The Jahjaga Foundation was established in March 2018 and immediately began working to support democratic development, social inclusion, and marginalized communities in Kosovo and the Balkans. The Foundation launched a coordinated awareness-raising campaign to combat stigma related to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and developed a long-term strategic plan and advocacy network to encourage CRSV survivors to register for the government pension. JF also held workshops with survivors of CRSV, hosted networking and professional development events for women in politics and governance, and trained journalists on gender-sensitive reporting.

In 2019, the Jahjaga Foundation organized workshops with young people in rural communities regarding gender inequality and transitional justice. The foundation also supported unemployed youth with job skills trainings, apprenticeship, and employment assistance and supported organizations and businesses run by CRSV survivors. That same year, the Jahjaga Foundation hosted an international conference on International Women’s Day with the support of the German Embassy in Pristina and the UN Kosovo Team. At the conference, titled ‘Giving Voice to the Survivors of Sexual Violence in Kosovo’, over 200 survivors and stakeholders shared their stories and contributed to the drafting of the Pristina Communique, a set of comprehensive recommendations regarding conflict-related sexual violence. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jahjaga Foundation launched a public awareness campaign to support mental health and combat gender-based violence (GBV). In June, the Jahjaga Foundation produced a short animated video entitled ‘The Benefits of Gender Equality for Men’. The animation was created through the initiative ‘Community actions to promote parental leave’ which is part of the project ‘Dialogue for social justice’, implemented by Democracy for Development. In 2020, the foundation also launched its ZA Magazine and published the First and Second Editions which featured Former President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga and luxury designer Laura Imami. While working on the aforementioned projects, the Jahjaga Foundation simultaneously published new blogs on their website weekly. 

In 2021, the Jahjaga Foundation supported women from minority communities to achieve economic empowerment. The foundation also launched the ‘Mothers Share’ project in order to provide a platform for mothers to share and exchange stories of wisdom and resilience. In parallel, the Jahjaga Foundation also trained 60 mothers in the ‘Mother School’ program, which ran from 2021 to 2024 and was implemented in partnership with the Women Without Borders association. In November, the Jahjaga Foundation published the Third Edition of the ZA Magazine featuring Majlinda Kelmendi, former judoka and judo coach who topped the IJF Women’s Prestige World Ranking List in 2014.

In 2022, the Jahjaga Foundation worked on creating more direct initiatives for economic empowerment of women. This included the opening of the One in Three workshop, a brand where women from marginalized communities would create clothing in different collections, and the ‘Elava’ project, a start up cleaning business for women of minority communities in Klina. In collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the foundation launched the ‘Development of Knowledge on Local Governance’ programme. The same year, the Jahjaga Foundation also partnered up with the Embassy of the Netherlands in organizing the ‘Not a Quota, but an Asset’ event and in publishing the ‘Benefits of Gender Diversity in Politics and Governance’ report. The foundation also collaborated with UNHCR for the local 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign. 

Just as in 2022, the organization once again participated in the 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, where it hosted an awareness raising podcast and a friendly discussion session with women from Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities from Klina in collaboration with UNHCR. Additionally, the Jahjaga Foundation released a special feature dedicated to the campaign in their eighth ZA Magazine edition.