Copy to:
UN Security Council
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
UN SRSG in Kosovo Soren Jessen-Petersen
Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds
President of UN General Assembly Jan Elisasson
Tvärdepartementala 1325-gruppen, Sweden

Dear Mr Martti Ahtisaari

The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation welcomes your comment at the press briefing 23 November saying that you "would welcome more women to participate in the process" of Kosovo's future status. We also welcome the message given by your office in Vienna that there will be a good gender balance in the office, including on high level positions, and that the office will ensure that women leaders and organisations in Kosovo will be consulted during the status process.

Up until now the International Community has failed to live up to its obligations in Kosovo stated in UN Security Council Resolution 1325: to increase the number of women on all decision making levels in their organisations and to involve local women in peace processes. Women have been excluded from almost all high positions within the UNMIK, KFOR, OSCE and PISG and women in the region have too often been excluded from important processes and there are wide implementation gaps regarding policies and laws which should protect women's human rights. One example is the standard process. Even though there are gender indicators for each standard it hasn't lead to any real change for women and girls.

Based on our experience we are extremely concerned that the international community once again fails to respect women's right to fully participate. There are several facts which increase our concerns.

There are no women in the Kosovo delegation and only one in the Serbian. Men dominate other formal leading positions in the societies. This threatens to make the process unfair, vulnerable and undemocratic.

Furthermore the international community, especially the US, EU and NATO, has so far failed to appoint a woman to any of the four Liaison Officers connected to your office. Russia is yet to publish the name of their Officer.

Special Envoy, Mr Kai Eides, review of the situation in Kosovo was a starting point for the status talks. However his report is gender blind and does not reflect the specific situation and challenges that women and girls face and therefore fails to describe the true situation in Kosovo today. This is dangerous for the status talks since it increases the risk for wrong conclusions and misinformed decisions and priorities.

The situation for women, cross ethnic and religious lines, is very serious. Strong and deep patriarchal structures, boosted by the order within the international community, create an atmosphere which undermines women's status, security and participation. Men's violence against women is widespread, especially within the family, and there is very little governmental support for the women who dare to challenge the norms and stigma and report the abuses.

Your Deputy, Albert Rohan, has pointed out that the Contact group calls on all parties to reject any form of violence. This must also include the most widespread violence of all, violence against women. Likewise it is pivotal to empower women to end poverty. If women and women's human rights are marginalised there will never be just peace or real security.

In the guiding principles for the future status process for Kosovo the Contact Group says that "The settlement of the Kosovo issue should be fully compatible with international standards of human rights, democracy and international law and contribute to regional security". To enable this we urge you to:

* Ensure a gender balance, on all levels, in your office in Vienna
* Ensure that women and women's organisations in the region fully and equally participate in the status talks,
* Ensure that women's situation and their rightful and equal role in the peace and democratic processes is made visible for the different actors involved in the status talks,
* Ensure that all actors involved in the implementation of the standards respect their obligation according to 1325 and take women and girls situation into account and strengthen women's human rights.There are many strong women and women's organisations in Kosovo and Serbia who for many years have been in the forefront in building peace. They have a crucial role in the future of Kosovo and the region as a whole. Their participation is a precondition for democracy. To exclude them would be a great loss for everyone in Kosovo and Serbia.We are looking forward hearing from you regarding these questions.

Yours sincerely,

Kerstin Grebäck
Secretary General, The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation


For more information on the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, please visit:
http://www.iktk.se/english/index.html