Gender Equality

Including toward academic and administrative staff but also students in line with best practices and the state of the art as well as the legal framework in force in Bosnia and Herzegovina and relevant regulations stemming from our participation in the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.

To that end, we are partaking in the Universities and Gender Mainstreaming (UNIGEM) project implemented by the TPO Foundation and funded by the UK Embassy in Sarajevo, have developed and are implementing a university-wide Gender Action Plan, have founded the Gender Issues Advisory Board, and have introduced a thematic course on gender equality called Gender Equality in Society as a university elective course.

The UNIGEM project aims to prevent and combat gender-based violence, discrimination, and sexual harassment and ensure integrity and quality in higher education by providing support to 19 universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia in implementing gender equality policies, including educational courses, student exchanges, and trainings for staff.

The University’s Gender Action Plan is a five-year strategic framework that consists of 100 substantive measures and a monitoring plan, grouped along 14 specific objectives and in five thematic areas: work life balance and organizational culture, gender balance in leadership and decision making, gender equality in recruitment and career progression, integrating gender into research and teaching, gender-based violence, including sexual harassment.

The Gender Issues Advisory Board is a statutory body with advisory competences over matters related to gender equality, including but not limited to the development of strategic activities contributing to the achievement of gender equality. The Gender Issues Advisory Board is coordinated by a Gender Mainstreaming Coordinator and consists of one member per faculty, the administration, and a student.

The Gender Equality in Society course is a university elective course offered to undergraduate students of all 11 study programmes that aims to develop their understanding of gender equality in a societal and cross-sectoral context, taking into account some of the main aspects in which gender plays a significant role such as business and foreign policy.