OSCE field operations in Tajikistan and Serbia jointly support women’s participation in political life

A group of 17 Tajik women politicians, national gender experts and civil society activists visited Serbia to network and exchange experiences with their counterparts during a visit from 12 to 16 December 2016.  The study visit was jointly organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan and the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

A highlight of the participants’ agenda was their working meeting with the Women’s Parliamentary Network of Serbia’s National Assembly. They saw first-hand how the Network mainstreams various gender strategies. They were also familiarized with the gender quota mechanism for addressing the under-representation of women in parliament.

Participants were acquainted with the implementation of Serbia’s National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and with the work of the Women Leaders Academy. Other topics covered how youth supports the participation of women in public and political life, and the women-to-women mentorship programme.

Vesna Ivanovikj-Castarede, Head of the Democratization Unit at the OSCE Office noted that study visits are useful as they offer the participants an opportunity for professional and personal development and they return home with new ideas and new connections. “We work with different target groups to further build the national capacities and to increase the awareness about the need to tackle gender stereotypes and to lobby for affirmative measure such as gender quotas. We hope that the lessons learnt in Serbia will be put to good use in Tajikistan in the coming years ahead,” she said.

Guljahon Bobosadikova, national gender expert said: “Participation of Tajik youth during the visit gives opportunities for improving our work on gender equality in the future.”