Significant participation of women in Pristina-Belgrade dialogue required

Members of the Group for Security and Gender Equality seek to ensure the meaningful participation of women in the Pristina delegation, which participates in the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue for normalisation of relations, as well as in working groups designed to brief dialogue.

This group through a communique says that since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the international community has worked on raising awareness of women's lack of representation in global peace security efforts, pledging and appealing to others for the inclusion of women in achieving peace.

The lack of representation of women is also the reason why the UN Security Council has prioritized the full and equal participation of women in peace processes at Resolution 1325 (2000) and the subsequent resolutions.

“Unfortunately, these calls have not received expected responses from governments, as is the case with the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue on normalising relations which so far has remained a process of “verber” towards gender equality. 10 / 15 05 L-020) called for equal involvement of women and men in decision-making positions at executive, legislative and judicial levels. Also, women's participation in negotiation, peace and reconciliation processes is among the main objectives of the Kosovo Programme for Gender Equality 2020-2024. Kosovo institutions must double their until now efforts to maintain their responsibilities in implementing the Law on Gender Equality, as women have been sub-represented in high political positions, but also in negotiations and in dialogue with Belgrade, including in the quality of technical experts, as well as in public consultations on the content of negotiations and dialogue. Women in Kosovo are not passive spectators or just victims or targets. Historically, they have had and continue to have the role of active agents in the peace-building, policy-making and recovery processes. Kosovo institutions have qualified women who can participate as active agents of change and lead media and negotiation efforts. With that in mind, we ask Kosovo institutions to immediately take the necessary steps and ensure the meaningful participation of women in the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade. Furthermore, we demand that this process be open and transparent and be organised with access to the bottom up, according to consultations with different women and men about their needs and expectations from the dialogue. We are willing to provide information about potential qualified persons and support in organising public consultations towards ensuring a democratic, transparent and participation process, which is very important for lasting peace and security in the region”, the communique says.

Otherwise, the Group for Gender Security and Equality (SGG) is a group of many acts, which is headed by UN Fomen.

The following signatories are members of SGGG and support this public statement, such as the Kosovo Women's Network for Women (151 organisations), Women 4 Women Kosova, Kvinna til Kvinna, Jahjaga Foundation, Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), NGO Zensko Prvo, and the Embassy of Finland, Sweden Embassy, the Embassy of France in Kosovo, Britain's Embassy, Britain UN Development Coordinator (UNDCO), UN Women, U n NFPA, UNHCR, UNMIK-UN Mission to Kosovo, E ULEX, EU Office in Kosovo/ P SBE, IOM, UNDP, UN-Habit.