In order to improve position of women in politics, education, organization and networking are needed, but also greater visibility in the media – these are conclusions from the conference held on Wednesday in Mitrovica North, organized by NGO Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC), Kontakt plus radio reported.

Jovana Obradovic, member of the Zubin Potok municipal assembly, is involved in a political life since 2017 local elections. She is satisfied with the achieved result and the votes she has won, although it is common that the male candidates had more votes. She also pointed out that for the time being, there are no mechanisms or ways to make the participation of men and women equal.

Ružica Simić, women’s rights expert, noted that according to the Law on Gender Equality, women are entitled to 50 percent of representation in the assembly, government and public institutions, while according to the Law on Elections, that percentage is 30 percent. Therefore it is important that in electoral process, women fight to reach the harmonization of these two laws.

Simić added that 30 percent participation of women does not exist in the public institutions and pointed out there is no female mayor in Kosovo. She stressed the 30 percent is not as important as having the women in decision-making positions, whether it is in political parties, legislative bodies, judicial and executive authorities.

The conference was held at the EU Info Centre and is a part of the project “Promoting Active Participation of Women in Local Elections”. The project is supported by the US Embassy in Kosovo and will last until April 11th.

Project Manager Daniela Tomasevic said they somehow wanted to contribute to making women more visible when it comes to political processes in the area.

Comparing 2013 and 2017 elections in northern Kosovo, Tomasevic said that in 2013 there were in total 245 male candidates and 122 women, while in 2017 there were 199 male candidates and 113 women candidates.

“When it comes to the municipal assemblies, in North Mitrovica municipality there is one woman more than in the previous term - 7, while the other three municipalities in the north of Kosovo have retained the same number of women in the assemblies - 6, which actually says that they were just looking to fulfil a quota of 30 percent. In Zvecan, the change has been recorded for the better, since the woman is a Chairperson” Tomasevic said, Kontakt plus radio reported.