March 5th
2004
(By Andrea
Saula)
Women in Kosovo
represent 52% of the electoral body in the region, but their presence and role
in policy making in social and municipal, governmental institutions is
limited…That’s the conclusion of the Pristina-based women’s non-governmental
organization “Women Network.”
In cooperation with
the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Women Network recently wrapped up a campaign called
“Political Parties Work for Women” which identified major obstacles preventing
women from taking a more active role in Kosovo politics. The four-month effort
included meetings with women and community representatives in each of Kosovo’s
thirty municipalities. Women from all
walks of life were invited to discuss their day-to-day problems, urging
political parties and institutions to offer adequate solutions to meet the
needs of women in the region, while incorporating their input.
Hello and welcome.
This is UNMIK on AIR.
The results of the
four-month campaign were published in a booklet entitled: Women Propose. The booklet highlights how male politicians
in Kosovo do not consider the welfare of women when making decisions concerning
unemployment and education, nor do male politicians in consider on a serious level
the participation of women in politics.
Igballe Rugova: This campaign results of which we
are presenting in this document is only a part of a multi layered struggle
which Kosovan women led during the last four years. A struggle for being part of decision-making process since the
first day, struggle for better organization and efficiency and to gain their
deserved place in structuring life and the future of our society.
Shqipe Pantina explains that one of the major goals of this
campaign is to accomplish women equality in the elections this year.
Shqipe Pantina: The
campaign: Political Parties Work for Women was organized by the Kosovan Women
Network and financially supported by OSCE’s democratization department.
Technical and other support came from Star network of World Learning and
UNIFEM. The campaign which started in November 2003 and concluded in February
2004, is only the first phase that the Women Network will organize, with the
aim to help women as candidates and voters.
Shqipe Pantina details how the campaign
had united women from a differing educational, professional and ethnic
backgrounds:
Shqipe Pantina: The
campaign was led in all Kosovo municipalities. It was comprehensive in gender
input, considering that there were a number of men who supported this campaign
and participated in our meetings. It was also comprehensive in ethnic input,
since we had joint meetings in which participated women from all communities:
Serb, Turk, Roma and other communities that live in Kosovo.
Unemployment among women, education, social welfare, lack of
infrastructure, lack of transparency in the work of government institutions,
corruption and care of the victims of the war are highlighted as the biggest
problems that women face in all of the 30 Municipalities in Kosovo.
Igballe Hakiqi: After some time and a series of discussions with
differing opinions in Podujevo, three main problems were identified: lack of
jobs, the need to extend maternity leave, and the need for faster privatization
of small and medium enterprises.
Even as Women Network
participants detailed similar experiences and problems across Kosovo, there are
region specific issues as well.
Vasiljka Vojinovic,
coordinator with a partner women focused NGO named “Zora” works in Serbian
enclaves. Vojinovic says that those Serbian majority populations in many areas
are totally isolated, creating a different set of problems for women:
Zora: During the campaign in these regions we noticed
that women are extremely uninformed about problems in overall society and that
may be due to the fat that the circulation of information is limited. Women in enclaves are almost in total
isolation. Problems include restricted
movement, unemployment, education, and bad communication. All together with the lack of information
and notable indifference of women for civil actions due in part to existing
civilian problems, which need to be solved as well their personal issues.
Women Network will now present the conclusions of their
campaign to each political party in Kosovo.
As leadership in Kosovo and the millions who live here strive to meet
the benchmarks outlined by the international community, women’s organizations
cite UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson who said: “Society in
which women voices are not heard is not less female society, it is less human
society”.
That is all for this
edition of UNMIK on Air, thanks for listening and stay tuned for more.