Barriers to the equal participation of women in the labor market were the topic that was held in the framework of Salons in Municipalities, where today the host was the municipality of Drenas. Invited to discuss the topic was: Zahire Podrimqaku from the Office for Gender Equality, Kadire Tahiraj, Director of the Center for Women’s Rights (QPDG), Egzona Tërdevci, Assemblywoman of the Vetëvendosje Movement, while the moderation was carried out by Avdyl Gashi, Director Executive at Youth Center, Drenas.
Egzona Tërdevci said that she is noticing a great lack of engagement of women and young people in the Municipality of Drenas. The misogynistic language faced by women who decide to take public responsibility is one of the biggest difficulties, especially in politics. Also, the sexist and vulgar language used towards them. Another problem in Drenas for the engagement of women from rural areas is the transport that operates with certain schedules where women are denied access to the city, where the opportunities for engagement and employment are greater. Although, according to statistics, the composition of women in the Municipality of Drenas is almost equal to men, Tërdevci stated that gender equality is only a facade, so according to her, even though there are women appointed to positions in the municipality, their voice is not a decision-maker.
Meanwhile, Kadire Tahiraj shows that women’s sites continue to be great and also challenging, including extended working hours especially on official holidays, the level of wages, the employment contract, infrastructure in rural areas, etc. Also, in most cases, due to external factors, women are forced to give up work because of the family. In the Municipality of Drenas, we have over 80% of women whose work is not paid, and the lack of a Professional Training Center made this process even more difficult. Knowing that the level of education is a criterion that plays a key role in the work process, many registered organizations and businesses are not active. Also, the committee for gender equality is not active and it is not known what work they did, seeing that they do not have a budget line, but if this line is made, the work would be easier.
Zahrie Podrimqaku, referring to some statistics from the previous year, shows that 70 women are employed in the municipal administration, and out of a total of 12 directors, 6 of them are led by women. Of the political staff, 8 women are employed, while 415 women are employed in education, and out of 33 school directors, only 10 are women and 117 women are employed in the health sector.
According to Podrimqak, gender equality should start in the family, knowing that rarely are those husbands who are responsible for taking care of raising children together with the woman. She promises that the Office for Gender Equality should cooperate with women’s centers to organize meetings with women in rural areas to inform them about the possibilities of their engagement in the labor market.
This salon was held with the financial support of the Norwegian Embassy in Pristina.