FES Beograd

ALT On November 16, the Women's Platform, in collaboration with our organization, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, as well as UN Women and Civic Initiatives, marked the 10th anniversary of the Women’s Platform for Serbia's Development. We used this opportunity to reflect on the past decade of progress in achieving gender equality in Serbia and to ask a key question: what has been accomplished from the goals initially set? Through various formats and occasions, those of us involved in the Platform have fostered dialogue on crucial issues for the development of our communities, highlighting solutions and opportunities that have remained underutilized in social and political initiatives. This time, we focused on pressing societal challenges: environmental degradation and extractivism, the erosion of democratic standards in elections, the suspension of the Gender Equality Law, the rise of anti-gender movements, threats to fundamental rights and freedoms, and the repression of active and engaged

ALT In their recent publication "External Actors in Democratization: Lessons from FES", Sarah Bush and Julian D. Melendi examine the role of international actors, such as the FES, in supporting democratic transitions. Using Serbia as one of five case studies, they highlight the successes and challenges of foreign influence on the political landscape. Key takeaways from Serbia's experience include: 𝟭. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 External actors, like FES, played a significant role in fostering cooperation within Serbian society, empowering civil society movements, progressive political parties, and trade unions and thereby contributing to the process of democratization. 𝟮. 𝗢𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟬 After the transition, foreign support helped guide Serbia’s democratic reforms, with the EU and U.S. providing financial aid,