GENDER EQUALITY INCLUSION IN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES OF 19 MUNICIPALITIES IN SERBIA

FEBRUARY 2011

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The report on Gender Equality Inclusion in Local Development Strategies of 19 Municipalities in Serbia has been completed within the Sustainable Tourism for Rural Development UN Joint Programme, which is funded by the Spanish Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDGF).

Author: Aleksandra Vladisavljevid November 2010

XAOSolutions d.o.o. www.xaosolutions.com
The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the United Nations or its Member States

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Contents
Introduction 1. Gender Aspect to Local Development 1.1. Importance of Gender Aspect to Local Development 1.2. Importance of Gender Aspect to Rural Economy Including Rural Tourism 2. Analysis of Gender Aspect Inclusion in Local Development Strategies 2.1. Selected Municipalities/Cities 2.2. Types of Analysed Strategic Documents 2.3. Methodology 2.4. Key Findings by Selected Regions 2.5. Central Serbia (Ljig, Valjevo, Kosjerid, Gornji Milanovac and Mionica) 2.6. Lower Podunavlje (Golubac, Kladovo, Majdanpek, Poarevac and Veliko Gradite) 2.7. Southern Banat (Alibunar, Bela Crkva, Kovin and Vrac) 2.8. Eastern Serbia (Knjaevac, Zajear, Pirot, Dimitrovgrad and Negotin) 3. Conclusions and Recommendations 3.1. Methodologies for Local Development Strategies Drafting 3.2. Gender Statistics, Data Usage and Indicators 3.3. Knowledge of Gender Equality 3.4. Rural Tourism and Gender Aspect

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Introduction
Sustainable Tourism for Rural Development UN Programme and Gender Aspect An review of local development strategies from gender perspective is a part of the activities within the Sustainable Tourism for Rural Development Programme, which is being implemented as part of the joint programme by UN agencies (UNDP, UNEP, FAO, UNWTO and UNICEF) in cooperation with national partners: Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, and the National Tourism Organisation of Serbia. The joint programme started in December 2009 and it will last until May 2012. The Sustainable Tourism Development Programme is carried out in the following regions: Central Serbia (Ljig, Valjevo, Kosjerid, Mionica and Gornji Milanovac), Eastern Serbia (Golubac, Kladovo, Majdanpek, Poarevac, Veliko Gradite), Southern Banat along the Danube river (Alibunar, Vrac and Kovin), and Lower Podunavlje (Knjaevac, Zajear, Dimitrovgrad and Negotin). The expectation is that the Programme results in a development of a regulatory framework at the national level for support to diversification of economy of rural areas through support for tourism development and contribution to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, while improving networking and organisational level of rural tourism economy along with all the associated activities at the local and regional level as well as advancing capacities of local stakeholders for the production and provision of services in accordance with the states strategies. The objective of local development strategies review from gender perspective is to determine to what an extent the gender aspect is included in local development strategies, and, based on the findings, to define specific recommendations for the inclusion of gender aspect in local and regional strategies for sustainable rural tourism development in target areas of the joint UN Programme.

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Methodology Methodology of work in the analysis of local development strategies from gender equality perspective included the following: a. Gathering local development strategies in 19 target cities/municipalities followed up by an analysis as to whether the gender aspect was included in these documents, and identification of shortcomings in this respect. b. Preparation of reports featuring key findings and recommendations in regards to the manner in which gender perspective should be included in local development strategies as well as rural tourism development strategies/plans. Report Structure The first part of the report contains introductory remarks pertaining to the importance of gender aspect in the process of planning, drafting and implementation of local development strategies, as well as the importance of gender aspect to rural areas economic development, including rural tourism. The second part of the report presents an overview of local development plans of selected municipalities and is intended to determine the degree and manner in which gender perspective has been included in the strategies themselves. In addition, the report appraises if local development strategies have included both goals and activities focusing on rural tourism development, as well as if gender perspective has been acknowledged/included in this segment, and if so, in which way. The third and last part of the report features conclusions and recommendations.

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1. The importance of the Gender Aspect to Local Development

1.1. Institutional Framework for Achieving Gender Equality at the Local level Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, as the basic and supreme law of the legal system, contains several provisions that are important for the establishment and operation of institutional mechanisms (different bodies, bodies in the Assembly or the bodies of executive power) for gender equality at the local (municipal) level. The following provisions of the Constitution talk about the need to establish local gender equality mechanisms1; a. Municipalities and other local governments have prescribed obligation to take care of the realization, protection and promotion of human and minority rights including the right to gender equality and all rights on that basis as well as the prohibition of discrimination based on of sex (Article 190, paragraph 3)2; b. The Constitution expressly provides for access to the local community at the local level, within the jurisdiction of a municipality to adopt special measures at the local level, its meaning and purpose is precisely to achieve equality of individuals or groups that are substantially in an unequal position, and determines the nondiscriminatory nature of these measures (Article 21 paragraph 4)3. Further, in December of 2009 the Law on Gender Equality4 was adopted which in the Article 39 defines the task of the local government as follows5: a. Institutional bodies of local self-government, within its competence, ensure gender equality and achieving equal opportunities. b. Institutional bodies of local self-government encourage and promote gender equality within its authority and duties related to gender equality. c. In the process of adopting development plans and other documents, local selfgovernment discuses measures and activities to contribute to the realization of gender equality and equal opportunities. In addition, in March of 2009 Government of Serbia has adopted the National Strategy for Improvement of Womens position and Promotion of Gender Equality6, which defines objectives and concrete activities in the areas of: decision making, health, economic status, and violence against women, education and the media. The Strategy represents a good starting point for the inclusion of gender aspects into preparation of local development strategies.
1 2

