Great progress has been made in establishing mechanisms for gender equality and adopting the GAP, but now the priority is to carry out regular monitoring in order to see the progress of implementation, as well as key obstacles. At the University of Banja Luka on the 14th of December 2022 a workshop was held with the Advisory Board for Gender Equality led by Professor Ivana Zečević.

Along with other European projects, this University strives to integrate a gender perspective in all aspects of its institution. The support of management and teaching staff in these processes is important, as well as the support and encouragement from the student population.

The key challenge is the lack of motivation, not only for issues of gender equality, but in general, which is why the Senate decided that mandatory education should initially be aimed at newly appointed counsellors at each organizational unit, and later at the rest of the teaching staff.

The biggest resistance comes from the ranks of teachers who teach subjects of the so-called “national group of subjects”, primarily Serbian studies and History. Gender is perceived as an unconstitutional category and any changes in language that should reflect changes in society are not accepted.

The Advisory board considers it important to involve all services in monitoring the implementation of GAP, because in this way responsibility is being shared, data for measuring the performance of the implemented activities are easier to collect, and wider support for gender mainstreaming processes is created.