Kosovo Presented at Regional Workshop on Gender Responsive Budgeting

08.06.2015

On 1-2 June, activists, officials and parliamentarians from throughout the region and beyond gathered in Tirana to reflect on “Gender Responsive Budgeting: From Piloting to Results.” Participants were from Turkey, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Ukraine, Moldova and Kosovo, including KWN representatives.
     The workshop served to identify several best practices in the region. For example, the Ministry of Finance has played a key role in institutionalizing gender responsive budgeting (GRB) in Albania, where budget instructions have required each budget organization to identify at least one objective that contributes directly to gender equality. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, gender indicators have been incorporated in their new electronic Budget Management System. Several countries have collaborated to develop a curriculum and textbook for introducing gender responsive budgeting in universities, which participants agreed is crucial for training future officials. Simple concrete guides, like those produced for local and central levels by KWN, can be useful for officials in carrying out GRB. Indeed one participant mentioned that KWN materials distributed during the European Gender Budgeting Network conference last year in Vienna have been useful in explaining GRB in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
     “We cannot say that there is a specific recipe for doing gender responsive budgeting,” said Ermira Lubani from UN Women. “It depends on the level of political support, actors involved in the process, legal framework and systems in place, which differ in each country and context.”
   However, there were certain points on which participants agreed, such as the benefits of GRB: accountability, equality, efficiency, effectiveness and transparency. They also agreed that multi-sector coordination is important among government, parliament, civil society, academia and international actors towards realizing sustainable initiatives. Political will has been particularly crucial. 
     Participants had experienced similar challenges in their countries: still unclear legislation related to GRB; insufficient institutionalization of GRB; lack of primary data disaggregated by gender; insufficient state funding for data collection; inadequate monitoring and evaluation, including impact analyses; poor donor coordination; and lack of knowledge and capacities for implementing GRB among civil servants.
  Among the future needs identified towards institutionalizing GRB in the region included: capacity-building for the executive, parliamentarians and CSOs; sufficient funding for CSOs to carry out their monitoring and support roles; and improved clarity in the legal framework and guidance provided by ministries of finance towards institutionalizing GRB.
    The workshop was organized by UN Women, with support from the Austrian Development Agency and Swiss Development Cooperation. 

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Women’s Court for the Former Yugoslavia: Seeking Justice, Truth, and Active Remembering

01.06.2015

 Vjollca Krasniqi                                              
 
The wars in the former Yugoslavia—in the 1990s—caused destruction of lives, violence, pain and suffering on a large scale. As geography of violence, these wars constituted the lived experience of many women and men across different collectives of the former Yugoslavia. Despite the human toll, such geography is seen by some as an historical episode of a past. For many more the memory of atrocities, massacres, expulsion, forced displacement, sexual violence, and destruction of property, is ever present—embodied in their selfhood  and carried in memory. War and memory are, however, not the only trope in the present time; it is the survivors’ thirst for justice.
 
As mechanisms of retributive justice, tribunals and war crimes trials are important in dealing with wrongdoing in war.  Restorative approaches to justice are significant too, not only because they involve a greater number of people but because they entail remembering, commemoration and public staging of suffering and loss. And all these elements, it may be argued, contribute to healing, a precondition for a future without violence.  In this vein, the Women’s Court for the former Yugoslavia—undertaken by the Women’s Movement(s) in the post-Yugoslav states (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo [the Kosova Women’s Network as the lead organization for/from Kosovo], Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia)—was held last month in Sarajevo. It represented the first Women’s Court in Europe. It was a feminist intervention towards restorative justice. In this endeavor for justice and truth, the Women’s Court stood against oblivion of violence in the wars in the former Yugoslavia, which has been been perpetuated by multiple criminal systems, with state and non-state actors acting against the civilian population, especially women. The Women’s Court is about public consciousness, ethics and morality over human loss. The underlying political motive was to help ensure that the past will not be repeated. It Court sought to bring to light the link between the individual and the collective in the experience of war and violence; to problematize the risks entailed in transmitting  trauma to the next generation, and last but not least, to stress the importance of remembering for the sake of not repeating such violence in the future.
 
