With the imminent formation of the new Government, Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Brankica Janković, has sent to mandatary Miloš Vučević a recommendation of measures for promoting equality, related to the need for a balanced representation of women and men in the future Government.

In her recommendation, Commissioner Janković states that our country has taken significant steps in recent years to increase the participation of women in political and public life so that, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women, Serbia ranks 39th in the world in terms of the number of women represented in ministerial positions, with 36%, while in terms of the number of women in the parliament, it is in the 47th place, with 34.8%. The Commissioner points out that it is necessary to continue and improve these trends because the balanced participation of men and women in decision-making and the creation of public policies is one of the priorities for the overall development of society, ensuring a fairer distribution of influence, using the potential of all its members and ensuring sustainable development. Bearing in mind that a balanced representation of the genders exists when the representation of one gender is between 40-50% compared to the other, this gender ratio should also be represented in the composition of the Government.

Janković points out that equal representation of women in decision-making positions must not be only a declarative fulfillment of quotas, but the core of this issue is to use the full range of talents and perspectives a society has. The Commissioner also reminded that in the report of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of February 28, 2024, recommendations were given with the aim of further improving the implementation of elections, which, among other things, emphasized the need to establish additional mechanisms and incentives to, in addition to encouraging greater participation of women in political life, increase their visibility and improve their role in politics. In the Regular Annual Report of the Commissioner on the situation in the field of equality protection for the year 2023, in one of the general recommendations for achieving equality, it is pointed out that it is necessary to establish additional mechanisms and incentives for greater participation, activity and visibility of women in political life.