On May 11^th, USAID Mission Director James Hope spoke at the launch event for the second phase of the Property Rights Program’s grassroots outreach campaign. Under the slogan “Equal Love = Equal Rights,” the campaign is aimed at changing entrenched attitudes and customs that all too often infringe on the rights of women in Kosovo to fully exercise their land and property rights.  The first phase of this campaign broadcast 23 television and radio spots in support of women’s property rights.  This second phase includes new public service announcements being aired on national and local TV; billboards placed in downtown Pristina and 14 other municipalities; a photography contest on women’s property rights whose winner was announced at the launch event; and a puppet theater show for elementary school children by the “Dodona” puppet theater troupe.

In his remarks, Hope emphasized that it’s “not enough to make it possible for women to equally pass on and inherit property in Kosovo, we have to ensure this right, and we have to ensure that every woman in Kosovo has the knowledge and tools to exercise it.  We also need every family and community and cadaster in Kosovo to understand why this matters, and to take personal responsibility for it.”

The latest public survey data from the Property Rights Program’s Midterm National Survey on Property Rights in Kosovo demonstrates that the project is having an impact.  For example, the percentage of citizens who oppose their daughters’ right to inherit property has dropped from 36 percent to 27 percent in just the last year.