To mark International Women’s Day, the Agency for Gender Equality (AGE) in cooperation with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti has launched the Amendment of the Legal Framework for Protection against Domestic Violence as well as presented the final draft of Kosovo Gender Equality program.

The Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) was among the organizations present at the event.

Edi Gusia, the Chief Executive of AGE, noted that the National Program for Gender Equality (NPGE) was drafted through the active participation of working groups, representatives of institutions, civil society, partners, local and international organizations.

According to her, this comprehensive approach in drafting government policy aims to ensure that the process of achieving gender equality is at the heart of societal transformation.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti conceded that the situation of women in Kosovo society continues to be hard, both socially and economically.

“Today women are under-represented, under-employed, subjected to violence and social harassment and media objectification. Gender inequality is not only unfair but also costly. Women are an integral part of the economy, but they are not part of economic development as they are excluded from decision-making and labour market”, Kurti said.

Ministers also agreed with the chief executive; Albulena Haxhiu, Minister of Justice, Vlora Dumoshi, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Rozeta Hajdari, Ministry of Economy, Labour, Trade and Industry, and Emilia Rexhepi, Minister of Administration and Local Government. All ministers jointly pledged greater efforts to achieve gender equality, promising cooperation of ministries in the areas they cover.

KWN has always highly appreciated the role of the AGE as an extremely important mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality (LGE) in institutions.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Kurti, KWN emphasized the importance of continuing successful cooperation between KWN and AGE.

You can read more about this meeting with Kurti HERE.