OPDMK discusses their contract with KWN.
Seven KWN member organizations received grants from the KWN Kosovo Women’s Fund on 22 Nov. totalling €18,509. Following an orientation session, they signed contracts and energetically set out to begin their initiatives. The Fund enables underserved smaller, rural and/or marginalized organizations to access funds for important initiatives at the local level.
“I am very happy that through the Network we can reach grassroots organizations, which we cannot do with our internal staff capacities,” said Christian Geosits from Austrian Development Agency (ADA), which funded this fourth grant round. “I cherish the structure that we have created together with the Network because it works very well in reaching grassroots organizations.”
Grant recipients and their initiatives include:
- The Organization of Persons with Muscular Dystrophy of Kosovo (OPDMK) will organize various activities for people with special needs from Pristina, Gjilan, Ferizaj, Mitrovica, Prizren and various rural areas. (€2,700)
- The Women’s Initiative Association will train women from the village of Bresane in Dragash in tailoring, towards enhancing their employment opportunities. (€3,000)
- Contemporary Woman will organize health lectures, psychosocial training and exercises to replace physiotherapy, as well as advocate for the regional hospital in Prizren to offer better services to persons with disabilities. (€2,155)
- The Association for Education and Family Care will organize educational sessions for young people in the Municipality of Gjakova on the topic of “Protection from Sexually Transmitted Diseases.” (€2,390)
- NGO Gora will work to economically empower Gorani women in Dragash by creating handmade products and selling them in fairs. (€2,780)
- Hendifer will organize gynaecological visits and trainings towards preventing breast and uterine cancer among women in villages. (€2,630)
- Alma will work on identifying women and economically empowering them in two communities in Peja Municipality: Lutogllava and Leshan. (€2,854)
Through the Kosovo Women’s Fund, organizations also receive mentoring and support in furthering their organizational capacities.
“I appreciate this session very much because we will need all this information when implementing our project,” a grant recipient said.
During the orientation, organizations learned procedures for narrative and financial reporting, as well as monitoring and evaluation.
“Today they received so many forms, examples and advice on how to manage a project well,” said Arsim Aziri from ADA, who attended the orientation. “It is a lot of work for such small projects, but definitely they will learn from this experience.”
Through Fund, KWN offers its member organizations new skills and experience from which they can draw in applying to new funders in the future.