Prof Dr Marijana Pajvanid, jurisdiction and local gender equality mechanisms presentation Ibid 3 Ibid 4 http://www.parlament.gov.rs/content/lat/akta/akta_detalji.asp?Id=724&t=Z# 5 Ibid 6 http://www.minrzs.gov.rs/cir/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=27&Itemid=233&lang=sr

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1.2. Importance of Gender Aspect to Local Development The main goal of local socio-economic development is improvement of the quality of everyday life for people in local communities. Therefore, the people with and for whom development is being planned are crucial for development as such. Womens resources are necessary for development, but their mobilisation largely depends on the level of established gender equality. Various international experiences and surveys point to a close correlation between development and gender equality. Wherever there is a higher level of equality in place, there is also a higher level of development, and vice versa. Moreover, the introduction of gender perspective inevitably entails an increase in the participation of not only women but various other stakeholders, i.e. an increase in the level of ownership over development, which is effectively translated into an increase of the general level of democratisation of a society, being at the same time a guarantee for quality development7 (Blagojevid M., 2008). In order to be able to work on improvement of the quality of peoples everyday lives in local communities through development strategies, in addition to an assessment of natural and infrastructure resources as well as gathering of relevant statistical data, it is necessary, above all, to determine how peoples everyday life looks like, who are all the individuals living in a given local community, population age structure, education, gender, qualifications, their economic activities, what they live off, what their revenues are, which are the biggest problems that they are coming across in their everyday life, what their needs are, what their potential and interests are as well as possibilities for and obstacles to realisation of this potential in the given local context. Understanding of everyday life of women and men in a specific local environment allows recognising the needs that they have, but also their real potential which may mobilised for the sake of development. In this context, the introduction of gender aspect into local development entails a process which would ensure that women and men equally decide on development, i.e. that they have an equal access to resources, equal control over resources , and to enjoy equal benefits from development (Blagojevid, 2008). The introduction of gender aspect also constitutes a strategic approach whereby, through specific policies (measures and programmes), multiple potentials of both women and men

Blagojevi M. and Vladisavljevi A. (2008) A Guide for Gender-Based Budgeting at Municipal Level Vojvodinas Model (Vodi za

rodno budetiranje na optinskom nivou Vojvoanski model).

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are strengthened, and where a benefit for an individual is translated into a benefit for the entire community. 1.3. Importance of Gender Aspect to Rural Economy Including Rural Tourism Rural economy in Serbia is insufficiently diversified and predominantly reliant on agriculture. According to a study on social exclusion8 in rural areas, those households which are predominantly relying on agriculture as a source of income run the highest risk of poverty. Women represent a significant resource of the rural economy. However, their socioeconomic status is highly unfavourable. On one hand it is conditioned by general development opportunities in the given environment, and on the other hand by the unfavourable socio-economic position itself of women in our society, particularly the position of women in villages. Women and men in rural areas have limited employment opportunities outside the agricultural households. This is due to the fact that industrial systems that once employed many workers (for example food processing and/or textile industries) have collapsed, and new companies established in the sector have no need for the same number of people. There is a lack of new jobs created, entrepreneurship is not sufficiently developed nor investments in the development and diversification of the local rural economy. Programs to support entrepreneurship in services or other non-agricultural activities are not developed. Infrastructure is either underdeveloped (roads, water supply, sewerage, telephone and internet connections), limited or entirely absent. Access to various services such as health care, nurseries and kindergartens is limited. Opportunities for informal education and lifelong learning are limited. Educational level of men and women in rural areas is very unfavorable. Among those without education in Serbia 65, 5% lives in rural areas9. According to information issued by Republic of Serbia Treasury in September 2010, 71, 37% agricultural households are registered on men, and 28,63% on women. While men are often employed in agriculture women are for the most part the so-called helping members10 of agricultural households. They are involved in a variety of activities in agricultural households, above all, in terms of their labour contribution. This does not necessarily mean that they receive equal compensation. Most often they are not owners of the arable land, nor is the house registered in their name. Hence, their participation in decision-making concerning economic activities is minor. A survey of womens position on
8

Cvejid S., Babovid M., Petrovid M., Bogdanov N., Vukovid O., Study on Social Exclusion in Serbias Rural Areas 2010 (Studija o drutvenoj iskljuenosti u ruralnim podrujima Srbije 2010), UNDP, Serbia. 9 Source: 2002 census, book 4, page 14, Statistical office of Republic of Serbia 10 According to the Labour Force Survey (Anketa o radnoj snazi, ARS) definition, the term helping members of households refers to persons who were helping in a given period another family member run family business or agricultural holding, but were not p aid for their work. (Serbian Statistical Office, Labour Force Survey (RSZ, ARS), 2006:8).

