Assistant Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Batistić Kos 26 and 27 November in Brussels attended the European Development Days 2013 conference, organized by the European Commission. The conference gathered representatives of the EU member states and the European Commission, African officials, as well as numerous representatives of the non-governmental sector.
Batistić Kos met with Nina Jandrić, one of the four recipients of the Power of Young Voices Award, congratulating on her achievement and expressing support for her further engagement in raising awareness about the role of youth in stimulating development.
The assistant minister also participated in the panel discussion on “What Women Get”, organized by the UN Women Brussels office. It was attended by representatives of Nepal, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, OECD Development Assistance Committee and Association for Women's Rights in Development. The attendees discussed the challenges of overcoming the gap between political and declaratory support for gender equality as well as the inability to monitor and publish budgetary means allocated for women empowerment projects. The discussion highlighted the serious situation regarding gender equality in Afghanistan and the need to put more pressure on Afghan partners within the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework. It also stressed the importance of local civil society organization in promoting sustainable social changes.
Batistić Kos 27 November attended an informal breakfast meeting of development ministers on the Post-2015 Development Framework and the strengthening of global development partnership, organized by the EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.