Deputy Auditor General Božana Trninić represented the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Srpska Public sector at the regional conference “Transformative financing for gender equality: Achieving gender and fiscal justice in the Western Balkans through gender-responsive budgeting” which was held in Istanbul (Turkey) on the 23rd and 24th November 2022 organized by the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

The conference was organized within the framework of the projects “Transformative financing for gender equality – towards more transparent, inclusive and responsible governance in the Western Balkans (2020 – 2024)”, which is financially supported by Sweden, and “Promotion of gender-sensitive policies and budgets – towards more transparent, more inclusive and responsible management in the Republic of North Macedonia” with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Sweden.

The purpose of the regional conference is the exchange of experiences between key decision-makers and leaders in the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting; learning from best regional and global practices, and a discussion on how to further improve the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting to achieve gender equality.

The conference brought together decision-makers and practitioners who are leaders in this field from the Western Balkans, as well as representatives from Europe and Central Asia, international organizations, and global experts on gender issues.

In July, at a meeting in Banja Luka, representatives of the regional supreme audit institutions expressed their readiness to engage in a parallel audit project on the topic of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 5 – Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. This performance review, with the support of UN Women, is planned to be implemented during 2023.