CPP's Women's Initiative for better status of women in rural areas

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Zagreb, 13th of September 2014. – Seminar "Woman and rural development" was held at the Family Estate Bistrički in organization of the Women's Initiative of the CPP and the Political Academy, gathering participants from all over Croatia.

As an introduction to the seminar, the participants toured the stands of family estates at City Market of Sisak. Afterwards, statements to the press were given by Sonja König, President of the Women's Initiative and the CPP's MP, Adelina Ivković, Director of City Market of Sisak, Ivan Nekvapil, Deputy Prefect of the Sisačko-moslavačka County and Boris Blažeković, Head of the Academy and the CPP's MP. The participants then headed to the venue of the seminar.

Opening speeches were given by Boris Blažeković, Head of the Political academy and the CPP's Member of Parliament, Sonja König, President of the Women's Initiative and the CPP's MP and Adelina Ivković, President of the Women's Initiative of the CPP's Sisačko-moslavačka County Organization,

"We would like to encourage innovation in marketing of traditional products, share information on the opportunities that are provided by various funds, facilitate networking and exchange experiences as well as motivate women to run their own family estates as only twenty percent of owners of family estates are women.", was the underlining idea of the seminar "Women and Rural Development" which was held at the Family Estate Bistrički in organization of the Women's Initiative of the CPP and the Political Academy, gathering participants from all over Croatia.

"The role of women in rural areas and rural development is of great importance though insufficiently recognized. We would like to elevate the importance of this topic. We would like to encourage the Ministry of Agriculture to finish formulating the Action Plan for promoting the role of women in rural areas as quickly as possible," said the President of the CPP's Women's Initiative and the CPP's MP, Sonja König, announcing that the Initiative will continue to work to advance the status of women in rural areas.

The CPP's Women's Initiative emphasizes the importance of including women even further in the social and political life, as well as the need to empower women in the rural areas, equitably distribute household and family responsibilities and create opportunities for formal and informal education and exchange of experiences of women in the rural areas.

Lectures and discussions highlighted the need to include the principle of gender equality in all strategies, policies, activities and budget plans of local and regional governments, as many of them continue to ignore this issue.

On certification of agricultural products, a lecture was given by Adelina Ivković, the President of the Women's Initiative of the CPP's Sisačko-moslavačka County Organization, while a lecture on the protection of intellectual property was given by Marija Petrović from the State Directorate for Intellectual Property. Seminar also dealt with the status, the role and activities of women from rural areas on local and national levels. The topic was presented by Marijana Živković, a senior advisor in the Directorate for Management of the EU Fund for Rural Development, the EU, and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Afternoon was reserved for presentation of good practices, as the CPP's member Marija Cafuk of the Family Estate Cafuk presented how a family estate functions in practice in order to shore up the knowledge gained through lectures. The owner of the seminar's venue Family Estate Bistrički, Vladimir Bistrički, joined in the discussion.

As a part of the seminar, a photo exhibit titled "Women in Rural Development of Croatia" was opened.

The seminar ended with a conclusion that the Women's Initiative of the CPP will continue to actively participate in educational and all other activities that are aimed at bettering the status of women in rural areas.

"Development is out there for the grabs", said the many CPP members via the moderator of the seminar, the General Secretary of the Croatian Trade Chamber and Vice-President of the CPP's Subsidiary in Sisak, Violeta Jelić.

The seminar was organised for more than one hundred participants by the CPP's Women's Initiative in cooperation with the CPP's Political Academy and sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

The seminar was attended by the members of Women's Initiatives from all of the CPP's County Organizations.