For a number of years now, UNFPA has implemented a regional – Western Balkans and Moldova – project called Expanding Choices. Though the project, we promote family-friendly and gender equality policies for the workplace. The project works with the public sector to advance policies conducive to these goals, as well as with the private sector to seek inspiration and showcase their actual value for people, businesses, and the economy.

We firmly believe – and have now seen concrete evidence from project implementation – that family friendly and gender inclusive policies do not only benefit the workers, they also provide for a higher level of efficiency of any workplace and even promote employment. All this takes place against the backdrop of the 2019 EU Work-Life Balance Directive and therefore supports the region’s European integration. In essence, the project is about gender equality, it is about leveling the playing field, so that it is not only the women that bear the cost of family care vs. professional life, as is rooted in many traditions across the globe. 

One of the activities of the project is a festival we organize each year on international Father’s Day. It is a public event that takes place in a major city central square and it involves a multitude of activities centered on promoting equal parenting and the central role of fathers in childcare. Following the event in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, in 2022, this year we went to the second biggest city – Prizren – the home of diverse and multiethnic heritage of Kosovo’s communities. 

The program ranged from games for parents and children, to ‘superdad’ competitions, quizzes and various forms of artistic expression. The activities were designed to illustrate the profound satisfaction and benefits of active fatherhood and equal parenthood, both on the wellbeing of children and the family’s socio-economic status in general. It was a unique opportunity for Kosovo’s dads to show pride in their active family role in a very public way and get wide social acknowledgement for it, which otherwise may be lacking. 

It was a great satisfaction for the UNFPA Expanding Choices team too to see so many active fathers and equal parents, proudly showing off their way of life. This annual festival gives us additional inspiration to push the project’s goals further, while marveling in the effects of all the past activities.