April 30 – The Non-Governmental Organization “Syri i Vizioni” held the third round table “Elevation of the position of women in peace-making and peace-keeping processes”. After the debates previously held with representatives of women and young people of Peja, the participants in this debate were the men of the city of Peja, who discussed how they see the inclusion of women in the existing mechanisms for building peace.
The men present at this table requested that the women themselves should be more persistent and more organized to protect their rights and to reach an equal position with men. Also, they themselves have been critical that even those who, as men, lead various sectors, institutions or political parties have not done enough or as much as is required by law for women to be more powerful in decision-making.
They agreed that the responsible institutions should do more in implementing the laws and not leave them on paper, while they requested that the local and central institutions should allocate more budget for activities to empower women in decision-making. Also, they agreed that there should be many more awareness campaigns by institutions, political parties, civil society itself in rural and urban areas, for equal treatment of women in society, support in the family and in Kosovar society.
Present at this table were officials from the Municipality of Peja, councilors in the Municipal Assembly, representatives of political parties, civil society and the media.
The table “Readiness of women and their involvement in the existing mechanisms on peace building” was the last table that was held within the program “Raising the position of women in peace-making and peace-keeping processes”. The aim of these roundtables was to increase the participation of women during the processes of peace building and post-conflict planning. Such tables were also held in nine other municipalities of Kosovo as part of the joint project of international organizations UN Women, EU and UNDP in partnership with local non-governmental organizations.
