United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kosovo, jointly with the Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers, the Kosovo Employment Agency, and the Agency for Gender Equality launched today the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions for the Kosovo Employment Agency. The Seal is a UNDP global programa that supports and recognizes public institutions that commit and show results on advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Present at the event were Maria Suokko, UNDP Resident Representative, Enis Spahiu, General Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers (MFLT), Jehona Rexha, Deputy Director of the Kosovo Employment Agency (KEA), Edi Gusia, Executive Director of the Agency for Gender Equality (AGE), representatives of the Regional and Municipal Employment Offices, and young women and men soon to enter labour market and officials from central and local institutions.
The Kosovo Employment Agency is the first public institution in Kosovo to embark on the Seal with the aim to promote policies that are more gender-responsive, effective, efficient, and targeted to the needs of all people, especially women and girls, and particularly those in vulnerable situations. In particular, allows public institutions to strengthen their capacities and advance gender equality in a more effective and visible way.
Many gender stereotypes still prevail in Kosovo when it comes to employment and jobs. We at UNDP, are committed to working together to shift the mindsets, while acknowledging the existing inequalities in the labour market. These relate to broader systematic challenges and large share of informality in the labour market. The Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions programme is a remarkable step in the right direction, and I want to take this opportunity to thank Agency for Gender Equality for partnering with us on this journey and the Kosovo Employment Agency, and the Ministry for its commitment to pursue the Gender Seal.
Maria Suokko, UNDP Kosovo Country Representative.
The Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers has continuously supported initiatives related to the promotion of gender equality. We welcome the launch of the programme and pledge to support it to expand further after the pilot phase. The Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions as a barometer for public institutions, will help our other institutions achieve measurable progress against recognized international standards to address and include, in all aspects of their work, all elements of gender equality.
Mr. Spahiu, General Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Labour and Transfers.
Jehona Rexha, Deputy Director of the Kosovo Employment Agency highlighted the importance of the Gender Seal for the agency, being the first public institution engaged in the countryShe shared her expectations for the Seal to help the Agency to integrate gender equality considerations into its policies and activities with the aim of improving their potential impact on women’s lives, empowerment, and gender equality.
The Gender Equality Seal provides participant institutions with a clear roadmap and milestones that builds their capacities towards integrating and effective gender lens into new legislation or public policis. Institutions set their baseline through a self assessment baseline against the Seal standards, all of them based on international agreements on gender equality and women’s rights, , and from the recommendations arisen they develop an action plan for improvement that touches all areas of the organization (from planning to budgeting, implementation and monitoring of public policies and services) so that the institution can improve its contributions to addressing gender gaps along its mandate.
Through this programme, UNDP and its partners jointly support institutions towards the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).