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Serbias labour market, which was conducted on the basis of data collected as part of the Labour Force Survey, has shown that 72.3% of helping members of households are women as well as that most of them 92.3% are involved in agriculture (Babovid, 2007:40)11.

What crucially distinguishes the helping members of households from the main protagonists of agricultural production at the family holding is not only unpaid work, and consequently no pension benefits but also other important components: decision-making power as regards the agricultural production (designating types, quantities, production technologies, division of labour, schedule of work-related activities) as well as the decisionmaking pertaining to distribution of revenues generated by joint work effort. In fact, unpaid work in the context of making decisions on production and revenue distribution actually points to the measure of exploitation of the helping members of the household.12 Women are also engaged in a non-monetary manner (time budget) since they carry out activities which directly assist to sustainability of families. Namely, they are preparing food for household members, look after children, the elderly and the household.13 The burden of care economy (above all, the care of children, the sick and the elderly) is predominantly on women. Apart from insufficient opportunities for employment outside agricultural holdings, the lack of access to social care services further diminish their opportunities for employment outside the household, even when such a chance comes up. To illustrate the point, a survey14 of economic activities of unemployed women in rural areas, conducted in the villages of Baki Petrovac municipality in 2009, has shown that one of the important reasons for unemployment of young women with children outside agricultural holdings is precisely the lack of nurseries and kindergartens. Similar situation is to be found in other villages throughout Serbia. Inadequate public transport and health care services further aggravate everyday life in a village. On the one hand women are predominantly involved in care economy and they also work daily at agricultural holdings, but on the other hand their formal status is such that they are unemployed (not registered, hence also without pension and disability insurance). Consequently, it is harder for women to accomplish their personal goals and ultimately become self-employed, i.e. if they were to start a business on their own, they would need the support of their families to follow through with it.

11

Babovi M., Vukovi O., (2008), Women in Villages as helping Members of Agricultural Households: Position, Roles and Social Rights (ene na selu kao pomaui lanovi poljoprivrednog domainstva: Poloaj, uloge i socijalna prava). 12 Babovi M., Vukovi O., (2008), Women in Villages as helping Members of Agricultural Households: Position, Roles and Social Rights (ene na selu kao pomaui lanovi poljoprivrednog domainstva: Poloaj, uloge i socijalna prava), p. 31. 13 Blagojevi M., Vladisavljevi A., (2008), A Guide for Gender-Based Budgeting at Municipal Level Vojvodinas Model (Vodi za rodno budetiranje na optinskom nivou Vojvoanski model). 14 The survey was conducted as part of the project of gender-sensitive budgeting in Baki Petrovac municipality, 2008.

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In order to diversify the rural economy in Serbia, rural tourism is being promoted in Serbia, even though it is at a very early stage 15 of its development. According to one of the definitions, rural tourism is essentially an activity taking place in villages, presenting a rural way of life, art, culture and heritage in rural areas, and enabling interaction between tourists and local population. Typical features of rural tourism are that it is based on experience, that it takes place in a natural environment, that it relies on seasonal and local events and that it is based on the preservation of culture, heritage and tradition. Rural tourism provides for interconnecting with other activities and creates a market for other products and services in rural areas. At the level of everyday life, rural tourism is an activity in which women are largely involved. They prepare food, maintain and clean the household, keep up the hygiene, take part in various other activities that are important for rural tourism (souvenir making, food production and processing according to traditional recipes, and with geographic origin, personal services, etc.) Rural tourism is, therefore, acknowledged as an opportunity for womens employment in villages. However, for the most part women that engage in tourism perceive it as an incidental or marginal chore in addition to their regular chores in the household. Their resources as labour force are being additionally utilised, but the revenues thus far are insufficient to render it a regular full-time job with all the benefits (e.g. pension and disability insurance) on the basis of which they would be able to finally achieve economic security. Moreover, there are examples where investment in rural tourism has further impoverished local population as they are unable to generate sufficient revenues and income from the existing demand for their services.16 Women are necessary resource for rural tourism, but also for rural economys diversification in general. The research17 shows that women are very interested and also prefer employment outisde agriculture. It is necessary to acknowledge them, include them in development planning and decision-making regarding rural areas development, identify limitations and possibilities for their inclusion, as well as introduce measures that will eliminate limitations and activate their potentials in order to improve their economic position, which would also benefit local communities in general. Gender aspect to rural tourism development would entail, above all, gender mainstreaming of methodology for drafting plans for rural tourism development, as well as improvement of the existing plans by including gender aspect. It is also necessary to allocate adequate technical and financial resources for efficient and effective implementation of development plans.
15

