[KWN-Voices] Volume 1, Issue 4 - English

[kwn-news at alb-net.com]

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KWN VOICES: Your link to the Women of Kosova
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Volume 1, Issue 4 - October 28, 2001
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IN THIS ISSUE:

* Editorial: Letter of Thanks to Star Network Staff

* Network News
Update on the Campaign Against Violence Against Women
Networking in Struga
Kosova Business Women's Network
National Action Plan for Gender Equality

* About KWN Voices

*

FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK -

This issue of the Kosova Women's Network newsletter - KWN Voices -
focuses on a series of articles and announcements about the work of
KWN members over the last 6 months.

We also take this opportunity, in our editorial, to say a special
thanks to the staff of the Star Network who have supported our work
over the years and who paid a dear price for their commitment to
partnerships with civil society groups in the region.

The KWN has continued to focus on its key roles while restructuring
itself to be more responsive to its members.  Over the last few months
the KWN has focused on - encouraging new initiatives, facilitating
networking among women in the region, pushing joint campaigns and
supporting new members especially those in the rural areas.

In the last 6 months, the KWN has elected a new board and continues
its regular monthly meetings in Prishtina and on a regular basis
throughout the region.  The second stage of the Campaign Against
Violence Against Women will be launched in November 2002.  A new
network of women business owners was founded and a national plan for
action on gender equality was drafted.

We hope KWN Voices does a good job of updating our friends and
supporters worldwide.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you
would like more information on our members or our work.

Igo Rogova
Coordinator - KWN
e-mail: igo at womensnetwork.org
October, 2002

*

PEOPLE MAKE ORGANISATIONS, ORGANISATIONS DO NOT MAKE PEOPLE

Since the end of the war in 1999 hundreds of international
organizations came to Kosova. Most of them came to do a project
without looking for a relationship with local NGOs here in Kosova.  It
is not part of their mandate, they would say.

They were trying to teach us to be transparent in our work and they
themselves did not practice openness, honesty and transparency in
their work. There were those who came only because of high salaries.
And their approach was bossy toward locals. Higher salary = higher
position.

There were also international organizations who were small in the
beginning but as the time went by they grew with staff and offices in
the whole region and then became bureaucratic.  Suddenly money was
more important for them then relationships.

For us the relationship with the organization we are working with is
more important then money.

The reason of writing this letter is to give support and big
thankfulness for their work to STAR Network staff: Wenny, Nuria, Kimi,
Afrim, Mikja, Aferdita and Iva.

This staff had the principle of their work: PEOPLE MAKE ORGANISATIONS!

This principle they showed everywhere by making relationships with
local NGOs, Kosova Women's Network, Serbian Women's Network, Roma and
Ashkali Women's Network, Femisfera group and also toward International
organizations.

They cared for us and helped us make our voices heard. They are an
example to all organizations functioning in the world.

They had to pay a very expensive price to keep this principle of work.
They submitted their resignations to their parent organization because
their parent organization didn't show respect for their work.

They were criticized by their parent organization for making
relationships with the local NGOs. They were put in the situation to
change this principle, but the whole staff decided to resign instead
of changing the principle.

We, members of the women's movement in Kosova, want to give
recognition to the work Wenny, Nuria, Kimi, Afrim, Mikja, Aferdita and
Iva did. WE LOVE YOU!

We hope that in the same time they will give a lesson to those coming
in their position and to all organizations in the world that:
ORGANISATIONS DO NOT MAKE PEOPLE BUT PEOPLE MAKE ORGANISATIONS.

Igballe Rogova
Kosova Women's Network Founder and current Board chairperson
October 2002

*

UPDATE ON THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

On November 25th 2002 the Campaign Against Violence Against Women will
be relaunched with a concert in Prishtina and a new set of songs by
popular artists in Kosova.  The concert will be a celebration of the
successful campaign and a reaffirmation of our commitment to eradicate
violence against women. Preparations for this concert already started
and many famous singers and bands are preparing more songs against
violence against women.

The media and cultural campaign against violence against women was
originally launched on November 25th 2001.  One component of the
campaign is a play and songs with the text against violence against
women. The play is called 'OUR STORIES' (Rrefimet tona) and
incorporates short monologues of women telling their stories, acted by
actresses from the National Theatre, Prishtina.

The play is thought provoking and has been proven to be a strong tool
for motivating the audience to work to combat violence against women.
The monologues are written not to be pathetic and tragic but to give
voice how the 'victims' in each story overcome the prejudices of those
around them.  Emboldened by the performance several KWN members have
been flooded with calls from women seeking solutions to the violence
they are subjected to.

There are two songs in the play that were written specifically for
this campaign.  My Mini Skirt is based on the text of one of Eve
Ensler's monologues. The second song is a ballad concerning domestic
violence with the key message not to keep silent but to speak out.
Both songs became a hit on the Kosova TOP 20. The performance played
all over Kosova and will continue its tour until November.25th  2002.
The first part of this campaign was sponsored by USAID and Kvinna till
Kvinna and the second part by Christian Aid Organization.

