The regional report “Social and institutional responses to femicide in Albania, Montenegro and Serbia” was developed by FemPlatz with the technical support of UN Women in the framework of the regional programme on ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Türkiye “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds,” funded by the European Union. The report – the result of three years’ work to develop a framework for understanding the characteristics, patterns, and causes of femicide – is the first interdisciplinary research on the societal and institutional response to femicide in Albania, Montenegro and Serbia.

The first issue of the magazine presents a selection of UN Women’s contributions and achievements in gender-responsive budgeting in the Western Balkans.

A gender analysis of 477 government socio-economic policy responses adopted in 18 countries and territories in Europe and Central Asia over the first year of COVID-19, reveals that only 7 per cent specifically reference women and can be classified as gender-sensitive. This calls for governments to prioritize gender-responsive policy responses in the context of COVID-19 and emergencies. Measures recorded were in relation to social protection, labour market, and economic, fiscal and business stimulus.

The region's first 'Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo' was a comprehensive virtual event held between 27-29 April 2021. This report presents how interactive ideas generation sessions and networking expanded the potential of women entrepreneurs. It offers entrepreneurial learning and resources on topics related to: business blueprint modelling; branding and marketing; entering demand-supply and value chains; rethinking digital sales and e-commerce; financial goals and resilience building; and developing and pitching winnable business plans.

The “Regional Guidelines for Risk Assessment and Risk Management to Prevent the Recurrence and Escalation of Violence Against Women” are designed to inform and support relevant authorities tasked with dealing with cases of violence against women, including institutions in the chain of protection of women from violence, when creating measures and policies to prevent violence against women and its escalation. The guidelines were developed by the Center of Women’s Rights, based in Bosnia and Herzegovina, within the UN Women’s regional programme on ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey "Implementing Norms, Changing Minds," funded by the European Union.

The purpose of UN Women’s Country Gender Equality Brief (CGEB) is to provide a snapshot of gender equality and the situation of women in Albania, particularly against the gender-related indicators across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Following the UN Women corporate methodology and template, and in consultation with the UN Country Team (UNCT) in Albania, the CGEB is based on a literature review and uses official data produced before (and partially during) the COVID-19-induced crisis.

In response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the relatively limited data available, the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, through the Making Every Woman and Girl Count global programme, developed a rapid survey assessment tool to assess the gendered impacts of COVID-19 on the main challenges faced by on women and men lives and livelihoods.

In May 2020, UN Women initiated online consultations with gender equality mechanisms from 14 countries in the Western Balkans and Turkey, Eastern Partnership and Central Asia sub-regions to discuss challenges and priorities for the gender dimensions of the short- and long-term COVID-19 response.

Report of the independent evaluation of the EU-UN Women regional programme “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds”, conducted from July to December 2019. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the achievement of results and performance of the programme; identify and document lessons learned, good practices and innovations, success stories and challenges; identify strategies for replication and up-scaling; and provide actionable recommendations for future programme development.

The report on “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on specialist services for victims and survivors of violence in the Western Balkans and Turkey: A proposal for addressing the needs” is a rapid assessment of specialist services to women who experienced violence to better understand the challenges posed to service delivery, as well as to explore new opportunities for innovative approaches in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid assessment was undertaken within the EU-UN Women Regional Programme “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds.”

This study examines the gaps and failures of the response to violence against women in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey, as seen from the perspective of actual cases reported and processed within the legal and institutional system of protection.

The report presents a summary of discussions and conclusions from the Second Regional Forum Promoting the Implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the Western Balkans and Turkey.

This policy brief highlights the value that ‘by and for’ organizations bring to the fight to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) and examines how the current funding landscape jeopardizes the existence and autonomy of these organizations.

This report examines the impact of NGO networking on advocacy efforts to promote the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (also known as the Istanbul Convention) in the Western Balkans and Turkey.

This policy brief explores the concept of intersectionality as a tool to analyze and understand the intersection of gender with other inequalities/oppressions (e.g., sexuality, gender identity, ethnicity, indigeneity, immigration status, disability) in the context of violence against women and girls (VAWG).

This policy brief examines the lack of data on violence against minoritized women and highlights the importance of utilizing an intersectional approach to data collection and engaging ‘by and for’ in the data collection process.

This survey collects for the first time data in Albania on the nature and prevalence of other forms of violence: dating violence, non-partner violence, sexual harassment, stalking and brings forth findings on social norms.

This study looks at the different dimensions of sexual harassment and other forms of gender based violence against women and girls in urban public spaces in the cities of Shkodra and Korça.

There is little information about the women representation in the appointed local government bodies in Albania. This study is the first institutional approach to this phenomenon and will for the first time produce some statistics regarding the ratio of representation of women in the appointed local government bodies. The aim of this study is to portray a panorama, of the gender configuration in the composition of the appointed local government bodies and on the basis of the analysis of this...

The "2018 Public Perceptions of Gender Equality and Violence against Women" Infosheets provide insight of current and dominant attitudes and perceptions (and the factors that influence them) toward gender equality and violence against women at community level in the Western Balkans and Turkey.