UNMIK/PR/931
International Women’s Day is celebrated as a national holiday in many countries of the world. Born in the early 20th century during a time of great social turbulence and radical changes in the industrial world, it has evolved from a day of trade union strikes, political protests and feminist marches into a commemoration of the international struggle for women’s rights and equality.
Since 1975 it has been recognized as an International Day by the United Nations. Empowerment and advancement of women lies at the heart of all United Nations development strategies and programmes. Advacement of women is the Millenium Development Goal of the Organization that comes right after the goals of poverty eradication and achieving universal primary education.
In Kosovo, women’s advancement has been set as one of the important benchmark for measuring the progress of the functioning democratic institutions. To ensure the involvement of women in the decision-making process UNMIK has also introduced the quota system for women. Because of this, we have reached the target of 28.5 % of women in the Kosovo Assembly and 28.9 of women in Municipal Assemblies. However, the representation of women in the Government (both central and local) remains very low. There is only one woman President and one woman Vice President of Municipal Assemblies and there is only one woman Permanent Secretary in Kosovo.
In order to integrate gender into the work of municipalities the Office of Gender Affairs has established posts of Municipal Gender Officers in all 30 municipalities of Kosovo. Both the quota and the MGOs programme have become important tools for gender mainstreaming in Kosovo.
Women play an important role in Kosovo society. However, even in such areas as education, healthcare, and culture they are often denied senior management positions. Discriminated at the work place or denied employment, exposed to domestic violence and abuse at home and deprived of property and inheritance, the rights of Kosovo’s women remain vulnerable.
International Women’s day provides the opportunity to raise awareness of all these problems and advocate for women’s equal rights. On this day we reach out to policy makers, NGOs, civil society, academia, media and the private sector to mobilize public opinion and take concerted action.
On this day we also thank women for their contribution to Kosovo society and wish them all the best in their daily endeavors.