The Acting Ombudsperson in Kosovo, Mr. Hilmi Jashari, released today an ex officio Report concerning the issue of gender discrimination in advertisements for public sector employment competitions.

The Acting Ombudsperson in Kosovo, Mr. Hilmi Jashari, released today an ex officio Report concerning the issue of gender discrimination in advertisements for public sector employment competitions. The Report is the result of an ex officio investigation conducted within the Gender Equality Unit of the Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo (OIK), a special team established in 2004 to address issues of discrimination that relate specifically to gender.
The ex officio investigation was prompted by the OIK’s general inquiries into public sector job vacancy notices and competitions which set gender limitations for potential candidates. The subsequent 12-month investigation scrutinised over 1,000 public sector job advertisements published in the daily newspaper “Koha Ditore”, and found a number of cases where male candidates were excluded on the basis of their gender, regardless of their ability to perform the tasks required for the respective work.
“The cases outlined in our Report are not a conclusive list of gender limitations that appear in the local media,” Acting Ombudsperson Mr. Jashari said today, “but they do provide an indication of a general and ongoing situation.”
The Report concludes that such gender limitations are in breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as a number of domestic provisions including the Gender Equality Law, UNMIK Regulation No. 2001/27 on the Essential Labour Law in Kosovo, and UNMIK Regulation No. 2001/36 on the Kosovo Civil Service. The Report further concludes that, within the meaning of the Anti-Discrimination Law, the gender limitations constitute a direct, gender-based discrimination.
“The Kosovo Assembly should now conduct a debate within the Committee for Judicial, Legislative Matters and Constitutional Framework on how to ensure that relevant legal provisions concerning the prohibition of gender-based discrimination in access to employment are implemented properly,” the Acting Ombudsperson said.
“Furthermore, the Assembly should call upon the Human Rights Units within the Ministries and other relevant bodies to provide regular updates on whether the Ministries and public institutions in Kosovo are implementing the Gender Equality Law.”
Acting Ombudsperson Mr. Jashari also called on the Assembly to ensure that the Report is disseminated to all public institutions across Kosovo.
The OIK’s Gender Equality Unit is continuing to monitor job advertisements published in “Koha Ditore” and other Kosovo newspapers.
The ex officio Report concerning the issue of gender discrimination in advertisements for public sector employment competitions is available on the OIK’s website.