Bosnia and Herzegovina pursues mortality policy, not birth rate policy

Prompted by what happened to our fellow citizen Belma Kokić from Zenica, as candidates of the Communist Party, who based their campaign "Women from number two" (Bene nota! A woman is not just a quota!) precisely on striving to solve these and similar problems, we want to express our full moral support to this woman as well as to other women who find themselves in this or a similar situation, states the reaction of Sabina Grcić and Aida Gavrić, reports the BH News Agency Patria.

Namely, Belma Kokić from Zenica, employed at the company "Grijanje Zenica", was fired simply because she became pregnant, and she was notified of her dismissal via SMS. This is not the first situation in this company, nor in other companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Discrimination against women regarding family planning, a fundamental human right, on which the entire world rests, is a daily occurrence for female citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- It is precisely because of such cases, like the case of Belma Kokić, that we decided to direct our political engagement towards women's rights in our society and gender equality, which is lacking in every segment. This is one of the few cases that have become public, and therefore we congratulate Ms. Belma on her courage to help women in Bosnia and Herzegovina who fear pregnancy and who experience the same fate through her story - the reaction states.

Discrimination against women is a major problem also in the case of regulating the rights of women to maternity leave in different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The right to compensation during maternity leave is completely different at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which leads to a completely unequal position of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The payment of compensation for mothers on maternity leave is not realized at all in some parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is caused by the absence of regulations that would equally treat mothers on maternity leave throughout the territory of our country. The current situation is such that the Governments of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska are adopting the legislative framework, and the cantons in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Public Fund for Child Protection are working on its implementation.

- In all countries of the world, a birth rate policy is pursued, only Bosnia and Herzegovina pursues a mortality policy. Despite the declining birth rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, competent institutions and organizations do not do much to equalize the rights of mothers on maternity leave and to protect women, and to punish employers who threaten women with dismissal due to pregnancy. It often happens that employers deny a fundamental right - gender equality - by choosing only men as a prerequisite for employment. Cases are frequent where employers, during interviews, request information such as marital status, relationship status, intention to start a family, etc. Discrimination against women is a major problem also in the case of regulating the right to maternity leave. The fact is that maternity leave is not always paid, and some women are fired after becoming pregnant. The right to maternity allowance is completely different throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, and this needs to be addressed. These are just some of the problems women face in society, so we will direct our political action towards solving these issues - it was announced.

As a potential solution, Sabina Grcić and Aida Gavrić propose the introduction of budget fund allocation with gender-responsive budgeting, in order to ensure that the budget content reflects gender equality goals when making decisions on budget allocation. Gender-inappropriate and irresponsible budgets are one of the reasons why a large number of women do not exercise their rights to maternity allowance, according to the candidates of the Communist Party. In addition, they emphasize that it is necessary to equalize rights in the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to establish a Public Fund for Child Protection with special attention to maternity leave allowances. All these issues need to be resolved by applying existing laws, and by creating new laws that will specifically address these topics. Of course, it is necessary to increase the monitoring of the implementation of existing laws, in their opinion.