2. Annex II -- Activity-level Gender Analysis.pdf

USAID.GOV

MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING

SUPPORT ACTIVITY (MEASURE)

ACTIVITY-LEVEL GENDER ANALYSIS —

TOURISM SECTOR

REPORT

This document is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United

States Government.

2 | MEASURE: ACTIVITY-LEVEL GENDER ANALYSIS- TOURISM SECTOR USAID.GOV

MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND

LEARNING SUPPORT ACTIVITY (MEASURE)

ACTIVITY-LEVEL GENDER ANALYSIS —

TOURISM SECTOR

Report

November 2024

Prepared under the USAID Bosnia and Herzegovina Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Support

Activity (MEASURE), Contract Number 72016724D00004; Task Order Number 72016824F00003

Submitted to:

USAID/Bosnia Herzegovina, November 2024

Contractor:

Social Solutions International (SSI)

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ACRONYMS

ALGAT Activity-Level Gender Analysis of Tourism

BD Brčko District

BiH Bosnia and Herzegovina

CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy

CLGA Country-Level Gender Analysis

EU European Union

FBiH Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

FMET

GC

FBiH Ministry of Environment and Tourism

Gender Center

IP Implementing Partner

KI Key Informant

KII Key Informant Interview

LoGE BIH Law on Gender Equality

MEASURE Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Support Activity

MEASURE II Monitoring and Evaluation Support Activity

NSCP-BIH National Survey of Citizens’ Perceptions in Bosnia and Herzegovina

RS Republika Srpska

SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises

Turizam USAID/BiH’s Developing Sustainable Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Activity

USAID United States Agency for International Development

USAID/BiH United States Agency for International Development BiH Mission

WEP Women’s Empowerment Principle

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CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

FINDINGS

LAWS, POLICIES, REGULATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES THAT INFLUENCE

THE CONTEXT IN WHICH MEN AND WOMEN ACT AND MAKE DECISIONS

CULTURAL NORMS AND BELIEFS

GENDER ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND TIME USE

ACCESS TO AND CONTROL OVER ASSETS AND RESOURCES

PATTERNS OF POWER AND DECISION-MAKING

RECOMMENDATIONS

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Activity-level Gender Analysis – Tourism Sector (ALGAT) sheds light on gender disparities in the tourism sector in BiH, with emphasis on legal and institutional frameworks, cultural norms, gender roles, access to and control over assets and resources, and representation and participation in decision-making. The ALGAT was conducted by the United States Agency for International

Development (USAID)/Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Support

Activity (MEASURE) to assist in integrating gender into a new tourism-related USAID Activity. The

ALGAT relies on secondary data, primary qualitative data collected by the USAID/BiH MEASURE, and data from a recent Country Gender Analysis collected by Monitoring and Evaluation Support

Activity II (MEASURE II).

BiH has a legal framework for promoting gender equality across all sectors, including tourism. Entity

Gender Centers (GC) monitor and advise government institutions on the implementation of the

Law on Gender Equality (LoGE). The tourism strategies in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

(FBiH) and Republika Srpska (RS) include gender considerations with varying degrees of integration and targeted actions. Private sector initiatives, supported by USAID/BiH, have begun integrating gender perspectives, such as the endorsement of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) by two large hotels. However, tourism growth in BiH also poses risks related to sex trafficking and labor exploitation, in turn requiring stronger legal regulations.

Additionally, traditional gender roles are reflected in job distributions within tourism, with women often employed in housekeeping and men in maintenance. This gendered job distribution is affected by perceptions of risk and by societal expectations of women to avoid participating in certain sub-sectors (e.g., adventure tourism). In addition, women’s roles in the workforce are often regarded as secondary to their domestic roles. This cultural conditioning affects women’s confidence and willingness to pursue innovative roles, and roles within sub-sectors in tourism that are perceived to be higher risk.

