“Women and access to economic possibilities in Serbia” Conference Held : Inclusion

Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the World Bank organised, on November 16, 2015, the “Women and access to economic possibilities” conference in the Hotel Metropole in Belgrade. The aim of the conference was to raise the discussion on improving women’s access to possibilities on the labour market during the process of adopting the new National Strategy for Gender Equality in Serbia (2016–2020). The programme of the conference was divided into three panel discussions. The first panel was dedicated to the gender equality regulatory framework, the second panel dealt with the results of the gender equality analysis and monitoring the gender gap, the third panel was concentrated on the Labour law and employment possibilities for women. The conference was attended by the representatives of national and international institutions, as well as representatives of civil society organisations.

The conference was opened by Zorana Mihajlović, the Deputy Prime Minister and Tony Verheijen, the World Bank Country Manager for Serbia. The Deputy Prime Minister, Zorana Mihajlović, who is also the President of the Coordination Body for Gender Equality, highlighted that enhanced gender equality was the key prerequisite for the sustainable development and improved society, and that was the reason why it represented both a political and a strategic goal. She stated that women’s economic position and their position on the labour market had the key role in improving the position of women. The current data indicate that women belong to the most vulnerable group on the labour market, in spite of the fact that they represent half of the working age population. She emphasised that the important steps taken by the Government to improve women’s economic position would be the awaiting adoption of the Law on Gender Equality and National Strategy for Gender Equality. She also announced the calculation of the Gender Equality Index that would help to direct even more Government measures towards improving women’s economic position, as well as the start of the gender responsible budgeting process after which it would be possible to know how public funds were distributed according to gender. The World Bank Country Manager for Serbia, Tony Verheijen emphasised that employment was one of the key issues and that it represented the central point in the improvement of gender equality. Furthermore, he stressed that employment of women was a question of prosperity and that it represented the main focal point of the World Bank’s agenda. “According to our estimates, if we reduced the gender gap, GDP in Serbia would increase by approximately 19%” – Mr Verheijen concluded.

The first panel discussion, dedicated to the legislative framework within the gender equality sphere, was held after the introduction. The discussion participants were Nicolas Bizel, Head of Operations I of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, who presented the European Union’s regulatory framework on gender equality, and Branka Drašković, Special Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia for Gender Equality, who reviewed the National Strategic Framework relevant to the National Strategy for Gender Equality.

The panel was moderated by Žarko Šunderić, Team Manager of the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Head of Operations I of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, Nicolas Bizel, noted that this year marked 20 years since the signing of the Beijing Platform for Action, as well as 15 years of the Resolution 1325 “Women, peace and security”. Gender Equality represents one of the key values and a fundamental right of the European Union, it is important not only because of social cohesion but also for social development. He also stated that the adoption of the gender equality legislative and strategic framework would provide sustained European Union support to Serbia.

The second panel was dedicated to the results of the gender equality analysis and monitoring the gender gap. The speakers at this panel were Jelena Žarković Rakić, the Director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Economics, Maria Davalos, Senior Economist at the World Bank, and Marija Babović, a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade and representative of the SeCons organisation. Jelena Žarković emphasised that, according to the analysis of the access to education and healthcare services, as well as labour market, it was necessary to modify the policies and programmes designed to boost women’s participation on the labour market and contribute to the overall economic growth. In addition, she stressed the importance of full implementation of the gender equality regulatory framework, as well as the promotion of women’s leadership in politics and economy in order to encourage the change of attitudes towards the greater participation of women in all spheres of life.

Maria Davalos presented the results of the two studies conducted. The results of the first study, dealing with economic mobility, labour and gender, indicate that type of work is the main factor determining the position on the social ladder, not only in Serbia but also in other countries included in the study. The second study, dealing with child and elder care, indicates that access to care services greatly affects the economic possibilities of women. The study showed that caring for small children greatly decreases the possibilities for women’s economic activity and that the rising demand for care services represents an opportunity for creating new jobs, especially for low-skilled women.

Marija Babović presented the conclusions on the causes of gender inequality on the labour market based on the study. Her conclusion was that gender inequality has its roots in early socialisation, in the forms of gender upbringing and gender participation patterns in productive and reproductive economy, and that the impact of pregnancy on women’s education was often negative since the education system didn’t provide them with the possibility of combining school with pregnancy or work.

The theme of the third panel was Labour law and employment possibilities for women. Marina Ileš and Dragan Božanić from the Provincial Secretariat for Economy, Employment and Gender Equality presented the Programme for the empowerment of women who have suffered domestic and intimate relationship violence in Autonomous Province of Vojvodina 2014-2020 (APV). As the primary goals of the Programme they listed: raising public awareness of the unacceptability of violence against women, developing systems of general and specialised services of protection and support for women who are victims of violence, improving the systems for recording and documenting data on violence against women, as well as increasing the financial allocations from the budget in order to provide appropriate human resources for the implementation and monitoring of the Programme. It was also indicated that the economic dependency on the partner was one of the key issues because the risk of poverty represented the most common reason for staying in a violent marriage or relationship.

Johannes Koettl-Brodmann, Senior Economist at the World Bank spoke about the possibility of enhancing incentive measures for employment of women, Labour law and access to jobs for women. Maria Davalos, Senior Economist at the World Bank moderated the panel.

The concluding remarks and the plan for future steps regarding the improvement of women’s access to the economic possibilities were presented at the end of the conference. Ljiljana Džuver, Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Policy, highlighted the importance of the availability of education and higher paid jobs in the fight for the improvement of gender equality and economic status of women, as well as the importance of the multi-sectoral approach and collaboration in this area.

Žarko Šunderić, Team Manager of the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia emphasised the significance of the National Strategy for Gender Equality and its full implementation, along with strengthening of the capacities for its implementation. He said that discrimination was the main issue emphasising the need for intensifying the work on programmes designed for preventing discrimination and improving services that provide women with active participation on the labour market.

Maria Davalos, Senior Economist at the World Bank thanked everyone for participating and reminded all participants that the World Bank is extremely dedicated to this issue and especially to the promotion of women’s economic empowerment.

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