In the context of the recently adopted Resolution on Women’s Rights in the Western Balkans of the European Parliament’s Committee for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, women politicians from across the region, parliamentarians and representatives of state authorities and civil society exchanged opinions on the key challenges of building a society of equal opportunities for women and men and how to work together to address the problems of women in the Western Balkan region.

Speaking of the results the Women’s Parliamentary Net and the Republic of Serbia had achieved in the area of gender equality, MPs Natasa Mihailovic Vacic and Stefana Miladinovic said it is imperative to foster stronger ties with the women in the region and emphasized how important Serbia considers the implementation of the sustainable development goals.

MP Natasa Mihailovic Vacic said that Serbia ranks at the very top of European countries by its involvement of women in politics and public life and is listed as a best practice example of how to improve gender equality in the reports of international organizations.

“By adopting the Gender Equality Index three years ago, as the only country outside of the EU, Serbia is not only the first in the region to follow the EU dynamics in the field, but also shows a definite commitment to European values and political readiness to continue to advance gender equality. Having more women involved in politics contributes to a lasting peace and stability, brings a new quality to decision-making and governance and leads to a more functional and better society. Peace, democracy and dialogue are vital for any type of development”, said Mihailovic Vacic and urged the parliamentarians to maintain a comprehensive dialogue with their colleagues and key political factors to preserve peace, develop democracy and advance the rule of law, without which, she said, there can be no development nor gender equality.

Women were said to be the biggest group of losers of development without peace, equality and consensus on key issues concerning the future and prosperity of the region.

MP Stefana Miladinovic emphasized the Republic of Serbia and the National Assembly’s commitment to implement the sustainable development goals through the Government’s SDG body and the Assembly’s Focus Group.

Speaking of the work of the Women’s Parliamentary Network, Miladinovic said that, for the third legislature running, it has achieved significant results despite the many challenges it comes up against.

“Regardless of our party affiliation and ideological beliefs, aware of the importance of women’s political activism, avoiding differences and finding common goals, we have managed to, in the last six years, avoid the traps of daily political squabbles and achieve significant results through consensus.”

MP Miladinovic also said that, judging from what the women parliamentarians have said at the session of the Women Parliament of the Assembly, the problems in the region are more or less the same, despite national, religious or any other affiliation.

The participants of the session, in principle, accepted the proposal to resume the WPN’s initiative to organize meetings of SEE women parliamentarians, with the idea that a different national parliament organize it each year, which had come to a standstill after two years.

Miladinovic also spoke about the Resolution on Women’s Rights in the Western Balkans, recently adopted at the initiative of a Croatian MEP at meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.

“The assessments and recommendations we receive from the citizens, international organizations and civil society should be an incentive for our future efforts”, said Miladinovic, adding that having a document that draws attention to the position of women in the Balkans is encouraging. She went on to propose that each women MP in the region should get in touch with a woman MEP and brief them on the problems as well as the results achieved in the field of gender equality, protection of women and children and combating discrimination. “Working together with our counterparts in the European Parliament the document would be even more comprehensive and focus more on the results and positive practices”, MP Stefana Miladinovic concluded.