Gender equality is largely seen by government officials as a secondary concern, addressed only when it aligns with core job responsibilities. Despite acknowledging the relevance of gender issues, officials prioritize them less, viewing gender-related work as external to their primary duties. This approach reflects an institutional culture where gender equality initiatives are considered commendable but not integral to the main functions of tourism governance.

Women also face challenges in access to resources. Specifically, women face limited access to finance due to lower levels of ownership of assets that could be used as collateral when securing loans.

Additionally, women, especially those in rural areas, face challenges in developing entrepreneurial skills needed for work in the sector. Existing interventions by USAID/BiH and other organizations aim to support female entrepreneurship but face challenges with take-up, particularly in rural areas.

Gender is more balanced in key positions in government tourism institutions. Women are underrepresented in higher-level roles within the private sector, and men dominate management positions in hotels and in key partnerships with government institutions.

There are specific, actionable steps that BiH can take to improve gender equality in the tourism sector. These include supporting entities and the Brčko District (BD) in implementing interventions that address the lack of affirmative action measures in FBiH and address weak gender integration in

RS and BD; expanding support for tourism enterprises to adopt the WEPs; and advocating for regulations to combat sex trafficking and labor exploitation, which may increase as result of an increase of the number of tourists in the country. Further recommendations involve supporting changes to the Law on Crafts in both the FBiH and RS to enable small crafts producers to meet export standards; disbursing grants to women-owned businesses for certification costs; and providing technical assistance to help women-owned businesses grow their operations. Additionally, it is crucial to collect and report gender-disaggregated data and address entrenched gender roles through awareness campaigns targeting both the public and government officials within institutions.

Finally, it is important to provide targeted training and skill-development programs for women, especially those in rural areas and those who are civil society organization (CSO) champions supporting women in tourism.

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INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this Analysis is to provide evidence to assist United States Agency for International

Development (USAID)/Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in integrating gender into a new tourism-related Activity. Under its 2020-2025 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), USAID/BiH seeks to harness tourism’s potential as a key driver of the country’s economic growth and development. This Activity-level Gender Analysis – Tourism Sector (ALGAT) aims to identify the root causes of gender disparities in tourism, the opportunities to reduce gender gaps in the sectoral arena in which the Activity is conducted, and the gender-specific risks that could emerge as a result of implementation of interventions in tourism.

The ALGAT aims to address the following research questions:

● How adequate and effective are the existing legislative and institutional frameworks for ensuring gender equality and implementation of gender mainstreaming in tourism?

● How do cultural norms and beliefs shape gender equality in tourism?

● How are gender roles, responsibilities, and time use in the context of economic activity of men and women manifested and addressed in tourism?

● What are the key challenges in achieving gender-equal access to, and control over, services, assets, and resources in tourism?

● What are the patterns of women’s representation and participation in decision-making in the tourism sector?

In terms of data sources, this ALGAT relies on data, reports and documents produced by

USAID/BiH and/or its implementing partners (IPs), as well as third parties such as government institutions, international organizations, development agencies, and scholars (Annex 1). This ALGAT also utilized primary qualitative data collected by the USAID/BiH Monitoring, Evaluation, and

Learning Support Activity (MEASURE) for this analysis, as well as data collected for a recent Country

Gender Analysis: Bosnia and Herzegovina by USAID/BiH’s former Monitoring and Evaluation

Support Activity (MEASURE II). Data collected for the country-level gender analysis is referred to in this text as data collected from country-level gender analysis key informants (CLGA KIs), while “KIs” refers to primary data collected for the purposes of this analysis.

FINDINGS

LAWS, POLICIES, REGULATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES THAT

INFLUENCE THE CONTEXT IN WHICH MEN AND WOMEN ACT AND MAKE

DECISIONS

Entity-level tourism strategies in BiH include gender, but with gaps: the Federation of

Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) strategy integrates gender widely without concrete actions, while the Republika Srpska (RS) Strategy has targeted actions but lacks full gender integration. The BiH Law on Gender Equality (LoGE) serves as a comprehensive legal framework to promote gender equality and combat gender-based discrimination across all areas of life.1 The LoGE prescribes that entity Gender Centers (GCs), among other things, monitor and provide their opinion on the implementation of the LoGE (Article 27) and the harmonization of laws and policies with local and international gender equality standards.2 While the law does not specifically address tourism, its provisions apply broadly to all economic sectors. It strictly prohibits gender-based discrimination in the workplace (Articles 12 and 13) and affirms the equal right of all genders to pursue gainful work, including access to economic resources, credit, other financial

1 Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Law on Gender Equality. Available at https://arsbih.gov.ba/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/GEL_32_10_E.pdf 2 Ibid.

https://arsbih.gov.ba/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/GEL_32_10_E.pdf

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assistance, and business registration (Article 15).3 In terms of strategy documents, the FBiH, RS, and

Brčko District (BD) have recently updated their tourism strategies. The most recent FBiH Tourism

Development Strategy integrated gender through guidelines for ethical conduct, including a prohibition on gender-based discrimination, but lacks targeted measures and actions to improve the position of women in tourism.4 The latest RS Tourism Development Strategy, on the other hand, includes targeted measures to increase opportunities for women not only as employees but also as entrepreneurs and under one strategic goal (“Creating an enabling environment for tourism development”), but does not integrate gender considerations across all strategic goals (e.g., human resources and development of destination tourism).5 The newest BD Strategy does not include affirmative action targeting women, but recommends measures directed towards women, such as promoting successful women-run tours and female adventure tourism guides, updating safety standards to make outdoor activities more gender sensitive, and researching the role of women as bearers of cultural heritage.6 Gender centers and line ministries have affirmative action measures in place, such as grants, subsidies, and training, that target women. However, recent research highlights the inconsistent application of affirmative action policies throughout BiH.7

Two private-sector tourism actors have recently integrated gender perspectives into their companies’ policies with the assistance of USAID/BiH. For example, with the support of USAID/BiH, two large hotels managed by women in Sarajevo and Banja Luka recently endorsed the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a set of principles developed by the United Nations and United Nations Women that provide guidance to businesses on empowering women in the workplace, marketplace, and community.8 KIs reveal they expect more tourism enterprises, particularly hotels, to endorse WEPs in the future. KIs believe this is a good area for future donor engagement if it is to be broadened to include smaller enterprises.

The increase in tourism in BiH has heightened the risk of sex trafficking and labor exploitation in the country, disproportionately affecting women and minors, particularly girls. Despite this, there is currently no concrete legislation that addresses sex trafficking and labor exploitation in tourism. Over the past decade, BiH's tourism sector grew rapidly, with tourist arrivals increasing year after year, highlighted by a 18.8 percent increase in

2023 compared to 2022.9 While this growth has brought economic benefits, it has also exposed BiH to a heightened risk of sex trafficking, particularly of women and girls. Globally, out of ten individuals trafficked for sex, five are women and two are girls.10 Furthermore, research indicates that growth in tourism, including introduction of low-cost airlines, more affordable tourism options, and rapid tourism development, place children — especially those from underprivileged migrant and Roma

3 Ibid.

4 FBiH Ministry of Environment and Tourism. FBiH Tourism Development Strategy 2022-2027, p. 8. Available at: https://fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/FBiH%20Strategija%20razvoja%20turizma%202022%202027%20BHS.pdf quoted in MEASURE II (forthcoming). Country Gender Analysis: Bosnia and Herzegovina.

5 RS Government (2021). RS Tourism Development Strategy 2021-2027. Available at https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vladaf quoted in MEASURE II (forthcoming). Country Gender Analysis:

Bosnia and Herzegovina.

