News

Towards general public health panic regarding the coronavirus pandemic, the anxiety of survival has begun to grip the Kosovar economy as well. A strong impact imposed on women in Kosovo who are statistically already in small number and at a disadvantage in the labor market compared to men.
The meeting organized by Professional Women’s Network (PWN) within the LGC organization with a topic on “Support for women who lost their jobs during the pandemic through the recovery package” has been very fruitful and valuable.
Ms. Albina Berisha, Project Manager of Enhancing Youth Employment, Helvetas and also a member of PWN has revealed some statistics regarding the impact of pandemic on women. According to her, even before the pandemic, only 12% of women were active in the labor market, which was hit even harder during the pandemic. In the field of education, women and men have the same representation, but when it comes to access to the labor market, then there is a great discrepancy.
The Association of Private Preschool Institutions, supported by the Enhancing Youth Employment (EYE) program has conducted a study that aims to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment of women in private kindergartens in Kosovo. The results of the study have shown that the enrollment of children in private kindergartens has decreased by 40%. While about 33% of women who have worked in these kindergartens have lost their jobs.
“We need to work harder to help women access the labor market and understand which social norms are an obstacle, since according to legal norms women have no obstacles,” said Ms. Berisha.
History shows that in such pandemics, social inequalities, and especially gender inequality is even more pronounced. It is important that measures taken against the pandemic are gender sensitive and take into account the positions of different groups in society and the economy, in order to avoid further deterioration of the situatio