NETWORKING IN STRUGA

A new networking initiative was launched in September, 2002 between
women from Kosova, Macedonia and Albania.  This initiative builds on
networking at several regional meetings on women and advocacy
sponsored by the STAR Network for World Learning.

In May 2002, the US based organization STAR Network for World
Learning, organised the second regional conference on Advocacy
Strategies for Women's Economic and Political Empowerment in Porec,
Croatia.

One hundred women from NGOs, government, business, trade unions, and
the media in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro,
Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia gathered to take stock of their
accomplishments, campaigns, challenges and lessons learned since the
1st Porec conference in 2000 where the region's first economic agenda
for women was crafted.

15 women from Kosova attended this conference. Many new and exciting
initiatives grew out of this conference with a focus on continued
networking between women from the region.  One of these new
initiatives is the improved networking of women from Kosova, Macedonia
and Albania.  A first large scale event was organized for Sept. 6th
and 7th 2002, in Struga, Macedonia.

While at the conference in Porec, the women's group AUREOLA from
Struga, learned from KWN members about the Campaign Against Violence
Against Women organised in Kosova by Kosova Womens Network.  Aureola
asked if the KWN could bring the campaign to Struga.

AUREOLA planned to show the performance in Struga on Sept 6th 2002
combined with a round table where women from Kosova, Albania and
Macedonia could sit together and develop a Regional Network on future
collaboration. This event was sponsored by Kvinna till Kvinna
(Sweden).

THE TRIP TO STRUGA

Over 60 women representing women's groups from Kosova, Macedonia and
Albania and the team of the Anti Violence campaign hired a bus to
travel to Struga. Representatives of UNIFEM were invited and with
their "white jeep" accompanied the bus.  Their presence was insurance
so that the women would not experience harassment by Macedonia police.
Traveling to Macedonia was considered risky as the pre electoral
situation was very tense.

But even with the 'white jeep' insurance, the proper documents and
special official documents written in Macedonian, at the Macedonian
border, police made the participants pay 30 Euros twice at both the
passport check point and the customs point only because we were from
Kosova. First everyone refused to pay, but police said if we don't pay
they would not allow the bus to enter, and we would need to take taxis
as a transport. At this moment the UNIFEM jeep was not allowed to be
near the bus so they couldn't intervene.  Everyone decided to pay,
only because all the arrangements were made in Struga and it would be
shame not to be present and show the performance there.

The bus continued the trip, this time with UNIFEM driving in front of
us, and every time we would be stopped by the police, before they
would request money, UNIFEM staff would show up and ask: Is there any
problem?

No problems, would answer police, only checking the papers.

IN STRUGA

Even though we were tired when we arrived in Struga, because of the
energy of women we didn't rest but already start speaking about our
expectations for the event.

That evening we went to the National Theatre for the performance. The
theatre has 650 seats and it is in the centre of town. First we had a
presentation of our Networks and then came the time to start the
performance. The local women there were concerned about attendance
because in the same night it was a pre electorate campaign of one of
the biggest Albanian party in Macedonia.

But, people chose our event so slowly the theatre filled. There were
people who couldn't enter because there was no free seat. The audience
was half women and half men. I have to mention that this was the best
ever audience I met.

After the performance, audience had a very positive response and they
were talking to their friends next day about it.

The same evening we had a party organised in the hotel where we
stayed. We all celebrated together: Albania, Macedonian, Roma and
Turkish women. The music was live and dancing continued into the wee
hours of the morning.  We were happy to be together and we were all
empowered from the strong message of the performance.

WHAT NEXT?

During the morning of the second day all the women showed up at 9am.
Incredible! After a long night of dance, we were all fresh in the
morning. We all needed that party to get our batteries recharged.
Since we all work hard, we also need time for relaxing and fun.

It was interesting to see how similar the problems are that women face
in all three countries. The three main topics mostly discussed were
drafting laws concerning violence, women in the economy and anti
trafficking initiatives.

To continue our work on these issues we decided to found a network
among us, having regular communications vial e-mail and yearly
gatherings. The NGOs from Albania also invited us to show the
performance in their country.

For this very successful organising we want to thank the women's NGO
AUREOLA from Struga. They worked hard under difficult conditions to
make this event possible.

Written by:
Igo Rogova
September, 2002.

*

KOSOVA-WIDE BUSINESS WOMEN'S NETWORK

Building on the work of several members of the KWN and the 2001
conference on Women in the Economy the Kosova Wide Business Women's
Network was recently launched.  The following is a description of the
network and the support they will provide their members.

WHY A KOSOVA-WIDE BUSINESS WOMEN'S NETWORK?

* For information exchange.
* Lobbying together locally, regionally and internationally and on the
relationships with governments, donors and international institutions.
* Cooperation together and with others versus isolation and
individualism.
* To provide better greater opportunities for communication and travel
exchanges.
* To give more sense to the lack of coordination for the
implementation of activities.
* To achieve collective strategies that will lead to more sustainable
changes.
* To be aware of the lost of energy because everybody is trying again
and again to reinvent the wheel.
* To implement advocacy campaigns that will influence institutions,
politicians and the civil society.

