Speeches Shim
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.
In the past, laws and procedures on property rights in Kosovo were inconsistent and unclear, and discouraged domestic and foreign investments. Informal practices among family members and friends spawned confusion and created legal hurdles to inheriting property and proving ownership. In addition, women were often discouraged from claiming their property rights due to long-held societal norms, with enormous repercussions for women’s economic, social, and political inclusion in Kosovo.
On April 3, USAID’s Engagement for Equity activity and the Advocacy Training and Resource Center (ATRC) held a workshop on overcoming marginalization in Kosovo. The event, which brought together stakeholders from the Government of Kosovo and civil society as well as human rights activists, highlighted the need for greater collaboration to improve the integration of vulnerable and marginalized groups.
USAID formally closed the immersion component of its Transformational Leadership Program (TLP) on March 29, 2019, after five years. The program aimed to enhance existing human capital and talent in Kosovo by offering public policy and remedial English and math courses to civil servants and prospective university students, respectively.
Thank you, Kushtrim, and thanks to everyone for joining us today to address how we can work together to help all of Kosovo’s citizens access equal rights and protections under the law.
So much of the work that USAID does revolves around partnerships, because when people come together, they can achieve great things. In the words of Helen Keller, an American political activist and advocate for people with disabilities, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
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