National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia / Activities / Activity details
15 May 2017 Working meeting of the Women’s Parliamentary Network and the representatives of the project of Melbourne University and UN Women Serbia
Monday, 15 May 2017
Women’s Parliamentary Network Meets with Representatives of Melbourne University and UN Women Serbia Project
At the working meeting on 15 May, Gordana Subotic, research student of the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, presented her research on women in politics which records how women politicians employ their national and feminist identities to advocate and raise gender issues in Serbia to the political level.
The representative of UN Women, United Nations agency for gender equality and empowerment of women in Serbia, said that with the financial support of the European Union and the Swiss Government through the EU PROGRES programme, September 2016-June 2017, they have been conducting activities in municipalities in southeast and southwest Serbia to improve and advance the capacity and influence of councilwomen in the municipal assemblies. The programme covers 18 projects and a series of activities: establishment of ten councilwomen’s networks which have begun the realization of their annual activity plan and implementation on initiatives at the local level, training for councilwomen and men from 34 municipalities aimed at enhancing their understanding of the importance of gender equality and the introduction of gender perspective into local policies, as well as four specialized trainings for the members of the councilwomen’s networks in selected topics: advocating gender-responsive policies and gender-responsive budgeting.
Finally, the participants concluded that projects of this type are a good way to raise social awareness on gender equality. The meeting was attended by OSCE representative and long-time partner to the Women’s Parliamentary Network Natasa Sakota, with which the members discussed future activities.