THE MISSION

To support, protect and promote Kosova-Wide Business Women's interests
through information and experience exchange, partnership networking,
researches, lobbying and services.

The Network is an ideal environment for reinforcing the exchange of
ideas and best practices among associations from the world over.

For the individual woman business owner the Business Network presents
an enriching experience to meet other like-minded women from the
world.

THE KOSOVA-WIDE BUSINESS WOMEN'S NETWORK IS:

* a natural counterpart of other organizations, groups, movements and
individuals,
* an organization principle for the future since networks are based on
an assumption that woman and men want to work in equal and collective
structures,
* the most effective and efficient way to create sustainable
development,
* the best strategy to help business women based on cooperation and
relationships without creating new hierarchical structures.

CONCRETE OBJECTIVES:

* increase women's access to new technology and market options,
* identify best practices in the region,
* ensure support from government for the existence businesses and
professional associations,
* support the creation and development of new businesses and
professional contacts,
* break up women's isolation,
* encourage start-ups of new women's business.

Contact person: Mirlinda Kusari
Address:
St. "Dardania/Kurrizi" No. 19
38000 Prishtina
Kosovo
Tele/Fax: +381 (0) 390 21 490
Mobile:    +377 (0) 44 122 696
E-mail:     rrgak at yahoo.com

*

THE WORK OF KOSOVAR WOMEN IN CREATING THE NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR
GENDER EQUALITY

Kosovar women have, during history, been involved in the development
Kosova's society. Their movement has been extremely visible during the
1990's and also during the war in Kosova. An increased development has
occurred especially in the past three years. Now women act in all
regions of Kosova in an organized manner. Aware of their work and the
results they achieved, as well as the problems and shortages they
faced, based on the work experience and the actual situation they
decided to work on a common strategy for action.

In Croatia during June, the days between 2-11 June 2002, Kosovar
women, with the assistance of UNIFEM, have created The Acting Plan for
Gender Equality. The attendees of this workshop were members of the
Parliament of Kosova, representatives of the Government, NGOs, Media,
and experts from other fields.

Based on the outcome of many analysis that were done on the actual
situation in Kosova (economical, social and political) and the
analysis of gender issues on the same fields, on identifying the
problems and action that needs to be taken up to year 2005 in the
fields of: Economy, Education, Human Rights, Health, Social Welfare,
the group has composed the first draft of the Action Plan. This draft
will be given for public review to various institutions, organizations
and experts for comment and recommendations.

During the first three days of this workshop the Kosovar women
identified the role and the possibilities of women in politics, NGOs
and Media. Based on the previous results they have stressed the
possibility of cooperation between the three sectors mentioned above.
The workshop was facilitated by the Croatian NGO - B.A.B.E. and the
president of the council for gender equality in the Croatian
Parliament, who is at the same time the president of the biggest
Croatian political party.

The last four days these women worked on the national action plan, and
they have managed to create the first draft, which is being prepared
for public debate. The workshop was facilitated by Georgina Ashworth
from Great Britain, who has a great experience on establishing organs
for gender equality, and especially in attending and facilitating
projects similar to this one.

Other than the National Acting Plan, which was a result of this
workshop, it is clear that there is a higher level of cooperation
between Parliamentary organs and NGOs. Now it expected that the plan
on gender equality will be implemented by the help of the Members of
the Parliament, NGOs and experts.

WHAT IS A NATIONAL ACTION PLAN (PVN)?

National Action Plan for achieving gender equality is based on the
Beijing Platform for acting (1995) the resulting documents of the
extraordinary "meeting" Beijing + 5 (New York, 2000). The acting Plan
for gender equality is a functional policy for advancing the women
rights. The idea of this plan is to reach the conditions for women to
realize their rights, by using the positive action.

PVN is a document, which contains clear obligations, which will be
undertaken by the Government in order to improve gender equality. The
Action Plan usually involves masses that take some obligating
procedures.

The implementation of these actions is usually done by: mechanisms for
gender equality of all levels (national, local etc) with the help of
civil society, public and private institutions (NGOs, Media,
independent institutions).

Contribution from:
Flora Macula
National Program Manager
UNIFEM-Kosova

*

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About the KWN Voices
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KWN Voices is published monthly by the Kosova Women's Network (KWN).
The KWN is made up of over 32 women's groups from throughout Kosova.
We hope that you find the information we disseminate of value and that
when we make a call for action we can count on your support.  Please
forward this newsletter to others and encourage them to join.

TO SUBSCRIBE: send an e-mail to kwn-news-request at alb-net.com with only
the word 'subscribe' in the body of the message or visit
http://www.alb-net.com/mailman/listinfo/kwn-news

Inquiries and submissions can be sent to info at womensnetwork.org.  Back
issues of the newsletter can be found at http://www.womensnetwork.org.

This newsletter has been produced with generous support from
OSI-Budapest http://www.soros.org

Editorial Board:
Igo Rogova, Motrat Qiriazi
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