Andrea Pulido from University of Massachusetts Amherst, volunteered this summer with the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) to help the research team conduct their Gender Analysis of Kosovo.

      Andrea loved learning about social justice in Kosovo, especially with a gendered perspective. Some of her favorite events included attending FemArt (the annual feminist creative arts festival), a conference held by the Kosovar Center for Gender Studies on “Gender Policies in Civil Society and Private Sector”, and a protest for the Justice of Zejnepe Berisha.

She was also interested in learning about the issues that ethnic minorities face in Kosovo.

      “Before Kosovo Women’s Network, I was aware of the gender issues within Kosovo but I had never researched how ethnicity and race affected the situation.”

      For the most part, Andrea worked on the Gender Analysis Profile, which asseses various sectors and institutions in Kosovo (e.g., healthcare, education, democracy/governance, LGBTQI rights, and employment). Through analyzing qualitative and quantitative data she was able to asses gender disparities within sectors, in order to later draft concrete recommendations to the Kosovar government and the European Union Office. She also conducted background research on sexual and gender-based violence in the Balkans to help inform KWN advocacy efforts in Kosovo and Europe.             

       Andrea plans on using this experience to broaden her idea of what feminism and activism looks like. She feels like this experience has prepared her to make gender-based conclusions and recommendations. In the future she wants to work for an organization and non-profit similar to KWN that manage to keep true to their initial goal of “prioritizing local women and their rights, without losing their vision.” She feels very lucky to have volunteered with an organization like KWN.