Ongoing political and ethnic tension, as well as controversy over the independence of Kosovo from Serbia, spurred the war in 1998. Violence ensued as the use of military force against civilians in favor of Kosovo’s independence led to violent clashes between the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s forces. During the conflict, 10,000 lives were lost, and 20,000 women were raped by armed forces.
“We tried to stay in Kosovo for as long as we could. My husband and I fled our village to escape the violence. In April of 1999, things became too unstable and dangerous, so we left for Albania."
-Valbona, SWSN Participant
The war ended in 1999, yet it remains a patriarchal society where women struggle for economic and social equality:
- 20% of women in Kosovo are in the workforce.
- 13 per cent of women own or lead businesses.
- 50% of women of working age received a secondary education or lower.
Even before the war, girls were often excluded from education, which has resulted in low literacy rates among women, especially in rural areas. This exclusion further constrains women’s participation in government and other aspects of public life.
Our Work
In 2017, our Kosovo leadership established Kosova–Women 4 Women (K-W4W), a locally registered, independent sister organization that continues to work closely with Women for Women International to serve marginalized women in Kosovo.
Through the Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Program, participants join a network of support with other women as they receive vocational training, are instructed on how to run a business, and learn to earn and save money. They also receive information on their rights, how they can improve their health and well-being, and how they can become decision makers in their homes and communities.
K-W4W has also been focused on fostering a network of connections and support for women SWSN graduates, such as enhancing market access through networking by sector and supporting job placement. Graduates of the Change Agents program also receive support through K-W4W as they use their training to advocate for women’s rights in their communities.
The Men’s Engagement Program (MEP) in Kosovo provides men with the opportunity to learn from local leadership about how they can influence their community to become supportive of women’s rights, and how they can become allies for women’s rights and gender equality.
The Impact
- In 2023, our sister organization in Kosovo, Kosova – Women 4 Women (K-W4W), successfully completed the third and final year of a multi-faceted project reaching over 450 women with the SWSN program. Success in this project enabled them to secure substantial follow-on funding for the next three years. K-W4W reached 726 graduates throughout 2023 through various opportunities for graduate networking, including a large year-end event, and organizing visits so that more recent graduates can learn from past program graduates who have been successful in similar technical areas. They also trained 49 Change Agents and have been providing support to them as they advocate for various key issues impacting women in their communities, such as increasing access to women’s healthcare services in underserved locations, improving access to clean drinking water, and collaborating with local government officials to improve road and transit conditions.