6 Brcko Distrikt Bosne I Hercegovine (2021). Strategija razvoja Brcko Distrikta BiH 2021-2027 7 Turizam (2022). USAID Developing Sustainable Tourism Activity In Bosnia And Herzegovina [Turizam]

Gender Assessment. Available at: https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf 8 The principles outline the need for corporate leadership in gender equality, fair treatment of all employees, health and safety for workers, educational opportunities for women, empowering practices in business operations, community advocacy for equality, and transparent reporting on progress toward these goals. For more information, please see https://www.weps.org/ 9 BHAS (201-2024). Tourism Statistics: Cumulative data. Data available at https://bhas.gov.ba/data/Publikacije/VremenskeSerije/TUR_01.xls 10 American Psychological Association (2023). 7 in 10 human trafficking victims are women and girls. What are the psychological effects? Available at https://www.apa.org/topics/women-girls/trafficking-women-girls https://fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/FBiH%20Strategija%20razvoja%20turizma%202022%202027%20BHS.pdf https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/MTT/Documents/%D0%A1%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%B0%20%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5%20%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B5%202021-2027_184076603.pdf https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf https://www.weps.org/

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backgrounds — at heightened risk of domestic and international sexual exploitation and trafficking.11

In 2023, out of 37 potential or identified victims of human trafficking in BiH, 28 were minors: 17 girls and 11 boys.12 Despite this reality, apart from the regulation governing registries of sex offenders of minors in FBiH and RS, there is currently no concrete legislation or legal provision that would address combating sexual exploitation in tourism.13

Inadequate legal framework regarding crafts-based businesses negatively affects women entrepreneurship. Many women producers of tourism products are engaged in craft-based businesses, such as natural cosmetics production, embroidery, carpentry, woodwork and other traditional products. The RS and BD tourism strategies, other secondary literature, and CLGA KIs agree women are the bearers of these traditional production activities.14 As the 2022 USAID/BiH’s

Developing Sustainable Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina Activity (Turizam) Gender Assessment

(hereinafter, Turizam GA) shows, under existing laws — the Law on Crafts in FBiH and the RS Law on Crafts Entrepreneurship — craft businesses cannot obtain customs registration numbers, restricting both the import of supplies and the export of products.15 Additionally, the Classification of Economic Activities in BiH complicates registrations, as it does not include some female-dominated tourism craft products like herbal cosmetics, which has recently gained traction in BiH.16

In effect, this prevents crafts producers — mostly women — from achieving their full growth potential.17

Business certification and worker skill-building programs are beneficial for women who wish to start a business, but these businesses face hurdles to growth in the long run. A recent evaluation of a USAID’s Turizam Activity noted that business certification and skill-building programs benefit women in tourism, which are perceived as the primary producers of traditional products in BiH.18 However, government officials interviewed through the MEASURE II Turizam performance evaluation do not perceive certification and skill-building as beneficial for women producers of traditional products in the long run, citing reasons such as small scale of production, limited growth potential for domestic products, and the inability of small producers to export to the

European Union (EU) due to compliance issues with EU standards. CLGA KIs suggested that more opportunities to increase female participation in the tourism industry would be available if BiH

11 US Department of State (2020). 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Available at https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-persons-report/bosnia-and-herzegovina/ and Sathyanarayanan, S., Kavenagh, M. and Varella, (2018). Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Overview: A report on the scale, scope and context of the sexual exploitation of children. Available at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ECPAT-Country-Overview-Report-Bosnia-Herzegovina-2018.pdf quoted in Turizam

(2020). Gender Assessment in the Tourism Sector.

12 Al Jazeera Balkans (2024). Trgovina djecom: Zakoni postoje, ali im je primjena loša. Available at https://balkans.aljazeera.net/teme/2024/2/29/trgovina-djecom-zakoni-postoje-ali-im-je-primjena-losa 13 Sathyanarayanan, S., Kavenagh, M. and Varella, (2018). Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Overview: A report on the scale, scope and context of the sexual exploitation of children. Available at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ECPAT-Country-Overview-Report-Bosnia-Herzegovina-2018.pdf 14 RS Government (2021). RS Tourism Development Strategy 2021-2027. Available at https://www.vladars.net/documents and MEASURE II (forthcoming). Country Gender Analysis: Bosnia and

Herzegovina.

