Prishtinë, 16.03.2017 – At the initiative of the Ministry of Economic Development, the fourth stage of the “Women in Online Work (WOW)” project will now extend to cover municipalities of Podujevë and Mitrovicë (both north and south). For this purpose, today, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Podujevë between the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), Municipality of Podujevë and Enhancement of Youth Employment (EYE) Project.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development (MED), Besa Zogaj-Gashi, said at the signature ceremony that 9 municipalities have now benefitted from the WOW project and that the project will be useful for Podujevë citizens, especially for women of this municipality who will now be able to work from their homes.

“Now, this project is no longer at a pilot stage, but rather a project that has proven that it is worth funding, because based on the results obtained, some 150 women have now benefited from the project, and 80% of them have signed employment contracts with a number of countries around the world, for terms of up to six months,” Zogaj-Gashi said.

She added that WOW project’s initial target was the girls, however, it was considered that the project should also encompass youth, regardless of the gender, taking into consideration that Kosovo’s unemployment rate remains high and that the project aims to balance gender-based employment inequalities.

The Mayor of Podujevë, Agim Veliu, thanked the Ministry of Economic Development and Swiss donor EYE for the support. “This is a memorandum between MED, Municipality of Podujevë and EYE, that aims to provide youth employment and necessary skills required to work from home, and we believe that it will successfully achieve this objective,” he said.

EYE Project Director, Timothy Sparkman, said that the WOW project initiative represents a good opportunity to diminish unemployment and provide girls with online job possibilities, in order for them to increase their relevance in the modern economy.

Otherwise, the project is related to the first pillar of the Government Program, which pertains to economic development and employment enhancement, and has proven extremely successful.

The fourth phase of the project is supported by Enhancement of Youth Employment (EYE) project, respectively SDC, and implemented by the consortium of Helvetas Swiss InterCoorporation and MDA.