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SARAJEVO, September 11(FENA) - The Office of the European Union Special Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation presented today the key findings of the joint initiative "Let's include women in producing change" in Sarajevo today.
Since the launch of the initiative in December last year to the present, it has been found that women are still underrepresented in politics and public life in BiH despite political commitment and legal provisions that prescribe equality between women and men.
Therefore, at today's presentation in Sarajevo, tHead of the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, appealed to all women in BiH to vote in the upcoming General Elections because, according to him, it would certainly produce change.
The fact that there is only one candidate on the list for a member of the BiH Presidency depicts the situation perfectly well, said Wigemark.
“Women are half of the population and are not sufficiently represented in politics, as well as in the private sector. And if they are represented, they are not treated equally, and they are discriminated against," Wigemark said, adding that BiH on its path to the EU must respect, and take legal obligations with regard to gender equality.
He reminded that the current convening of all the 14 parties, which took part in the formation of the government, they all committed to implement certain reforms, and he expects that after the general elections, the elected parties will be equally committed to implementing the reforms.
“One of the reforms is gender equality, which means adoption and implementation of legislation, regarding the introduction of standards for the same opportunities for both women and men,” emphasized Wigemark.
Swedish Ambassador to BiH Anders Hagelberg pointed out that it is a priority in BiH to change the mentality and structures of the society to make sure that women have to participate equally with men in all spheres of life.
“In order to achieve this, first and foremost, we need brave politicians to advocate for gender equality program. Also, it is necessary for the civil society and the media to exert pressure,” concluded Hagelberg.
The Report states that a limited harmonization of policies and the implementation of legislation leads to discrimination.
Every tenth employee in the institutions has reported to have been a victim of discrimination based on gender, while one in six women has reported to have been a victim of sexual abuse.
In order to combat these phenomena, the Report also contains recommendations for the competent institutions in the sphere of gender equality.
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(FENA) S. R.
