Today, at the National Assembly House, the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality Natasa Tasic Knezevic spoke at the conference "Business and Human Rights", organised by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue.
Tasic Knezevic welcomed the attendees, thanking the Minister of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Tomislav Zigmanov and the conference participants and emphasising the importance of the topic related to human rights in a very important and specific area. "I think it is the right moment to discuss this topic today, day after International Human Rights Day, and to do so in the National Assembly. I want to stress that every day of every month of every year and decade is a human rights day", said the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality.
She added that the National Assembly had adopted a number of important laws in the field of labour rights protection, with particular focus on the Law on Workplace Safety and Health, in order to ensure equal rights to workers working through agencies. In addition to systemic laws, Tasic Knezevic also highlighted the Law on Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, Law on Prevention of Harassment in the Workplace and the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities. "We are not only talking about labour rights here. The concept of human rights and business should give us a broader picture of the role and responsibility of the state, companies and all others involved in the business sphere, in order to ensure the protection of human rights as a whole," Tasic Knezevic said.
At the end of her address, she drew special attention to female entrepreneurship, especially Roma women entrepreneurs and women from rural areas, who market their domestic craft products, as an example of a humane attitude towards business and who have to invest significantly more effort for their business to be successful.
"I wish all the participants of today's conference successful work and I hope that, in the coming period, we will all pay even more attention to these issues," said the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality.