On January 1st 2017 the “Women in the Labor Market-Gender Impact Assessment” project has ended. The project was run by the B.a.B.e. association in partnership with the Faculty of Political Science of Zagreb University, the VIMIO association from Vukovar, the Legalina association from Gračac and the City of Zagreb.
The project lasted for 24 months, and the general aim was to contribute to the strengthening of the role of Civil Society Organization (CSOs) advocacy activities focused on general transparency, openness and good governance of the Croatan public administration in the field of gender equality, particularly the policies the contribute to creating a positive environment for women in the labor market.
The activities were divided into 5 groups: 1)Research and assessment of the gender impact of all policies affecting women’s access to the labor market, 2) Strengthening capacities for adopting gender-responsive policies, 3) monitoring and advocacy in local communities, 4) knowledge transfer and good practice examples, 5)visibility-media content production
The research of the policy of reconciling family responsibilities and paid work was carried out in Croatia in 2015 and included several research activities: mapping and analysis of the existing legislative framework (30 documents) and collection of official data and statistics; Interviews with local and national stakeholders (Zagreb, Slavonski Brod, Bukovlje, Metković, Varaždin, Gračac, Zadar); a survey of cities and municipalities on activities that they undertake in order to help parents improve the matching of their paid work and family responsibilities; and household research-the perspective of citizens on matching their work and family responsibilities and the support the receive from local self-government units.
Based on the conducted research, a workshop program was developed for strengthening the capacity to monitor and evaluate policies and measures related to gender equality, gender-responsive policies and the position of women in the labor market. During 2016, 28 workshops had been held, which were intended for civil society organizations, trade unions, political parties and county commissions for gender equality. Six workshops were held for strengthening the capacity to introduce assessments of gender influence in public policies, which were intended for representatives of local authorities. They were held in two cycles-at the beginning and at the end of the project in Zagreb, Gračac and Vukovar.
In order to encourage the evaluation and monitoring of policies at a local level and cooperation between carious stakeholders (from civil society organizations and interested citizens to local and regional authorities, institutions and public institutions) informal coalitions were formed, in Zagreb, Gračac and Vukovar, that discussed the situation and problems in the local community and considered possible forms of action to promote gender-responsive policies. The coalitions have conducted 4 analysis of measures/policies (at national and local levels) that concern the position of women in the labor market and/or gender equality. The Analysis of electoral programs of political parties were published in various media.
In December 2016, the publication “Woman, Mother, Worker: Harmonizing family responsibilities and paid work in Croatia” was published containing results of the research conducted as part of the project in 2015 and an overview of the existing policy measures to harmonize family and work obligations in the Republic of Croatia.
The publication was presented at the regional conference held on December 7th in Zagreb attended by exhibitors from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. In addition, the publication was shared at the screenings of the documentary “Despite Everything: 4 Stories about Women” in Zagreb, Gračac and Vukovar. The documentary was filmed in collaboration with the Student Television (Televizija Student) and it brings stories of four women who had fought for their place on the labor market. It was broadcasted on HRT4 and is available online. The TV show, which lasts half an hour, was also made in collaboration with Televizija Student. The guests were Željka Kamenov (FFZG), Nataša Novaković (HUP) and Tina Tešija (BRID). In collaboration with Radio Student, a total of six half-hour shows were recorded, ad in the Global Newspaper there were 10 articles published dealing with the topic of women’s position in the labor market.
The results of the project include conducting a gender impact assessment of policies and laws affecting women’s access to the labor market (R1); the creation of guidelines and indicators for a long-term gender impact assessment (R2); elevating the capacities of CSOs and state/public bodies at a national and local level in order to create gender responsive policies (R3); establishing standards, principles and deliberative mechanisms for improving policies and measures affecting the position of women in the labor market (R4); and the transfer of knowledge and examples of good practices to all relevant and interested stakeholders (R5).
We are grateful to all who have participated in conducting the project or have contributed to the project activities and results in any way.
