Kosovo Women's Network

KWN Informs Member Organizations on Legal Framework for Gender-Based Discrimination in Labor Market

18.02.2022

On February 10^th, The Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) held a workshop through the Zoom platform with member organizations on the legal framework for gender-based discrimination in the labour market.

During this workshop, Adelina Tërshani, Project Coordinator, KWN, informed the participants on the legal framework.

She emphasized that according to the main findings of the KWN’s research, “Gender-Based and Labour in Kosovo”, the legal framework is not harmonized and the workers who want to address their cases don’t know exactly which law to refer to. Tërshani also explained the procedures for filing lawsuits.

“The Law on Labour is still not in line with the European Union (EU) Work-Life Balance Directive. KWN with many other organizations is trying to advance the recommendations that should be included in the Labor Law and that are in line with the EU directive,” she said.

While speaking about the legal framework on gender-based discrimination in the labor market, the Valmira Rashiti, Project Coordinator and Legal Assistant, KWN, said that KWN is trying to find the ways for the implementation of the appropriate mechanisms.

“Although the legal framework can be complex, it is important to know the referral mechanisms where the cases of discrimination can be reported within the community where we operate,” Rashiti said.

Arjeta Maka from Gruaja Hyjnore, a member organization of KWN, mentioneda case of gender based discrimination where a pregnant woman was about to get fired during the pandemic by her employer. Gruaja Hyjnore helped this women and advised her on where to denounce the case.

The participants discussed the best forms of how to refer cases of gender-based discrimination.

KWN constantly strives to combat gender-based discrimination in the labour market.

For more information, see the KWN research report “Gender-Based Discrimination and Labour in Kosovo.”

This workshop is financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

#DiscriminationDoesntWork

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WAI Drafts Its Three-Year Strategy: Prioritizing Gender-Based Violence

18.02.2022

The member organization of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), Women’s Alliance for Integration (WAI), from February 11-13 held a three-day workshop in Prevalla, to write the organization’s strategy that will guide WAI work for the next three years.

Participants were various human rights organizations, especially organizations working to advance the rights of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. A total of 17 participants jointly discussed the main problems faced by these communities and based on this set the objectives and goals of the WAI for this time period.

Refki Morina, the expert working on WAI strategy, expressed his satisfaction with the workshop, considering that by consulting community activists this organization can benefit to identify its focus.

“Compiling a strategic plan is impossible and meaningless without the contribution of the participants in the planning workshop. It’s important for organizations to create a clear purpose and to be able to decide for themselves on their activities, based on the needs of those affected by this work.” he said.

After the discusing the problems and challenges, all agreed that the war on gender based violencer, especially in the comitinites of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian is a big social problem, as it is not reported enough, and should be prioritized.

As a result, WAI plans to work on raising awareness and helping women and young people to increase reporting against violence, as well as on the reintegration of violence survivors.

In the field of economic empowerment, the employment of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities remains a major challenge for society as a whole, a point at which WAI plans to work with Vocational Training Centers. WAI will also be advocating to the institutions for the right of inheritance of the above mentioned communities.

From this workshop, it emerged that the areas in which WAI will work for the next three years are:

1. Combating gender-based violence;

2. Economic empowerment of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian women and youth;

3. Improving the right to education and health for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian women and youth; and

4. Capacity building of the organization.

This workshop was made possible thanks to the organizational support received from the 16th round of the Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF) of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), funded by the Sigrid Rausing Trust.

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Women and girls with disabilities are informed about their reproductive health

17.02.2022

During the three months of implementation of the initiative “Reproductive health and sexual education of women and girls with disabilities in the municipality of Mitrovica“, Handikos Mitrovica held trainings, film screenings and various debates in order to improve the knowledge and capacities of girls and women with disabilities over their rights to health care.

From October till December 2021, Handikos Mitrovica held two trainings, two film screenings, an open discussion and an activity in public space, with the members of the organization in order to raise awareness of girls and women with disabilities on reproductive health, sex education and the differences between gender and sex.

“Sexually Transmitted Infections and their Prevention”, “Prevention of Early Pregnancy” and “Access to Health Institutions and Sexual Health Information” were some of the topics covered during the five-day training with young women.

“These trainings are a good opportunity to get a lot of knowledge about our health”, said one of the participants in this training.

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In November 2021, as part of this initiative, Handikos Mitrovica held screenings of two films with over 40 participants. After the screening, a debate was held with relevant institutions on access to health services for people with disabilities in this municipality.

