Women’s economic empowerment in the Western Balkans - Meeting 1

As part of its Balkan Journey, Friends of Europe’s Working Group on women’s economic empowerment in the Western Balkans held its inaugural meeting on 8 April 2022 in Tirana, the capital of Albania, to set its agenda and main focal points for the next two years. The first round of discussions was hosted by the municipality of Tirana, with opening remarks by Mayor Erion Veliaj.

In the kick-off meeting, high-level personalities and experts provided their insights on the main obstacles hindering women from thriving economically in the region. “Currently, there are more women in power in the history of the Balkan region, but the gap between men and women is getting larger. Why is that the case?” asked Dharmendra Kanani, Director of Asia, Peace, Security & Defense and Digital & Chief Spokesperson at Friends of Europe, to initiate the debate.

The main reasons highlighted by members of the Working Group for the increasing gender gap in the Western Balkans included: an education system based on gender roles from a very young age, which often leads to gender-based discrimination and violence; the unsustainability of projects aimed at improving the active participation of women in public life and the labour market, due to changes in funding priorities; and the lack of data to provide a more precise picture of the situation.

The Working Group emphasised that “women are not a homogenous group”. However, mainly due to the lack of data and socially imposed gender roles, policies are made based on general assumptions, and this may contribute to the widening gender gap. Several members elaborated on a low level of men taking paternity leave, explaining that further legal obligations for equal parental leave to be taken by both parents would facilitate women’s return to the labour market after giving birth. In addition, a lack of information on human rights exists among women in the Western Balkans, especially in poorer parts of the societies. The Working Group explained cases of women giving up their property rights to men due to customary laws that exempt female family members from having any claims on property.

The members of the Working Group agreed that women from rural areas are mainly engaged in unpaid labour and suffer various human rights violations, especially women who are employed in agriculture. Women who do not have access to infrastructure, and thus access to assets and services, also find themselves facing difficulties in thriving economically. Some members defined assets as having access to land, financial services, education and mentorship, technology and information; whereas services mainly include access to the care economy, including facilities that assist in the daily care of children and the elderly during working hours, so women may engage in paid labour outside of the household.

By the end of the three discussion rounds, the Working Group came up with several main areas of focus for the two-year agenda, including: access to labour infrastructure and services to regulate a work-life balance; women in rural areas and agriculture; and gender-responsive budgeting, among others. The Working Group agreed that emphasis in these particular fields would facilitate the process of elaborating on the obstacles that women face in the Western Balkans, hence easing the way to come up with tangible recommendations for future policies.

The first meeting of this Working Group, envisaged as a kick-off discussion round, involved over 30 experts, including national and local government representatives from the Western Balkans, European and international institutions, civil society, academia and the private sector.