CANSEE Canadian Serbian Business Association, the Embassy of Canada to Serbia and the Association of Business Women in Serbia have gathered 40 ladies that are professionals in their areas of business.
Ladies from the fields of diplomacy, telecommunications, medicine, handmade crafts, IT, fashion, mining, banking and finance attended Women’s Empowerment Breakfast, the first one in the series of events that promote women empowerment, advance gender equality and support and encourage women and girls.
Mirjana Doncic-Beaton, CANSEE Managing Director welcomed all the guests and thanked them for recognizing the importance of this event and the importance of sharing the stories of women’s empowerment through different areas. Ms Doncic-Beaton also noted that she was proud to be able to gather 30 successful women professionals and 10 young promising girls, all in one place, to exchange their energy and experiences.
On this occasion, H.E. Kati Csaba, Ambassador of Canada to Serbia said that she is very grateful to CANSEE for organizing this event and said that this is the perfect example of teamwork where, if we do the things together, we can achieve much more. Ambassador Csaba also emphasized that she hopes that guests will find this event inspirational and that they come out with new ideas as well as with the feeling that they had the opportunity to think about themselves and about what gender equality means to all of us. After that, Ambassador Csaba shared her experience as a Canadian diplomat and the challenges that women in diplomacy in Canada meet with.
Ms Branka Pudrlja-Durbaba, CMO and Senior Market Director at Vip Mobile emphasized that she is proud to represent not only herself but also the company in which of more than 1400 employees, half of them are women which are also at 50% manager positions.
“At Vip, we know that women are the foundation of each and every happy home, but also the foundation of every successful business. That is the reason why, as the first Family Friendly company in Serbia, we pay special attention to women’s needs. The key to our success is the unlimited understanding and support that we have for each other. That is why I believe that, besides everything I have accomplished so far in my career, I have another very important task – to delegate my knowledge and experience further and in that way support new generations, especially women that will be running the world and make it better for all of us“, said Branka Pudrlja Durbaba.
During this event, Medical Doctor, Ms Mina Vasovic, highlighted October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and emphasized that women empowerment amongst human rights also includes taking care of ourselves and our physical and mental health.
Ms Sladjana Milojevic, Director of Fashion Apparel Cluster Serbia and the founder of Nonna Handmade company, shared her experience as a woman director and founder of a company.
CANSEE Canadian Serbian Business Association and Government of Canada, as well as the Association of Business Women in Serbia, are committed to advancing gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, and the promotion and protection of their human rights. We believe that gender equality contributes to long-term sustainable economic growth, social progress, sustainable development and national, political, social, cultural and economic development.