The sitting of the Gender Equality Committee held on 10 November in the form of a roundtable, focused on examples of good practice in the introduction of the gender equality principle into public policies, plans and budgets. The sitting, held in cooperation with the Serbian Government’s Gender Equality Council and support of UNIFEM, was chaired by Gordana Paunovic-Milosavljevic, Committee Chairperson.

Chairperson Paunovic-Milosavljevic briefed the participants on the Committee’s competencies and work, stressing that the topic of gender sensitive budgeting receives special attention. Although the term and practice of gender budgeting are fairly recent, they are already the standard in more democratically developed countries, and Serbia still has to adopt these standards, primarily by acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills. The roundtable aims to consider the issues related to improving the position of women in Serbia.

The Committee Chairperson stated that the legal and institutional framework necessary for the achievement of equality have been established in the previous period, but the improvement of the situation in this sphere necessitates financial means for the realisation of the measures, programmes and actions necessary to achieve the principle of equal opportunities for women and men. It is particularly important to strengthen the economic position of women and increase their presence on the job market and thus help suppress discrimination in other spheres of life.

Asya Varbanova, Head of the UNIFEM Office in Serbia, briefed the Committee members and guests on the topic, international standards and UNIFEM’s experience in the introduction of the gender equality principle. She stressed that gender sensitive budgeting is a means to achieve the policy of equal opportunities for women and men and that its inclusion into the planning of the national budget could considerably improve the position of women in all spheres of public and private life, primarily employment, health care and other aspects important for their life and work.

President of the Serbian Government’s Gender Equality Council and State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Snezana Lakicevic-Stojacic pointed out that the state should to take more responsibility for gender equality and called for a higher participation of women in policy planning and budgeting on all levels.

Anita Beretic of the Provincial Secretariat for Labour, Employment and Gender Equality listed a number of examples of good practice in the introduction of the gender equality principle into public policies, plans and budgets in AP Vojvodina. Spomenka Krunic, Director of the Republic of Srpska Gender Centre presented the experiences of the Republic of Srpska in the implementation of gender sensitive budgeting. Dr Natalija Micunovic, Head of the Gender Equality Directorate at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, talked about the Directorate’s work experience. Afterwards, the Committee members and representatives of the competent ministries discussed Serbia’s priorities in the sphere of gender equality.

In her closing address, Prof. Dr Tatjana Djuric-Kuzmanovic, Vice-President of the Gender Equality Council, proposed several conclusions that the Committee members would vote on at the next sitting.