Prishtina, March 8, 2018 – The President of the country, Hashim Thaçi, participated in the conference “Property Rights of Women in Kosovo: Inheritance and Equality before the Law”, organized by the French Embassy and the OSCE.
By congratulating all women on the 8th of March, President Thaçi said that more than anything else, on this day we should reiterate our commitment to full gender equality in the society.
He has said that the progress in every society can be assessed by the treatment that women have in it and that the difficulties through which our society has passed have delayed the achievements in promoting and achieving the equality of women in our society.
“The position of the woman in Kosovo has advanced a lot and we are all proud about this. We are proud of the role the Kosovar woman has today, being it as President of the Constitutional Court or as Chair of the CEC, as an ambassador and MP in the Assembly of Kosovo, as an advisor in municipal assemblies or as an Olympic champion and as world star of pop music”, he stated.
But, President Thaçi stressed that we also have challenges.
“The Kosovar woman continues to face obstacles in the accomplishment of her rights. Such a challenge is the realization of property rights and inheritance, which are also the subject of this conference. Article 46 of our Constitution guarantees to all citizens their property rights. But, unfortunately, to a large extent, women in Kosovo are still struggling to overcome the barriers that hinder the inheritance of immovable property from the family”, admitted President Thaçi.
The Head of State has said that based on the Kosovo Property Rights Strategy, women compose 49.6 percent of Kosovo’s population, but only 15.24 percent of women have property registered in their name.
“And when women do not control property, they, in most cases, can not be economic actors. While, on the other hand, it is a proven fact that property owned by women has had positive benefits also in the welfare of families”, he said.
President Thaçi has said that the not following of inheritance proceedings is a barrier that makes the property issue even more problematic.
“As long as inheritance procedures are not followed, it will always be difficult to make legal changes that would promote women’s property ownership. Even the giving up of women from their right to inherit, in special cases, has always been a major obstacle that has made it impossible for them to become immovable property owners in Kosovo”, said President Thaçi.
The Head of State has said that in the past this has been done more because of traditions, cultural norms or even expectations in the family, but this situation has to change.
“It has to change starting from every family”, he said.
President Thaçi said that compared to the region we made much greater progress.
“We have made quicker reforms. We have drafted modern laws that regulate this area and are now in force. Many local and international conferences have been organized that have addressed these problems. We have consistently tried to increase our public awareness. Political will has always existed, because these are vital issues for the society and the well-being of the citizens”, he said.
President Thaçi has congratulated all the institutions that have contributed and continue to contribute in this direction, but has demanded even greater commitment to the realization and protection of women’s full rights in Kosovo.