SOLIDARITY AND MENTORING ARE KEY TO STRENGTHENING WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP

As part of the eleventh year of the mentoring program for women “Share your knowledge”, on Saturday, May 29, 2021, a round table “Gender Equality and Leadership: Women’s Leadership in Times of Change” was held, which is the first panel of regional character and brought together leaders and experts from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The panelists spoke from the positions of representatives of institutions and activist communities, and some of them from the positions of politicians and business women, pointing to the situation in their country.

Panelists:

Gordana Gavrilović, Gender Equality Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of the RS Serbia

Jasminka Džumhur, Human Rights Ombudsman, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Maja Sedlarević, Gender Equality Activist and Expert, Serbia

Adisa Tufo, President of the Association for Democracy, Entrepreneurship and Culture “Entrepreneurs IN”, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Moderator: Svetlana Stefanović, Program Coordinator of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence

Svetlana Stefanović, the moderator of the panel, but also one of the founders of the mentoring program “Share your knowledge”, in the introductory part gave a framework of the current situation in which women around the world find themselves when it comes to leadership. For her, leadership is a transformative category both for the leaders themselves and for the wider community, influencing changes in the lives of other women as well. She drew attention to the fact that more than half of the planet is inhabited by women, but that they are underrepresented in leadership positions. Referring to crisis situations such as pandemics, Svetlana Stefanović noticed that women stood resolutely and quickly on the front lines and took matters into their own hands, but that they were still left out of some decision-making processes. She complemented this observation with statistics that indicate that the heads of state and government in 21 countries are women and that those countries have proven to be one of the most prepared and efficient when it comes to resolving the crisis caused by the pandemic. However, men occupy 70% of seats in parliaments and 73% in management positions, and the situation is similar when it comes to negotiating positions and management positions. From the above, the moderator of the panel asks the question why is women’s leadership invisible after all these years of struggle?

Gordana Gavrilović, Gender Equality Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of the RS, Serbia

Gordana Gavrilović initially expressed her satisfaction when she saw how many young women show a desire to be leaders by going through the “Share Your Knowledge” program, which she thinks is excellent. For her, the issue of leadership is primarily a matter of solidarity and how much we are there for each other, because often being in certain positions she had the opportunity to feel and see that a woman is not a support to women and to often hear from other women that they like working in teams with men. Hence, for Mrs. Gavrilović, the beginning of everything is women’s support and solidarity. She also pointed out that when we talk about gender equality and women’s leadership, we must include men, because these are not topics that are only a matter of law and institutions, but it is part of universal values that we must pass through all spheres of society. As for leadership itself, the Gender Equality Adviser pointed out that numerous studies show that women have great competencies in leadership positions, such as the Harvard Business Review, which states that out of 16 leadership competencies, women performed better than men in 12, but that on the other hand only 7% of women think they have the right to ask for a higher salary. We must no longer keep silent about the significant leadership abilities and results of women, and we must empower and celebrate each other, so that it does not happen to us as it does today that while passing the Law on Gender Equality and the Law on Anti-Discrimination, those who feel threatened appear out of fear and ignorance and without grounds, they criticize, concluded Gordana Gavrilović.

Jasminka Džumhur, Human Rights Ombudsman, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jasminka Džumhur pointed out the problem of treating the concept of “gender equality”, which is viewed exclusively as a women’s right and women’s issue, and not as a question of equality of both sexes and where not only input but also output parameters of equality should be considered. However, according to Jasminka Džumhur, this is not the case not only because of the initial bases which are not equal and for which we have been fighting for years, but most often we have a situation that what the input parameter shows us does not have the same outcome because the further process did not provide additional measures. And that is why we must work on these affirmative measures in order to establish women’s rights, said J. Džumhur. A segment that is less and less touchable for women is the space of power that has shifted from the political to some other spaces that are contaminated and restrictive for women in the last 20 years, so that in these circles suitable women are elected. On the other hand, the space for managing resources and concessions is in the hands of men, so that the area of activity of women remains only in areas such as: social work, education and parts of the judiciary. In the end, the Human Rights Ombudsman said that in her life she never looked back at what others said, but only looked at her own path and learned a lot through education and conferences on weekends. However, along the way, especially in the segment of women’s advocacy, she would often be questioned on whose behalf she speaks and whether she represents women’s rights and imposes obligations on them that they do not want, which is a logical consequence of the lack of community support for women. .

Maja Sedlarević, Gender Equality Activist and Expert, Serbia

Maja Sedlarević spoke from the position of a gender equality activist who also has many years of experience in the field of politics and participation in parliamentary life. She reminded of the fact that for some time now we have not had women from opposition parties whose voice can be heard in the Parliament, as well as that women politicians in Serbia are in a transition period and are increasingly moving from the sphere of politics to civil society. For Maja Sedlarević, this period brings with it great changes, on the one hand, after 21 years of multi-party life, women politicians think that gender equality is not a topic they should deal with, and on the other hand, their positions in politics and business are a consequence of quotas and affirmative action, actions without which there would be no women in those places today. According to Maja Sedlarević, it is necessary to influence women in politics and make them aware when it comes to gender equality, and that is why we must be in solidarity with those who are not in solidarity with us. Like Jasminka Džumhur and Maja Sedlarević, she points to the problem that women in politics are tired of invisible and displaced centers of power, displaced from institutions and political parties to some third places where men sit and agree on our present and future.

Adisa Tufo, President of the Association for Democracy, Entrepreneurship and Culture “Entrepreneurs IN”, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Adisa Tufo reminded that the most money in the world is currently in the hands of men, and the most money is spent by women, which indicates that there is no strong enough motive for women to be at the top. In her rich professional career, Adisa Tufo states that she met women at congresses that emphasize the issue of women, but whenever she stepped into the world of business, there were only men and the voice of women was not heard. Adisa Tufo connects the unfavorable situation in which women find themselves with the situation within the families themselves and points out that women are responsible for that because they raise children differently depending on gender, “we teach boys that power is in money, and girls in its attributes” . According to her, we have been repeating things in the same way for years, and that is why we get the same results, and that is why the change of consciousness is the most important. By fighting for women’s rights, we are fighting for something that many women may not want, and by “not wanting” to give space to men, that is the reason to persevere in the fight for gender equality, because she believes that in the next generation results.

The panel concluded with the agreement of all participants that solidarity, mentoring, formal and informal education and networking of women are the most important elements in the common struggle for women’s leadership and gender equality. At the very end of the online round table, the participants expressed their wish for the next gathering to be live either in Serbia or in Bosnia and Herzegovina.