In spring 2014, the Women’s Initiative Association, a KWN member, gathered women from several villages in the rural, mountainous municipality of Dragash in southern Kosovo. The women, many of them under age 30, demonstrated an interest in learning professional tailoring techniques. They were so eager to learn that when their official course ended, they travelled with the Women’s Initiative Association to the municipality’s capital in order to advocate for the Mayor to continue providing tailoring courses for them. But that’s not all. They also requested the Mayor’s assistance in encouraging the owners of the new clothing factory in Dragash to employ them. For most women, this was the first time they had visited the capital of their municipality, let alone advocated to the Mayor. Their efforts were supported through the KWN Kosovo Women’s Fund.

     A week ago, the new textiles factory opened in Dragash. The Women’s Initiative Association was happy to report that the factory has employed 24 women, including eight women who had developed tailoring skills through the Association’s courses months earlier.

     “When we organized our tailoring courses through the project, ‘A new opportunity towards advancing employment,’ we were committed to achieve women’s employment in factories,” said Xhejrane Lokaj, Executive Director of the Women’s Initiative Association. Few women were employed in Dragash municipality, and the Association wanted to change that. “I am so happy that this has started to have results,” she said.

     Meanwhile, Vahidin Emini, the owner of the factory, emphasized that “all women who had finish the trainings and applied for a job based on their skills were employed by the factory.”

     Even though the factory just opened and women have not yet received their first salaries, they already feel economically empowered.

     “I had participated in tailoring courses for six months, as well as some other handcraft courses, and I always hoped that one day this factory would open,” said Nahije Bajrami, a woman trained by the Women’s Initiative Association who is now employed at the factory. “I feel much better now, with more self-confidence and hope for the future.”

     Women from politics and civil society in 15 municipalities’ Gender Equality Advocacy Groups (GEAG) visited the new factory during the KWN-organized workshop “Women Advocate in Local and Central Level” on 27 Jun.

     “The fact that this factory has employed 24 women in the area is a strong reason for us to visit, show our support to the employed women, and wish them success,” said a GEAG member.

     The factory inspired women from other municipalities to advocate for similar workplaces for women in their areas.

     The successful advocacy undertaken by the Women’s Initiative Association was made possible through funding from Austrian Development Agency (ADA).