15 Turizam (2022). USAID Developing Sustainable Tourism Activity In Bosnia And Herzegovina [Turizam]

Gender Assessment. Available at: https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf 16 Statista (2024). Natural Cosmetics - Bosnia and Herzegovina. https://www.statista.com/outlook/emo/beauty-personal-care/cosmetics/natural-cosmetics/bosnia-and-herzegovina.

17 Turizam (2022). USAID Developing Sustainable Tourism Activity In Bosnia And Herzegovina [Turizam]

Gender Assessment. Available at: https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf 18 MEASURE II (2023). Performance Evaluation of USAID/BIH’s Developing Sustainable Tourism in BiH

(Turizam). Available at https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-persons-report/bosnia-and-herzegovina/ https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ECPAT-Country-Overview-Report-Bosnia-https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ECPAT-Country-Overview-Report-Bosnia-https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ECPAT-Country-Overview-Report-Bosnia-https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ECPAT-Country-Overview-Report-Bosnia-https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/MTT/Documents/%D0%A1%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%B0%20%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5%20%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B5%202021-2027_184076603.pdf https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf https://www.statista.com/outlook/emo/beauty-personal-care/cosmetics/natural-cosmetics/bosnia-and-herzegovina https://www.statista.com/outlook/emo/beauty-personal-care/cosmetics/natural-cosmetics/bosnia-and-herzegovina https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina

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achieved full compliance with EU regulations, which they consider would take “ages, if not decades.”19

CULTURAL NORMS AND BELIEFS

Distribution of men and women across jobs in tourism and hospitality reflects traditional gender roles, in which women mainly occupy jobs in housekeeping, while men dominate jobs in maintenance and security. CLGA KIs reveal women in BiH are traditionally perceived as better at jobs that require soft skills, including caring or serving others, but inadequate for jobs that require decision-making such as management due to their greater domestic responsibilities. The 2023 National Survey of Citizens’ Perceptions in BiH (NSCP-BiH) shows that 53 percent of all BiH citizens believe that most household responsibilities are naturally more suited to women, regardless of their employment status.20 The same survey identified that men (60 percent) are a little more likely than women (47 percent) to hold this view. The CLGA found that in tourism and hospitality, women mostly occupy housekeeping roles, while men dominate maintenance and security, thereby reflecting traditional social gender roles.21

Women are hesitant and discouraged from pursuing entrepreneurial ideas due to cultural norms that define risk-taking as undesirable for women. A CLGA KI shared that the society may perceive entrepreneurship and adventure tourism as too risky professions for most women, but occupations such as smaller-scale agricultural work are seen as a better fit by the society. The Turizam gender analysis found that women have less business confidence than men, which can discourage them from pursuing some of the riskier, more innovative business ideas necessary for tourism work. 22 This hesitancy to pursue entrepreneurship or adventure tourism, Turizam GA suggests, might be socially conditioned and gendered, as venturing into a business and engaging in adventurous activities require a degree of risk that society sees as inappropriate for a woman.23

Persons in power in the tourism sector believe that women themselves should be responsible for changing cultural norms and beliefs that hinder gender integration.

Government officials from the tourism sector interviewed through CLGA placed the responsibility on women to change cultural norms and mitigate their effects, implicitly rejecting the idea that institutional solutions or interventions could address these issues. Turizam GA set forth similar insights, citing opinions by some interviewees that women should fight against societal cultural norms by working harder to break the glass ceiling, taking upon themselves more responsibility, and trying to sacrifice more family time to work.24 No CLGA KIs proposed an institutionalized intervention that would address these cultural norms.