Rural Development in the Republic of Serbia (Ruralni razvoj u Republici Srbiji), p. 16, http://www2.exchange.org.rs/upload/documents/podrska/sr/Ruralni%20razvoj.pdf . 16 undi Brankovi M., Boani D., Baanovi V. (PA 2009) Irig Municipality Gender Responsive Budgeting Possibilities for Solving Womens Unemployment Problem through Tourism Development (Optina Irig - Rodno budetiranje Mogunosti reavanja problema nezaposlenosti ena kroz razvoj turizma). 17 Blagojevic M., Women in villages in Vojvodina, everyday life and rural development, 2010 / Results of research survey

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2. Analysis of Gender Aspects Inclusion in Selected Local Development Strategies

2.1. Objective The main objective of this gender analysis is to determine to what an extent gender aspect is included in local development strategies, as well as those segments of strategies dealing with rural tourism development, and based on the findings, to define specific recommendations for the inclusion of gender aspect in local and regional strategies for sustainable rural tourism development in target areas of the joint UN Programme 2.2. Selected Municipalities/Cities Municipalities and cities selected for gender analysis were those covered by the UN Joint Program Sustainable Tourism for Rural Development18: Central Serbia (Ljig, Valjevo, Kosjerid, Mionica and Gornji Milanovac) Eastern Serbia (Golubac, Kladovo, Majdanpek, Poarevac and Veliko Gradite), Southern Banat along the Danube river (Alibunar, Vrac and Kovin), and Lower Podunavlje (Knjaevac, Zajear, Dimitrovgrad and Negotin).

2.3. Types of Analysed Documents The subject matter of the analysis of gender aspect inclusion in local development strategies are strategic development documents of municipalities and cities. The strategies and development plans, which were current and up-to-date at the time when the analysis was being carried out, were analysed, i.e. those strategies and development plans whose objectives, activities and measures cover the period from 2010 and after. Bearing in mind that the gender aspect inclusion analysis is carried out as part of the Sustainable Tourism for Rural Development Programme, when identifying development documents, the criterion also was the measure in which tourism and rural tourism components were represented in the documents themselves.

18

Sustainable Tourism for Rural Development UN Joint Programme implemented by five UN agencies (UNDP, UNEP, FAO, UNWTO and UNICEF) in cooperation with national partners: Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, and the National Tourism Organisation of Serbia. The joint programme has started in December 2009 and it will last until May 2012.
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These documents were either downloaded from official web sites of the municipalities and cities or received in direct communication with municipalities representatives. Some documents were provided by the manager of the joint UN programme. A total of 22 strategic documents were collected from 19 municipalities/cities, and these are as follows: local economic development strategies (8)19, sustainable development strategies (7)20, rural development strategies (3)21, tourism development strategies interim report (1)22, tourism development and promotion programmes (1)23, and municipality development programmes (2)24. For three municipalities (Dimitrovgrad, Pirot and Knjaevac), two documents each were identified and included into analysis. A list of all the collected strategic documents is enclosed in Appendix 1. 2.4. Methodology While performing the analysis of the measure in which gender perspective is included in local development strategies, our goal was to determine if the issue of gender equality had been recognised and acknowledged, whether local development strategies set out objectives and activities as well as earmark funds to be directed towards the advancement of gender equality, and if the designated activities in development plans would benefit women and men equally, i.e. whether their needs and potentials for participation in local development had been recognised and acknowledged. The purpose of the local strategic documents gender analysis was to determine the following: i. Does the analysis of the situation in a municipality contain sex disaggregated data? Does it contain information on socio-economic position of women in the given municipality/city? ii. Has the importance of gender equality been recognised? iii. Are the objectives geared towards an improvement of the womens position and advancement of gender equality? iv. Are designated activities focused on an improvement of the womens position and advancement of gender equality? v. Which are the areas where the activities directed towards an improvement of the womens position and advancement of gender equality have been designated? vi. Issues/problems of importance for gender equality have been recognised. vii. Is the field of rural tourism further elaborated in the strategies? viii. Has the gender aspect to rural tourism been recognised?

19 20

Kosjerid, Mionica,Golubac, Majdanpek, Poarevac, Vrac, Zajear and Pirot. Valjevo, Kladovo, Poarevac, Veliko Gradite, Kovin, Knjaevac and Dimitrovgrad. 21 Knjaevac, Ljig and Alibunar. 22 Dimitrovgrad. 23 Pirot. 24 Gornji Miilanovac and Negotin.

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ix. x.

xi.

xii.