Premised on the feminist conceptualizations of justice, responsibility and care as foundations of lasting peace, the Women’s Court provided a public space for women’s voices to be heard. It was a venue where women could stage their experiences of injustice induced in war, enduring pain and suffering, as well as resistance to war and their activism for peace. Hence, the politics of the Women’s Court is about women survivors’. It opposes the meta-narrative of women as victims because when such narrative is thought and applied it takes away any agency from women. The structure of the Women’s Court consisted of panels on five broadly defined themes and forms of violence experienced by women. They included violence against civilians; sexual violence; economic violence, militaristic violence; and ethnic violence.
 
At the Women’s Court, which was held at the Bosnian Cultural Centre in Sarajevo, the women survivors of war violence took centre stage. They spoke to an audience of hundreds of women who stood there in silence, listening attentively, and often in tears to what women from places such as Srebrenica, Drenica, Krusha e Madhe, Deçan, to mention just a few, remembered about the war violence they survived, of family members they lost in wars, of their shattered lives and crushed hopes, but also of their struggles for justice and strategies they deployed to reconstruct their lives. Women witnesses were not alone. They were joined by women activists and supported by women mediators of the Women’s Court who expressed solidarity and analyzed the broader social and political context of the wars in the former Yugoslavia in front of panel of judges and the public.
 
Five Kosovar Albanian women spoke of their personal experiences of war and violence they had lived through. They stood up as survivors of wartime violence whose testimonies speak for the hundreds of thousands of women in Kosovo and elsewhere for whom their testimonies represent their lived experience of war and violence. Their testimonies are stronger than stigma, silence and amnesia. The violence they described is more complex than that conceptualized in traditional justice. Their testimonies are individual, yet they point to methods of violence that were institutional and part of an political economy of war and systems of criminality encompassing multiple actors: state military and police forces, paramilitaries, mercenaries and mafia, yet with blurred lines of engagement, directed primarily against civilian populations: women, children, young men, and the elderly. 
 
The Women’s Court constituted an intervention for justice, truth and against forgetting of war and the effects war had on the lives of women and their collectives.  Moreover, it contributed to acknowledgement of women’s survival and enhanced a plural understanding of how and war violence is gendered. Three days of testimonies  showed that for women witnesses, the loss and pain is immense, but it is outweighed by their struggles for justice, active remembering, and against the cultures of impunity. They have struggled to rebuild their lives, the lives of their families, and their communities. Moreover, they have tirelessly sought justice. At the Women’s Court, women witnesses made clear once more that the struggle for justice and peace must continue. 
 
For more information, please visit: http://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Regions-and-countries/Bosnia-Herzegovina/Sarajevo-the-Women-s-Tribunal-161486#
 

 

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The Kosovo Lobby for Gender EqualityandKosova Women’s Network (KWN)held their first joint meeting, on Thursday, May 28.

Lobby for Gender Equality Continues Advocacy and collects dresses and skirts as a contribution to the artistic installation “Thinking of you”

