On September 28th a round-table with the leaders of Village Councils in the Municipality of Vushtrri took place. The discussion focused on women’s engagement as members of Village Councils, on equal opportunities for men and women in being a village leader as well as in membership.

There are no women in the position of the village leader, and there are no women as members neither, in none of the 44 functional councils. The village leaders present in this activity think there are a set of barriers for women to join councils not only as leaders but as members (neighborhood representatives) as well: from the Regulation for local councils that have not foreseen a gender quota, the discriminatory mindset of the villages that discourages women to join an all-male setting, that women’s will not work on a voluntary basis to the claims by the leaders themselves that “a man’s job in a village simply cannot be done by a woman”.

Community leaders were also informed that the young women from the municipality of Vushtrri (certified by PEN on local decision-making and community leadership) are willing and ready to join Village Councils and help contribute for the challenges and problems in their villages and neighborhoods.

This activity is part of the project “Act on Equality”, supported by U.S. Department of State.