Signing the Memorandum Of Cooperation Marked the beginning of the Implementation of the UNIGEM Project

A ceremony of signing a memorandum of cooperation between the Transcultural Psychosocial Education Foundation and 17 universities from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro under the auspices of the United Kingdom Embassy was held in Sarajevo on 6 October.

H. E. Matthew Field stressed the importance of universities ’willingness to work to integrate gender equality into the higher education system so that the academic and wider community is a safe place for teachers and students.

TPO Foundation Director Prof. Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak emphasized the importance of establishing mechanisms for the prevention of gender-based violence and the promotion of gender equality at universities, which should result in a change in the general and organizational culture in the academic community. “This is the first step we have taken with the support of the Embassy of the United Kingdom, and now follows a large number of activities that we will carry out in cooperation with partner universities,” said director Spahić Šiljak.

A memorandum of cooperation was signed between the University of Sarajevo and the Transcultural Psychosocial Education Foundation. This ceremony marked the beginning of the implementation of the Gender Mainstreaming at Universities (UNIGEM) project, in which, in addition to the University of Sarajevo, sixteen other higher education institutions from the country and abroad are participating.

University of Sarajevo Rector, Prof. Dr. Rifat Škrijelj emphasizing the commitment of the University of Sarajevo to the principles of gender equality, and announced the establishment of a Resource Center that will serve as a pivot point of the project. “We are glad to be part of this initiative, which makes it easier for higher education institutions and the region to follow the standards of the European Union,” said Rector Škrijelj.