The Security and Gender Group urges Central Election Commission to adhere to requirements set out under the Law on Gender Equality

15 January 2021

As Kosovo prepares for early general elections in February 2021, the Security and Gender Group (SGG) urges the Central Election Commission (CEC) to adhere to the requirements set out under the Law on Gender Equality and guarantee equal representation of women and men in election lists as required by the Law.  

The Security and Gender Group reminds the Central Election Commission of the obligation to ensure equal gender representation during the electoral process in accordance with the Law on Gender Equality, which stipulates that:

“Legislative, executive, judicial bodies at all levels and other public institutions shall be obliged to adopt and implement special measures to increase representation of underrepresented gender, until equal representation of women and men according to this Law is achieved” (Article 6, paragraph 7).

The Security and Gender Group supports the statement of the Ombudsperson Institution of Kosovo stressing the need for an electoral process which is based on the principles and guarantees established by the Kosovo laws.

Furthermore, equal participation of women and men is an essential condition for Kosovo institutions to fully observe international and regional standards as reflected in the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the EU Acquis Communautaire.

The Security and Gender Group, therefore, urges the Central Election Commission to adhere to the standard of 50 per cent representation of women in election lists in line with the requirements set out under the Law on Gender Equality and not to certify lists of political entities that do not meet this requirement.
Such measures will ensure equal representation in decision-making as a necessary condition for the better functioning of a democratic society with political entities as the “gatekeepers” of democracy and women’s participation.

Note to the press

The Security and Gender Group (SGG) is a multi-stakeholder group, chaired by UN Women. The following institutions are members of SGG and support this public statement:

International organizations and diplomatic representations: UN Kosovo Team (UNKT) agencies including the Office of the UN Development Coordinator, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), International Organization for Migration (IOM) , United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), EULEX, Embassy of Finland, British Embassy Pristina

Kosovo institutions: Agency for Gender Equality, Kosovo Police – Domestic Violence Section

Women’s organizations and NGOs: Kosova Women's Network, Kvinna till Kvinna, Kosova – Women 4 Women, Kosovar Gender Studies Center, Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Kosovo, Jahjaga Foundation, CEL Kosova, INJECT