News in English     | 06.03.2020. 13:01 |

International representatives: Women should be more represented in politics

FENA Vernera Jakupović

SARAJEVO, March 6 (FENA) - Representatives of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the occasion of March 8, International Women's Day, pointed to the importance of gender equality and call for greater representation of women in politics in a joint statement, as well as on candidate lists for this year's local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ahead of today's Sarajevo conference on "More than a quota: Towards a greater representation of women in the 2020 local elections", OSCE Ambassador to BiH Kathleen Kavalec told reporters that the adoption of the joint statement confirms the international community's desire to strengthen gender equality and hope that there will be transformative reforms in the public and political life of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ambassador Kavalec noted that women make up half of BiH's population and that, despite this, they are underrepresented in political life because BiH does not do everything it can to harness that potential and talents.

“We are ready to help you and I hope that as many women as possible will participate in the elections and in the role of voters and electoral candidates,” said Kavalec on behalf of international representatives who signed the joint statement.

British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Matthew Field said the involvement of as many women as possible in political life is necessary because it would result in better politics and better decisions.

Equal opportunities for men and women are a characteristic of prosperous societies, Field said, urging social actors to contribute in their own way to a greater leap towards gender equality. Representatives of the international community decided to promote the joint statement, made this morning, on the occasion of International Women's Day.

Head of the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, Johann Sattler, recalls that the EU and the European Commission yesterday adopted a strategy on gender equality for the period 2020-2025. As Sattler said, it will not be 'just a piece of paper' because the European Union is committed to this, even symbolically. Ambassador Sattler also reminded that a woman, Ursula von der Leyen, is currently at the head of the European Commission.

The European Union has invested a lot of money to promote gender equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sattler also said. His message is that Bosnia and Herzegovina still needs to make a lot of effort, as 25 percent of women are represented in parliamentary life and only five to six percent are women mayors.

Conference "More than a quota: Towards a greater representation of women in the 2020 local elections" was organized by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the OSCE Mission to BiH in partnership with the Committee on Gender Equality of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly.

"In view of the upcoming local elections, we would like to emphasize the low representation of women at the local level: in Bosnia and Herzegovina, only 5 percent of women are municipality mayors, and in the previous local elections in 2016, only 18 percent of women won seats in local councils. Women make up half of the population, and this level of political participation is far below the democratic, fair and equal standard. The upcoming elections are a chance to change this," stated the conference organizers, whose purpose is to discuss the causes of the lack of women in elections and decision-making places, and to discuss potential solutions to this problem.

 

(FENA) A. B.

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