Women from rural areas in Kosovo gain business skills and confidence

Vocational training on tailoring and handcrafting, along with business management and digital marketing are putting women and girls in the Municipality of Mamusha, Kosovo¹, on the path to economic empowerment. These trainings are organized by UN Women Kosovo, in close collaboration with the Municipality of Mamusha and Yunus Emre Institute and facilitated by NGO Bardha and Women’s Association Orkide.

The tailoring and beadwork of women are renowned in the rural farming Municipality of Mamusha, which is home to one of the largest Turkish communities in Kosovo. In this isolated area, most women are housewives and possess at least some basic skills in sewing, stitching, knitting and even tailoring. 

And the number of women who are interested in deepening their skills is growing. Approximately 30 women beneficiaries from the municipality’s Turkish community, aged 18–50, have so far benefited from vocational trainings. It was the first time these women had had the chance to participate in any kind of training to boost their economic empowerment.  

The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, visited the training site in September 2022, to see their handiwork in person. The President praised the women and their work, expressing her unconditional support while emphasizing the importance of economic empowerment for women in such communities.

“I am really happy to be here among you today,” President Osmani said in her speech. “Please keep working and never stop, because I truly believe that every woman and girl has the ability to reach their dreams and goals and create a better future for themselves.”

Travelling to the nearby Municipality of Prizren, the same 30 women from Mamusha joined 16 members of the Women’s Association Orkide there, to attend a second set of trainings on financial management of small businesses and digital marketing. Participants not only had the opportunity to build their business and digital marketing skills, but they also got a rare chance to socialize and make friends with other women outside their own home municipality. 

“These trainings not only helped us build our skills, but they made us realize our inner power as women, to gain back our freedom,” explained one of the trainees, Saniye Taç. “We are very satisfied with the knowledge we gained and the work we did during the trainings and would really like to prolong the trainings and have possibility to further expand our knowledge and practical experience. At the same time, we would like to express our appreciation for the organizers, especially to the trainers, who became our mentors and at the same time our closest friends.”  

The Head of UN Women Office in Kosovo, Vlora Tuzi Nushi, further emphasized the importance of women increasing their economic security by saying: “As UN Women, through our programmes we continue to promote women’s ability to secure decent jobs through economic empowerment initiatives, and to support those women most in need by engaging particularly marginalized groups, including rural women. Our goals are higher incomes, better access to and control over resources, and greater economic security.”

Another goal of the trainings was to provide a space where women can get together to discuss ideas, brainstorm, and exchange knowledge with women from other communities. In doing so, they build a network where they feel safe and can find new opportunities to market and sell their handcrafts and other products, contributing to their economic security. As a result, women in Mamusha now have the skills to produce and sell tailored products and handcrafts, which will help empower them economically and support their households and communities.

These trainings were supported by UN Women and UNDP Kosovo and implemented under the European-Union-funded project ‘‘Response to COVID-19 Emergency and Early Recovery Support.” 

¹ All references to Kosovo are in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).