On the occasion, the parliamentarians noted that today, 67 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, the rights guaranteed by it are violated almost everywhere in the world, including Serbia. One of the most vulnerable groups are women who continue to suffer discrimination and violence. Therefore, the objective of the joint sitting scheduled on International Human Rights Day is to underline the achievements and future prospects in combating violence against women.

Speaking of the position of women in Serbia, the participants stressed that some progress has been achieved in certain areas both legislatively and institutionally speaking, but the ratification of the Istanbul Convention requires significant changes to the national legislation and an efficient implementation of the adopted laws. The participants added that the National Assembly is at this moment deliberating on the 2016 budget proposal which has for the first time introduced gender responsive budgeting into the budgeting process.

Stojanka Lekic, Chairperson of the Gender Equality Committee of the Assembly of AP Vojvodina, and Meho Omerovic, Chairman of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality of the National Assembly, highlighted the importance of cooperation between the two committees and the need to exchange experiences, especially concerning the spread of the network of gender equality protection mechanisms, education against violence, efficient victim support and protection services, adjustment of laws to international standards, economic empowerment of women and improvement of coordination among the institutions for the purpose of fully achieving human rights and suppressing violence.

The participants were also presented best practice examples concerning gender equality in the Republic and the Province, as well as certain flaws such as the lack of a national SOS hotline.

After the joint sitting, the members of the two committees attended the award ceremony for the Provincial Government’s annual gender equality recognition. This year, the award went to Ksenija Vlaovic, entrepreneur and social activist.