Economic empowerment, challenges for women’s employment in Albania and Kosovo
Challenges for economic empowerment, gender equality and women’s employment in Albania and Kosovo have been the focus of a two-day regional forum “Employment Status of Women and Girls in Albania and Kosovo, with best practices from the region”, which was held online on a Zoom Platform on 14 and 15 October 2020
The main purpose of this forum organized by Gender Alliance for Development Center and Democracy for Development, on the framework of the project ” Enhancing Women Access to the Labour Market” in Albania which is implemented in partnership with the Institute Democracy for Development, D4D (Kosovo) supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pristina, was to exchange information and recommendations on employment policies in Albania, Kosovo and the region and to initiate advocacy strategies and actions at the regional level, which contribute to increasing women’s employment.
The forum discussed some important topics as follows:
- Employment of Albanian women, challenges and solutions
- Discrimination in the workplace and protection
- Vocational education and training,
- Social protection contributes
According to the figures, the employment rate for the population aged 15-64 is 66.7% for men and 52.4% for women in this age group.[1] A significant proportion of working-age women in both countries perform unpaid work in the family business, mainly on agricultural farms.
Based on these data, the panelists at the forum organized on October 14-15 discussed the economic empowerment of women through appropriate education programs, continuing education, employment and entrepreneurship. It was also discussed how the constitutional right to employment is implemented and protected in Albania and Kosovo and what are the challenges in the employment of women and girls in both countries.
[1] http://www.instat.gov.al/media/6413/burra-dhe-gra_2019.pdf