Valdete Idrizi is a civil society leader for two decades, a feminist, a known peace activist from Mitrovica, and in the last four years also a political activist. She was the founder of Community Building Mitrovica (CBM), a well-known peace organisation, a local grassroots multi-ethnic NGO, which in the last two decades served as a bridge in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica. She was founder and co-founder of other initiatives and organisations such as Mitrovica Rock School, Mitrovica Forum as a part of International Forum of Cities in Transition. She had led CiviKos Platform, the largest cross-sector CSO network in Kosovo, for over six years when she decided to join politics with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). She served as an advisor to the Speaker of the Parliament, 2018 – 2019, and in 2019, she was elected Member of Parliament and served on the Committee for Human Rights, Gender Equality, Missing Persons and Petitions until April, 2021.
She is member of many local, regional and international networks and forums. As a peace practitioner, for her work and dedication to peace, Idrizi received several international awards, among them, the International Women of Courage Award from the US State Department in 2008. She was also awarded the Soroptimist Peace Prize 2009 and received the title Peace Ambassador by the Universal Peace Federation. In 2016, she Received the WIFTS (Women International Film & Television Showcase) Peace Award.
Besides political positions, she continued her volunteer activities on women empowerment, youth and marginalized groups in Kosovo as well as in the Region. She serves as a mentor to many young women. Idrizi has a very diverse background, including university studies in geology and master studies in conflict transformation and a very active engagement in theatre for almost 20 years.
