The Commissioner for Protection of Equality Brankica Janković and the President of the Association of Businesswomen “Nadežda Petrović” from Čačak Vesna Baur visited local women’s organizations who were given equipment for the work of their offices in order to economically empower women in the countryside. Assistance was provided to members of the “Association Evgenija” from the village of Ježevica near Čačak and “Ilinka Ilić” from Kraljevo from the project “Improvement of the position of women and girls from rural areas”, which the Commissioner is implementing in Zlatibor, Moravica and Raška districts.

“Improving the position of women in rural areas is important for our entire society, and that is why I am glad we had the opportunity to come to Ježevica today, on the eve of the holidays. Organizations, such as these, which provide support to women in the villages and whose members themselves live in rural areas, are our key partner, because the non-governmental sector exists also in the villages and not only in the cities. By supporting their work and providing direct assistance, we are achieving our common goal – for women living and working in the villages to fight for their economic and property security, and thus for greater security and protection from discrimination and violence,” Janković said.

Similar assistance was previously provided for the Association of Rural Women from the Municipality of Dragačevo and for the Association “Ariljke” from the Zlatibor district. Direct assistance to women who want to start or improve business on their farms was provided by purchasing equipment such as hydraulic presses for squeezing domestic juices, greenhouses, and diggers for women farmers in these three districts.

The project “Improving the position of women and girls in rural areas” is realized within the initiative “Improving the security of women in Serbia”, implemented by the Commissioner for Equality in cooperation with the UN Agency for Gender Equality and with the support of the Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade.