In accordance with Article 35 of the Law on Gender Equality, and in connection with Article 73 of the Statute of the Social Democratic Party of Serbia:
THE ACTION PLAN WITH SPECIAL MEASURES FOR FOSTERING AND PROMOTION OF EQUAL REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN AND MEN IN PARTY BODIES AND PROPOSAL OF CANDIDATES FOR THE ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE PARLIAMENT AND COUNCILORS FOR THE PERIOD 2010 to 2014 has been adopted.
The principle of gender equality is one of the fundamental values of modern democratic society, based on the idea of equality of human beings as members of the human community. The principle of gender equality assumes that all human beings have the right to develop their skills, improve and realize their personal capacities and that no one has the right to hinder them in those efforts pushing them into the preset gender roles.
Gender equality means that women and men are equally present in all spheres of public life, have equal status, opportunities to exercise their rights and equal benefit from the results achieved.
Gender equality means the right to equality and the right to be different, so different behavior, aspirations and needs of men and women must be taken into account, affirmed, positively valued and supported.
The road to gender equality is through social acceptance of equal opportunities for men and women to participate and to control assets and resources of a community whose members they are. This would in the future dismiss historically inherited unjust relations of power, domination, suppression and covert discrimination implied in the social, political, economic, cultural and educational level, as well as in the personal life of every individual.
Social Democratic Party of Serbia committed itself to substantially support the National Strategy for the Promotion of Women Position and Gender Equality, and it fully complies with the Law on Gender Equality.
In accordance with International Conventions on gender equality, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia is committed to a minimum quota of women participation in party functions, which amounts to 30%.
So far, the Social Democratic Party of Serbia has already exceeded this percentage, both in the number of members of the party, and in the number of functions they perform.
In the framework of the Action Plan the strategy to achieve full equality between women and men in carrying out all functions in the party and in government bodies is defined, and it can be clearly seen in the Platform on gender equality adopted by the Women’s Forum adopted during its formation in 2011.
The objectives of the Platform on Gender Equality of the Social Democratic Party of Serbia
– Developing an active policy of equal opportunities for men and women in all spheres of social life
– Stronger encouraging of women to take greater part in public, social and political life, both within the party and beyond
– Application of international standards that oblige the party to a have a certain number of women taking an active part in making all political decisions
– Monitoring the implementation of gender equality in all spheres of social and political life
– Supporting the prohibition of making distinction by gender when applying for any type of function in the party and beyond
– Sanctioning of any kind of gender inequality within the party
The tasks of the Women’s Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Serbia within the objectives of the Equality Platform
– Development of the Annual Plan defining activities, implementers, as well as the Reporting plan for implementation of the Plan of measures, with special emphasis on activities that contribute to raising the awareness of all members of the Party of the problematic issue of gender equality
– Harmonization of all acts and documents of the Party aimed at monitoring the legislation and proposals to amend the party documents that contribute to better solutions when it comes to standing for election of councilors and MPs
– Special education of women within the party on gender equality and the possibilities of active participation in the political life of the country
– Informing and enhancing motivation of least active women from rural areas in order to secure their support for the implementation of the planned objectives and tasks
– Developing a complete partnership relations between men and women within the party, characterized by true mutual respect and appreciation
– Overcoming stereotypes and prejudices about women’s ability to take up public office and perform them successfully
– Equal allocation of responsibilities in making all relevant decisions within the party
– Monitoring the composition and equality of allocation of party functions by gender when applying for elections for all functions and appointments to public authority functions, financial and other institutions, without neglecting the intrinsic qualities of the candidates and of officials
– Ensuring the realization of the principle of gender equality during the implementation of the procedure through the integral work of the election maintaining bodies, in accordance with the regulations governing elections
– The task of the Women’s Forum is to control equal representation in the running for positions within the party and any possible issues brought to at the regular session of the General Committee
The Action plan with special measures for fostering and promotion of equal representation of women and men in party bodies and proposal of candidates for the election of MPs and councilors shall be adopted by the Social Democratic Party of Serbia every four years.
The Action plan with special measures of the Social Democratic Party of Serbia shall be published on its official website.
