The foundation has been laid for the next step in Women for Women, International’s (WfWI) mission to empower women in conflict and post conflict areas. The groundbreaking for a new Women’s Opportunity Center (WOC), took place in the urban city of Pristina in Kosovo. Said the Country Director for WfWI, Hamide Latifi, “In America where new buildings seem to pop up over night, the idea of a groundbreaking may not seem worthy of so much fanfare, but in a country such as Kosovo, whose independence is younger than 2 years, and where women are completely isolated from the outside world, having a Women’s Opportunity Center is a dream few of us can even imagine.”

With over 20,000 Kosovo program graduates and hundreds more added every year, the WOC will serve as a training location for the core WfWI program, as well as a center for continued education and assistance for program graduates. Currently the Women for Women, International- Kosovo core program serves 9 municipalities and 33 communities across the country. The core training consists of twelve months of vocational and life skills training, financial and emotional support and an opportunity to meet regularly in supportive Women’s Groups. WfWI has developed programming and infrastructure that teaches women survivors of war the skills to become economically self-sufficient and active in their communities. The curriculum is specifically designed to address political activism, social empowerment, economic self-sufficiency and psychological and physical health.

Besides housing the core curriculum, the WOC will serve as a community center for current participants and graduates alike. For a small membership fee, graduates will have access to a variety of business advisory services, including business development, loan application assistance, job placement, and continued microfinance education. In addition the WOC will provide leadership and other opportunities to continue to help program graduates become economically self sufficient and active citizens within their communities. Now these innovative programs will have a permanent home.

Working pro bono, architect Sharon Davis, of the Sharon Davis Design Studio, is utilizing her extensive experience in sustainable design and urban renewal to create the new home for WfWI-Kosovo. Construction began in the summer of 2009, and a grand opening is expected in early 2010. The design uses passive airflow to keep cool in the summer, and heavy insulation and southern exposure windows to keep warm in the brutal winters. Natural gas, a far more environmentally sound fuel than common traditional wood and coal burning, will be used to heat the building. An internet café will be housed within the WOC for participants use.

Ultimately, the Women for Women, International’s Women’s Opportunity Center in Kosovo will serve as a permanent safe haven for women to gather. It will provide a center of steady activity, learning, and commerce in the community, and a source of support for the women of Kosovo.