Social Justice, Gender Equality, and Peace Building
Intern at an organization that is committed to bringing new approaches for effective and meaningful engagement and representation of marginalized groups with particular interest in women and youth in Kosovo, founded by Kosovo's first female president. The general goal of this foundation is the democratic development of Kosovo and the Balkans, through social inclusion and support for marginalized groups, as a precondition for peacebuilding in the region. Three causes are at the heart of the foundation, and they include: social inclusiveness, interethnic and regional reconciliation, and security.
The Isla Intern will provide support to one or more of the main following projects:
1. Benefits of Gender Diversity in Politics is working to promote gender diversity in politics, at both the local and central level. This project has two main components – capacity building for women and youth within political parties and promoting gender diversity in politics as an asset for all stakeholders. Within the first component, e-learning courses are being developed in order to enable members of all political parties to learn about strategies of election campaigns, fundraising, utilizing social media for political gain, public speaking, and more. The second component will focus on promoting the benefits of gender diversity and highlighting the impact of women in local politics.
2. Economic Empowerment of Survivors of Gender-based Violence and women of Marginalized Groups is a project that will help identify employment opportunities for women who are currently in safe houses, as well as other women from marginalized groups. The foundation is also working with the private sector to match their needs with the skill sets of women who are interested in other fields, and thus secure them employment in other sectors.
3. ZA Magazine shares powerful stories of resilience in an effort to change the narrative about gender equality. In 2020, the foundation launched the magazine, which is named ZA. The meaning of this is twofold – in Albanian it means “voice” and as such it refers to the voice of women and advocates of gender equality, whereas in Serbian it means “for” which is a dedication to all the strong and resilient women and men who push through challenges in order to create a level playing field.
4. MotherSchools Kosovo: Parenting for Peace! program aims to empower women to have an active role in their communities and equip them with skills to manage different challenges in relation to their children. One key takeaway of the program is the ability to detect signs of extremist and out of ordinary behavior among in their children, and intervene accordingly. MotherSchools is a program developed by Women without Borders, and brought to Kosovo for the first time through the cooperation with the foundation.
5. Empowerment of Women and Youth among the IDPs, Minority Returnees and Host Communities is a program that aims to empower women of five non-majority communities in five municipalities of Kosovo. Through a range of advocacy activities with the local authorities, as well as grassroots activities directly held with women and youth, the foundation works to address some of the issues identified by our persons of concern, including access to professional opportunities and municipal services. Through this project we also promote diversity by publishing success stories of women from minority communities.
6. Creating a Safe and Engaging Space for the Youth of Kamenica is a project of the foundation in cooperation with the Municipality of Kamenica to implement the project in creating a space for youth. The foundation is designing a comprehensive program for youth of all communities, with diverse activities that are both educational and extra-curricular. Among others, the program will include: tutoring, training and mentoring activities, guest speakers from diverse fields, competitions, music festivals and other performances, community mobilization for different causes, sports and other recreational activities, and many more opportunities.