Economic independence is the key condition to improving the quality of life of women and girls in rural areas, for reducing the risk of gender-based violence and discrimination, and for leaving a violent relationship, said Commissioner Brankica Janković in Čačak at the conference “Economic empowerment of women to improve their security in rural areas”.

Through the project “Improvement of the position of women and girls in rural areas”, the Commissioner provided direct assistance to women who wanted to start or improve their business in the field of agriculture. The project, which is implemented in Zlatibor, Moravica and Raška districts, provided squeezers for home-made juices, greenhouses and diggers. In addition to farmers, assistance was also provided, by the purchase of technical equipment, to newly formed non-governmental organizations that support women and girls from rural areas, the Commissioner pointed out.

The security of women and girls should unite, always and everywhere, all social actors. This problem is present not only in Serbia but throughout Europe and that is why it is especially important that such projects are developed in rural areas in order to raise women’s awareness of their rights, said Norwegian Ambassador to Serbia Jørn Eugen Gjelstad.

Given the importance of media support, within the same project, special media awards were given to journalists who, through their publications in 2021, promoted tolerance and equality and reported on women and girls from rural areas. In the category of portals and press, the following were awarded: Ljiljana Stojanović, editor-in-chief of the regional information agency JUGpres from Leskovac, Slađana Tasić, correspondent of the Telegraf.rs portal from Vranje, and Katarina Djordjevic, journalist of the daily Politika. In the category of radio and television reports, the authors of three articles were awarded: Slavica Džinović, RTS correspondent from Loznica, Mirjana Čvorić Gubelić, TV K1 correspondent from Šabac and Ivana Marković, TV Nova S correspondent from Niš. Having in mind the continuous and important contribution to the reporting on the position of women in rural areas, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality presented special awards to two editorial offices – the editorial office of the show “Knowledge – Property” of the Radio Television of Serbia and the editorial office for agriculture of the Information Program of the Radio Television of Vojvodina.