Myrvete Hasani, Director of Handikos Mitrovica, Dr. Luljeta Zhubi Director of Mitrovica Hospital and Dr. Sanije Klinaku-Nimoni from the Main Family Medicine Center in Mitrovica were panelists during this debate.

Awareness raising was considered as one of the key pillars for guaranteeing social and institutional support for people with disabilities.

A total of 50 women and girls from the city of Mitrovica and the villages of the city, including Zhabar, Koshtovë, Çabër, Bajr, directly benefited from the organized activities. However, the number of indirect beneficiaries, through film screenings and open discussions, reaches 100.

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Klinaku-Nimoni pledged that MFMC will work to improve conditions for people with disabilities.

“The Main Family Medicine Center in Mitrovica has engaged mobile teams for care and health checks for people who do not have the opportunity to go to the relevant institutions to perform them,” she said, among other things.

This initiative is supported by the 15th round of the Kosovo Women’s Fund and funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) with co-financing from the Swedish International Cooperation and Development Agency (Sida), through the Swedish Embassy in Pristina, as part of the KWN’s “Further Advancing Women’s Rights in Kosovo II” initiative.

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ShMAKS Advocates for the Improvement of Reproductive Care for Women and Girls

15.02.2022

During February, Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) member organization, The Kosovo Midwifery Association (SHMAKS), has continued the activities undertaken as part of the initiative “Improving reproductive healthcare of women and girls”, supported by the 15th round Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF).

On February 3, Magbule Elezi, Excecutive Director of SHMAKS, met with the Chairperson of Committee on Health, labour and social Welfare, Fatmire Mulhaxha-Kollçaku, to discuss the reproductive health of women and girls, as well as the role and importance of midwives in improving reproductive health in Kosovo.

During this discussion they also talked about the current situation of maternity hospitals in Kosovo.

Whereas, on February 14, Elezi met with the Edona Hajrullahu, Deputy Ombudsperson. In this meeting, Hajrullahu expressed the commitment of the Ombudsperson Institution to help the initiatives of SHMAKS towards strengthening the role of midwives in the health system.

“Despite all general progress, the access to a quality basic, reproductive and gynecological health care remains limited in Kosovo. Every citizen has the right to equal access to health services, and we as their servants must be committed to improving the health system and being closer to them in order to receive the necessary services in the places where they live. “, said Elezi.

These meetings were held in the framework of the “Improving reproductive healthcare of women and girls”, supported by the 15th round Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF) and funded by the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo.

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Shqiponjat e Dardanës Successfully Concludes the Initiative to Support Women in Politics at the Local Level

11.02.2022

On February 11, the member organization of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), Shqiponjat e Dardanës, held a roundtable to conclude its five-month initiative “Supporting women candidates for municipal assembly and raising awareness of rural women and girls about the role of their vote”, supported by the 15th round of the Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF).

Havushe Bunjaku, Executive Director of the organization, opened the discussion thanking KWN for supporting this initiative, adding that without KWN’s logistic and financial assistance, this initiative would not have been possible.

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Further, she has shared the experience gained from the field during this period.

“During these months, we have asked women voters to vote for at least one woman candidate, this is something we, together with KWN, have lobbied for. We must add that these women then advocated to their families and society for the reasons and importance of having more women in decision making positions,” said Bunjaku.

She also recalled that after the results of the local elections of October 2021, the representatives of the organization “Shqiponjat e Dardanës” have discussed with the assembly members about what hinders them and how they can raise their voice together for interests. of women and girls.

Hasan Luma, Gender Equality Officer in Lipjan Municipality, has promised support from municipal institutions for advancing the position of women in politics and decision-making in the local level.

“I have seen the progress and work of all parties for the development and advancement the position of women. However, the role of non-governmental organizations is very significant and it motivates women, especially those in rural areas, to take part in decision-making. Political parties are obliged to promote it, on the other hand you, women’s rights organizations, have a special role to push women to be an integral part of decision-making in the municipality,” he said.

Gjyste Dabaj, Human Rights Officer in Lipjan Municipality, also thanked KWN.

“We have to demand our rights, we have to demand that we, with our strength and skills, women are capable in business and politics. KWN has made a significant contribution to awareness and capacity building.”

Among the recommendations gathered from this roundtable are:

• Work towards the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality at the local level;

• Establish incentive mechanisms to increase women’s participation in politics at the local level;

• Establish village councilors headed by women.