Have gender indicators for strategy implementation monitoring also been defined (e.g. when implementing projects)? Have the issues that are defined in the National Strategy for Improvement of the Position of Women and Advancement of Gender Equality of the Republic of Serbia, 2009-2015 (decision-making, education, economic position, health, violence against women and media) been recognised? Has the Law on Gender Equality as well as the obligations arising from this Law and pertaining to the work of local self-governments and gender equality in any way been mentioned or recognised ? Have the strategies earmarked funds for the implementation of activities intended to improve the position of women and advance gender equality

In addition, the attention has been given to the process in which local strategies were developed, whether it was participatory, and whether it included a variety of local stakeholders. This indicator, however, could not be included as a separate criterion for analysis, because the analysis was performed only on the basis of examination of documents, no additional contacts with representatives of local governments where this information could also be checked. Where the process was described in text of analyzed documents, we have included it into findings.

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2.5. Key Findings by Regions

In the following chapter the key findings are presented by regions.

2.5.1. Central Serbia (Ljig, Valjevo, Kosjeri, Gornji Milanovac and Mionica) Local development strategies of selected municipalities and cities in Central Serbia have no gender aspect included in a systemic manner, nor have the issues of gender equality been recognised as important for local community development. In some municipalities, the statistics collected in the analysis of the situation has not been gender-disaggregated, which is why one cannot gain an insight into basic information about the population (population size by gender, educational structure, age, employment, unemployment, ethnic background, vulnerable groups such as Roma women or persons with disability). Social problems have been recognised like violence against women and high unemployment rate among women. Rural tourism is highlighted as a possibility for women employment, but without defined objectives and activities to achieve it. When a local strategy acknowledges some of the problems, which women come across in local communities, this is because civil society organisations and local nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) have been involved in the strategy drafting process, which could be seen from descriptions of participatory processes in some of analysed strategies. Among selected municipalities/cities, Valjevo is the only one where the importance of institutionalisation of gender equality has been highlighted through the formation of an institutional gender equality mechanism, hence one may assume that this might serve as a starting point for launching subsequent activities intended for, amongst other things, gender mainstreaming25 of development strategies. Answers to key questions are presented in tables for each municipality. Fields which are empty denote that there are no data in the documents for the given indicator.

Indicator Analysis of situation in the local strategies contains data at the level of local community and households classified by gender Analysis of situation contains information on socio-economic situation of women in target municipality/city In the analysed local strategies importance of gender equality has been recognized Analysed local strategies feature objectives

Ljig population

Valjevo population

Kosjeri

G.Milanovac unemployment

Mionica

25

Gender mainstreaming (introduction of gender perspective to programmes and policies).

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(projects) focused on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality Analysed local strategies feature activities (projects) focused on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality Areas in which projects focusing on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality are defined in analysed local strategies Issues/problems of importance for achieving gender equality are recognised in analysed local strategies The Strategy recognises the sector of rural tourism Strategy contains gender aspect to rural tourism unemployment

X
violence against women, institutionalisation of gender equality issue violence against women, insufficient care of women and their rights support for victims of violence26

X
rural tourism is seen as an opportunity for employment of women

In the local strategies gender indicators for monitoring of strategy and projects implementation are defined Recognised issues defined in National Strategy27 (decision-making, education, economic position, health, violence against women and media) Recognised Gender Equality Act and obligations stemming from this Act pertaining to the work of local self-government and gender equality Designated funds for implementation of projects intended to improve the position of women and advance gender equality unemployment violence against women

indirectly through establishing of local gender equality commission

2.5.2. Lower Podunavlje (Golubac, Kladovo, Majdanpek, Poarevac and Veliko Gradite) Local development strategies of selected municipalities and cities in Lower Podunavlje have no gender aspect included in a systemic manner. In four out of five municipalities, the gender equality issues have been recognised as important for local community development and the activities intended to improve the position of women and advance gender equality have been defined and funds designated for the purpose. The methodology of drafting the strategy itself has not incorporated gender aspects. Instead, it has been appended to it later on. The Sustainable Development Strategy for the city of Poarevac features a paragraph emphasising the importance of
26 27

It has not been defined who are the victims and which violence. National Strategy for Improvement of the Position of Women and Advancement of Gender Equality of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for 2009-2015.

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achieving gender equality. However, the data presented in this strategy were from the Poverty Reduction Strategy, hence gender aspect as such (without citing the source). Neither objectives, nor activities and situation analysis bear any correlation with the situation in Poarevac. Nonetheless, this leaves some room for revising and defining the activities at a later stage while drafting other development documents. In the municipalities of Golubac and Majdanpek, gender aspect has not been integrated in the methodology itself. Instead, at the initiative of a donor providing support for the strategy drafting28 a segment pertaining to the importance of gender aspect for local development was included at the very end of the document drafting process, when it was almost completed. In addition, the importance of defining gender indicators while monitoring strategy implementation and ensuring equal participation and distribution of benefits for women and men in the local community have also been stated. Regarding the issues of importance for gender equality, the strategies in this region acknowledge poverty among women, particularly in marginalised groups (Roma, single mothers, women with disabilities), violence against women, entrepreneurship, employment and infrastructure. The Local Sustainable Development Strategy for the municipality of Veliko Gradite (2010 2014) also recognises the importance of gender equality by way of designating, in addition to objectives/activities/projects, if there is an impact on gender equality, however, without additional explanation what this may mean for the actual implementation process. Even when a strategy only formally acknowledges the importance of gender equality, without defined objectives and activities, this may serve as a starting point for further work on this over the course of implementation, and while drafting annual implementation plans, these flaws may be corrected. Answers to key questions are presented in tables for each municipality. Fields which are empty denote that there are no data in the documents for the given indicator.