01.06.2015

 The Kosovo Lobby for Gender EqualityandKosova Women’s Network (KWN)held their first joint meeting, on Thursday, May 28. The meeting gathered 250 participants, including members of the Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality and KWN, members of the families of war martyrs from the Municipality of Dragash, donors, friends and supporters of KWN. The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga, also participated. 
     The meeting was opened by activist and actress Safete Rogova, she recited the poetry “Ti je vetë universi” dedicated to women.      During the first part of the meeting, members of the Lobby and KWN gave President Jahjaga dresses and skirts that they had collected to contribute to the artistic installation “Thinking of you” by artist Alketa Xhafa-Mripa. The installation is dedicated to women survivors of sexual violence, perpetrated during the war in Kosovo and is being organized by theNational Council of Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War, established and led by the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga.
     “The subject that unites us today is the handling of a very sensitive issue for our post-war society, a long-time taboo. We purposefully hold this initiative towards closing a painful chapter of lives and of the lives of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters,” said President of the Republic of Kosova, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga. “You have heard me often say that guilt lies not upon them, but upon those who committed this macabre crime; and we, only by sticking together, by supporting each other, can rid them of this [false] guilt by placing it upon the perpetrators. They seek only one thing, justice, and we must provide this justice, both within our society and outside our borders, by internationalizing this issue.” 
     The installation “Thinking of you” will be realized by placing thousands of women’s dresses and skirts on hangers in the field of Prishtina stadium. Dresses and skirts are being collected until Jun. 6th at collection sites around the country with support from nongovernmental organizations. Each donated dress and skirt will become part of the installation. 
     This installation aims to portray the innocence of women victims, who are now in need of recognition and support from the entire society.
    “After the war, survivors of sexual violence perpetrated during the war in Kosovo, didn’t receive support from society or institutions. Our society stigmatized, undervalued and isolated them. There were women’s NGOs that stayed close to them for all these years, up to the moment when they decided to break the silence” said Igballe Rogova, Executive Director of KWN. “We, through KWN, together broke this silence: we protested with the motto ‘We demand legal protection and justice.’ That year, for the first time, a debate took place in the Parliament, and many debates took place in media and society. We broke the wall! Later, a very important mechanism was established, for which we should be proud, thanks to our President, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga, and this is the National Council of Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War. Through the Council, the President gave her contribution in different fields that relate with the survivors of sexual violence during the war, raising this issue in national level, but also internationalizing it.”
     This installation is part of an awareness-raising campaign organized by the National Council on Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War (for more information on this activity and regarding the collection points click here). 
   During the meeting, it was decided that all Lobby members would plan when they would screen the movie “Three windows and a hanging” (“Tri dritare dhe një varrje”), between September and December. The movie, which deals with sexual violence perpetrated during the war, is being screened as part of the campaign of the National Council of Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War, towards raising public consciousness about this crime and the rights of persons who suffered this crime. 
During this joint meeting of the Kosovo Lobby for Gender EqualityandKosova Women’s Network (KWN), Lobby members presented, discussed and promoted their successful advocacy initiatives undertaken in 24 municipalities of Kosovo. These included:

·      Lobby members from the Municipality of Peja advocated to municipal officials and encouraged women to run for the position of the Head of Local Units. Shemsije Seferi from NGO Alma was selected for the Council of the Local Unit, though not as the Head of Local Unit.
·      In Dragash, Lobby members advocated successfully for girls to become more involved in sports, specifically volleyball, which was previously unavailable in this municipality. Now, teachers of sports within the municipality, together with heads of schools, have promised to offer more support in this field.
·      In Gjilan, Lobby members advocated successfully for 53 women to be employed by different schools of this municipality.
·      Lobby members from Vushtrri promoted the production of traditional foods by women heads of households; thanks to a donation from a Swedish municipality, they secured funding for this project, as well as for financing day care for pensioners.
·      In the Municipality of Drenas, Lobby members advocated for eight women to be employed in two school kitchens. Meanwhile they plan to advocate for the employment of four more women in another kitchen. Also, they advocated successfully for more women to take decision-making positions, including: two Heads of primary schools in the Municipality of Dreanas, one Deputy Head of a school and the Head of the Health Centre in Drenas.
·      Lobby members in Municipality of Prishtina have advocated for day care for people with disabilities, which also received a budget line from the Municipality. In this way, employed women who have children with disabilities will now have a place to send their children for day care, which will enable them to work more outside of home.
·      In Ferizaj, Lobby members secured free of charge day care for children of single mothers. Also, via joint advocacy with NGO Hendifer, members of the Municipal Assembly and the Municipal Department of Health, secured a mammography machine for their municipality. In this municipality, they also secured financing for a child to receive medical treatment abroad. Meanwhile, an advocacy initiative that has just begun will involve positive discrimination towards securing at least five scholarships out of 50 oferred by the municipality for young Roma, Egyptian and/or Ashkali women.
 