GENDER ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND TIME USE

Decision makers in the tourism sector share the prejudiced societal understanding of gender roles that imply a gendered division of labor and responsibilities between men

19 Ibid.

20 MEASURE II (2024). National Survey of Citizens’ Perceptions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Available at https://www.measurebih.com/uimages/2023-NSCP-BiH-Report-508.pdf 21 MEASURE II (forthcoming). Country Gender Analysis: Bosnia and Herzegovina.

22 Turizam (2022). USAID Developing Sustainable Tourism Activity In Bosnia And Herzegovina [Turizam]

Gender Assessment. Available at: https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf 23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.

https://www.measurebih.com/uimages/2023-NSCP-BiH-Report-508.pdf

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and women. While women made up 51 percent25 of tourism workers in FBiH and RS in 2022,26 they are primarily employed in service jobs such as accommodation (hotels, resorts) and food and beverage services (restaurants, bars), while men dominate fields like winemaking, nature-based activities, and adventure tourism.27 Government officials from tourism sector interviewed through

CLGA observe that women in hospitality mostly work as hygienic and sanitary staff or sous chefs, but rarely as head chefs. When asked why women predominantly occupy these positions, all government officials from the tourism sector interviewed through CLGA indicated that women themselves define their roles as primarily caregiver, child bearer, and homemaker. Women’s conformity with such roles, the KIs continue, prevent women from investing more in their careers.

Additionally, some CLGA KIs (government officials from the tourism sector) expressed a belief that women are unwilling to, rather than prevented from, taking on roles that require greater responsibility or time commitment. One of these KIs even shared her personal experience, stating that she does not pursue higher career goals because she feels unable to balance the demands of the job with her family responsibilities.

While government officials acknowledge the importance of gender issues, they see gender equality work as secondary to their main responsibilities, thus limiting engagement in gender-related initiatives and training. When discussing the lack of interest among government officials in tourism toward attending training and education sessions on gender, the officials interviewed through the CLGA emphasized that gender equality is not their institution’s core responsibility, although they recognized the importance of gender as a cross-cutting issue. Same

CLGA KIs reveal that gender-related work is seen as commendable and even desirable but is rarely prioritized because it is not “part of their [government officials’] job descriptions.” This suggests an institutionalized, culturally conditioned expectation that government officials engage in gender-related work only when their core sectoral activities permit it, rather than viewing it as integral to the primary functions of government. Gender Centers are involved with line ministries, including the

Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, in activities such as development of strategies.

However, the BiH Gender Action Plan 2023-2027 does not cite any joint activities with tourism institutions aiming at changing the institutional culture in which government officials view gender issues as secondary to the core responsibilities of government institutions.28

ACCESS TO AND CONTROL OVER ASSETS AND RESOURCES

Women in tourism face challenges in accessing finance through the banking system, particularly due to limited ownership of assets required for securing loans. External evaluation of the Turizam Activity found that banks in BiH perceive the tourism sector as highly volatile, and that banks rarely hand out loans to companies in tourism, especially without collateral.29

25 Since data from BHAS is not disaggregated by gender, this number is MEASURE’s own calculation based on available data from entity statistics institutions, namely FBiH Statistics Institute and Republika Statistics

Institute. The authors counted employed women compared to women and men in the following (sub)sectors:

Accommodation and food service activities; Travel agency, tours operation reservation service and related activities; Creative, arts and entertainment activities; and Libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural activities.

