Prishtina, 19 December 2017 – The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Hashim Thaçi, today attended the conference “Enhancing Institutional Accountability for Enforcing the Law on Gender Equality “, organised by the Kosovo Gender Studies Centre.
The President stated that strengthening women rights, and equality between men and women, is an issue of human rights that represent the values on which we have promulgated and build our state.
These values have been perpetuated in the Preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, whereby it is shown that the people of Kosovo are determined to build a state where all citizens are equal”, stated President Thaçi.
Additionally, the president stated that gender equality is not an issue of desire, but rather sanctioned by different legal acts.
“At the time when I was the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, I took the initiatve of further advancing human rights with various laws that add value to the Republic of Kosovo. During that time, thre basic laws, namely: the Law on Protection from Discrimination, Law on Gender Equality, and the Law on Ombudsperson, were drafted and subsequently approved by the Assembly”, stated President Thaçi, adding that these laws have managed to guarantee, promote and advance the protection of human rights in the Republic of Kosovo, in compliance with the constitutional values and international agreements and instruments.
President Thaçi stated that these instruments are part of the direct implementation of the Constitution, and fully compliant with the European Union legislation in this field.
The President stated that these laws, and specifically the Law on Gender Equality, are a significant outcome in the path to achieve gender equality and promote the protection of human rights in a more inclusive manner in Kosovo.
“The purpose of the Law on Gender Equality is to achieve gender equality, and allow equal access to all members of a certain gender in all spheres of life, avoid factual gender inequality, and provide them with rights that they were unable to enjoy before” stated President Thaçi.
He stated that all citizens and institutions of the Republic of Kosovo are obliged to enforce the Law on Gender Equality, which in accordance with the applicable international standards and practices, should guarantee gender equality as a fundamental value for the development of democratic society, equal opportunities for participation of women and men in political, economic, social and cultural life and in other fields of social life.
President Thaçi stated that equal gender representation in all legislative, executive and judicial bodies and other public institutions is achieved when a minimum representation of fifty percent is applied, including governing and decision-making bodies.