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SARAJEVO, December 2 (FENA) - The BiH Presidency Chairman Željko Komšić said that BiH is continuously committed to activism against gender-based violence and that it has made significant progress in preventing violence against women and girls and achieving gender equality goals.
Komšić opened the Third Regional Forum for the Prevention of Violence against Women in the Western Balkans and Turkey, held online. In his introductory speech, he expressed satisfaction that Bosnia and Herzegovina is hosting this important event organized by UN WOMEN, in cooperation with the BiH Agency for Gender Equality, the European Union and the Council of Europe.
He reminded that in 2013, BiH ratified the Council of Europe's Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention.
"From then until today, the Agency for Gender Equality of our country is continuously working on its successful implementation, and organized the First Regional Conference of the Council of Europe, initiating regional cooperation for the most successful exchange of experiences and good practices," said Komšić.
He added that the Council of Ministers of BiH, at the initiative of the Agency for Gender Equality, in 2019, established a Committee for Monitoring the Implementation and Reporting on the Istanbul Convention and Femicide in our country, whose task is to monitor, analyze and report to the Council of Ministers everything concerning the topic of violence against women and domestic violence.
"In addition to all the challenges we face in Bosnia and Herzegovina when it comes to this convention, a number of reforms have been undertaken in order to harmonize the legislative and institutional framework with the aim of effectively combating violence against women and domestic violence, which is an obligation we have taken over by ratifying the mentioned convention," stated Komšić.
According to him, it is extremely important to talk about this topic in order to raise public awareness about the problems of women in our society.
"Violence against women and girls is not and must not be an individual problem. We are all obliged to recognize the characteristics and forms of violence in our environment, and to act promptly to avoid fatal consequences. The prejudices faced by the Bosnian society, and I believe many other societies in the region, must not be an obstacle to further progress in harmonizing our laws and practices with international standards," said Komšić.
He emphasized that we should all work together for the equality of all our citizens through the affirmation of the values of a democratic society.
(FENA) S. R.
