Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

On 14 November, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the President of the Coordination Body for Gender Equality, Zorana Mihajlović stated that Serbia still was not a gender equal country, but that there was progress at the state level regarding that area.

While addressing the press during the “Local Mechanisms for Gender Equality – on the Road to Achieving the Gender Equality Policy at the Local Level” conference, Mrs. Mihajlović stated that women working in private and public sector were still paid 30% less than their male colleagues.

According to her assessment, on the state level lot has been done with regard to gender equality, but in the future, the efforts should be focused on the local level. Out of 160 local self-governments, only ten mayors or heads of municipalities were women, and that was not enough, she warned and added that all local self-governments were obligated to have at least one person dealing with gender equality and a gender equality council.

Serbia is the only country in Europe, which is not a member of the European Union but has nevertheless introduced the Gender Equality Index, reminded Mihajlović and added that the labour market and application of legal acts on the local level were areas where there was still room for improvement.

The Ambassador of Switzerland in Serbia Philippe Guex said that the Swiss Government was supporting the efforts and the dedication of Serbia to promote and improve gender equality, stressing that together with the European Union, Switzerland was supporting 34 gender councils in as many municipalities in south and south-west Serbia. He added that Switzerland would continue to support Serbia and that it was very close to adopting the new cooperation strategy with Serbia, and that the new strategy would have a larger budget than before.

The Conference was organised by the Coordination Body for Gender Equality and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

Source: www.srbija.gov.rs