At this meeting, another municipality joined the Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality: the Municipality of Shtime.   
     This meeting was supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).

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Kosovo Women's Fund Supports 11 New initiatives

Kosovo Women’s Fund Supports 11 New initiatives

01.06.2015

The Kosovo Women’s Network’s (KWN) Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF) distributed its first round of grants for 2015. KWN members expressed great interest in writing and applying for Individual Advocacy Grants and Networking for Change Grants. During this (7th) round, KWN received 37 applications and 15 organizations were selected to receive financial support. From these, 7 organizations received Individual Advocacy Grants and 8 organizations will collaborate together through the Networking for Change Grants.
This round was supported from the European Union Office in Kosovo and Austrian Development Agency, totaling €47,947.
On 5 May 2015, KWN organized an Orientation Session for the grant recipients, during which they signed contracts. Grant recipients and their initiatives include the following:

  1. The Committee of Blind Women of Kosovo will undertake the initiative “Advocacy for free transportation for blind persons” in the amount of €2,750. They will advocate for better implementation of the Law for Blind Persons No. 04/L-092, especially Article 13, which ensures free urban transportation and a 50% discount on tickets for interurban transportation for persons with disabilities. They also will advocate to the Municipality of Prishtina so that the 51 new busses that the municipality plans to buy will fulfill conditions for blind persons and persons will disabilities to travel with these busses.
  2. The organization Women for Women with Disabilities and K.B.K Marsi received a Networking for Change grant for “Integration of persons with disabilities in social and political life” in the amount of €7,060. These two organizations will create an Action Plan for persons with disabilities in Prizren, based on the National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Republic of Kosovo 2013-2023; and the Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Republic of Kosovo 2013-2017. 
  3. The Center for Rural Development in Novo Brdo will undertake the initiative “Promoting rural tourism and cultural heritage in Novo Brdo” in the amount of €2,740. They will advocate to the Regional Agency for Economic Development; as well as at the national level in the Ministry of Trade and Industry for Novo Brdo to be included in guides of Kosovo’s tourist attractions. They also will promote tourism on local and national radios, and they will organize trainings to develop skills on how to lead rural tourism.
  4. The Mitrovica Women Association for Human Rights will undertake the initiative “I deserve a leading position” in the amount €2,545. They will work with women assembly members from North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok. By organizing meetings and trainings, they aim to create groups of women assembly members, a network of women assembly members and encourage the appointment of women as directors of departments in their municipalities.
  5. The Lawyers Association NORMA and the Center for Women’s Empowerment (CWE) received a Networking for Change grant entitled “Implementing the right of financial support and food (alimony)” in the amount of €7,580. Through this grant they will advocate for better implementation of the right to alimony. They aim for the creation of an Administrative Instruction based on the Family Law in Kosovo, which aims to create a special mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the right to alimony.
  6. The Women’s Initiative Association with their project “Women, health and their right reserved by law,” amounting to €2,822, will examine and document issues related to healthcare. These issues include: violations of women’s rights in healthcare, the level of quality of health services and citizens’ awareness of their rights during medical treatments. They also will work towards increasing the awareness of institutions to be accountable and implement the law when addressing violations of women’s right to healthcare.
  7. Artpolis and Active Women of Gjakova will cooperate through a Networking for Change grant on “Addressing sexual harassment and building mechanisms for protection in public universities of Prishtina and Gjakova” amounting to €7,600. They will work with students from Prishtina and Gjakova to advocate together in creating mechanisms to address sexual harassment in public universities.
  8. Building on best practices in their previous KWF-funded initiative, Partners Kosova will continue working in the field of women’s right to inheritance and property. Their initiative “Women’s advocacy for gender equality, their right to inheritance and property”, in the amount €2,390, will focus on Malisheva and Rahovec. They will work with women, girls and boys, as well as with gender equality officers, representatives from courts and mediation centers for furthering women’s rights to property and inheritance.
  9. The Foundation for Education and Development will undertake the initiative “Enough with prejudices,” amounting to €2,350. They will empower women from three communities: Albanian, Serbian and Roma by organizing trainings about women’s role in society, women’s role in decision-making processes and institutions and their role in the family. Representatives of the Municipality also will take part in these trainings. After the trainings, they plan to advocate for women’s rights in this region by organizing meetings with the Mayor of the Municipality and by organizing a roundtable with different stakeholders.
  10. The Association Psychotherapists in Action will undertake the initiative “Preventing trafficking of human beings” in the amount of €2,520. They will organize workshops with young people in secondary schools, especially with girls from rural areas, to raise awareness about trafficking and its consequences. They also will meet with the Mayor of the Municipality of Gjilan, the Head of the Assembly of Gjilan, the Regional Director of the Police and other relevant actors to address this issue together.
  11. Open Door and Ruka Ruci will continue their successful collaboration through the Networking for Change grant titled “Empowering women through establishment and activation of two women community groups to raise awareness about women’s rights and participation in policy and decision making” with the amount €7,590.

