Kosovo Women's Network

EUO and KWN organized a gender analysis consultation

20.07.2018

Today, on 20th of July, at the EU Information and Cultural Center in Prishtina, stakeholder consultation was conducted on the Kosovo Gender Analysis Report of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN).
The Gender Analysis will inform the support of the European Union Office in Kosovo, particularly with regards to the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) programs, providing the latest information on the situation of men and women in the various sectors. It is important for the EUO that this process be participatory and engage different stakeholders from the government and civil society. Thus this meeting was attended by officials from various institutions and organizations in Kosovo, where they expressed their interest in this Gender Analysis.
At the opening of this meeting, Selma Cekic-Dincsoy from the EU Office in Kosovo, said, “This gender analysis is important in our program and allows us to make better specifications, where the main goal of our program is to identify key women-men inequalities in Kosovo.”
Mrs. Nicole Fransworth from KWN, in the framework of this Gender Analysis, presented key findings on gender inequality in Kosovo including various sectors such as: Rule of Law, Governance, Education, Employment, Competition and Innovation, Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Transport and Healthcare.
Participants in this discussion welcomed this draft-analysis and had the opportunity to discuss and express some of their comments and recommendations.
“I congratulate you for the work that you have done towards improving women’s position in Kosovo,” said Yllka Soba from Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation.
More concretely, the participants agreed to initiate steps and to give their inputs to make this draft gender analysis feasible and easy to use by everyone.
This meeting was supported by the European Union Office in Kosovo.

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The first meeting of the Coalition for Equality Advocacy Group was held

16.07.2018

On July 13, at the Sirius Hotel in Pristina, the first meeting of the Coalition for Equality Advocacy Group was held. During the meeting of the Coalition on June 22nd, based on the fact that working towards meeting the common vision and mission for empowering and improving the position of women in politics and decision-making and achieving gender equality in Kosovo, regardless of political preference, gender age, ethnicity, disability, religion, geographic position, level of education or socio-economic status, members of the Coalition decided to initially work with two groups: Mentoring Group and Advocacy Group.

The Advocacy Group started working today with discussions on improving the legal framework to adequately serve equal representation of women and girls in the political sphere. Participants analyzed and discussed the identified problems and recommendations for improving the legal framework that emerged from the first meeting of the initiative “Strengthening Women’s Participation in Policy and Decision-Making”.
Coalition members once again stressed that one of the key problems that could affect the low rate of participation of women and girls in politics is the non-harmonization of laws, in particular the Law on Elections and the Law on Political Parties with the Law on Gender Equality, which foresees 50% participation of women in the Parliament and the assemblies. Harmonization should be done in accordance with the Law on Civil Servants, particularly the payroll section, taking into account the non-financing of women’s campaigns at local or central elections.
Discussing the lack of application of sanctions for non-implementation of Laws and the lack of harmonization of laws, representatives of the Ombudsperson’s Office informed the presenters of the Opinion, an analysis paper that is being drafted by the Ombudsman’s Office interpreting and referencing laws in relevant institutions’ affairs. This means that the Opinion will facilitate the understanding that the special law, in this case the Law on Gender Equality specifically, derogates the general basic law, or in other words, a later law applies over an earlier law. Therefore the Coalition may refer to the Opinion of Laws whenever advocating for harmonization and enforcement of laws.
More concretely, participants agreed to initiate concrete steps and activities to stress the spirit and at the same time the mission of this Coalition. This includes planning of gatherings in various municipalities to demonstrate the willingness to raise and empower each other. Another important recommended activity would be a joint protest to react and block election processes if women and girls are not equally represented on the electoral list.
This would prove that when women solidarize and raise their voice to empower each other, changes are achievable even in the absence of sanctions.
This meeting was supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), while the first two meetings of the Coalition for Equality held in June were enabled by the Office of the Special Representative of the European Union in Kosovo.

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KWN continues to seek #JusticeforAntigona in Rahovec

12.07.2018

Activists, representatives of civil society organisations, and family members, organised by Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), gathered in front of the Court Building in Rahovec on June 11th, at 10:00 hrs, at the time when the judicial proceeding was envisaged to be held, to request justice for Antigona.

