📣 Today, the roundtable was held to present the National Research on early marriages among Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities in Kosovo—a report that brings attention to one of the most sensitive and complex challenges facing youth in our country.
🔍 The report emphasizes that early marriage is not merely a cultural issue—it is a violation of children's rights and a serious obstacle to education, personal development, and the empowerment of young girls and boys.
📊 This in-depth research was carried out in close cooperation between:
🤝 Voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians (VoRAE)
🤝 Terre des hommes - Kosovo (Tdh)
🤝 Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER)
in partnership with the Office for Good Governance – OGG, the Interinstitutional Group against Early Marriages, and with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

👥 Speakers at the roundtable:
• Mr. Riccardo Lepri, Project Manager, HEKS/EPER
• Mr. Isak Skenderi, Executive Director, VoRAE
• Mr. Pajtim Zeqiri, Head of Office, Terre des hommes in Kosovo
• Mr. Habit Hajredini, Director of the Office for Good Governance – OGG/OPM
• Ms. Elizabeth Gowing, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Community Affairs
• Mr. Bedri Bahtiri, Consultant and presenter of the research findings

🗣 The speakers emphasized that now, more than ever, there is a need for inclusive mobilization—from families, schools, institutions, to the media—to guarantee a fairer and safer future for every child.
📌 The report’s recommendations call for:
• Empowerment of girls through education
• Strengthening of legal mechanisms
• Raising community awareness
• Socio-economic support for families in need.

Link to the report:
ALB: https://drive.google.com/.../1Y7zugIazFQSAM5gGYuL.../view...
ENG: https://drive.google.com/.../1SnGWtvwWW13xZgwej0D.../view...
SRB: https://drive.google.com/.../1OXdfqCKU_x7ghCcu_P.../view...

👉 Early marriages are not “tradition”—they are inequality, they are violations, and as a society, we have the responsibility to stop them.