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Students, KFOR, KWN, FemACT Debate Sexual Harassment

01.06.2015

On 14 May, representatives from the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), KFOR and the activist feminist group FemACT met with students from the secondary school “Xhevdet Doda”, in order to discuss sexual harassment.
This debate was organized for many reasons. First, the Liaison Monitoring Team of the Italian Forces of KFOR had visited Prishtina schools where they spoke to students about issues and problems that they are faced with in their daily lives. Sexual harassment was one of the issues most frequently mentioned by students. Second, last year KWN also organized meetings with girls and boys in order to discuss their problems, and sexual harassment was mentioned as one of the greatest challenges faced by most young women.
From the school, 30 students took part, as well as the Director of the school, Prof. Azem Jaha. Adea Kondirolli and Erleta Morina, two FemACT activists took part in the meeting as well.
In the beginning, KWN screened the video from the campaign Take Back the Night, on which the entire debate was based. The debate was moderated by Donjeta Morina from KWN.
The students were very knowledgeable, prepared and open-minded. They criticized the phenomenon of sexual harassment, referring to it as a horrible yet very widespread phenomenon, especially in Prishtina. They acknowledged that sexual harassment is something that we need to combat together, from childhood on. KWN and FemACT activists were impressed by the students and their thoughts and opinions on the matter.
“During the campaign we have continuously encountered people who would tell us that sexual harassment is not really a problem, and it is not that widespread, and that it is quite irrelevant,” said Donjeta Morina. “It is quite inspiring to listen to you students acknowledging how problematic this issue is and vowing to fight against it.”
At the end of the debate, the students offered recommendations regarding how they think the phenomenon of sexual harassment can be best fought. They recommended that institutional mechanisms be reinforced and implemented, but also suggested to work with parents, so that they listen to their children and take instances of sexual harassment seriously. 
“Debates such as this one are very important. I strongly suggest you keep holding them in other schools as well, since they encourage me to keep combating this issue, which is still considered a taboo and not discussed publically,” said an 11th grade student.
FemAct is a group of young activist feminists, girls and boys, who work towards a more equal society.
KWN is currently working on a Kosovo-wide research on domestic violence and sexual harassment, the results of which will inform the National Strategy and Action Plan against Domestic Violence. KWN and partners will initiate a widespread awareness campaign after the results of the research are available.
 
 
 
 
 

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Copë Copë Portrays Stories of Women in Kosovo Shelters