Indicator Analysis of situation in the municipality contains data at the level of local community and households classified by gender Analysis of situation contains information on socio-economic situation of women in target

Golubac population, education and employment

Kladovo population, educational structure, employment, unemployment

Majdanpek population, education and employment

Poarevac unemployment

V. Gradite unemployment, age groups, participation in agriculture

There is a separate section emphasising the

28

Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ_, Municipal Economic Development in the Danube Region

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municipality/city

importance of gender equality, however it is copied from the Poverty Reduction Strategy of the Serbian government. There is no a link with the position of women in Poarevac X X X X

Strategy recognises importance of gender equality Strategy features objectives (projects) focused on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality Strategy features activities (projects) focused on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality Areas in which projects focusing on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality are defined Issues/problems of importance for achieving gender equality are recognised in the Strategy

contains defined impact on gender equality29

entrepreneurship

entrepreneurship

entrepreneurship

violence

entrepreneurship

poverty, women from marginalised groups (Roma, single mothers, women with disabilities)

employment, agrarian policy, business development, water supply, social protection X

The Strategy recognises the sector of rural tourism Strategy contains gender aspect to rural tourism Defined gender indicators for monitoring of strategy and projects implementation Recognised issues that are defined in the National Strategy32 (decision-making, education, economic position, health, violence against women, and media) Recognised Gender Equality Act and obligations stemming from this Act pertaining to the

proposed to be included in project monitoring30 entrepreneurship violence against women

proposed to be included in project monitoring31 entrepreneurship

29

Impact of proposed measures as part of priorities concerning gender, equality and poverty reduction is presented in a table, but without any further explanation 30 Gender aspect was subsequently incorporated in the text of the strategy at the intervention by GTZ. However, given that there had been no methodological planning from the beginning, it was noted that gender indicators should be defined for all the projects during implementation and that data should be gender-disaggregated. 31 Ibid. 32 National Strategy for Improvement of the Position of Women and Advancement of Gender Equality of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for 2009-2015.

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work of local self-government and gender equality Designated funds for implementation of projects intended to improve the position of women and advance gender equality X X

2.5.3. Southern Banat (Alibunar, Bela Crkva, Kovin and Vrac) Local development strategies of selected municipalities and cities in Southern Banat have not included gender aspect in a systemic manner, nor have the issues of gender equality been recognised as important for local community development . In two out of four municipalities (Vrac and Alibunar), some issues of importance for gender equality have been acknowledged: poverty, women unemployment, violence against women, as well as lack of strategies for women employment in rural areas. However, there are no defined objectives or activities that would be focused on solving the problems which have been identified. Answers to key questions are presented in tables for each municipality. Fields which are empty denote that there are no data in the documents for the given indicator.

Indicator Analysis of situation in the municipality contains data at the level of local community and households classified by gender Analysis of situation contains information on socioeconomic situation of women in target municipality/city Strategy recognises importance of gender equality Strategy features objectives (projects) focused on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality Strategy features activities (projects) focused on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality Areas in which projects focusing on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality are defined Issues/problems of importance for achieving gender equality are recognised in the analysed documents

Alibunar population, education, unemployment

Bela Crkva

Kovin population, unemployment

Vrac population, unemployment

X violence against women violence against women, unemployment lack of strategy for self-employment of women in rural areas, violence against women, women poverty X X

Strategy recognises the area of rural tourism Strategy contains gender aspect to rural tourism Defined gender indicators for monitoring of strategy and

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projects implementation Recognised issues defined in the National Strategy33 (decision-making, education, economic position, health, violence against women, and media) Recognised Gender Equality Act and obligations stemming from this Act pertaining to the work of local self-government and gender equality Designated funds for implementation of projects intended to improve the position of women and advance gender equality violence against women economic position of women, violence

2.5.4. Eastern Serbia (Knjaevac, Zajear, Pirot, Dimitrovgrad and Negotin) Local development strategies of selected municipalities and cities in Eastern Serbia have not included gender aspect in a systemic manner, but the issues of gender equality have been recognised to a degree as important for local community development. In the Local Development Strategy for Zajear (the same applies to the municipalities of Majdanpek and Golubac), gender aspect has not been integrated in the methodology itself. Instead, at the initiative of a donor providing support for the strategy drafting34, a segment pertaining to the importance of gender aspect was included at the very end of the document drafting process. It was then that a remark about the importance of defining gender indicators while monitoring strategy implementation and ensuring equal distribution of benefits for both women and men in the local community was added. The following issues have been recognised as being important for gender equality in the region of Eastern Serbia: economic position of women, violence against women, social care of children, and access to various services. Answers to key questions are presented in tables for each municipality. Fields which are empty denote that there are no data in the documents for the given indicator.
Indicator Analysis of situation in the municipality contains data at the level of local community and households classified by gender Analysis of situation contains information on socio-economic situation of women in target municipality/city Strategy recognises importance of gender equality Strategy features objectives (projects) focused on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality
33