Even though the damaged party and newly appointed case judge were present in the court, the prosecutor and the defendants were absent, unfortunately, the session was adjourned for 04 September due to the strike of the administrative staff.
The late Antigona Morina died six years ago from continuous haemorrhagic, three days after the marriage. Back then, her spouse, Hilmi Zena, had not only offered her medical care by sending her to the Sheh, but he also worsened her health conditions by continuing sexual relations with her.
Through protests, the KWN will continue to request a proper reaction of judiciary in Kosovo regarding the case of late Antigona Morina
In the reaction disseminated on 19 March, the KWN wrote that judicial institutions may lower violence, respectively crime only through fair judgements. Increase of institutional accountability in the treatment of gender-based violence will increase reporting of such cases, by ensuring justice, protection, and rehabilitation for the cases of gender-based violence.
Since judicial institutions are not taking the necessary measures, after many reactions, the KWN has hired lawyer Fehmije Gashi Bytyqi to represent the family of Antigona. Lawyer Fehmije Gashi Bytyqi has been hired through the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).

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Women Unite: The Coalition for Equality is Established

02.07.2018

On June 13, at Hotel Emerald in Pristina, Ambassador Nataliya Apostolova, Head of the EU Office in Kosovo and EU Special Representative (EUSR), the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) and the Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality jointly organised first meeting with women politicians, members of parliament, municipal assemblies and gender equality officers. The meeting created a space for strategizing how to strengthen the impact of women in politics and decision-making in Kosovo.

Ambassador Nataliya Apostolova emphasized the important role of women. Women in politics, in particular, can advance the position of women and contribute to achieving gender equality. “A key aspect is solidarity,” Ambassador Apostolova said. “Sometimes societies teach us, as women, to compete with each other, to under-cut each other, to bring each other down. We have to stop this vicious circle. It is when we unite and come together that we are the strongest and bring about the greatest changes.”
Igballe Rogova, KWN Executive Director, spoke about the history of women’s joint organizing, recalling the significant changes that have occurred in Kosovo when women in politics and civil society have united. Recognizing this, the Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality emphasized in their last meeting the need for women politicians at local and central levels to unite forces. “When we saw the need to reunite at the local level, we began collecting assemblies across various municipalities because we saw that together we can push things forward,” Rogova said. “It’s time to join together.”
Concretely, participants divided into working groups to strategize and discuss key factors undermining women’s participation in politics. They identified steps to be taken between now and the next elections, towards increasing women’s involvement in politics. Working group topics included: improving the legal framework; working with political party leaders; building constituencies and mobilizing women voters; financing women candidates’ campaigns: recruiting and empowering more women candidates to run; addressing issues preventing women’s participation in politics; and improving media coverage of women candidates and politicians.
Participants agreed on the need to establish a joint alliance of women in politics that would help promote their shared aims and successes. They also discussed creating a Mentoring Program for women politicians at local and central levels. Women politicians provided information regarding their expectations for such a program and ideas on how women can best support each other.
This led to a second meeting on June 22, at Hotel Sirius in Prishtina, where women politicians at central and local level, non-governmental organizations led by women and women activists who support and empower each other in improving the position of women in politics, decision-making and advancing gender equality in Kosovo, have established the Coalition for Equality.
Participants pledged to work towards fulfilling the mission and joint vision for empowering and improving women’s position in politics and decision-making and achieving gender equality in Kosovo, regardless of political preferences, gender, age, ethnicity, ability, religion, geographic position, level of education or socio-economic status.
Former President of the Republic of Kosovo, Ms. Atifete Jahjaga in her greeting address in this important event, among other things stated that “No woman would have been mentioned in history if they were not united in their causes”.
Meanwhile, Rogova while speaking about the emerging idea that women from all spheres should join and seeing that women remain underrepresented in politics at municipal and central level in Kosovo, emphasized that “The message of this union is solidarity among women”.
This initiative was supported by the Office of the Special Representative of the European Union in Kosovo.

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photo credit: Specialist Chambers

KWN attends the Specialized Chambers Workshop in Hague

02.07.2018

On June 7 – 8, Igballe Rogova, the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) Executive Director, invitet by the Kosovo Specialized Chambers (KSC), attended the two-day KSC Outreach Workshop organized at their headquarters in Hague.

KSC hosted 15 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from Kosovo and Serbia, such as: Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) Kosovo; Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), Serbia; European Center for Minority Issues (ECMI) Kosova; Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) from Kosovo and Serbia, Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN); Human Rights Advocacy Committee (YUCOM); ACTIVE; Center for Advocacy for Democratic Culture (ACDC); Center for Research, Documentation and Publication (CDRP); INTEGRA; Center for Peace and Tolerance (CPT); ForumZFD, Serbia; ForumZFD, Kosovo and Roma in Action.
The aim of this seminar was to provide participants with various presentations on the work of the KSC and with potential partners to exchange views on current communication and awareness activities, as well as their suggestions for such activities in the future.
According to the article published by the Kosovo Specialized Chambers, President Ekaterina Trendafilova stated that “We will thoroughly consider their specific and valuable suggestions for future outreach activities.”

