The One Billion Rising event in Kosovo was planned by a small group of young girls and boys aged 15 to 17 years old, who had noticed that Kosovo was on the list of countries taking part in the event, but without a planned official event. 

They took the matter into their own hands and formed a small network, including members of the Kosovo Women’s Network and the media group Kosovo 2.0, and began planning!

This  has resulted in promotional video done by Albulena Shabani, an Albanian artist from Macedonia, the Facebook page One Billion Rising Kosovo, Kosovo 2.0 article featuring the event, and a cover of Rita Ora’s song Shine Ya Light with a special shout out to One Billion Rising in the end. The cover song was done and performed by two of the young organizers, a boy and a girl called Lindi and Andrea, both aged 16.

All these promotional efforts culminated with the gathering of women and men Striking, Dancing, Rising! beneath the Pristina sky on a rooftop in the town centre and under the beat of DJ Oda Haliti on this evening.

In the end, the Rita Ora’s cover song was performed by Andrea and Lindi with everyone joining in at the end singing:

We gold, we gold, we shine

One Billion Hands Up in the Sky!

We gold, we gold, we shine

One Billion Hands Up in the Sky!

UN Women Kosovo shared information about the event on its 16 Days - No Violence Facebook page.

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¹All reference to Kosovo in this article, whether the territory, institutions or population, shall be understood in full compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.