Equal opportunities in decision-making processes for women in Kosovo society continue to remain a challenging path. There is a great need to advance women’s position in this structural level, in order to benefit the overall society.  The persistent issue of lack of equal opportunities is hindering half of the populations’ potential to take an active role in political, economic, social, cultural and other fields of social life.

The project “Removing  Ceiling for  Equal Opportunities” was designed to remove some of the impediments related to these barriers. It provided professional development trainings for a selected group of women coming from the different professional background. The training modules were within a framework of certification program, which equipped participants with necessary skills to exercise a decision-making position, and it changed attitude and practice by reducing gender stereotyping in the workplace. The majority of participants in the training sessions of the project were KUSA Alumnae who gained knowledge on how to achieve and hold decision making positions. This project increased awareness about the glass ceiling that professional and competent women in Kosovo face when they are eligible to hold decision making positions within private and public institutions.

The certification program was designed to cover key areas of corporate governance and decision making and was organized in two stages. The first stage was implemented in 2016, consisted of the following modules:  

• Marketing and Public Relations which was lectured by Debatik Hoxha, Head of Business Development at Gjirafa.

• Corporate Governance, a part of which was delivered by the guest speaker Edward Nolan – Chief of Party at Empower Credit Support Program and expert in the field of corporate governance.

• Human Resource Management and People Development was lectured by Linda Shala, Managing Director at Data Project Electronics.

• Auditing and Internal Control, Risk Management and Corporate Compliance, part of which was delivered by the guest speaker Besnik Osmani – General Auditor of Kosovo.

• Legal Framework was lectured by Ardi Shita, Member of the Board of Governors (Sec-Gen) at American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo.