Honorable President Osmani, Prime Minister Kurti, members of the Assembly of Kosovo, dear ladies and gentlemen
I am very happy and honoured to have the opportunity to welcome you all today to this important platform.
The "Week of Women" gathers women and men from all sectors to discuss and identify ways for them to take their equal place at all levels of society. This enables women and men participants to hold their representatives accountable, while simultaneously developing and shining a spotlight on women’s leadership.
For Switzerland the empowerment of women through meaningful participation in decision-making processes is a high priority.
As such, we are happy and honoured to join our partners, USAID and NDI in supporting and promoting women’s political participation in Kosovo over the coming five years.
Despite strong signs of progress in the last central and local elections, there is still much to be done to ensure full participation of women in Kosovo’s democracy. We truly hope that the current momentum with increased and more meaningful participation of women in Kosovar politics can be sustained and advanced further.
The success of Kosovo’s democracy depends on the full and equal participation of women. More work is needed at all levels of society, especially also at the local level, to empower women economically, socially, and politically.
The Swiss contribution with funds from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, which goes beyond the Week of Women, shall enable increased support and promotion of women’s political participation at the municipal level. This will complement well other Swiss supported interventions in the area of local governance, which stimulate and reward increased gender equality. We strive to strengthen the capacity and motivation of women to occupy more leadership positions at the local level.
The Week of Women is a nationwide and annual event that gathers, in a cross-ethnic setting, more than 120 women and men from political parties, civil society, business, media, and academia, with the aim of expanding the pipeline of local women leaders skilled to assume greater leadership positions.
Democracy demands continuous nourishing to deliver peace and prosperity for its citizens. In order to contribute to a world where all citizens have an equal opportunity to shape their political, social and economic future, governments must ensure that policies and practices fully embrace diversity, equality and inclusion.
We look forward to a fruitful discussion in the following next two days and throughout the year, as we all jointly work towards achieving gender parity in the country, region and the world.
Thank you!
