In February 2018, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Serbia to enhance the agri-food sector through investments in irrigation and water management.
This initiative aims to improve the efficiency and resilience of the sector, thereby promoting sustainable agricultural development in Serbia. As part of this investment, the EBRD also implements measures aimed at strengthening the capacities of agricultural professional and advisory services for gender-responsive service provision.
As part of this project, SeConS is responsible for conducting initial assessments, developing training programs for advisors, and organizing workshops. The goal of these trainings is to raise awareness among advisors about the need to plan services and access for users in a gender-responsive manner, as well as to acquaint them with measures that can be taken to increase the number of female service users. Additionally, SeConS is tasked with preparing educational materials containing information on achieving social rights and services that can benefit women involved in agriculture in rural areas.
The training titled “Knowledge Transfer in Agriculture for Advancing Gender Equality” was conducted in September 2024. SeConS organized a series of workshops for the network of advisors from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management, with the aim of strengthening their capacities for gender-responsive service delivery.
As part of this project, all training sessions have been completed, including online programs. Links to the online lessons are available at the following addresses:
- Lesson 1: Gender Equality in Serbia – Concepts, Status, and Policies
- Lesson 2: Gender-Responsive Training Methods and Knowledge Transfer with Examples of Good Practices
- Lesson 3: Gender Equality in the Context of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Lesson 4: Social Rights in Serbia
It is also important to highlight that the Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture, Water Management, and Forestry of Vojvodina has incorporated gender as a dimension in its database, which will enable systematic tracking of gender equality in the agricultural sector starting from 2025. This step marks significant progress toward establishing transparency and improving equal opportunity policies in this sector.
Additionally, approval has been granted for announcing a call for examples of good practices, which will showcase successful models of gender-responsive approaches in working with clients. This activity is scheduled for January 2025.