Belgrade, 14th December – The 7th National Conference of Women’s Parliamentary Network, entitled “Not in My Parliament”, was held at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, with the support of the Government of Switzerland, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the OSCE Mission to Serbia. Apart from female representatives of the people, the conference was attended by around 400 female local assembly members from Serbia. This year’s conference focused on a dialogue about sexism, persecution, discrimination and verbal aggression against women, and the debate also focused on the activities of local governments when it came to implementing the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and also on the Global Strategic Plan 2018-2021, which is connected to the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5, pertaining to achieving gender equality.

The President of the National Assembly Maja Gojković stated that today the National Assembly of Serbia had 94 female representatives of the people, that women performed many managerial functions at the republican level, but that women were not sufficiently represented at the regional and the local level to be able to influence the creation of the policies of the communities they lived in.

Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Andrea Orizio pointed out that the essential characteristic of Women’s Parliamentary Network was the fact that it was a multi-party effort, which provided a good example of successfully overcoming political divisions.

“Equal representation of women at all the levels of decision-making and promotion of the participation of women in political life is a very important aspect of the work of our organisation. The participation of women and equality influence the policies that are created, as well as the solutions that are proposed.”

Sasha Miller of the Swiss Office for Cooperation said that there was progress being made in the area of gender equality in Serbia, but that women were still exposed to violence and unfavourable treatment when applying for a job, and also to other forms of discrimination. She emphasised that the Government of Switzerland firmly believed that the work of Women’s Parliamentary Network was relevant for promoting gender rights at the national and the local level.

“Owing to the work of Women’s Parliamentary Network, Serbia has ratified the Istanbul Convention and held a number of public debates which resulted in changing laws for the purpose of better protection of women and girls, as well as introducing stricter measures against perpetrators of violence in the family. I hope that the outcome of this conference will be to stimulate legislative reforms aimed at preventing sexism and hate speech against women in politics.”

UNDP programme analyst Željka Topalović pointed out that gender equality was not merely a right, but also a necessary precondition for sustainable development. She stressed that gender equality was not solely a problem of parliamentarians, but also of citizens, the media and the state.

“We have supported Women’s Parliamentary Network through training courses and seminars since it was originally established, in order to enhance its capacity for promoting gender equality. We are especially glad to be in a position to support close connections and cooperation of female assembly members, as well as the local mechanisms for gender equality, so as to improve the gathering of women around the aims of gender equality at the local level. UNDP, as well as its main partner, the Swiss Office for Cooperation, also support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in Serbia, particularly Goal no. 5 – gender equality.”

Women’s Parliamentary Network was founded on 14th February 2013 by female members of the National Assembly of Serbia. Following in the footsteps of similar institutions in developed countries of Europe and the world, for the first time in the history of Serbian parliamentarism, female representatives of the people gathered within the framework of an initiative, regardless of which political party they were members of. One of the priorities that Women’s Parliamentary Network continually works on is the affirmation of gender equality at all the levels of decision-making.