EU supports the adoption of Gender Equality Index in Serbia as it is one of the most basic instruments in the creation of public policies from the perspective of gender equality during European integrations, said Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport at the conference “Promotion of gender equality within the process of data-based public policy creation in Serbia.”
“Gender equality is one of the key principles of the EU. It is an imperative for the economic growth and social cohesion in every modern society,” Davenport said.
He added that gender equality was among the important segments of human rights and part of the series of chapters that would be subject to Serbia’s EU membership negotiations.
When it comes to gender equality, situation is not the brightest one in the EU either, Davenport said:
“Women are still being discriminated against in terms of employment; doing the same job, they earn 16,2 percent less than men on the average and are more at risk of poverty. In our own EU institutions, the Commission will probably include only eight female Commissioners, while women comprise 31 percent of MPs in the European Parliament… Also, figures show that across Europe, on the average, only four percent of the largest companies listed on stock exchange are led by women, and only 16,6 percent of women are on management committees.”
“Surely, situation in Serbia is not perfect either. Women in Serbia keep fighting for an equal treatment everyday. They experience difficulties in finding a job that will most likely earn them less money. Women in politics and business (especially those ranked higher) are insufficiently present – number of female members of the Government is four. Even though the number of female MPs has risen to 33,6 percent, women are still not present in all delegations and traditionally ‘male’ Parliamentary Committees,” Davenport said.
He insisted that “appropriate resources and enhanced coordination of gender equality mechanisms at all levels, especially the highest one, are among obligations that Serbia has assumed when it ratified international documents.“
The “Action Plan for the implementation of National strategy for prevention and elimination of violence against women in the family and in intimate partner relationships’ has not been adopted yet,” Davenport warned.
“The need to create an adequate institutional framework for the implementation of gender equality policy is significant in the process of European integrations as well, given that gender equality is one of the important segments of human rights and part of the series of chapters that will be subject to negotiations,“ EU Ambassador said.
The Index is important because it will ensure a synthetic measurement of gender equality, providing the results that are easily understood and conveyed, whereas at the same time, it will provide a support instrument to decision-makers when assessing the level of achieving gender equality in the Member State in question, he added.
“I am convinced that it will help us fight the important women issues in Serbia such as discrimination, gender-based violence, poverty and social exclusion“, Davenport said.
