The World Bank is hosting a meeting of Western Balkans Ministers to discuss policy options to promote gender equity in access to economic opportunities, including addressing barriers that hinder female labor force participation and entrepreneurship.
The World Bank is hosting a meeting of Western Balkans Ministers to discuss policy options to promote gender equity in access to economic opportunities, including addressing barriers that hinder female labor force participation and entrepreneurship.
Promoting gender equality is smart economics. Every year, Western Balkan countries lose on average 18 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due to gender gaps in the labor market—this is more than the total GDP of Serbia.
Despite recent progress in promoting gender equality in the labor market, gaps persist. Women tend to be better educated than men, but only 2 in 5 women in the Western Balkans has a job or is even looking for one. The region is missing out on its human capital potential.
The objective of this meeting is to discuss policy options to promote gender equity in access to economic opportunities, including addressing barriers that hinder female labor force participation and entrepreneurship, as well as agree on a pathway to overcome common challenges in the region, and promote a regional agenda for coordination, collaboration and peer-learning.
Download Full Agenda (pdf).
| 9:00 | Welcome and introductory remarks |
Short Video - Promoting Gender Equality to Unleash Economic Growth in the Western Balkans Linda Van Gelder, Regional Director for the Western Balkans, World Bank Marie Pierre Nicollet, Head of Human Development, French Agency for Development | |
| 9:30 | Session 1: The Economic and Social Costs of Excluding Women from the Labor Market Chaired by Carolina Sanchez, Senior Director, Poverty and Equity Global Practice, World Bank |
The objective of this session is to reflect on the economic and social costs of gender inequalities, and the implications of not addressing these disparities for the region’s aspirations for faster, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, and European Union accession. Panel: Senida Mesi, Deputy Prime Minister and National Coordinator for Gender Equality, Albania Shiret Elezi, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Finance, FYR Macedonia Dušan Vujović, Minister of Finance, Serbia Gallina Vincelette, Practice Manager for Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment, The World Bank Discussion | |
| 10:30 | Session 2: Promoting Equality in Entrepreneurship: Property and Finance Chaired by Margreet Goelema, Manager of Open Regional Fund for Southeast Europe, Legal Reform, GIZ |
Tackling gender inequalities calls for promoting equity in access to assets (finance and land). This includes the recognition of ownership of immovable property, to ensure that women co-owners of property are registered in property titles and are decision-makers in any transaction made with such property. A low share of properties has women registered as co-owners across the region, calling for within-country harmonization of regulations and procedures for joint property registration. The objective of this session is to discuss and propose solutions to remove the legal and institutional obstacles in property registration processes that currently hinder women’s access to property, and reflect on related their impact on access to finance and entrepreneurship. Maria E. Dávalos, Senior Economist, World Bank (setting the stage with short presentation) Panel: Mila Carovska, Minister of Labor and Social Policy, FYR Macedonia Dhurata Hoxha, Kosovo Minister of European Integration Bojana Boskovic, Director General, Ministry of Finance, Montenegro Maja Peric, Assistant Minister of Finance, Republika Srpska Minister of Finance, Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirjana Vucic, Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Federation Ministry of Finance, Bosnia and Herzegovina Discussion | |
| 11:30 | Coffee break |
| 12:00 | Session 3: Promoting Equality in Access to the Labor Market Chaired by David Saunders, Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, UN Women |
Promoting equality in access to labor markets calls for removing legal and institutional obstacles to labor market participation, to ensure that barriers or disincentives to work or to hire women are eliminated. Important obstacles to tackle are those around access and affordability of child and elder care, and those embedded in labor regulations, such as in family leave policies. The objective of this session is to discuss and propose solutions to remove the legal and institutional obstacles in labor regulations, access to child or elder care, and others, that keep women out of jobs. Marco Hernandez, Lead Economist, World Bank (setting the stage with short presentation) Panel: Edi Gusia, Head of Kosovo Gender Agency Dajna Sorensen, Albania Deputy Minister of Finance Marie Pierre Nicollet, Head of Human Development, French Agency for Development Ana Vukovic, Director, Gender Center of the Federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirjana Lukac, Director, Gender Center of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Discussion | |
| 13:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 | Session 4: Monitoring and Evaluation and Regional Coordination Chaired by Goran Svilanovic, Secretary General, Regional Cooperation Council |
Strengthening the legal and institutional national and regional arrangements that support social inclusion is key for increased accountability and impact by better tracking the challenges and progress. The objective of this session is to discuss and propose solutions to strengthen the institutional framework on gender equality at the regional, national, and subnational levels for enhanced coordination, implementation and monitoring of gender equality commitments. Panel: Majlinda Bregu, Secretary General-Elect, Regional Cooperation Council Samra Filipovic-Hadziabdic, Director Gender Equality Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ljiljana Loncar, Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister for Gender Equality, Serbia Discussion | |
| 15:00 | Coffee break |
| 15:30 | Session 5: Wrap Up and Future Look Chaired by Linda Van Gelder, Regional Director for the Western Balkans, World Bank |
Summary by the session chairs. Open discussion on next steps. Endorsement of the communiqué on “Unleashing Economic Growth Potential in the Western Balkans by Improving Gender Equality in Access to Economic Opportunities”. | |
| 16:30 | Group photo |