The Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls - UNFPA
The Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls - UNFPA The Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls - UNFPA
NGOs, but the fear
to different cultural attitudes toward women. Many returned to Kosovo wanting to work towards developing equal opportunities for women. 47 It was a shock to many women activists to see how women, with all their experiences from the parallel system and the exodus, were totally excluded from decision-making by the Kosovar male leadership. 48 Women’s groups reacted by taking things into their own hands. During the 1990s, a few NGOs were established besides the Women’s Forum
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to different cultural attitudes toward women. Many returned to Kosovo wanting to<br />
work towards developing equal opportunities for women. 47<br />
It was a shock to many women activists to see how women, with all their<br />
experiences from the parallel system <strong>and</strong> the exodus, were totally excluded from<br />
decisi<strong>on</strong>-making by the Kosovar male leadership. 48 <strong>Women</strong>’s groups reacted by<br />
taking things into their own h<strong>and</strong>s. During the 1990s, a few NGOs were<br />
established besides the <strong>Women</strong>’s Forum <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> LDK. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> Centre for Protecti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
<strong>Women</strong> <strong>and</strong> Children <strong>and</strong> Motrat Qiriazi, a rural women’s group, are the best<br />
known <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the women’s NGOs. Since June 1999, many women’s NGOs have<br />
been formed all over Kosovo, organizing different kinds <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> activities to improve<br />
women’s welfare. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>se activities have included teaching illiterate women to<br />
read <strong>and</strong> write, creating ec<strong>on</strong>omic opportunities for women, supporting widows in<br />
small villages, <strong>and</strong> working with traumatized women <strong>and</strong> children. 49 <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> women’s<br />
movement in Kosovo is diverse <strong>and</strong> str<strong>on</strong>g, but the NGOs lack support from the<br />
internati<strong>on</strong>al community. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> NGOs <strong>and</strong> women’s branches <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the political<br />
parties have raised their voices <strong>on</strong> behalf <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> women, but there is such disrespect<br />
towards women that they have difficulty being heard.<br />
Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Opportunities for <strong>Women</strong><br />
Before the crisis, women’s participati<strong>on</strong> in the Kosovar workforce was low<br />
compared with that in other Communist areas in Eastern Europe. In the 1970s,<br />
women´s participati<strong>on</strong> was 20-21 per cent, rising <strong>on</strong>ly to 23 per cent in 1988.<br />
Reas<strong>on</strong>s for this involve traditi<strong>on</strong>s; the dominance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the agricultural sector, in<br />
which women’s work was highly underestimated; the lack <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> social services; high<br />
birth rates <strong>and</strong> the size <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Albanian families which hinders women from having<br />
paid jobs. 50<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> women in the labour force worked primarily in educati<strong>on</strong>, health care,<br />
industry <strong>and</strong> trade. A small group <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> women had university educati<strong>on</strong>s. During<br />
the 1990s, many women lost their jobs because <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Government’s policy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
firing Albanians. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> UNIFEM assessment <strong>Women</strong> at Work estimated that<br />
unemployment am<strong>on</strong>g women in 2000 was 70 per cent, emphasizing that there<br />
was more unemployment am<strong>on</strong>g women than men. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> UNIFEM assessment<br />
also revealed that most women would prefer to hold paid jobs <strong>and</strong> to be selfsustaining<br />
financially. 51<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> phased-down presence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> internati<strong>on</strong>al NGOs, from 400 in 2000 to<br />
200 in 2001, <strong>and</strong> specifically United Nati<strong>on</strong>s agencies <strong>and</strong> UNMIK, has not<br />
improved the situati<strong>on</strong>, since the rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ec<strong>on</strong>omy is a slow<br />
47 Accounts from UNIFEM workshops 2000-2001.<br />
48 Ibid.<br />
49 No Safe Place, p. 118-119.<br />
50 <strong>Women</strong> at Work, pp. 70-73.<br />
51 Ibid., pp. 24, xiii, 48.<br />
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