01.06.2015

The theatre play “Copë Copë” has been performed throughout Kosovo, raising awareness against domestic violence among citizens. The performance presented the real life stories of women who have suffered domestic violence and currently live in shelters in Kosovo. The play was unique in that actresses portraying these stories included both professional actors and women who had suffered domestic violence themselves.
Blerta Zeqiri wrote the play and Zana Hoxha-Krasniqi directed it. Actors playing roles as women in shelters included: Melihate Qena, Dardana Mehmeti, Donikë Ahmeti, Arta Gashi, Albina Kelmendi, Bashkime Sulejmani and Minire Bujupi. For people who did not have the opportunity to see the premier in Prishtina, the play took place in most of Kosovo theatres.
“It was very intense, emotional, and honest,” an audience member said. “You couldn’t tell which of the actresses had really experienced their stories and which hadn’t. The performance stayed with me for several weeks.”“I am happy with what we achieved through this process,” said Director Zana Hoxha-Krasniqi for KultPlus online media, who has worked on several plays treating issues faced by women, including related to the last war during which women were victims of sexual violence, on domestic violence and on other forms of physical and psychological violence.
“The goal of this play was that women could speak out and tell their experiences,” said Melihate Qena. “The way they do it, no artist can. We only try [to present their stories], because our work is artificial and theirs is original. It comes from their soul.”  
 

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Thinking of You: #donateaskirt

Thinking of You: #donateaskirt

01.06.2015

 Since May 9, the National Council for the Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War has organized several activities to contribute to the artistic installation “Thinking of you” by artist Alketa Xhafa-Mripa, which is dedicated to women survivors of sexual violence perpetrated during the war. Activities for collecting skirts for this exhibition were organized throughout Kosovo and will continue through 6 June. Locations where skirts can be donated include:

o   Gjakova: at the offices ofMedica Gjakova and Medica Kosova Monday-Friday 08:00-17:00;
o   Peja: European College Dukagjini: Monday-Saturday 09:00-17:00;
o   Ferizaj: INPO, fourth floor (Orchidee), Monday-Friday 09:00 – 17:00;
o   Prizren: Lumbardhi Cinema – 24/7, Dokufest Offices, Centre Europa, EC Ma Ndryshe, Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00;
o   Drenas: The Centre for Promotion of Women’s Rights, Monday-Friday 08:00-16:00
o   Mitrovica: CBM (Community Building Mitrovica) Monday-Friday 08:00-16:00.
 
All citizens are invited to bring dresses or skirts for this installation. 

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Partners Kosova Informs Women about Their Right to Property and Inheritance

Partners Kosova Informs Women about Their Right to Property and Inheritance

01.06.2015

With support from the Kosovo Women’s Fund, in 2014 Partners Kosova undertook an initiative to inform women from the municipalities of Drenas, Skenderaj, Lipjan and Ferizaj about how they can advocate for their rights to property and inheritance. Based on this successful initiative and the great interest shown by women, Partners Kosova continued with a similar initiative in 2015. They received continued support from the Kosovo Women’s Fund in the amount €2,390.
    This year the organization is focusing on Malisheva and Rahovec. In the first meeting, held on 29 May, involved 17 women from Malisheva, representatives from KWN and OSCE. The meeting focused on “Women’s rights to property and inheritance, and relevant guidelines for women advocating to Kosovo institutions for their rights.”
In order to make the meeting more interactive, internationally licensed trainers from Partners Kosova, Selvije Rashani and Hilmije Ramabaja, engaged in a discussion with participants. They asked questions related to property and inheritance, providing evidence from various pieces of research on this topic.
    Participants demonstrated great interest in issues related to property and marriage, including in extramarital cases. They offered examples from their personal experiences regarding the division of property between spouses and their children. In almost all cases, men or boys within their families received the property or inheritance. One of the main obstacles mentioned, they said, was the mentality and social norms that prevail, despite the existence of laws on property and inheritance.
“I would suggest that children in school need to learn about equal opportunities between women and men for property and inheritance. This could be included in the subject of civic education. This way we can raise awareness at an early stage of life, so that we can create a culture of equal rights,” said Fatime Limaj, one of the participants.
    The trainers also discussed with participants the existing laws in Kosovo related to property and inheritance and how they can advocate for their rights. They discussed organizing a meeting with officers from relevant institutions, including representatives of courts, cadastral offices, notaries and mediators. During this meeting with officials that will be organized by Partners Kosova, women participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and advocate directly to officials for their right to property and inheritance. Before this event, Partners Kosova plans to organize another meeting with participants to prepare issues related to property and inheritance for which they will advocate.
This initiative is supported by the Office of the European Union in Kosovo via the KWN Kosovo Women’s Fund. 