Throughout this initiative, Shqiponjat e Dardanës has held meetings with women and girls from various villages in the municipality of Lipjan and Gracanica to advocate for the support of candidates in local elections, as well as to raise the awareness of women and girls from rural areas for the role of their vote.

This initiative was made possible thanks to the support received from the Kosovo Women’s Fund, with funding from the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo.

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IPVK Meets With The Mayor of Prishtina Përparim Rama

10.02.2022

On February 9, representatives of the Independent Initiative for Blind People (IPVK), a member organization of KWN, met with the Mayor of Prishtina, Përparim Rama, where they discussed the importance of including the interests of the blind in the services of public institutions.

Among other things, during this meeting it was also discussed the importance of inclusion of the needs of the blind and the visually impaired people in the urban planning of the capital city.

The Mayor Rama pledged to work towards improving the lives of blind citizens and their access to public spaces and institutions.

In addition to the issue of improving infrastructure in order to move around the city independently, in this meeting it was also discussed employment opportunities for members of the blind community in public institutions.

This meeting was held in the framework of the initiative “Access of people with disabilities to public services”, supported by the 15th round of the Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF), funded by the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo.

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EULOC promotes the EU Work-Life Balance Directive in Viti

10.02.2022

Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) member organization, EULOC Viti, on 1 February continued the awareness campaign for the European Union (EU) Work-Life Balance Directive and the benefits of its implementation. This organization distributed brochures to business owners and employees in Viti, informing them of the KWN’s awareness-raising campaign on gender responsive family policies.

[Read more HERE about this campaign]

The volunteers distributed leaflets and placed them in the visible spots of the business premises.

Florim Brahimi, Director of the EULOC Organization, said that the KWN initiative has been praised as appropriate and valuable.

“The content of the posters on the questions of why the EU Work-Life Balance Directive is in the best interests of workers and how it helps businesses implement family-friendly policies has been very appropriate and helpful,” he said.

The EULOC representatives in cooperation with KWN Project Coordinator Adelina Tërshani have advocated to municipal bodies to support this campaign.

The Deputy Mayor of Viti, Hasan Aliu, said that it is necessary to include the Directive in the Kosovo legislation.

“The non-approval of the legal infrastructure creates problems on the ground. The law regulates many things and frightens even those who violate workers’ rights. The municipality supports the EU Directive, ” Aliu said.

Whereas, Tërshani said that the implementation of this directive helps to achieve gender equality.

“Promoting the EU Work-Life Balance Directive at the local level in cooperation with KWN member organizations will inevitably affect the implementation of family-friendly policies in small businesses and increase the number of women participating in the workforce, ”Tërshani said.

Arton Ostergllava is the owner of the styrofoam factory “Daka Therm” in Pozheran with about 80 employees, 30 of them women. He has welcomed the campaign.

“We welcome this directive. We have improved working conditions in our factory and we will continuously support the workers’ rights in order to increase the performance of the company by having a fair approach to workers, he said.

This has not been the first business visited by EULOC Viti during the implementation of this initiative. In November 2021, EULOC visited the company led by Valbona Ajeti, in Slatina e Epërme, in the municipality of Viti, where women discussed the possibilities for creating family-friendly jobs within this company.

[You can read more HERE about this visit]

The initiative “Promoting Family Friendly Policies at the Local Level” was supported by the United Nations Population Fund in Kosovo (UNFPA) via KWN’s initiative “Expanding Choices: Gender-Responsive Family Policies for the Private Sector in the Western Balkans and Moldova,” financed by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation.

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KWN Holds Three Capacity Building Workshops With Beneficiary Organizations of KWF

08.02.2022

The Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) during January and February held three capacity building workshops for member organizations benefiting from the Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF).

During the workshop on the preparation of project proposals held on January 14, Gentiana Murati-Kapo, KWF Manager presented the best ways of context analysis when writing a project proposal and the analysis of results.

Identifying the overall problem, results-based management, logical framework approach and risk analysis were some of the topics discussed during the workshop.

“Instead of avoiding risks, we need to plan how to manage them by monitoring and mitigating,” said Murati-Kapo, explaining risk identification and analysis.

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“Examining the risks also allows us see why some particular project may not work from the start,” she added.

Meanwhile, on January 21st, KWN held another capacity building workshop on effective communication with the public. During this workshop, KWN PR coordinators, Grese Sermaxhaj and Rudina Voca discussed with the participants the best methods of promoting activities to increase the audience and gain support as volunteers, donors and collaborators.

