WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY RESOURCES: KOSOVO

Civil Society and NGO Reports, Papers and Statements

Enhancing the EU Response to Women and Armed Conflict with Particular Reference to Development Policy
European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), April 2008
Women’s multiple and diverse roles in conflict are hidden, poorly understood and, at times, consciously or unconsciously dismissed. Usually it is women’s role as victims that is given most prominence. Though, in recent years the international community has become more responsive to women’s diverse roles as actors on conflict prevention, resolution and peace-building, there is recognition that the EU’s response to this reality must be scaled up, widened and deepened. Local, national or international action that does not involve and empower women is less likely to be successful and sustainable in any field, including that which is intended to bring development or peace. This study is based on the premise that a more effective international/EU response to women and armed conflict must incorporate the three inter-related and mutually reinforcing concepts of gender equality, women’s empowerment and upholding women’s rights.

To read the full report, which looks at women and armed conflict in Kosovo, please click HERE

The Extent of Gender-Based Violence in Kosova and Its Impact on Women’s Reproductive Health
Kosova Women’s Network, 2008
In Kosova, various writers have suggested that the “peace” after war in 1998-1999 has included gender based violence, usually directed at women. This research sought to explore the extent of gender-based violence in Kosova, as well as whether and how gender-based violence has impacted women’s reproductive health.

To view the report, please click HERE

An Approach to the Kosovo Post-War Rehabilitation Process from a Gender Perspective
School for a Culture of Peace, Autonoma University of Barcelona, 2008
The following report looks at the post-war rehabilitation process in Kosovo paying particular attention to its gender dimension. More specifically the report reflects on the international intervention and analyses the role of women in promoting gender equality in post war Kosovo and their objective of engendering the status negotiations.

To view the report, please click HERE

Serbia Faces Low Intensity War Again
Women in Black, 2008
The presidential campaign of the former / actual president Boris Tadic was focused on the integration of Serbia into the EU; however, the issue of Kosovo as "an inseparable part of the territory" of Serbia was equally played upon. This kind of approach practically continued the rapprochement of the Democratic party to the populist-nationalist ideology dating back from the times of Milosevic, which is presently upheld by the Democratic Party of Serbia (headed by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica) and the Serbian Radical Party (whose presidential candidate in the recent elections was Tomislav Nikolic, who lost the race with Boris Tadic by a thin margin of votes).

Monitoring Implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Kosovo: Executive summary
Kosova Women's Network, 2007
The monitoring project for Kosovo 2007 was undertaken by the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) in close liaison with its constituent groups and was funded by UNIFEM. It assesses the implementation of the UNSCR1325 in Kosovo, with the aim of ensuring successful ongoing advocacy of gender issues at the national level.

So does it mean that we have the rights? Protecting the human rights of women and girls trafficked for forced prostitution in Kosovo
Amnesty International, 2004
Since the deployment in July 1999 of an international peacekeeping force (KFOR) and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) civilian administration, Kosovo(6) has become a major destination country for women and girls trafficked into forced prostitution.

Memo Regarding UN Security Council Delegation in Kosova
Kosova Women’s Network, Prishtina, Kosova, December 2002

UN Documents

Message from Mr. Søren Jessen-Petersen
8 March 2005
Message from Mr. Søren Jessen-Petersen, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for UNMIK on the occasion of International Women's Day

No Safe Place: An Assessment on Violence against Women in Kosovo
Rachel Wareham for UNIFEM, April 2000
The report brings to the forefront the voices, concerns and insights of Kosovar women on the issue of violence. It focuses on domestic violence, rape during the Kosovo war, and examines the issues of trafficking, sexual slavery and prostitution. The report sets out recommendations to a range of local and international organizations and urges that interventions to address the issue be constructed in the framework of human rights and the empowerment of women rather than solely from a welfare and protection perspective.

Trafficking and Prostitution: The Growing Exploitation of Migrant Women from Central and Eastern Europe
International Organization for Migration, May 1995
This study is one of the first of its kind to examine systematically the ways in which, and the reasons why, a growing number of women from Central and Eastern Europe are trafficked to Western Europe in the early 1990's. The report reveals weaknesses in data collection by local and national authorities as well as at the international level and highlights the debate of the time on what exactly constitutes trafficking.

Government Statements and Reports

Trafficking in Persons: USAID's Response
USAID, March 2004
In 2003, USAID issued a Trafficking in Persons strategy to guide its programs to prevent trafficking of persons for sexual or economic exploitation; protect trafficking victims by reducing the vulnerability of women, children and men to traffickers; and promote the political will and legal and institutional capacity needed to eliminate trafficking. The USAID strategy underlies the planning and implementation of strategic interventions that, together with those of other governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are designed to make real progress toward the elimination of human trafficking.

Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report
US Department of State, September 2003
The US Government, through the Department of State, publishes an annual report on trafficking in persons. This reports details the efforts of individual governments to confront trafficking.

Books, Journals and Articles

Women for Peace
Stasa Zajovic (Ed). Women in Black: Belgrade, September 1999

Migration and Refugee Policy on the Eastern Border of the European Union
Kari Hakola (Ed.). University of Jyvaaskylaa: Finland, 1998