Committee Chairman Meho Omerovic said that the Committee sitting was organised in cooperation with the Ombudsman. The Committee Chairman opined that the improvement of the legislative framework relating to gender equality stems from need to ensure gender equality and provide women with protection and empowerment. He stressed that certain areas have shown improvement, such as the increased participation of women in political life, emphasising that one third of MPs at the National Assembly are women, as well as the increased participation of women in the police, military and other spheres. However, women and men are still not equal. Omerovic opined that the economic empowerment of women is the key pre-requisite for the protection of women.
Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia, H.E. Ambassador Peter Burkhard said that the OSCE Mission is dedicated to improving gender equality and is assisting the civil sector, independent bodies and the Serbian Government to that end. He believes that the Model Law would help improve the legislative framework relating to gender equality.
Djurdjica Ergic, the Chairperson of the Ombudsman’s Gender Equality Council, said that gender equality as a principle must be made part of into public policy and consciousness.
Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic congratulated on the International Human Rights Day opining that though the Gender Equality Law passed five years ago rooted the awareness of gender equality and protection of women more deeply than before, the Ombudsman’s Model Law on Gender Equality improves the practical application of the principles set up by the abovementioned Law.
The Model Law on Gender Equality was presented by Prof. Dr Marijana Pajvancic, Dean of the Novi Sad faculty for European Legal and Political Studies. She listed the reasons for the implementation of the Model Law, the most important innovations it introduces, the new chapters in the Law, as well as the focusing of common characteristics of the regulations within specific areas covered by the Law.
In addition to the Committee members the sitting was attended by representatives of the ministries, state institutions and the non-governmental sector.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Meho Omerovic.