Global Engineer Girls Celebrate STEM Progress in Kosovo
LIMAK Kosovo International Airport, together with other partners of the Global Engineer Girls (GEG) Kosovo initiative and Global Engineer Girls North Macedonia, today organized the "Mentorship Matters" conference, as part of Girls in Information and Communication Technology Week.
This aims to mark the progress and continued impact of the Global Engineer Girls (GEG) initiative in empowering girls in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), CE Report quotes Kosova Press.
At this conference, it was emphasized that the Global Engineer Girls (GEG) initiative has the main goal of providing girls with support, mentoring, training, scholarships and other opportunities to become an active part of the scientific and technological world.
In her opening remarks, the executive director of the CSR Network Kosovo, Zana Bajrami-Rama, said that through this initiative, the LIMAK company is not only influencing the change in the lives and professional growth of young women, but according to her, it is influencing the empowerment of an entire society.
"Through the GEG initiative, Limak is not only influencing the change of life, the professional growth of young girls, but it is influencing the empowerment of an entire society. It is influencing the empowerment of several sectors in the STEM fields, and ultimately in the empowerment of our country, thus creating new professional generations prepared for the labor market. The role and impact that GEG is achieving in preparing new generations of girls in the STEM field is being appreciated everywhere. In 2024, Limak was also awarded the CSR awards for women's empowerment. An appreciation that further conveys the message that GEG's work is bringing sustainable change... This collaboration is proof of the power that businesses in our community have for change," said Bajrami-Rama.
Albina Balidemaj, dean of the faculty and assistant at RIT Kosovo, also spoke about the importance of the GEG initiative, saying that it is a project that inspires all girls to be involved in engineering.
"It is a project that aims to empower girls in engineering. But it is also a project that inspires the inclusion of girls in engineering. This term inclusion is sometimes used loosely in everyday language and we often do not share our minds about what it means. Here we are today, less than 20 percent of professionals in engineering are women. This does not happen because there is a lack of talent. On the contrary, talent is abundant. Usually there is a lack of opportunities, support and encouragement for girls to enter these fields... This is precisely why GEG as a project is so important in this area. Last year alone, over 100 young girls from Kosovo applied to be part of this program," said Balidemaj.
Meanwhile, in the first panel titled "Breaking Barriers and Leading Change", the executive director of the Information and Communication Technology Association of Kosovo "STIKK", Vjollca Cavolli said that mentoring influences the development of critical thinking.
She suggested to girls and women to systematically pressure and lobby the Government of Kosovo to provide new opportunities.
"Throughout our educational journey, we have mentors, and there we develop our critical thinking. Each of the advice is valuable to follow or to be the basis of our development...During this journey, I am a witness to how much women's interest has changed over the years. When I started, there was no woman owner or co-owner or CEO of a company. Now, over 35 percent are owners or co-owners. This is a great success...Don't expect the government to think about you. It doesn't know, it can't think. It's out of their range. What you need to do systematically is to condition them, push them, put pressure on them, lobby and advocate all the time," Cavolli emphasized.
The Head of Information and Communication Technology at Pristina International Airport "Adem Jashari", Adelina Dumani Hulaj, said that Limaku is a company that should be taken as a basis by everyone, because according to her, it works hard for the advancement of girls and women.
She also shared her experience of how she managed to advance to the position she holds now, as a woman with many challenges ahead.
"Limak is a company that should be taken as a basis by everyone, because it works hard to advance girls and women, as we know with the GEG initiative. Also, I am proud to say that in decision-making positions at LIMAK, 50 percent are women, 50 percent are men at Pristina Airport. Which I don't believe is the case anywhere else in the region. I can say that the three main points that have made me get to where I am are consistency, tireless work and not giving up even when I have had some difficulties to overcome," said Dumani-Hulaj.
Meanwhile, Erasmus+ coordinator Mimika Dobroshi also highlighted the need to encourage girls to step out of their comfort zone and follow their own path, beyond traditional family expectations, in order to become agents of change.
"Our main message is, first of all, to work with those universities there, to promote these opportunities a little bit. Because we can go 3-4 times a year, but it is the professors there who completely manage the higher education institutions. Second, every time we go for a promotion, I also share the personal experience that I have had. The idea is first of all to stimulate women to step out of their comfort zone a little, to work a little outside the advice of their parents, of their family. We always stimulate them to work outside the advice of their parents, so that they can be the change and pursue new opportunities," said Dobroshi.
Meanwhile, within the framework of "Mentorship Matters", a second panel was held on the topic "The Power of Role Models and Mentoring".
Global Engineer Girls is a philanthropic initiative of Limak Group of Companies dedicated to increasing the representation of women in STEM. GEG provides education, mentorship, and career opportunities to girls and young women in Kosovo, North Macedonia, Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and beyond.