26 BD data is not available disaggregated by industry subsectors, and was thus omitted.

27 FBiH Ministry of Environment and Tourism (2022). FBiH Tourism Development Strategy 2022-2027. Available at:

https://www.fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/bosanska%20FINALNI_FBIH%20STRATEGIJA%20RAZVOJA%20TURIZM

A%202022-2027%20novembar%202023.pdf 28 Gender Center of FBiH. Available at https://www.gcfbih.gov.ba/ and Gender Center of RS. Available at https://vladars.rs/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/centri/gendercentarrs and BiH Agency for Gender Equality (2023). Gender

Action Plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2023-2027. Available at https://www.gcfbih.gov.ba/gender-akcioni-plan-bih-za-period-2023-2027-godine/ 29 MEASURE II (2023). Performance Evaluation of USAID/BIH’s Developing Sustainable Tourism in BiH

(Turizam). Available at https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina https://www.fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/bosanska%20FINALNI_FBIH%20STRATEGIJA%20RAZVOJA%20TURIZMA%202022-2027%20novembar%202023.pdf https://www.fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/bosanska%20FINALNI_FBIH%20STRATEGIJA%20RAZVOJA%20TURIZMA%202022-2027%20novembar%202023.pdf https://www.gcfbih.gov.ba/ https://vladars.rs/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/centri/gendercentarrs/OCen/Pages/default.aspx https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina

11 | MEASURE: ACTIVITY-LEVEL GENDER ANALYSIS — TOURISM SECTOR USAID.GOV

KIs are also aware that banks in BiH are extremely risk-averse when it comes to handing out bank loans. Although country data from BiH Agency for Statistics indicates that in 2023 women and men in accommodation and food services30 — the largest subsectors of tourism — earned similar wages, their wages are still the lowest among economic sectors.31 Such low wages may further deter already hesitant banks from handing out loans to those employed in the tourism sector. Apart from the low wages, women rarely have access to assets such as real estate or land, which are necessary to secure a loan to help women launch or invest in their businesses.32 Data shows that in 2023, women were involved in 24 percent of all land transactions, 33 percent of house sales, and 44 percent of apartment sales in the real estate market in FBIH.33 In RS, data shows women participated in 34 percent of all real estate transactions in 2023.34 While KIs stated that women’s lack of collateral is not an issue peculiar to tourism, lack of access to finance acts as an impeding factor for female entrepreneurship in the sector.

Although skills-related issues challenge overall entrepreneurship in tourism, these challenges are more pronounced among women, particularly in rural areas. CLGA KIs perceive that women in cities have more access to education and financial resources than those in rural areas. USAID/Turizam GA also found that women in rural areas have limited access to tourists due to weak connections with tourism intermediaries and gaps in language, online communication, booking, and sales skills. USAID/Turizam GA identified concrete, skills-related issues as a barrier for female entrepreneurship in tourism. These barriers include a lack of financial literacy, capacity for business plan development and business registration, know-how for price setting, branding, packaging and marketing/promotion, online communication, and foreign language skills, among others.35 While these issues are identified among both men and women, they are more prevalent among small- and medium-sized producers where the concentration of women-led businesses is larger.36

There exist interventions by USAID/BiH, the government and civil society organizations that aim to cushion the effect of gender disparities in the sector and support female entrepreneurship. USAID/BiH targeted female participants for programs designed to increase access to productive economic resources, such as assets, credit, income, and employment through initiatives like microenterprise support, workforce development with job placement, asset-building programs, agricultural support, and financial inclusion efforts. Further, CLGA KIs reveal that the FBiH Ministry of Environment and Tourism (FMET) allocates additional points on grant applications to women. However, CLGA KIs report that the number of female-led applicants to their grant programs is generally low, albeit with a rising trend, particularly in the Una-

Sana Canton. Other KIs explain the rising trend in Una Sana Canton by the existence of the Center for education and research NAHLA, which acts as a champion of female entrepreneurship in the region.

30 Country-level data on wage disparities is not available for all tourism subsectors. Food and accommodation is the largest subsector by number of people employed according to entity-level data. The analysis team used this data as it can be indictive of the whole sector of tourism.

