now, the notary law has been added to this procedure, to aid the courts. However, this procedure is almost never implemented in this exact manner. “The interests of inheritors are completely ignored,” said Ardian Alidema, National Civil Legal Officer, OSCE, which has monitored the implementation of these procedures. “Especially the rights of women and girls are ignored because of the non-implementation of the procedure. We need to act to have it implemented.”
     Luljeta Demolli from the Kosovo Center for Gender Studies added that different women face different issues: “We need to analyze the specific situation of young women, married women, divorced women and widows,” she said. All of these women face different challenges when it comes to property and inheritance rights.”
     Valbona Salihu, Executive Director of NORMA said that another problem is the overly complicated procedure, which is difficult to follow. Moreover, the laws and the procedures are not fully understood by the institutions themselves. “We had one case where a woman was denied by the cadastral office in Prizren and was told that property registration is now the competence of the Notary, not the Cadastral office. They had misunderstood that it is now a joint competence.”
     Finally, Haxhi Gashi, Professor of Law at the University of Prishtina, strongly recommended that the right to renounce property should be prohibited, as it leads to disadvantages for women regarding property and inheritance rights.
     The “For Our Common Good” campaign is under the patronage of the Office of the President of Kosovo and supported by GIZ, USAID, Women for Women International, KWN, the Norma Women Lawyers’ Association, OSCE, She-Era, G7 and SHPRK, Kosovo Banking Association, Kosovo Women’s Chamber of Commerce, and the Kosovo Association for Geodesy.
     Furthering women’s access to property and inheritance is an important aspect of the KWN Strategic Plan, under our broader aim of women’s economic empowerment. KWN remains committed to supporting additional awareness-raising efforts on this issue in the future.
     Several other actors are working towards similar aims. The Agency for Gender Equality in the Office of the Prime Minister is forming a working group to draft an administrative instruction that would lesson and/or remove tariffs and taxes for a short period of time, towards easing the costs affiliated with the joint registration of property. KWN has emphasized that such an instruction should not discriminate against single women and women heads of households who also face challenges with property registration. 
     The Cadastral Office and World Bank are collaborating in financing the surveying process of 50 cadastral zones, simplifying the free registration of property. USAID is supporting TetraTech in. The European Union is supporting a GIZ-led consortium in the Support to Civil Code and Property Rights Project, which seeks to support the drafting of a new Civil Code for Kosovo in line with European standards. The Code would harmonize inheritance and property laws, among others. 
     The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning is collaborating with USAID/Chemonics to support the registration of illegal properties as per the Law on Legalization and the Law of the Legalization of Unpermitted Construction
     OSCE is supporting training of trainers, including from civil society, women’s caucus members and other officials to assist women in pursuing their property rights. They are also developing a manual to facilitate this process.
For more information how to register a property please click here.

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Former EU Parliamentarians Hear about Role of Women in Kosovo

03.11.2014

 Representatives from the Former Members Association of the European Parliament (FMA) discussed the position of women in Kosovo with a Kosova Women’s Network (KWN) representative on 14 Oct. at the EU office in Kosovo.

     KWN’s representative provided a summary of the main challenges that women face in Kosovo and how KWN is working to address those challenges: women’s unequal participation in politics and decision-making at all levels; violations of women’s right to quality healthcare; gender-based violence; and women’s unequal participation in the labour market and gender-discrimination in hiring.
     Former parliamentarians then asked a series of questions to which KWN responded, some of which are summarized in the table below:
 
Question
KWN Response

Is the Kanun still applied in Kosovo?

As a law or public policy, no. Laws replaced these cultural “rules” long ago. However, the remnants of the Kanun (not its direct implementation) can be seen in a few remaining social practices, such property ownership that often, albeit not always, passes along patrilineal lines. This is not true of the entire population, but only a few people and moreso in rural areas.
Does Kosovo have a quota for women’s participation in politics?
Yes, political party lists used in elections should include at least one woman and one man in every three positions. E.g. at least one-third of any political party’s list must be comprised of women and men, respectively. Thus, women comprise approximately 30% of the parliament and municipal assemblies. However, this notably fails to achieve the 40% participation at all levels foreseen by the Law on Gender Equality.
Do women’s shelters have sufficient funding from the state?
While shelters receive some funding from the state, it is not sufficient to cover all of their costs. Also some key costs will not be financed by the state, such as staff positions. For more information, see KWN’s research: At What Cost?KWN continues to advocate for shelters’ costs to be fully covered by the state.
Do women and men have an equal right to inheritance and property?
Yes. According to the Law on Inheritance, they should inherit equal shares.
Can women buy property without the signature of their husbands?
Yes.
With regard to gender discrimination in hiring, is it only against women of child-bearing years; would older women with extensive experience and expertise get positions?
It is difficult to know for sure because there has not been any study on this, and this is an area in need of research. We have heard some reports of ageism in hiring, such as employers wanting younger people who are thought to be more knowledgeable in computers and technology, but no known research has been conducted in this regard. Among women in their post-childbearing years, a limited percentage have extensive experience. Yugoslav statistics suggest that women’s labour force participation reached 23% at the highest in 1988. Regional Employment Centres state that lack of qualification is among the reasons why they struggle to find employment particularly for older women.
Does KWN work with different ethnic groups and target them through its programs?
Yes, KWN as a network has member organizations led by Serbian, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, Albanian, and Bosnian women. These and other members target diverse ethnic groups through their work. KWN also collaborates with women’s groups in South East Europe of diverse ethnicities.
Do boys’ and girls’ level of education and enrolment differ?
The gap has decreased substantially. Gross Primary Enrolment 96% female, 95% male. Gross Upper Secondary Enrolment 88% female, 96% male..  Now more women tend to enrol in university than men. However, clear differences exist in the types of programs girls and boys tend to enrol in. Gross Tertiary Enrolment (women dominate education, philosophy, philology; men dominate construction, architecture, mechanical engineering; gender balance in law, economics, and medicine) 45% female and 55% male.
Does the society respect women and do women respect and support each other?
It depends. It is difficult to homogenize people. Some women in society are very much respected by some people. Other people do not respect women. Within the family there are still particular roles within some (not all) families whereby mother’s and mothers-in-laws have much greater power within the family than young women. While some women support each other, others try to undermine each other.
 
     Established in 2001, the FMA gathers approximately 700 former members of the European Parliament to share their experiences and expertise via seminars, conferences, and democracy-building activities. Every year they organize a study visit that involves both sightseeing and political dialogue. During their visit to Kosovo from 11 to 19 Oct. they have met with political leaders and representatives of various civil society groups, among other actors.
 

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OSCE Launches Paper on Women’s Leadership in Independent Institutions

01.11.2014

On 31 Oct., the OSCE Mission in Kosovo presented a paper on “Women’s Representation in Senior Decision-making Positions of Independent Institutions in Kosovo” at Hotel Sirius in Prishtina. The discussion paper provides data, as well as identifies obstacles to women’s participation in leadership positions within independent institutions in Kosovo.
     OSCE’s survey of 25 independent institutions in March 2014 found that 13 of these institutions do not have any women board members, whereas only approximately 18% of all board members in these institutions are women.
     “In order for these institutions to be legitimate in the eyes of the public, they need to be representative of the population,” OSCE stated in the paper. Women’s participation in decision-making positions is important as per the Law on Gender Equality, which calls for women’s and men’s 40% participations at all levels of decision-making. Evidence also suggests that women’s participation can contribution to better organizational performance, the paper stated.
     On behalf of KWN, Nicole Farnsworth, Program Manager and Lead Researcher, added during the panel discussion that women’s participation in decision-making also can help to ensure that independent institutions’ policies, programs and services, as relevant, meet the potentially unique needs and interests of women.
     Key challenges to women’s participation in decision-making positions identified by the paper include: party politicization in the selection process, which favors male candidates; a lack of political will among those selecting and appointing positions to include women; the general difficulties that women face in combining family and career roles; inequality in maternity and paternity leave that places the burden of childcare on women; the lack of mandatory quotas in independent institutions; and insufficient anti-sexual harassment policies in institutions.
     Towards addressing these challenges, Farnsworth emphasized the importance of affordable public daycare that would enable more women to enter the public workforce; introducing affirmative actions and quotas in hiring and appointment processes, among candidates that have met pre-determined criteria in terms of skills and experience; ensuring that anti-sexual harassment policies exist and are enforced; introducing paternity leave towards safeguarding men’s rights to participate in parenting; and continuing to support women in developing their leadership skills. She stated that KWN remains committed to encouraging and supporting more women in entering such positions.  
     A recommendation resulting from the discussion was that OSCE should consider publishing an updated paper that examines each independent institution separately as the internal organizational structures of institutions differ. For example, the Office of the Auditor General does not have a Board of Directors and thus the data is misleading, said Mr. Artan Venhari, from the Office of the General Auditor. The future paper could also include recommendations for addressing inequalities.
     The discussion paper is available onlinein Albanian, Serbian and English languages. 
 

