March 12, 2025 | Wednesday
“Trust, proximity, and direct work with communities, have continuously given us the will to work”
For more than two decades, Shpresa Agushi has been at the forefront of activism and advocacy for the rights of Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities in Kosovo, with a focus on improving the lives of women and girls from these communities. Her journey began in 1999 and continues to this day. For her activism, Agushi has been honored with several international awards, which have served as recognition and motivation to keep working. Today, she leads the Network of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Women’s Organizations of Kosovo, while direct work with communities remains at the center of her engagement. In the following interview, we walk with Shpresa through her paths of activism.
Europe House Kosovo: Can you tell us about the beginnings of your work as an activist and advocate for the rights of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, with a focus on the women and girls of these communities in Kosovo?
Shpresa Agushi: I began my work as an activist in Kosovo in 1999, when in the consequences of the war had left many prejudices against minority communities. Initially, I was engaged in the city where I live, in Gjilan/Gnjilaje, with the aim of protecting the rights of people who were innocent and were facing prejudice of various forms, through work and contacts with various organizations operating in Kosovo at that time. Then I was recruited by the International Rescue Committee, where I was involved in distributing food and non-food humanitarian aid to the Roma community. The post-war period was difficult, with various challenges and dangers, due to which I had to hide my true identity so that no one would know that I was Roma.
Later, I took part in meetings with women in the region and thus became part of a large international network of Roma women, establishing my first contacts with Roma women and organizations in the region and around the world.
At that time, we dealt with the general problems of the Roma community, without focusing on different demographic groups within the community. So, I decided to focus my activist work on protecting and promoting women’s rights, since someone needed to articulate the problems, demands, and needs of the women in these communities had.
Europe House Kosovo: Was this work channeled through any organization?
Shpresa Agushi: In 2001, I opened the first organization, called “Roma Women”. Although we didn’t have much knowledge, resource centers through the OSCE helped us. What I can say is that despite the lack of knowledge at the time, we had an extraordinarily strong will. We have worked hard to fight prejudice and discrimination.
In 2001, also from the Roma community in Gjilan/Gnjilane, I was elected as a counselor in the Gjilan/Gnjilane Municipal Assembly. Back then, there were reserved seats for communities, so I was elected by the Roma community itself in Gjilan/Gnjilane, without being part of any political formation at the time, to represent them in the Municipal Assembly.
Europe House Kosovo: Meanwhile, you have worked for several local and international organizations, within which you have articulated the issue of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities…
Shpresa Agushi: From the International Rescue Committee I moved to CARE International, then to the KCSF – Kosovo Civil Society Foundation, and the KCGS – Kosovar Center for Gender Studies. At the KCGS I worked for the first time on a project supported by the European Union. This was in 2003, when, through EU support, we mainly provided scholarships to the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities for all levels of education from primary school to master’s studies.
Europe House Kosovo: During this period, while you were engaged in various capacities in various organizations, you had just formed an informal group of Roma women, which then transformed into the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Women’s Network, which you lead today. What was this journey like?
Shpresa Agushi: We had established the informal group in 2000, with the idea of creating a network of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian women. These meetings were initially initiated by the OSCE with the support of the KFOS. Then we participated in various trainings, but the request of all those women remained that this informal network be formalized. This request was heard by the then UNIFEM, which is today’s UN Women.
After numerous meetings, the project was awarded to the Kosovar Center for Gender Studies, where I was engaged as a coordinator and my task was to formally register the organization or network. In our first engagement in this process, I and many other women and organizations from these communities, learned many things. The organizations we had established earlier were quite simple, while during the registration of the network we learned to work together on the statute, objectives, ideas, goals, founding act, logo, website, and everything an organization needs. Joint meetings, planning, and working together helped us create a network of several members. The membership consisted mainly of women’s organizations and activists, because the goal was to create the opportunity for girls and women who were not part of any organization, but had the will, to become part of the network.
Europe House Kosovo: What are some of the areas in which the network’s work is focused?
Shpresa Agushi: When I started my activity, the meetings were all-male and I was the only woman from the Roma community at these meetings, so my goal was to go from a single women, to as many women and girls as possible, with whom we would work together for our position and rights.
We started with capacity building, continued with various research to understand the situation, and saw that education is at a low level. We started with advocacy in institutions, participation in various working groups for community integration strategies, and then in various groups that were mainly concerned with these three communities.
Then we addressed issues like early marriage and domestic violence. All of this was exceedingly difficult to discuss at first, because initially it was difficult to get the women and girls of the communities out of their homes, because they did not feel safe, and secondly, they were often not allowed to participate in meetings by the male members of their families.
Since due to cultural norms, women in this region are often forced to live with their abusers, we initially had problems reporting violence. After a while, by supporting them, advocating together, they began acquiring the courage to report. We have done this so that in each meeting, regardless of the topic, we have invited both organizations and institutions, so that women and girls can see who is working, who they can turn to, and how they can collaborate on issues that concern them. At first, it was exceedingly difficult to talk about domestic violence, and at the time we conducted the research, most communities did not understand the issue of violence because they only understood violence as beatings. However, during the research, we also had to explain to them what violence actually is, so that they could report and inform us more adequately. Then we worked on various meetings and campaigns, meetings with men, meetings with women, meetings with young people, where in addition to informing about forms of violence, we also informed them about the services and legislation in force that protect them.
Courage is perhaps a little greater now, but we still have women who lack that courage. Many years of work are required.
Trust is particularly important to keep working and achieving goals. Trust, proximity, and direct work with communities, have continuously given us the will to work