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KRCT and Medica Gjakova Launch

02.07.2018

On June 19, on the International Day for the elimination of sexual violence in conflict, the Kosova Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims (KRCT) and Medica Gjakova launched in Prishtina “Be My Voice”, a campaign addressing the stigma for survivors of sexual violence during the war in Kosovo.

Considering the fact that survivors of sexual violence committed during the war still face significant challenges and prejudices within society, this campaign aims to raise awareness on sexual violence, fighting stigma and prejudices, and inform on application procedures for recognition of the status of sexual violence victims during the war in Kosovo.

The campaign also included publishing supportive video messages from the Ambassadors of international offices in Kosovo as well as women’s rights activists in Kosovo.
Feride Rushiti, Director of KRCT, in the campaign support message addressed the citizens stating that "It’s time and moment to say No to silence".Igballe Rogova, Kosovo Women’s Network Executive Director, in her support message for this campaign said "Do not be silent, do not hesitate. Raise your voice and claim your right. "

Even the world known Kosovar singer, Rita Ora, through social media messaging has supported this campaign, calling for support to this initiative and fighting discrimination against survivors.

“Be My Voice” is a powerful appeal to the whole society for inclusion and support for survivors of sexual violence.

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KWN requests inclusion of specific Domestic Violence definition in amended Criminal Code

02.07.2018

On June 14, the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), wrote to all the Members of Parliament to strongly encourage to ensure that the specific definition of domestic violence that we and other key actors have recommended in line with the Istanbul Convention is included in the amendments to the Criminal Code of Kosovo (CCK), and to vote for its adoption.

Domestic violence was among the most common crimes perpetrated in Kosovo during the last decade, as shown by police statistics. Only in the last three years (2015-2017), 49 women have lost their lives, due to violence perpetrated against them by other family members. In the last year, more than 1,125 domestic violence cases have been reported to the Kosovo Police. Moreover, a 2015 KWN study shows that more than 62% of Kosovars have experienced domestic violence in their lifetimes. However, official data from Kosovo courts show there have been very few convictions for such crimes. Our in-depth research in Kosovo has shown that this is partially because there is no specific definition of domestic violence within the current CCK. This means that crimes perpetrated within domestic relationships often have been treated only in civil proceedings, even when a criminal offence has been committed and should be prosecuted automatically (ex officio). Evidence also suggests that the lack of a specific definition of domestic violence within the CCK has contributed directly to recidivist violence against women, including death.

In accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in our Constitution, the state has a duty to protect women in both public and private spheres. We believe that the proposed amendments to the CCK will help address current impunity and the lack of access to justice for persons who have suffered domestic violence, particularly women. Moreover, the proposed amendments are in line with the Istanbul Convention, and best European practices.

Also, following recommendations made by the European Commission’s Kosovo 2018 Report, the proposed amendment, would directly contribute to strengthened efforts to implement the Strategy and Action Plan on Protection from Domestic Violence 2016-2020, particularly Activity 3.1.3. on the amendment of laws, “specifying domestic violence as criminal act in the Criminal Code of Kosovo in accordance with the definition of domestic violence from the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence”.

The recommended amendments were compiled by a group of experts from the Office of the National Coordinator on Protection from Domestic Violence, UN Women, KWN and the Kosovar Gender Studies Centre, all of which have extensive experience and knowledge regarding current challenges to ensuring access to justice for domestic violence crimes in Kosovo specifically. For further information, please find attached the official recommendations and justifications that our aforementioned working group provided to the Government Working Group, for your information.

”‹”‹Therefore, through this letter KWN called upon all parliamentarians to ensure that the proposed amendments are included, as originally proposed, in the amended CCK, and to vote in favor of these crucial amendments. We thank you for your support in combatting domestic violence.

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KWN members held their regular meeting

02.07.2018

On 25 June 2018, Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) held its regular membership meeting at the Hotel Sirius, attended by representatives of the KWN member organizations and other supporters.

