The seventh-annual Week of Women kicked off on March 26, followed by five days of interactive, skills-building sessions on communications, networking, and policy development. The annual event, which is supported by USAID and implementing partner National Democratic Institute, gathered 100 women and 30 men from political parties, civil society, business, media, and academia. The sessions fostered interaction, collaboration, and networking among participants, who were from different ethnic groups ideological perspectives, and professional backgrounds. 

This year’s theme was “integrity of local political processes” and covered a wide array of topics, including public procurement of goods and services; recruitment of municipal public servants; formulation and approval of municipal budgets; and citizens’ engagement in local political processes and decision-making. A mayor from North Macedonia, a mayor from Netherlands, an activist from Serbia, and a parliamentarian from Canada participated in this year’s event as special guests. 

Since 2012, more than 700 women have participated in this event. In addition, over the past two years, 90 men have participated. In the 2017 local elections, 90 WOW alumni, including 13 women from non-majority communities, ran for office in their municipal assemblies, and 22 were elected as local counselors.