Women’s economic empowerment in the Western Balkans - Meeting 4

Past event in person

Peace, Security & Defence

29Sep2023

starts 10:00

ends 18:00

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Building upon the success of the first three meetings, the last meeting of this Working Group involved around 30 to 40 experts, including national and local government representatives from the Western Balkans, European and international institutions, civil society, academia and the private sector. Drawing from the Working Group’s earlier findings, the final meeting set a special focus on gender-responsive budgeting.

Creating new opportunities for women in the regional labour market is crucial for sustainable economic development in the Western Balkans. This is more important than ever given the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the long road ahead to social and economic recovery.

As part of its Balkan Journey, Friends of Europe’s Working Group aims to identify the challenges to women achieving greater economic empowerment in the Western Balkans, as well as recommendations for overcoming them.

This event took place in Skopje, North Macedonia. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook, and join the #BalkanJourney discussion!

Related content:

Event │ Women’s economic empowerment in the Western Balkans – Meeting 1
Event │ Women’s economic empowerment in the Western Balkans – Meeting 2
Event │ Women’s economic empowerment in the Western Balkans – Meeting 3
Initiative │ Working Group on women’s economic empowerment in the Western Balkans
#CriticalThinking │ The Western Balkans can only develop by empowering women
Event │ 2022 EU-Western Balkans Summit

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PHOTO CREDIT: UN Women Europe and Central Asia/Flickr

Schedule

Inauguration of the fourth Working Group meeting by

Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Welcome remarks by

Jovana Trenchevska

Minister of Labour and Social Policy of North Macedonia

Armen Grigoryan

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in North Macedonia

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10.30 11.00

BRAINSTORM – Idea sharing: what’s on your mind?

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Expand BRAINSTORM – Idea sharing: what’s on your mind?

In this discussion, members will be invited to informally express their thoughts, reflections and expectations before the formal start to the first session.

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11.00 12.00

SESSION I – Roundtable: influencing the budget cycle through gender-sensitive means

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Expand SESSION I – Roundtable: influencing the budget cycle through gender-sensitive means

Influencing the budget cycle through gender-sensitive means

This introductory session will set the tone for the day ’s discussions. Members will be encouraged to brainstorm around paths and frameworks of gender-sensitive financial tools and mechanisms, focusing on best practices, lessons learned and grievances.

Scene-setting remarks by

Marija Vuković

Olympic athlete and 2023 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Scherie Nicol

Lead for Gender Budgeting, Parliaments and Independent Fiscal Institutions at the Public Management and Budgeting Division of the OECD

Ermira Lubani

Gender-Responsive Budgeting Programme Specialist at UN Women

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13.00 14.30

SESSION II – Sub-group work & plenary: strengthening gender-sensitive financing through multistakeholder cooperation

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Expand SESSION II – Sub-group work & plenary: strengthening gender-sensitive financing through multistakeholder cooperation

This session will focus on developing ideas to enhance the cooperation and responsibility -sharing across a diversity of sectors and stakeholders, ultimately in broader pursuance of a sustainable and just transition. Questions of availability of gender – disaggregated data, institutional capacity -building, and financial transparency will be discussed as essential pathways towards maximum budgetary efficiency and impact

Scene-setting remarks by

Eftodi Corneliu

Regional team lead on gender at UNDP

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15.00 16.30

SESSION III – In focus: our final policy solutions

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Expand SESSION III – In focus: our final policy solutions

In this session, members will discuss and assess the draft recommendations that have stemmed from the Working Group ’s four meetings, ahead of the launch of the final report. The discussion will focus on crafting practical ways of taking the draft recommendations forward, and members will be encouraged to take up specific draft recommendations for their promotion and further development.

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16.30 17.00

WRAP-UP & CONCLUSION – A pathway for the future

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Expand WRAP-UP & CONCLUSION – A pathway for the future

Members will take stock of the issues discussed throughout the day and map out the ways forward ahead of—and beyond—the launch of the final report. Through frank and open discussion, this session will enable members to advance in the development of the Working Group’s pathway for the future and make suggestions on how to preserve and enhance the network ’s momentum.

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Participants

Nina Angelovska is an entrepreneur, who co-founded the leading North Macedonian e-commerce platform Grouper.mk, which contributed to a 350% increase in online sales in the country. She also co-founded the first Macedonian e-commerce association. As the former minister of finance of the Republic of North Macedonia, Angelovska focused on digitalisation and technology as central to problem-solving, progress and reform. Named among Forbes’ ‘30 under 30’ in retail and e-commerce in Europe, she has also been recognised by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as one of seven women global advocates in e-trade.

Tuzi Nushi serves as the Head of Office at UN Women. She has worked for international organisations for over two decades, specifically with UN Women and UNIFEM for the past twenty years, during which time, Nushi has led multi-sectorial programmes and acted as a driving force behind some of the biggest UN Women initiatives. She has contributed to the women, peace and security agenda, gender-sensitive transitional justice, as well as ending violence against women, women’s economic empowerment through gender-responsive budgeting and promotion of decent work and gender-sensitive occupational, safety and health standards at the workplace.

Marija Risteska is the Founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Research and Policy Making (CRPM). She also served as the Policy Coordinator for European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Western Balkans Women in Business programme and Co-Chair of the working group for Chapter 19 of the National Convention for the EU Integration.

Jovana Trenchevska is the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of North Macedonia. Previously, she served as the head of unit for gender equality in the sector for equal opportunities in the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, after which she was appointed as the state secretary of the ministry. She has also notably served as the acting director and director of the State Labour Inspectorate.