The fight for equality always poses new challenges. It seems that the issue of human rights and equality, as well as sustainable development and the preservation of a healthy environment, is more important than ever before, and women play an important role in realizing these rights and strategies for a better future, said Brankica Janković, Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, at the Annual Conference, which was traditionally held on November 16, the International Day of Tolerance.

This year’s conference of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality “A Look into the Future” was dedicated to the economic empowerment of women and girls in rural areas.

“The contribution of women from rural areas is not sufficiently recognized. Although they spend their whole lives in the villages, working every day – about 90 percent of them do not own a piece of land, their many years of work and effort are not recognized, they do not have health and social insurance, and they face old age without pensions,” said Janković.

The conference topic also rounded off the two-year project “Improving the position of women and girls in rural areas” within the initiative “Improved safety of women in Serbia”, which was implemented by the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality with the support of the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Serbia (UN Women) and the Embassy of Norway in Belgrade.

“Economically stronger – are they safer?” was the topic of the panel where Malina Stanojević, president of the Women’s Association “Save the Village Priboj”, Vesna Baur, president of the Association of Business Women “Nadežda Petrović”, Milan Ćulibrk, editor-in-chief of the weekly “NIN”, Radojka Nikolić, editor-in-chief of “Business Magazine” and “Ekonometar” and Filip Stojanović, leading researcher at the Center for Public Policy Research, also spoke.

This year, once again, the traditional Annual Media Awards of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality and the OSCE Mission in Serbia were presented for the best media content on the topic of the fight against discrimination and the promotion of equality and tolerance. At the Annual Conference, the Equality Logo was awarded as part of the Municipality/City of Equal Opportunities project.