The Chairman of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, Aleksandar Markovic, stressed that this publication represents a kind of history, a retrospective of the work of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality since 2003 and an analysis of the work of the parliamentary gender equality mechanism to date, but it also offers specific recommendations how to improve the activities in this area.

"Twenty years is not a short period and a lot has changed. Laws have been passed in the field of human rights, prohibition of discrimination and concerning gender equality, which have significantly influenced the Committee’s work and activities. Good foundations have been laid, we have a significantly higher number of women MPs, and the composition of the Committee itself is gender balanced. Participation alone is not enough, we lack initiatives launched by men, and that is something we should strive for and work on," said Markovic.

He highlighted the important activities the Committee has carried out in the previous period, and in particular the activities it is engaged in in the current legislature, with special emphasis on participation in the gender audit process in accordance with the ODIHR methodology, which should lead to recommendations on how to achieve full equality in the National Assembly and to pay more attention to the issue of gender equality in the legislative and control function of the parliament. Also, the Committee actively participates in gender equality issues that are now included in the Berlin Process, said Markovic and used this opportunity to emphasise the Committee's future activities, such as participation in specific EU programmes, training of MPs in the field of gender equality in cooperation with US Women, and, as a particularly important, the Committee's main role in supervising the implementation of the Government's Action Plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 - Women, Peace and Security. Markovic expressed his hope that, after today's presentation, new joint ideas will be reached, as well as proposals for work in the coming period.

Agnes Bodens addressed the attendees on behalf of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, emphasising that the OSCE Mission to Serbia is committed to supporting women's participation in all areas of governance, in accordance with the 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality, which was supported by all 57 participating States, including Serbia.

"Parliaments at the national level are in a unique position to promote gender equality both by incorporating it into their structures, by creating gender-responsive policies and by implementing gender-responsive oversight of the executive branch of government. The OSCE Mission to Serbia is proud to support the work of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality over the years and in several parliamentary legislatures. We welcome and support the Committee's participation and its key role in the participatory gender audit of the National Assembly, conducted by the ODIHR," said Bodens.

She said that she hopes the publication will serve two purposes: as a testament to the commitment to developing a parliamentary gender equality mechanism in Serbia, and as a kind of overview of the experiences emerged from the two decades of work at the national and provincial levels.

After the introductory speeches, the authors, Prof. Dr Nevena Petrusevic and MA Maja Sedlarevic, presented the publication as a whole, while a special segment was dedicated to the part related to the mechanism in the National Assembly.

In addition to the members of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, MPs, former members and the Chairman of the Committee, representatives of partner international organisations - the OSCE, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, GIZ and NDI, as well as representatives of the civil sector, universities and other state bodies and organisations, also took part in the discussion and exchange of opinions on the findings and recommendations presented in the “Twenty Years of Parliamentary Gender Equality Mechanisms in Serbia”, authored by Prof.Dr Marijana Pajvancic, Prof.Dr Nevena Petrusic and MA Maja Sedlarevic.