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Lastly, on February 4th, the third capacity building workshop was held to discuss together with the beneficiary organizations successful advocacy for common goals toward achieving gender equality.

Nicole Farnsworth, Program Director, Lead Researcher, KWN, informed organizations on advocacy initiatives, advocacy strategy development and the advocacy cycle.

She also mentioned the importance of media and social networks in achieving advocacy goals and conveying the success of the message to the general public.

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“The advocacy policy should be presented in attention-grabbing and effective formats, such as graphics, infographics and social media campaigns,” Farnsworth said.

These workshops were supported by the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo, the Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the Swedish International Cooperation and Development Agency (Sida) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

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KWN Holds its First Meeting with Members for 2022

07.02.2022

On February 7, about 80 representatives of member organizations of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) gathered through the Zoom platform, at the first meeting of KWN members for 2022.

KWN Board Chair, Nermin Mahmuti, at the same time Executive Director of the Community Development Fund, in her opening remarks praised the work of KWN, member organizations and the board done over the years.

“Fortunately, it will be very easy for me, in terms of what we as the Board are obliged to do, because KWN is already an organization that has achieved a lot of success and an extremely great authority as well as has achieved to be one of the key organizations which have changed the policy-making and have influenced the implementation of the mission.” she said.

She further thanked the current chair of the KWN Board, Ariana Qosaj-Mustafa for her contribution.

Mahmuti has expressed readiness to cooperate and offer her expertise in implementing the KWN Strategy for 2019-2022, which ends this year.

The importance of joint implementation of the Strategy was further mentioned by the Executive Director of KWN, Igballe Rogova.

“This year has been even more successful, because the motivation for our members is continuing, and the cooperation through the Kosovo Women’s Fund is enduring. Personally I and all the staff are extremely happy that we can help our member organizations to jointly implement the strategy which ends this year, a strategy which we have implemented over 70% together. Also this year we will be able to fully implement this strategy”.

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In addition, Gentiana Murati Kapo, Grant Manager, KWN, informed the participants about the nomination of new members of the Grants Evaluation Committee within the Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF).

“While we are working for the 17th round of the Kosovo Women’s Fund, today I would like to remind you that KWF since its establishment in 2012 has been a support arm for you as a member organization, and of course we will continue to do it every time, with your cooperation and understanding.” she said.

As always, this meeting served as a meeting point for KWN member organizations to unveil the achievements made over the past year in advancing gender equality, as well as plans for this year.

One of the important points that was discussed is the coordination for the activity of marking the International Women’s Day – March 8. It was also discussed that KWN will soon work on drafting the new Strategy, which will be done in close cooperation with member organizations.

Recall that in November 2021, KWN member organizations met to jointly draft the KWN Feminist Strategy.

This meeting was supported by the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo.

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DSK And Organizations Of Persons With Disabilities Discuss Their Needs With Representatives Of The Municipality Of Ferizaj

02.02.2022

On February 2, Down Syndrome Kosovo, member organization of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), held a meeting with representatives of the Directorate of Health and Social Welfare, the Directorate of Education, the Directorate of Culture, the Center for Social Work in the Municipality of Ferizaj, Handikos as well as the Organization “Pema”.

During this meeting participants discussed the fillowing matters:

Improvement of access for people with disabilities to various institutions;

Updating the database for people with disabilities in the Municipality of Ferizaj;
Monitoring the implementation of the individual plan;
Trainings for teachers on access for people with disabilities;
Accreditation of programs for service providers;
Empowering parents to seek the rights of children;

Exit strategies for attached classes;
Provide internships or unpaid work.
Creating opportunities for mothers to work for the sale of local products;
Inclusion of a quota of 5% for people with disabilities in the training programs and grants of the youth sector and other directorates.

“Presentation of specific recommendations to the directorates is a very important step since it helps the representatives from these instituions to reflect on their work and what they are currently doing in order to engage people with disabilities in the political, economical, social and cultural sphere”, said Jetbardha Selmani, Project Coordinator.

Down Syndrome Kosova, Handikos and the Organization ”Pema” expressed their readiness to assist and provide the necessary expertise to institutions to improve the conditions of persons with disabilities.

Recommendations from this meeting will be included in the Municipal Strategic Plan for People with Disabilities in the Municipality of Ferizaj.

This activity was held in the framework of the initiative “Involving Persons With Disabilities In Decision-Making”, which is supported by the 15th round of the Kosovo Women’s Fund, funded by the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo.

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