The United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment and the University of Sarajevo signed a Memorandum of Understanding

A Memorandum of Understanding between the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (“UN Women”) and the University of Sarajevo was signed at the University of Sarajevo Rectorate on 17 September 2021.

The memorandum was signed by Mr. David Saunders, a UN Women representative and Prof. Dr. Rifat Škrijelj, University of Sarajevo Rector, in the presence of Irma Zulić, project manager of UN Women, Prof. Dr. Dušanka Bošković, Vice-Rector for Quality, Prof. Dr. Mirza Dautbašić, Vice-Rector for Research and Prof. Dr. Maja Arslanagić-Kalajdžić, UNSA Center for Research and Development director.

Mr. David Saunders congratulated the University of Sarajevo on its readiness to take steps towards the development of a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) with the technical and professional support of UN Women, which will contribute to changes in society given that future leaders come from universities.

University of Sarajevo Rector, Prof. Dr. Rifat Škrijelj thanked Mr. Saunders and pointed out that the cooperation with UN Women is strategically very important and that it will contribute to the expansion of the network of cooperation with various institutions and increase the internationalization of the University of Sarajevo. He added that the University of Sarajevo is committed to harmonizing its gender policies in line with the results of analyzes that will be conducted within the framework of joint cooperation.

The signed Memorandum envisages cooperation in achieving common goals, which include the following:

• Improving the implementation of gender equality obligations in line with domestic laws and policies, such as the BiH Law on Gender Equality, the BiH Gender Action Plan for 2018-2022, as well as in line with international obligations, including the EU Gender Equality Strategy for 2020-2025, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BfPA).
• Promoting gender equality in all research and innovation systems, including addressing unconscious bias and systemic structural barriers.
• Adoption of the Gender Equality Plan of the University of Sarajevo, allocation of resources for its implementation, collection and monitoring of data on staff and students disaggregated by gender.
• Strengthening the capacity of staff and decision makers on gender equality and gender responsive budgeting.
• Cooperation on other relevant topics that arise in the framework of cooperation between the parties.