Civic engagement unveils potential to transcend gender expectations in Kosovo

17 years old. Lipjan, Kosovo. A woman. Many stereotypes and prejudices. Obstacles. Freedom. Projections. Support. New horizons. Opportunities. A girl with big dreams.

I am her, and she is me. And beyond it all, I longed and still long to carry on. The words you just read could somehow describe me today, even though I could be much more and a lot in between.

Lipjan is the town that I come from and the place where I was born and raised. Ironically, it is not far away from the capital of Kosovo but so very different on many levels – a beautiful small municipality where friendly people welcome you, eyes sometimes judge you and opportunities find it difficult to find you and grab your hand. I’ve lived in Lipjan all my life and I know every corner, every suffering, every angle, every village. But I wanted more: I still want more from myself and, respectively, my town.

Around three years ago, I came across an opportunity that would allow me to fly a bit further away from Lipjan, at least for some time. It is precisely at this time that I would discover the UNICEF Kosovo Programme. One of my two sisters, both active within the voluntary landscape in Kosovo, told me of a programme called UPSHIFT, which teaches youth and adolescents how to understand community challenges and design and build impactful solutions in the form of products or services.

With the help of my friends Fjolla, Leonita and Mimoza, we curated Pa stres, me çelës (Without stress, with a key), digitalising the entire mathematics textbook for tenth-graders as part of the amazing shkollat.org – a learning passport that the Ministry of Education, Science, Innovation and Technology in Kosovo uses to facilitate “distance learning for all students, whoever they are and wherever.” We designed questionnaires, trivia quizzes and other creative formats to make mathematics more attractive and to lift the spirits of students who want to engage more in this specific subject. Mathematics can be monotonous, but I wanted to challenge exactly that!

This was just the beginning of my volunteer work and my engagement with the UNICEF Kosovo Programme. What it brings out of me is much more than the work itself!

Nobody told me it would be easy. I knew that it would be burdensome for a young girl to try and change the narrative around her. I knew my dad would not want me to ‘go alone’ here and there and lose interest in my education while engaging in voluntary projects that I very much loved and held dear to my heart. He used to say and still does: “One bad grade and you will have to leave all of that work!” I find humbleness and innocence in that, as much as it sounds patronising. I am, however, sure that he means well and wants me to excel both in my education and in my extracurricular work.

Growing up in a patriarchal community, I’ve come to recognise the transformative power of volunteering. In a society in which gender roles often define and confine aspirations, volunteering offers a unique platform to challenge traditional norms and instigate change. To be very honest, I always knew I wanted to challenge mindsets but I wanted this to be a unique journey – one of productivity and community work – by transcending societal expectations. A young girl from Lipjan is currently helping other girls dismantle preconceived gender stereotypes and foster a sense of empowerment and agency.

There are so many of us girls and women from rural areas who are enthusiastic and passionate about developing projects. We need funds and grants; we need support – be that financial or moral. Kosovar institutions and other actors should establish more mentorship programmes and provide guidance via female role models, inspiring us to take on leadership roles and drive positive change. Ours is not an easy path, but we have an overwhelming amount of self-confidence to break barriers.

When talking about the empowerment of young girls from all over Kosovo, let’s touch upon the example of the UNICEF Kosovo Programme. It has opened many doors for me. Some time ago, I also became part of the PONDER programme, a tailored setting that instils critical thinking skills to empower adolescents to analyse the role of media in our culture. Being very committed to quality education, I immediately knew I wanted to be part of a project that fosters media literacy and critical approaches to information as well. Both UPSHIFT and PONDER helped me better understand my community and my shining within it.

I feel stronger due to voluntary work and the fulfilment I get when I help better people’s lives and circumstances. Through volunteerism, I raise my voice against occurrences that I find appalling: I wrote and starred in different theatre shows dealing with domestic violence during and after the pandemic; I have worked with several NGOs in my hometown on different projects emancipating young women and girls; and I have been part of the Youth Assembly of Lipjan. Even though I just started my bachelor studies, I am not planning to stop this cycle of my involvement. I can wholeheartedly say that volunteering projects have led me to study computer and software engineering, supporting the love I have for computer technology, data processing and information technology as a whole.

Lipjan, my hometown, has a lot of potential. I am so eager and passionate to make an impact there. I aspire to be a professional programmer one day and I want the young girls of Lipjan to understand that – with hard work, zeal and dedication – they can be themselves too. There will always be obstacles and establishments that will try to stop us, stigmatise us and ask us to fall in line with social constructs. We can choose to be change-makers. If the whole journey starts with being a volunteer, it allows us to become contributors to the improvement of education, health, infrastructure and other essential services in our regions, with a dash of altruism and benevolence.

Different departments of life should tell all of us, women, that we are worthy: our mothers and fathers should push us to engage in activities and arrangements that we like and cherish; our teachers should open our eyes and encourage us to always be thirsty for knowledge; our institutions and decision-makers should create platforms for us to devote our energy to something meaningful and progressive; our friends and supporters should allow us to become individuals that we want to be.

I acknowledge I was lucky to have been given a safe space to rise and flourish, as much as I own my persistence to have my fate in my own hands. If I could make it, every other young girl living in a rural setting can. Reach out to your role models, or in the best possible scenario, create one out of yourself. I chose to volunteer without realising that, by doing so, I would change my own path of life.

This article is a contribution from a member or partner organisation of Friends of Europe. The views expressed in this Frankly Speaking op-ed reflect those of the author(s) and not of Friends of Europe.

Agnesa’s powerful story is amongst the countless that I’ve come across the Western Balkans region. There is so much latent and potential talent of young women and they have the potential to be the change-makers in the region, overlooking divisions and a common purpose to stay and make the Western Balkans a place to be proud. If only given a chance. We must amplify the voices of women and youth without delay to ensure a reorientation towards people-centred priorities and policies. Reframing the narrative and creating new opportunities for women is crucial for the resilience and sustainable development of the Western Balkans.

How does women’s economic empowerment link with development? What are the best avenues, tools and mechanisms to bring this link forward? How can we ensure that women are seen as protagonists of their own empowerment? How do we strengthen women to have the resources to be economically successful? Do we need to rethink the current model of economic empowerment?

These were among the questions that the Working Group on women’s economic empowerment in the Western Balkans, established as part of Friends of Europe’s Balkan Journey, aimed to address throughout its two-year journey. The Working Group explored the economic opportunities for women in the region and identified the challenges to fostering women’s development in all aspects of economic life. Published today, the Working Group’s final outcome report outlines five key recommendations to overcome these challenges and achieve greater women’s economic empowerment in the Western Balkans:

• promote digitalisation and skills among women through technology;
• enhance women’s ownership rights;
• increase women’s access to finance;
• establish gender-responsive budgeting as the norm; and
• develop a whole-of-society mentality to women’s rights.