A round table discussion on “The role and position of women in religious communities in Kosovo” was held on 7 April 2015, and it was organized by the Kosovo Center for Dialogue with the support of UNFPA office in Kosovo. Participants on this roundtable consisted of 25 women coming from different religious communities, including Islamic, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Community. Present in this roundtable were also Resident Coordinator Mr. Andrew Russell who gave opening remarks, representative from UNMIK.
The main objective of the roundtable discussion was to officially document and introduce who are the women leaders, theologians and activists in existing religious communities in Kosovo, where are they located, and what is their position and responsibility. In addition the roundtable aimed to serve as a podium where women panelists from the religious communities had the opportunity to speak directly about their position in their respective religious community, obstacles and opportunities for further advancement. Women were able to also exchange their views on their potential progress as well as address common challenges, such as gender based violence and sexual and reproductive health.
The meeting resulted in two concrete recommendations: a) request to UNFPA to held a training on RH for women from all religious communities in Kosovo; and b) follow up meeting to be held in coming months on identification and development of common approaches and joint actions on empowerment of women from theses religious communities.
