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AN OVERVIEW OF GENERAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN SERBIA
§ 44. At the national level, there is Parliamentary Committee for Gender Equality (2003),
Gender Equality Council as Government’s advisory body (2003, i.e. 2004), the Directorate
for Gender Equality (2008) and Deputy Ombudsman for gender equality and the rights
of persons with disabilities (2008). In Vojvodina, there is the Gender Equality Council
of the Vojvodina Executive Council, the Gender Equality Committee of the Vojvodina
Parliament (2003) and the Provincial Gender Equality Agency (2004). Moreover, Provincial
Ombudsman Office has a deputy in charge of gender equality (2006). Until 2005, focal
points for gender equality have been appointed at the level of 50 municipalities within a
project supported by OSCE. However, systematic data on their activities or effect of their
work do not exist nor whether they managed to survive the change of local government
in 2008 68 .
§ 45. The Gender Equality Directorate was established within the Ministry of Labor and
Social Policy in 2008. At the website of the Directorate, it could be read that its priorities
are “drafting of the Gender Equality Law to regulate comprehensively issues and
aspects of gender equality as well as setting up of new and empowerment and capacity
building of the existing institutions responsible to achieve and provide gender equality;
develops national strategy for advancement of the position of women and promotion
of gender equality 69 to establish, define comprehensive and overall coordinated
national policy focused to elimination of all forms of discrimination against women,
advancement of their status and mainstream gender equality as well as implement
recommendation of UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.”
One of the major shortcoming in the work of the Directorate is the attitude of some
of its officers that the fight for gender equality in Serbia started only when they were
established, ignoring the accomplishments and expertise of the women movement,
thus deconstructing what has been built for years and hiring experts whose expertise
does not include gender equality 70 .
§ 46. Serbia has the National Strategy for Advancement of the Position of Women and
Promotion of Gender Equality 71 , and the Action Plan for its implementation in the period
2010-2015 72 . Many serious objections were made with regard to the Action Plan, while
commenting the process of its creation, women’s organization stressed that they were
marginalized by the Gender Equality Directorate and described this relation as “not
appreciating the years of work and expertise of women’s organizations regarding the
issues of the improvement of the position of women and gender equality, fictitiously
68
At the official website of the Gender Equality Directorate, there are archive data on the local focal points for gender equality with the name of
municipality, institutional mechanism which exists there and a person in charge.
(http://www.minrzs.gov.rs/cir/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=27&Itemid=233&lang=sr)
69
The text of the Strategy available at http://www.minrzs.gov.rs/cir/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=27&Item
id=233
70
E.g. the appointment of the Serbian delegate at the Council of Europe’s Ad Hoc Committee on Preventing and Combating Violence against
Women and Domestic Violence (CAHVIO).
71
Adopted by the Government of Serbia on 13 February 2009.
72
Official Gazette of RS, no. 67/10.
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