The last of the three planned panel discussions organized by the TPO Foundation and the British Embassy in Sarajevo was realized on March 9, 2021. The panel was organized as part of the celebration of International Women’s Day, when the participants of this panel were young activists and young politicians of the local communities in BiH. The panel was attended and the special importance of temporary equality was given by the British Ambassador to Sarajevo, Matthew Field. Along with panellist Elmaja Bavčić, on behalf of the OSCE Mission to BiH, and long-time human rights activist Bojana Trninić, the young people had the opportunity to discuss the film Miss Representation, which had the opportunity to watch earlier.
The panellists highlighted the challenges and obstacles that society faces when it comes to gender inequality, and in such challenges the media have a special role and most often the negative one due to the exploitation and objectification of the female body in the media space.
Education is a key factor in raising awareness about gender equality and women’s empowerment, male-dominated centres of power need to include more women, feminization of occupations needs to be discussed more in schools, we need to work equally with girls and boys to understand gender equality and feminism and provide them with adequate role models that will be their motivation and inspiration for personal empowerment and then the improvement of the whole society. These were some of the conclusions of this panel discussion. Finally, in his conclusion, Ambassador Field emphasized that gender equality can never mean a struggle between a woman and a man but a common struggle to advance society. All participants have the opportunity to participate in the competition for the best essay entitled Gender Equality from my perspective that will be open until March 19 after which the three best works will be selected and authors will receive valuable awards.
