11 December 2019 – Balkans Group organised the third roundtable from the series of consultations as part of the project “Fostering the Women Caucus’ role through regional outreach & establishing their relationship with the media”.
The roundtable started with a fruitful discussion on the key obstacles that have hindered the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality. In addition, women municipal Assembly members and Gender Equality Officers (GEOs) had a unique opportunity to communicate local challenges on the implementation of the law to projected women deputies of the Kosovo Assembly.
Teuta Haxhiu of AAK, a former Women Caucus Board member, explained the role of the Women Caucuses, the agendas they have pushed and insisted to act as a positive force for pushing forward the progress on the gender dialogue. They act effectively also as a bridge for articulating issues raised by women and men. Mrs. Haxhiu pointed that the gender equality law is a good law, women just need to take advantage of it.
Arbërije Nagavci of LVV also noted that this is a very important step in cooperation between the local and central level, as it helps women in empowering one another. Ekrem Bytyqi, GEO from Rahovec, argued that men do not seem to be interested in the issues that women face as in some instances gender equality is seen only as a women issue.
The roundtable concluded with the agreement to increase efforts for raising the number of women participants in public consultations. The new elected women members of the parliament will advance this strategic approach.
The project aims to further strengthen the Women Caucus’ impact and expand its reach throughout Kosovo by also liaising with the women representatives at municipal levels.
The project will help women MPs and women municipal assembly members work more closely with media and help initiate public dialogue at the local and central level, forging a sustainable relationship between the caucus and the media through continuous activities. Other project activities supporting the Women Caucus include: an intensive training on the use of social networks for women MP’s, meetings with media representatives, and a concluding conference.
The project “Fostering the Women Caucus’ role through regional outreach and establishing relationship with the media” is funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) – an initiative of the Government of Canada”.
