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Women's Centre for Democracy and Human Rights is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organisation based in Subotica, Serbia and Montenegro, and founded in 2000. Its mission is to develop democratic society, rule of law and respect for human rights through education, advocacy and research.

Our goals are:

  • Development of democratic society based on human rights, gender equity and social justice;
  • Elimination of discrimination of all kinds;
  • Advancement of development and globalisation models and actions based on a human rights approach that facilitates equitable distribution of resources;
  • Improvement of the economic and social positions of women and other marginalized groups in society and of their inclusion in politics and economic decision making at all levels; and
  • Transformation of human rights and women’s rights issues into political issues.

We achieve our goals by:

  • Promoting public consciousness of human rights, gender equity and democratic values through education, and advocacy campaign;
  • Researching topics related to our goals;
  • Organising round tables, seminars and conferences;
  • Organising free legal counselling services for women in the fields of labour, employment and privatisation;
  • Writing and printing publications; and
  • Collaborating with NGOs, trade unions, women’s organisations, coalitions, networks and research institutions at local, national and international levels.

Our activities include:

  • Advocacy for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other international human rights treaties and conventions;
  • Advocacy for developing national mechanisms for the advancement of women;
  • Advocacy for greater and more visible participation of women in decision-making, public policy and conflict resolutions;
  • Advocacy and research on implementing gender budgets as a strategy to achieve gender equality;
  • Research on the position of women in societies in transition to market economies and in the context of economic globalisation;
  • Human rights education for youth using the gender perspective;
  • Creation and printing of publications on human rights, women’s rights and contemporary aspects of globalisation;
  • Participation in related international conferences and events, such as the European Social Forum and the World Social Forum;
  • Organisational activities for international meetings and events, such as the Hearing on Gender Equality in the ‘Wider’ Europe in the European Parliament in 2004; and
  • Organisation of international events, such as the First International Conference on Transition, Privatisation and Women held in 2002.

The organisation has regular contacts with many NGOs and international and regional networks, including WIDE (Network Women in Development Europe) based in Brussels, Belgium; Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; AWID (Association of Women’s Rights in Development) based in Toronto, Canada; Les Penelopes based in Paris; and NEWW (Network East-West Women-Polska) based in Gdansk, Poland. The organisation is a member of the CEE/NIS Gender Budgeting Working Group formed at the NEWW Conference, 2004, in Poland. 

Publications:

  • “Rodna ravnopravnost i Javna Politika” (“Gender Equality and Public Policy) (2002).
  • “New World Order: Uticaj globalizacije na ekonomska i socijalna prava žena” (“New World Order: Impact of Globalisation on Economic and Social Rights of Women”) (2002).
  • “Transition, Privatisation, and Women”, (2002) – a compilation of papers presented at the international conference: “The Impact of Privatisation and Structural Adjustment in the Transition Countries on the Economic and Social Position of Women”, Subotica, Serbia, February, 2002. 

President and Project Coordinator:
Mirjana Dokmanovic

Mrs. Dokmanovic is a consultant on human rights and gender issues, international lawyer, researcher and journalist. She has published articles and coordinated numerous projects at international, national and local level in the fields of community development, human rights, women’s rights, and globalisation.
In the focus of her recent activities are human rights and women’s rights in the context of privatisation and globalisation. She participated the Beijing +5 events, and was invited as a speaker to the World Social Forum (2004), the European Social Forum (2003), and many other international conferences and events on human rights, women’s rights, globalisation and human security in USA, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Poland, Mexico, Germany and other countries.
Affiliations: Women Waging Peace, Women in Development Europe (WIDE), Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Network East-West Women (NEWW), Yugoslav International Law Association, Scientific Association Technology and Society.