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Dear Mehmet
- September 7, 2024 19:55
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*The text and the story were prepared within the project "Listen!", supported by WB Media for Change
"We believe that women are underrepresented and institutions should ensure a level playing field for all, with a focus on encouraging more women to apply," said the head of programs at the British Embassy, Sophie Wright. She emphasized that during the eight-year experience, it was found that the number of women applying for high positions is lower than that of men.
Lendita Berisha is one of the two female candidates who applied for the position of general director of the Civil Aviation Authority. Although shortlisted, none of them were selected as the Civil Aviation Authority and the State Admissions Commission selected three male candidates who, according to the British project Corrwatch, did not meet the criteria.
Berisha, who is the director of the Safety and Quality Department at CAA, although she is discouraged with the process, emphasizes that she will not give up. She says she filed a complaint with the Independent Civil Service Oversight Commission.
"I consider that the recruitment process was developed with the starting point that caused injustice and professional discrimination above all, before we mention the gender discrimination that could have been caused. Two women, department directors at CAA, with post-diplomatic qualifications in the field of aviation and with over 20 years of experience were part of this candidacy until the end of the process, of course, not being given the opportunity to be an option in the final list ", said Berisha.
With discrimination in the workplace, she says she faced it earlier.
"I am not unfamiliar with the phenomenon of gender discrimination, since in the not-too-distant past I was part of a group of women, professionals in civil aviation, who raised and fought the issue of gender discrimination practiced in the workplace by a former director of CAA, already dismissed by the Government", said Berisha.
The Gap Institute currently actively monitors five boards of public enterprises, at the central and local level.
Based on the monitoring, the researcher Besart Zhuja says that the lack of implementation of the Law on Gender Equality has been identified.
"In the absolute majority of boards there are more men than women, or, if we take an aggregate sum, men are favored 55 to 45 percent in the board structure. However, when we talk about the managerial aspect, things are worse, ie. 70 percent versus 30 percent are therefore men versus women in managerial positions of public enterprises", said Zhuja.
In the Kosovo Women's Network, they say that the low number of women in leadership and managerial positions is worrying.
Adelina Berisha, manager of the Program for Addressing Gender-Based Violence, says that as far as gender representation is concerned, the institutions have also regressed in legislation, citing as an example the new law on the Independent Media Commission, which has eliminated the positions that were designated for women.
"Two positions for women have been provided in the law, while in the new law it has been seen that these positions for women have been removed and this is normal, which is discouraging, not only in the Law on the Independent Media Commission but also in other agencies, boards others which do not have the 50/50 composition as required by the Law on Gender Equality... They are not respecting the law, but on the other hand they are also discouraging women through these oppressions, because this is a form of oppression, a form of discrimination so that they are not brave and are not vocal to ask for their places and positions where they belong", said Berisha.
Since 2016, the British Embassy has supported 100 recruitment processes at central level, independent agencies and public enterprises. The head of programs, Sophie Wright, emphasizes that during the eight-year experience, it has been established that the number of women applying for senior positions is lower than that of men.
"As things stand, it is difficult to say that women have equal chances to be appointed. This is due to many factors, such as the underrepresentation of women in decision-making bodies; not meeting the criteria to have experience in leading high positions, because these positions have been occupied by men for many years; and not receiving support from their managers... Institutions should continue to practice merit-based recruitment processes and encourage women to apply,” said Wright.
Wright has said that in recent years they have noticed a downward trend in the number of people who applied for high positions, so he called on institutions to offer equal, attractive and encouraging competition for everyone.
"Women who applied and made it to the interview stage did better in the interview process than men, in percentage terms. We believe that women are underrepresented and institutions should ensure a level playing field for all, with a focus on encouraging more women to apply", said the head of programs at the British Embassy.
She has mentioned several cases when institutions have been led by women, saying that they have improved the performance of the institution.
"We have some very good examples of women who successfully lead very important institutions. The National Audit Office is run by a woman who recommended the project and she is doing a great job. The Information and Privacy Commissioner is also headed by a woman who we recommended through the project; The Agency for Gender Equality is another institution run by a woman; and there are also women General Secretaries who are doing a great job. All of these female leaders have taken their institutions to a new level by increasing transparency, accountability and improving institutional performance," said Wright.
In addition to the case of Lendita Berisha, KOHA has tried to bring examples of discrimination in institutions, boards and other enterprises, both from the local and the central level. The women who were contacted confessed the injustices that were done to them in competitions despite the professional preparation and the points they had received in the recruitment processes. But none of them has agreed to show them publicly. One of the reasons is also the fear of revenge from the institutions.
Regarding gender representation and discrimination against women in public competitions, KOHA has sent questions to the Government, but they have not returned answers.