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Mobile Mammography Machine will Serve Women throughout Kosovo

31.10.2014

 One in eight women in the world is affected by breast cancer. The number of women affected by it, is rapidly growing globally. In Kosovo, the number of women who detect cancer in its early phases remains very low.
    Within the scope of early cancer detection month, the Ministry of Health received a Mobile Mammography machine, which was made possible by the women MPs of the fourth legislature of Kosovo.  
    Starting December, the Mobile Mammography Machine will begin offering its services to women throughout all municipalities of Kosovo. This way, it will aim to aid women in both rural and urban areas to detect cancer early. 
     On 31 Oct. hundreds of citizens attended the traditional walk “Early detection = Survival” which was organized for the sixth time by the Kosovo Center for Fighting Breast Cancer, ‘Jeta-Vita’, under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Kosovo. They wore pink ribbons and scarves, thereby showing their solidarity with cancer survivors and patients.
      “All of you brave sisters, wives, mothers, and young women, who keep fighting against this disease without giving up, I call on you to share your stories with other women, because that is how you will inspire them to have regular check ups, and diagnose cancer early” said  President Jahjaga. “There is nothing more valuable than human life. We need to value it as much as possible!”
    This walk is based on earlier successes of Vita-Jeta, who has requested better cooperation with Kosovo institutions in early cancer discovery.  
     “Only those who face this disease know how difficult and costly the journey towards discovery and treatment is. Hence, the small bright light at the end of this tunnel, is early discovery, which allows for treatment and survival to be more successful. (Source: Jeta Vita) 

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14th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325

31.10.2014

Today is the 14th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security which was adopted unanimously in 2000.
     Igballe (Igo) Rogova, KWN Executive Director, is currently attending the High Level Expert Advisory Group for the Global Study on the 15-year implementation of UNSCR 1325 in New York, invited byUN Women.
     The study is in line with Security Council Resolution 2122, which calls for the UN Secretary-General to undertake a high-level review of women, peace and security to be conducted in Oct. 2015. Further it will examine the substantive impact of the work achieved in this area during the past 15 years, including successes, challenges, and recommendations for the future to continue towards full implementation of UNSCR 1325.
     Rogova shared with the High Level Expert Advisory Group the experiences of women in South East Europe in advocating for the implementation of Resolution 1325. This included how the Women’s Peace Coalition and the Regional Women’s Lobby for Peace, Security and Justice in South Eastern Europe advocated for women’s participation in negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia.
     “Women peace activists were persistent in pushing for the implementation of Resolution 1325 and they should be recognized for that,” said Rogova. “Considering the important role that women’s rights activists play in negotiations, UN agencies and other donors should support activists’ efforts in conflict and post-conflict situation. They should not support governments only.” She also called upon international actors to ensure the involvement of youth in peacemaking in conflict and post-conflict environs.
     Further Rogova emphasized that there should be justice and penalties for members of peacekeeping forces who are involved in trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence during missions.
     UNSCR 1325 calls for women and girls’ participation in decision-making during conflict and post-conflict situations; preventing sexual violence that often targets women and girls; and consideration of the unique security concerns of women and girls in such situations.        
    KWN has been at the forefront of advocating for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 since its passage. As a result, in close consultation with other key actors, since Jan. 29, 2014 Kosovo has a National Action Plan for the Implementation of Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. This Government decision obliges institutions with responsibilities outlined within the Action Plan to implement their responsibilities.
     KWN congratulates Kosovo institutions for the significant progress that has been made in adopting this important plan and we look forward in supporting its implementation.
      For more information about the history of implementing UNSCR 1325 in Kosovo, please read KWN’s 1325 Facts & Fables, a collection of stories about the implementation of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Kosovo, available on KWN’s website.

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

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