Igballe Rogova, Executive Director of KWN, welcomed those present and the new members to the Network, emphasizing that the number of member organizations has reached 134. In addition, she stated that the work on the new KWN Strategy 2019-2022 has already begun at the two-day meeting in Durrësand will continue in the next meeting in September to make the final draft of the Strategy.

Following this, the attendees were informed about the Equality for Coalition, which was established on 22 June 2018 by women in politics at the central and local level, the non-governmental organizations run by women and women activists who support and empower each other in improving the position of women in politics, decision-making and advancement of gender equality in Kosovo.

After this, the KWN staff informed the attendees about the call of twelfth round of grants under the KWF for 2018, which was opened on 26 June until 10 July, and grants in a total amount of € 49,000 will be distributed, with the support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). The members were informed about the changes in application procedures, since this year, the KWN has simplified the manner of application through a brief description by completing the Project Idea Form, so that the KWN members have an easier access to these Funds.

In this regard, the KWN members have selected the new members of the KWF Grants Evaluation Committee for this year, and they are: Besa Shehu, from the KWN staff; Besnik Leka, member of the KWN Board; Hasime Tahiri Hasani, member of KWN; Shukrije Gashi, member of KWN, and Yllka Soba, foreign expert.

In the last part of the meeting, the members had the opportunity to exchange information about their activities that they have undertaken recently, as well as the initiatives planned for the future.

The meeting was supported by Kvinna till Kvinna.

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Mundësia advocates for education of children in rural areas

02.07.2018

On June 19th, the Mundësia NGO, one of the members of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), hosted a debate on the topic: "The Rights of Children to Education". This debate was part of the "Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child" initiative, which aims to empower local communities to improve child protection measures in schools through awareness, mediation and peaceful resolution of conflicts.
In this debate participated: Hasime Tahiri-Hasani from Mundësia NGO, Ardita Kabashi from the Kosovo Education Center, Myrvete Hasani from Handikos Mitrovica and Arbenita Hajzeri as pedagogue.
The debate focused on the challenges and obstacles faced by children in rural areas to attend upper secondary schools, due to the high number of youth from rural areas who do not enroll in upper secondary schools. The attending representatives of institutions, such as directors of primary and lower secondary schools in the Municipality of Mitrovica, representatives from the Municipality of Mitrovica, Kosovo Police, OSCE, the People’s Advocate Office in Mitrovica and Save the Children, were briefed on the issues and discussed finding solutions to these problems, also through potential cooperation.
Hasime Tahiri-Hasani, Executive Director of Mundësia NGO, opened the meeting by welcoming the participants. She also said that the organization she leads has for years been engaged in support of activities in rural areas, so that more children in these areas continue their education.
"The European Convention on Human Rights should be recognized and respected. In this regard, the right to schooling and education should be a priority, especially in remote rural areas that continue to face grave conditions and where the value of further education for women and girls is put in question. For years we have supported girls’ education in some localities like Vllahi, Rashan and Skroma of Vushtrri", Hasime Tahiri-Hasani said.
The recommendations that emerged at this discussion were mainly directed at the Directorate of Education in Mitrovica, and priority was given to education for children with special needs. Other recommendations included: providing transport for students from rural areas, raising awareness of the rights to education and equality, greater care and control for children during changes in the school cycle.

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Photo Caption: KWN Executive Director Igballe Rogova, Professor Cynthia Enloe (left), and Madeleine Rees, WILPF Secretary General (right) share experiences with Ukrainian women's rights activists in Odessa, on 18-20 June.

Ukrainian Women’s Rights Activists Learn from Kosovo Experience

19.06.2018

Yesterday, Igballe Rogova, KWN Executive Director, shared her more than 25 years’ experience as a Kosovar women’s rights peace activist with Ukrainian activists, during an event on “Women’s Activism for Peace in Ukraine”, taking place on 18-20 June in Odessa, Ukraine.
Telling stories from her work during the 1990s, as a women’s rights activist working under the oppression of Serbian authorities, she inspired Ukrainian women’s rights activists who face many similar challenges today. She shared experiences from Kosovo on how to build a vibrant and strong civil society that can contribute to peace, as well as strategies for advocacy at grassroots, national and international levels. She spent the afternoon mentoring individual Ukrainian activists who sought further advice on various issues that they face.
This event was organized by the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Other prominent speakers included Madeleine Rees, WILPF Secretary General, and Professor Cynthia Enloe, a renowned feminist author on linkages between gender-based violence, militarism, nationalism, violent masculinities, reparations, justice and truth telling.

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