Press Release: Setting the stage for enhanced gender equality in the Western Balkans and Turkey

Budva, 13 December 2016 - Intensifying efforts in attaining pre-accession gender equality standards for aspiring European Union (EU) member states was the focus of a two-day regional conference held in Montenegro. Organized by UNDP in collaboration with UN Women and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the conference gathered governments, parliamentarians, and representatives from international organizations, civil society, the EU and the UN to create a new regional platform for collaboration to advance the rights of women in the region. 

Specifically targeting Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey, the ‘Western Balkans Regional Gender Equality Platform for the Western Balkans and Turkey’ aims to prepare countries to fulfil their gender equality obligations in line with EU and international gender equality standards, and in particular the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), as well as gender equality targets as outlined in the Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The Sustainable Development Goals offer new opportunities for the region to respect its commitments to gender equality and catalyze social transformative change,” said Ms. Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, UN Women Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, and Representative to Turkey.

“The localization of the new global framework sets ambitious targets on some of the principal challenges confronting the region, such as political leadership, violence against women and girls, and women’s participation in economic decision-making” she added.

Gender equality is a key component of the EU accession agenda in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Participants emphasized that more work needs to be done to strengthen institutions that guarantee and protect women’s rights and to address cultural norms and traditions that influence political will and hinder gender equality and equal opportunities for women, most notably in the labour market and the political arena.