MP Stefana Miladinovic was part of the Serbian delegation to the 72nd session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on 28 February 2019 at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, dedicated to the fourth periodic report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The representatives of the Republic of Serbia highlighted the country’s commitment to the Convention and the implementation of its provisions. The delegation contained representatives of the executive, legislative and judiciary branch who, in line with their purview, in an interactive dialogue, responded to the Committee members’ questions about the situation in the field and the implemented and planned measures for the improvement of the position of women in different spheres of public and private life. The Committee members were presented the legislation concerning prevention of violence against women and the measures employed by the police, prosecution, welfare centres and other relevant authorities to implement said legislation. They also mentioned the latest legislative activities intended to further the Law on Prevention of Discrimination and the adoption of a new Gender Equality Law, and spoke about the measures employed to improve the position of especially vulnerable groups - women with disabilities, women in rural areas and Roma women.
As representative of the National Assembly, Stefana Miladinovic spoke about women’s participation in political and public life, reminding the attending of the introduction of quotas in the election laws which had boosted the representation of women at all legislative levels and spoke about the position of women in the National Assembly. She said that in addition to the National Assembly Speaker, women also make up the majority and head the Assembly’s delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie, as well as seven Assembly committees. Stefana Miladinovic also spoke about the Women’s Parliamentary Network, its legislative activities and work on improving the position of women, and shared some of the Network’s results, especially in the budgetary process. She spoke about the National Assembly’s control role and the activities of its working bodies and the Women’s Parliamentary Network concerning the implementation of CEDAW, as well as the efforts to secure equal representation of women in political and public life across the board, in both the legislative and executive power.
The delegation of the Republic of Serbia was headed by Dr Suzana Paunovic, Acting Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights, and comprised representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Ministry of Justice, National Assembly, Assembly of AP Vojvodina, Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office, Supreme Court of Cassation, Office for Kosovo-Metohija, Commissariat for Refugees and Migration and the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Team.
