International conference Women in Politics: Strategies for Achieving Gender Equality in the organization CESI with support French Embassy in Croatia and in cooperation with associations Grandma., Dominoes, Dolphin and Center for Civic Initiatives-CGI was held on 5 November 2010 in Zagreb. The conference was organized with the aim of stimulating discussion on participatory democracy and increasing and encouraging women's participation in decision-making, especially in politics in the context of the upcoming elections. It was attended by 91 participants from non-governmental organizations, parliamentary parties, trade unions and institutions. The topics of the conference were women's participation in decision-making in political and public life, participatory democracy, gender equality in the local community and strategies for women's empowerment and participation in "electoral races". The speakers were representatives of institutions, activists and politicians from France, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
With the Deputy Executive Director of CESI Dream Cesar, the conference was opened by Zrinka Vrabec Mojzeš, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Croatia for Social Affairs, French Ambassador Jerome Pasquier and president of the delegation for women's rights in the French Senate Michele Andre.
'Women are still discriminated against today, especially in the labor market, because they are more successful in education and more often unemployed. They are paid less for the same job, and we must not forget the invisible limit to advancement' she said Zrinka Vrabec Mojzeš in his speech and on behalf of the President of the Republic of Croatia Prof. Dr. Sc. Ivo Josipović expressed support for the conference. French senator Michele Andre presented the participants with data on the representation of women in the French parliament. Women in France only gained the right to vote in 1944, and their representation in parliament today is comparable to that in Croatia. In the Croatian Parliament, 22 percent are women, in the lower house of the French parliament 18 percent, and in the Senate 23 percent. You can read the interview with Senator Andre at Dragonflies.
Representatives of mechanisms for promoting gender equality spoke about the political representation of women in Croatia. The Ombudsman for Gender Equality Gordana Lukac Koritnik, Gordana Sobol, President of the Parliamentary Committee for Gender Equality and Ina Volmut from the Office for Gender Equality, while at the local level they addressed Irena Devcic Buzov, President of the Zadar County Assembly (HSS) and Margareta Madjeric, a member of the Zagreb City Council (HDZ). All speakers highlighted the fact that despite solid legal solutions, women's participation in politics in Croatia is stagnating, and there are not enough women in parliament or in local authorities. She presented her experiences working in local authorities in France Nicole Theron, president of the Association of City Councilors and councilwoman of the Rhône. What is interesting are precisely the associations of local councils in France that function as networks of support and information and thus improve the work of councils.
To the question Is democracy possible without greater participation of women? they tried to give an answer Mirjana Feric-Vac, Member of the Croatian Parliament (SDP), Morana Paliković Gruden, Vice President of the City Assembly of the City of Zagreb (HNS), Isidora Injac, activist and trainer of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, from Serbia and Françoise Morvan, Vice President of the French Coordination of the European Women's Lobby.
At the very end of the conference, two campaigns for greater participation of women in electoral races were presented. The campaign implemented by CESI in Croatia was presented by Tajana Broz, while the campaign "100 reasons to vote for a woman" implemented in BiH presented Jadranka Miličević from the organization CURE. As a result of the extensive discussion and exchange of experiences among the participants, recommendations were made for increasing women's political participation, intended for political parties, public authorities and the media, which will be used in further activities.
News taken from the Cesi website.