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The National Council on Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War held a meeting to prepare an awareness campaign on 23 Apr,.

National Council on Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War Prepares Awareness Campaign

04.05.2015

The National Council on Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War held a meeting to prepare an awareness campaign regarding the new legal framework that exists to support survivors of sexual violence perpetrated during the war. This Council was created by the President of the Republic of Kosovo, on 7 Mar. 2014 to respond to concerns raised by women who had experienced sexual violence. The main purpose of the Council is to serve all people who suffered sexual violence, regardless of their gender, as foreseen by Law Nr. 04/L-054For Status and the Rights of Status and the Rights of Martyrs, Invalids, Veterans, Member of Kosova Liberation Army, Persons Raped during the War and their Families. Participants in this meeting included members of the Council, members of governmental institutions, NGOs including KWN, representatives of international organizations and diplomats.
    This meeting was held in order to continue work towards implementing concrete commitments for drafting strategy for an awareness campaign that will be organized by the Council.
    This campaign includes the documentary “Three Windows and a Hanging”, directed by Isa Qosaj. It aims to combat stigmas against persons who suffered sexual violence, as well as to inform citizens about the process of verification and recognition of sexual violence during the war. The Lobby for Gender Equalitywill contribute to this campaign by screening the movie in all municipalities where the Lobby’s members are active.
     Raising awareness was considered a key objective for ensuring social and institutional support for survivors of sexual violence perpetrated during the war. It is important for supporting the process of fulfilling their rights, as foreseen by the Constitution of Republic of Kosovo.
     KWN has been very active in this process, including as part of the working group finalizing the procedures for verification and recognition, as well as in organizing the awareness campaign.

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Gjakova to Institutionalize GRB

04.05.2015

In 2015, KWN has reached an agreement with the Municipality of Gjakova, according to which KWN will support the Municipality in institutionalizing Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in budget processes and documents during 2015.
On 22 Apr., KWN held a workshop regarding GRB methodology with 17 representatives of the Municipality of Gjakova, including budget officers and directors of various departments in the Municipality of Gjakova. In his opening remarks, Mr. Teki Shala, Director of the Directorate for Budget and Finance in the Municipality of Gjakova, spoke on the importance of GRB for the Municipality of Gjakova, and how Gjakova is a leader for the Republic of Kosovo in that it will be the second Municipality to institutionalize GRB.
Nicole Farnsworth, KWN Manager and Lead Researcher and Donjeta Morina, KWN Capacity Development Coordinator held the workshop promising the participants that it would be very practical in nature. “By the end of this workshop, all of you should be able to go to your offices, and practically utilize GRB in the work of your directorate,” Ms. Morina said.
    The workshop was very interactive and participants gave examples from their own directorates. Participants went through methods of how to integrate GRB in different economic categories, such as wages and salaries, goods and services, municipal expenses, and capital investments.
This workshop was the first step towards institutionalizing GRB in the Municipality of Gjakova. Follow up mentoring will be scheduled for the weeks and months to come, so as to continue practically training Gjakova officials on integrating GRB in their daily work. KWN also will assist in mainstreaming gender in the Gjakova Mid-term Budget Framework (MTBF), 2016-2018.
The workshop and the cooperation with Gjakova is receiving support from the Austrian Development Agency. This initiative comes after collaborating successfully to support the Municipality of Kamenica to implement GRB in 2014. KWN’s prior work with Kamenica was very successful in that Kamenica budget processes and documents became more gender sensitive. Ultimately, Kamenica took the first steps towards institutionalizing GRB. Further, during KWN’s work with Kamenica, best practices to be used in other municipalities were also identified. One of these identified best practices was related to methodology, as KWN noticed that an initial workshop on GRB methodology, coupled with follow up individual mentoring was the best approach.
In the future, KWN seeks to expand its support to other municipalities as well.
 
 
 

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