Knjaevac

Zajear population, employment education and

Pirot population, employment

Dimitrovgrad population, employment

Negotin population, employment

X X X

National Strategy for Improvement of the Position of Women and Advancement of Gender Equality of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for 2009-2015. 34 GTZ, Municipal Economic Development in the Danube Region

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Strategy features activities (projects) focused on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality Areas in which projects focusing on improvement of womens position and advancement of gender equality are defined Issues/problems of importance for gender equality as recognised in the Strategy

X violence against women violence against women, unemployment, poor access to services X

X entrepreneurship employment, equal opportunities employment violence against women, employment violence against women, employment

entrepreneurship

The Strategy recognises the sector of rural tourism Strategy contains gender aspect to rural tourism Defined gender indicators for monitoring of strategy and projects implementation

X Crafting traditional kilims proposed to be included for project monitoring35

X of

Recognised issues defined in National Strategy36 (decision-making, education, economic position, health, violence against women and media) Recognised Gender Equality Act and obligations stemming from this Act pertaining to the work of local selfgovernment and gender equality Designated funds for implementation of projects intended to improve the position of women and advance gender equality

violence against women

economic position

35

Gender aspect was subsequently incorporated in the text of the strategy at the intervention by GTZ. However, given that there had been no methodological planning from the beginning, it was noted that gender indicators should be defined for all the projects during implementation and that data should be gender-disaggregated. 36 National Strategy for Improvement of the Position of Women and Advancement of Gender Equality of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for 2009-2015.

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3. Conclusions and Recommendations

The conclusions are structured around four main gaps identified (i) undefined common methodology for drafting local development plans including methods for inclusion of gender aspect; (ii) practise of data collection and data usage including gender statistics, (iii) knowledge on gender equality, and (iv) gender aspect of the rural tourism development. Each conclusion is followed by set of recommendations. 3.1. Methodology for Drafting Local Development Strategies By reviewing strategies for 19 municipalities and cities it can be concluded that there is no common methodology for drafting local development strategies, be it local economic development, sustainable or rural development strategies. They differ depending on who financed the drafting of a given strategy, which teams were involved, and what the capacities of local groups and the institutions themselves were to offer necessary information and answers to challenges were as well as what the level of participation of all stakeholders locally was. All strategies have the following in common: - lack of analytical approach when assessing the position of women and men living in local communities and their problems, needs and resources, and lack of strategic and realistic solution to those problems, as well as the way in which the existing resources may be mobilised to foster development - human resources development (which is the crucial development-related issue), identified as a necessity, has not been encompassed to a sufficient degree by priority strategic objectives and strategies activities - methodology for strategy drafting in all the municipalities did not entail (except verbally) the inclusion of gender aspect, nor were necessary funds for this activity earmarked (time, tools, experts, means) - lack of private sector involvement in the actual drafting process as well as lack of perspectives and contribution of the private sector to the local development concept; - The process of developing local strategies was in some municipalities highly participatory (Golubac Majdanpek, Zajecar, Valjevo, for example). The value of a participatory process is in the ownership over document and development process, which represents a significant capital for the implementation. Recommendations:

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Support defining a common methodology37 for local development strategy drafting, which would ensure participatory approach, ownership over the document and quality of the final document that would observe the interests of both men and women locally. This entails the defining of tools and specific instructions to be followed in the drafting process. Additionally, it would be possible to train a sufficient number of experts/consultants to use the common methodology who would then be a resource for local communities in and outside their municipalities. A common methodology would ensure the inclusion of all important development issues and it would not depend solely on a team which is drafting the strategy and its understanding of individual issues. Use examples of good practices in the process of drafting of local development plans and other strategic documents in other municipalities with integrated gender dimension. One of good examples is the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Stara Pazova adopted in December 2009 where gender equality was defined as one of objectives, and measures and means to achieve this goal are planned38. Gender aspect was added during the consultative process by the Commission for Equality of Stara Pazova Municipality. Gender mainstreaming should be applied to the common methodology, i.e. gender aspect should be integrated in it through accurate defining of all the steps and tools in planning. Gender mainstreaming of the methodology should be entrusted to gender equality experts who understand the local context in which the development in Serbia is being planned. In addition to the creation of the tools, methodology should include information from adopted state strategies which are relevant to gender equality such as: National Strategy for Improvement of the Position of Women and Advancement of Gender Equality, Gender Equality Act, Millennium Development Goals, and other national documents where gender aspect has been integrated and that are important for rural and rural tourism development, as well as the development of various surveys and studies.

