Regional Conference on Gender Equality and Public Administration Reform in Western Balkans
Belgrade, 30-31 January 2018 - The Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) and the Coordination Body for Gender Equality of the Government of the Republic of Serbia organised a two-day Regional Conference on Gender Equality and Public Administration Reform in Western Balkans in order to promote regional cooperation of public administrations and experts in the field of Gender Equality and Public Administration Reform (PAR).
This Regional Conference brought together more than 50 public servants dealing with gender equality and PAR in 30 different governmental institutions, experts on gender equality and PAR from the Western Balkan region, and representatives of non-governmental organisations active in this field from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.
The aim of the Regional Conference was to influence development of gender equality policies, and to link these with PAR efforts in the ReSPA Members.
High officials from the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ambassadors of the European Union, the OSCE, and Montenegro in the Republic of Serbia, as well as the Head of UN WOMEN Office in Serbia, addressed the participants of this Regional Conference with opening remarks, thereby giving strong political support to gender equality issues in the context of public administration reform.
At the Regional Conference, there was discussion on Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB), and results of the regional research on gender equality in public administration were presented, with special emphasis on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. This research, as well as the Regional Conference itself, were funded by the European Union.
All participants agreed that it is very important that the issue of gender equality in the context of public administration reform was addressed. The Regional School of Public Administration will continue efforts to strengthen regional cooperation in this domain.
