Gender equality

The Mission also raises awareness of the need to eliminate all forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, and works to enhance institutional and civil society capacities in this area. It runs programs to improve women’s access to property and inheritance rights.

Through the flagship Dialogue Academy for Young Women program, the Mission, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Serbia, addresses the Prishtinë/Priština - Belgrade relations in the context of OSCE confidence-building measures, enhancing the capacities of young women to become leaders of change as part of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Since 2015, the program has created a network of more than 180 Alumnae who are leading by example in promoting peacebuilding and dialogue endeavours in their communities and societies.

The Mission works to empower women and promote their rights in the safety and security sector, by assisting the police service and its management structure to increase the number of women in its ranks. It supports women associations of the Kosovo Police and the Kosovo Correctional Agency to develop and implement strategies that contribute to better recruitment, retention and advancement of women in the police force through training, awareness raising and strategic support, as well as through assistance in implementing the newly developed police gender equality agenda. Furthermore, the Mission supports the police in conducting gender sensitive investigation in domestic violence cases and in applying the community policing approach as a crucial tool to prevent all forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence at the local level.

The Mission also supports the Forum of Women Judges and Prosecutors to encourage a diverse and representative justice system.