The Swiss PRO Programme organised two two-day trainings for councillors and representatives of women's councillor networks from 23 local governments on the topic of promoting gender equality at the local level. Training sessions were held 10-11 February and 3-4 March 2022 in Vrnjačka Banja.

During the training, participants learned more about the concepts of gender equality such as gender, equal opportunities, gender roles, gender identities and shared experiences from their work, but also discussed how to approach the process of gender mainstreaming and policy integration.

The participants gained additional knowledge about international and national frameworks for gender equality, as well as monitoring the implementation of gender equality policies at the local level. The discussion on the role of councillors in the decision-making process, as well as their cooperation as a way to implement strategic plans at the local level, was especially interesting.
Bojana Ilić from the women's councillor network of the City of Zaječar pointed out interactivity as the most interesting aspect of the training, both with lecturers and members of other councillor networks.

“I am thrilled with the training, the knowledge we have acquired is really applicable because we will know how to organise and what issues in our local community to pay attention to when we schedule meetings of the women’s councillor network. I sincerely hope that we will apply all the acquired knowledge because they represent a great step forward in both our and all other councillor networks’ work”, stated the representative of the City of Zaječar.

The training was attended by representatives of Babušnica, Bela Palanka, Bogatić, Ćićevac, Ćuprija, Dimitrovgrad, Golubac, Ivanjica, Knić, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Kruševac, Medveđa, Pirot, Raška, Smederevska Palanka, Sokobanja, Surdulica, Topola, Tutin, Veliko Gradište, Vrnjačka Banja and Zaječar.

The training was organised within the Programme “Enhancing Good Governance and Social Inclusion for Municipal Development – Swiss PRO", supported by the Government of Switzerland in cooperation with the Government of Serbia, and implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in partnership with the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM).