This year’s 8th of March finds Kosovo in ongoing struggles of challenging gender inequalities which mainly effect directly on lives and well-being of girls and women. Gender equality comprises an indivisible part of human rights, guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, which sets the foundation of values and principles of a State which respects human rights and freedoms.

Today, women are still discriminated as per the issue of property and inheritance, as well as in the field of employment, being unequal in competition, but in respect of financial remuneration for the same work done as well. This reality further deepens the gender gap in wages, as well as hampers and slows down the economic empowerment of women in Kosovo. Unemployment remains more emphasized among female rather than male, as well as women’s unpaid endeavors accomplished within households, continues to be not evaluated as well as minimizes the overall economic contribution of women.

The symbolism of this date serves as an ideal moment on restoring attention of our institutions towards empowerment of the Resolution on approving Sustainable Development Goals issued by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo in January this year. Acceleration of implementation of Agenda 2030, approved at the United Nations Summit, requires institutions’ engagement on promotion of gender equality and empowerment of girls and women.

Even though, the Constitution and laws at effect guarantee equal treatment to men and women, what remains challenging for our institutions and the society, is combating gender inequalities and gender stereotypes, built over the years, as well as the struggle for continuous empowerment of the role and position of women, up to that moment, when both genders, may have and enjoy, really equal opportunities.

Engagement and representation of women in the public sphere, even though improved over the last decade, continues to be far from determined strictures set with adoption of the new Law on Gender Equality, which has abrogated all provisions inconsistent with it. Consequently, all legislative, executive and judicial bodies as well as other public institutions are obliged to guarantee equal representation of fifty percent for each gender, according to the special measure provided for in Article 6, paragraph 8, of this Law.

The Ombudsperson, as a state mechanism of equality, entrusted with the mandate to protect, monitor and promote human rights, in continuity of respecting women’s strives for equality, peace and justice, in this symbolic day, requires from all parties involved, full implementation of constitutional principles and other legal provisions for the empowerment and equal treatment of girls and women in all spheres of life.