The Women's Economic Forum (FEG) is an independent, inclusive, and unifying body that brings together actors, organisations, and individuals from civil society who are committed to the development and empowerment of women in the economy. The forum was jointly established by organisations actively involved in improving the position of women in Kosovo. The initiative to establish the FEG was conceived by the Riinvest Institute, with the support of the Equality Commitment Programme, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Advocacy Training and Resource Centre (ATRC). The founding act of the forum was signed on 16 November 2016.

Kosovo is currently characterised by a gender imbalance in terms of women's participation in the economy. This is evident in several areas, including:

• Labour force participation;

• Employment and unemployment levels;

• Entrepreneurship activities;

• The unequal position of women in relation to barriers within the business environment. 

The main purpose of the FEG is to advance the position of women in the economy, both as employers and employees, through the development of a common advocacy platform. Specifically, the FEG pursues the following objective

Objective 1:

To strengthen the advocacy channels of relevant actors by building a more effective and comprehensive platform that creates better conditions and opportunities for women in business.

Objective 2:

To transform the communication between public institutions and relevant actors engaged in improving the role of women in the economy, by standardising the communication and intervention process for the future

Objective 3:

To prioritise critical issues by making better use of resources, analysis, and advocacy capacity in Kosovo.

Objective 4:

To identify and address topics related to the role of women in the economy by creating a national agenda that will serve as a long-term foundation for advocacy efforts.

Through advocacy campaigns, meetings, studies, data collection, analysis, and consulting, the FEG has, for the first time in Kosovo, drafted the Women’s National Business Agenda. This is a comprehensive document that outlines the necessary political and social commitments to support women in the economy.

The Women's Economic Forum is a coalition of civil society organisations composed of: Riinvest Institute; Kosovo Women’s Network; Democracy for Development Institute (D4D); Kosovo Centre for Gender Studies; the Network of Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian Women's Organisations; Kosova-Women 4 Women; and the GAP Institute.