On June 11, “Ruka Ruci” organization held an informative session with Serbian women in Plementin of Obiliq/Obilić to brief them on the initiative ‘Strengthening women’s participation in politics”.
This four-year-long initiative is implemented by Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) together with Ruka Ruci, Organization of Persons with Muscular Dystrophy of Kosovo (OPMDK), and the European Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), whereas it is supported by the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo.
Nevenka Rikalo, Executive Director of Ruka Ruci, shared with the participants the objective and expectations from the implementation of this joint initiative.
“We need to stay united to further increase women’s empowerment in decision-making. For any gender-related issues that you may have, you can count on KWN. Because KWN is a place where you can address your problems regarding the issues that are bothering you,” she said.
Rikalo also familiarized women with two ongoing and very important collaborations of women, which function under the KWN’s umbrella, namely the Coalition for Equality (CfE) and the Lobby for Gender Equality (Lobby).
Whereas, Zivadinka Radosavljevic, leader of the organization “Idemo Pravo” (Moving forward) expressed her concern over the women’s lack of access to information.
Jelena Radosavljevic, a nurse, highlighted gender stereotypes that continuously discriminate against women.
“For every imitative you take, no matter how good or skilled you are, you are still morally identified as a woman. It is very hard because society stigmatizes you. Even in school if you go as a parent raising an issue, even in this case there are fingers pointing at you. Being a woman here means that you can do almost nothing at all, ” said Radosavlevic.
The attendees agreed on the importance of increasing the number of women in politics and decision-making process. So far such meetings have been held in Gracanica, Novobërdë, Zubin Potok, Uglare and in North Mitrovica.
This initiative is supported by the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo.
