Vilnius, June 29, 2011 – The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga, who is on an official visit to Lithuania, to participate at the conference “Women enhancing democracy: best practices”, has an official meeting today with Mrs. Melanne Verveer, Ambassador at the U.S. Department of State for global women’s issues.
In the official discussion was focused on the next day’s conference and on the empowerment of Kosovo in the international arena and especially in the region.
Madam Verveer noted the principle that no country can have development if there is no development of the position of women and if the woman does not play her equal role in society, emphasizing the role of women in the world and in particular her role in economic and social development of the society. She said that the example of the election of the President of Kosovo should serve also to other institutions of the countries where women should have representation and a greater role in leadership.
Madam Verveer mentioned her commitment and that of the U.S. government in the years of the war in Kosovo stressing the strength of the Kosovar women in hard times through which the country has passed.
Thanks to the commitment and the joint work Kosovo today is a totally different place and it has all the potentials and support to be successful. For this it is important to use the possibilities of engaging women in Kosovo, especially when it comes to small and medium business, which would help the development of a society in general, said Mrs. Verveer.
President Atifete Jahjaga said that the U.S. assistance for Kosovo has been and remains indispensable, and it continues to be essential, because Kosovo has will, has devoted people, has the potential to move forward, having a very young population who are very powerfully oriented towards Euro-Atlantic integration.
Emphasizing that the voice of leading women in Kosovo is important, the President underlined that it is important to increase the role of women in the whole region.
In this plan, President Jahjaga pointed the idea of organizing an international conference of leader women of the region and developing countries, which would be held at the beginning of next year in Prishtina, as a form of a concrete and permanent cooperation.
For Kosovo and its citizens, especially for the youth of Kosovo, the opening of the European perspective is important, that would allow freedom of movement and exchange of ideas with European Union countries.