3.2. Gender Statistics, Use of Data and Indicators A lack of gender-disaggregated statistical data has been noted in all the analysed documents, including those collected and subsequently published by official statistical
37

Good practice example is MIPRO metodology developed in Bosnia. MIPRO has been developed and later on accepted by local governments as comom mentodology when developing local socio economic development strategies.It is however important to strees that MIPRO is also lacking gender aspect. This has been recignized and it will be improved. nadoknadio. http://www.undp.ba/index.aspx?PID=36&RID=92 38 http://www.starapazova.eu/sr/strategija_or-dokumenti/strategija-odrzivog-razvoja.pdf, str.74-75

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agencies. Except for the absence of gender-disaggregated data, the lack of conclusions inferred on the basis of data is evident (the data are there, but no interpretation whatsoever), hence a failure to use the information obtained from the data for the purpose of policy-making (evidence based policies). Additionally, the data are often outdated, or there are none, or local self-governments do not have them (e.g. the data are being processed at the national level, but there is no feedback to local communities). The practice of using the data and understanding their meaning is lacking when setting local community priorities. Indicators are haphazardly and partially defined or are absent, and in almost all the cases they are not gender mainstreamed (lack of gender indicators). The data have been mostly collected from the official statistics whereas the results of various surveys have not been included even when available and correlated with development issues. Recommendations: - Prepare the instructions, as a tool for introduction of gender perspective in development strategies, explaining which data and information need to be collected in order to advance gender equality, and define methods for collection of such information (official statistics, additional surveys); - Define gender indicators for all the areas covered by local strategies; - Provide education on the importance of data gathering and processing, as well as the interpretation and usage of data in the process of creating policies, programmes and measures, and in the monitoring of implementation; - Provide education on evidence-based policies for stakeholders involved in planning and implementation of development strategies. 3.3. Knowledge of Gender Equality A crucial reason for the failure to include gender aspect in local development strategies is the lack of knowledge about the tools for advancement of gender equality (gender integration in development policies, gender-based analysis, gender-based budgeting) as well as lack of awareness on the importance of gender equality for local development. In addition, other reasons lie in insufficient information about relevant strategic documents, and legal and institutional framework for dealing with the issues of gender equality. This is obvious with regards to local self-governments but also other stakeholders: experts, consultants, NGOs, donors and/or development partners recognise this issue, but do not designate sufficient resources to to enable fully the introduction of gender aspects into local development strategies. Evidence to substantiate this claim are precisely the strategies that are developed and adopted, and which were financed from donor funds, where the gender aspect is missing or is inadequate included.
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Recommendations: - In collaboration and cooperation with local and national mechanisms where they have been created, and womens NGOs and experts ensure the programmes for education and awareness-raising among the employees of local self-governments concerning the issues of gender equality, gender mainstreaming (integration of gender issues in all the policies and benefits for the local community) and gender-sensitive budget as well as the importance of gender for development and improvement of quality of everyday life; - Ensure education for expert/consultant teams on the importance of gender aspect for development planning; - Define a set of practical tools which would ensure a consistent inclusion of gender aspect in planning, drafting and implementation of local development strategy (i.e. the methodology of inclusion of gender aspect in development planning) - When planning projects that support the preparation of development strategies also include resources for training on gender equality, and plan involvement of gender experts in all the stages of local development strategies drafting. 3.4. Rural Tourism and Gender Aspect Women are an important resource for development of the rural economy, largely because they see themselves employed also outside agriculture, which leaves room for the development of new services, which will on one hand improve the quality of everyday life in the rural areas for all citizens, and to enable the economic empowerment of women. Rural tourism is one of the areas for potential employment of women. However gender aspect of rural tourism development has not been incorporated in any of the strategies, nor has the importance of this aspects inclusion been recognised. There is no proper understanding of the benefits for the local community from this. Women are not being acknowledged as a development resource (but for the most part are seen as a potential labour force) in rural tourism and diversification of rural economy. Recommendations: To develop methodology which should ensure gender mainstreaming of plans and programmes for rural tourism development. Specifically, at the level of a given local community, this would entail the following: - equal inclusion of women and womens organisations in decision-making processes regarding rural tourism development;

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recognition of their contribution to rural economy of importance for tourism and ensuring that their potentials are used for the purpose of economic empowerment and independence; ensuring their participation in all development programmes as well as that they benefit from those programmes improvement of access to services providing care of children and the elderly; access to informal education in business and tourism; access to market information; access to IT and communications technologies; access to grants and financing of start-up businesses as well as development of existing businesses; identification of all (profitable and non-profitable) economic activities of women in villages relevant for tourism development; only profitable activities should be fostered (for example, food production instead of handicraft products); Identification of limitations and possibilities for development at the level of surveyed households; for example one of the serious limitations to development of local economy including entrepreneurship is the fact that women as well as young women and men in rural areas are lacking property ownership. Therefore, it is necessary to find adequate strategies for overcoming these barriers (For example, a favorable loan and start up funds without guarantees in property etc.) Technical and financial support for starting and further developing businesses run and owned by women in rural areas, which are important for the rural tourism development.

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