Istanbul/Vienna, 15 May 2024 – UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, today announced the launch of the second phase of their “Expanding Choices” programme promoting gender-responsive family policies in cooperation with governments and the private sector in the Western Balkans.

In the Western Balkans and beyond, women have traditionally struggled to enter or stay in the labour force due to the unequal division of family responsibilities, lack of support from employers, and inadequate family policies and provisions from governments. At the same time, women face challenges in starting families and having the number of children they want without having to leave their jobs.

ISTANBUL, 17 April 2024 – Thirty years after the international community agreed on an ambitious programme to put people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights at the heart of global development, massive inequalities persist and millions of people, generally among the most disadvantaged population groups, remain excluded from the significant progress recorded overall across all world regions.