A seminar “For a Cohesive Europe: Gender Equality and Women’s Rights”, organized within the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council, was held yesterday at the King Peter’s House. The seminar gathered representatives of the state, civil society and international community, who discussed the importance of equal opportunities and equal treatment for men and women for a cohesive Europe and European societies.
Ensuring equal opportunities for women and men is among the main priorities for the Romanian Presidency of EU s part of pillar 4, Europe of Common Values, but also for the EU, in general. “Reducing gender-based discrimination on the labor market and in the business environment is of key importance for all democratic societies, as well as for balanced and inclusive economic growth. Today, we are here in order to discuss how we can promote gender equality, but also to provide better understanding of the roles women play in advancing all spheres of life, from politics to business, education, art, sports”, said Romanian Ambassador Oana Cristina Popa.
President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Maja Gojkovic pointed out that Serbia can be satisfied with the results in numerous fields. She added that most has been achieved in terms of representation of women in decision-making positions, so that there are 93 female MPs in the Parliament now. Gojkovic said that Serbia, as well as the EU, need to work on suppression of discrimination in the labor market, on creating conditions for economic independence of women, lowering down gender pay gap, fighting against gender-based violence, as well as on promotion of gender equality in the decision-making.
“Gender equality is one of the most important priorities of the Council of Europe (CoE) and of all its bodies”, underlined Anna Rurka, President of the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organization of the CoE. According to the Council of Europe instruments, gender equality is a principle of proactive nature, requiring positive measures by the member states. Nevertheless, public authorities cannot face these issues by themselves, having in mind that good laws and strategies are important but not sufficient. These efforts need to involve civil society organizations, lawyers, experts, business sector and other relevant actors.
The final part of the seminar was committed to a discussion on the global UN Women campaign HeForShe, launched in Serbia last year by the UN Women office in Belgrade and Finnish Ambassador Pertti Ikonen. The campaign is designed so that men and boys become agents of change for the achievement of gender equality. In Serbia, over 800 persons made a HeForShe commitment.
The seminar was organized by the Embassies of Romania, Finland and Croatia, as part of the EU Trio program, and in cooperation with the offices of Council of Europe and UN Women in Belgrade. The Trio Program, drawn up by the three consecutive Member States to hold the Council Presidency, focuses on common EU values, sustainable growth and strengthening external capabilities, safety and security.