31 Bosnia and Herzegovina Agency for Statistics (2023). Tematski bilten – Zene i Muskarci u BiH. Available at https://bhas.gov.ba/data/Publikacije/Bilteni/2024/FAM_00_2023_TB_1_BS.pdf 32 MEASURE II (2023). Performance Evaluation of USAID/BIH’s Developing Sustainable Tourism in BiH

(Turizam). Available at https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina 33 Porezna Uprava FBiH (2023). Izvještaj o stanju tržišta nekretnina u Federaciji BiH za 2023. godinu. Available at https://www.katastar.ba/download/Izvjestaj_RCN_2023.pdf

34Republicka uprava za geodetske i imovinsko-pravne odnose RS (2023). Godisnji izvjestaj o trzistu nepokretnosti Republike Srpske. Available at https://rcn.rgurs.org/reports/report-23sr 35 Turizam (2022). USAID Developing Sustainable Tourism Activity In Bosnia And Herzegovina [Turizam]

Gender Assessment. Available at: https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf 36 Ibid.

https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina https://rcn.rgurs.org/reports/report-23sr

12 | MEASURE: ACTIVITY-LEVEL GENDER ANALYSIS — TOURISM SECTOR USAID.GOV

PATTERNS OF POWER AND DECISION-MAKING

Women are found in leadership roles in the government sector, unlike the private sector and business associations and trade unions. Women can be found in tourism decision-making roles at higher levels of government. Most notably, a woman is currently heading the FMET.

A woman was also heading the RS Ministry of Trade and Tourism between 2019 and 2023.37

Within the private sector, women are less present in higher-level roles, and only 27.3 percent of all businesses in RS, and 27 percent of all businesses in FBiH, were owned by women in 2021.38 Women more often own tourism agencies and predominantly are city guides.39 Additionally, a CLGA KI noted that men make up the majority of management positions of hotels, but that there are several women directors too. Men are more prevalent among key partners of government institutions, namely heads of employer associations and unions,40 and hence they are more often partners in social dialogues discussing crucial decisions in the sector.41

RECOMMENDATIONS

On the basis of this analysis, MEASURE submits the following recommendations for USAID consideration:

● Further support implementation of tourism development strategies for FBiH and RS. For example, support to FBiH can focus on addressing the lack of affirmative action incentives, while support to RS and BD can emphasize integrating gender perspectives across all areas of the strategy. Gender Centers should be involved in such support.

● Continue and expand USAID/BiH’s support for tourism enterprises to adopt the

WEPs. This can be done through a targeted program that provides technical assistance to businesses in implementing these principles, with special emphasis on micro, small, and medium enterprises.

● Support advocacy efforts for the introduction of regulations requiring tourism industry businesses to train staff in identifying and responding to potential cases of sex trafficking and labor exploitation. Training and education materials should include recognizing risk factors and following clear protocols for reporting suspicious activities.

● Support changes to the Law on Crafts that would enable small crafts producers to register their businesses. Support updating the Classification of Economic Activities, as well as introducing female-dominant sectors, such as natural cosmetics, into the

Classification.

● Continue disbursing grants aimed at covering the high costs for certification necessary for export, enabling women-owned businesses to meet export standards and realize growth opportunities. Consider providing a clear pathway for small women-owned businesses to prepare for and enter EU markets. This could involve

37 Turizam (2022). USAID Developing Sustainable Tourism Activity In Bosnia And Herzegovina [Turizam]

Gender Assessment. Available at: https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf 38 UN Women (2021). Bosnia and Herzegovina: Women Entrepreneurs. Available at https://eca.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Field%20Office%20ECA/Attachments/Publications/2021/8/Expo%20R eport/Bosnia%20and%20Herzegovina_Factsheet-min.pdf 39 MEASURE II (forthcoming). Country Gender Analysis: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turizam (2022). USAID

Developing Sustainable Tourism Activity In Bosnia And Herzegovina [Turizam] Gender Assessment. Available at: https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf .

40 Ibid.

41 MEASURE II (forthcoming). Country Gender Analysis: Bosnia and Herzegovina https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf

13 | MEASURE: ACTIVITY-LEVEL GENDER ANALYSIS — TOURISM SECTOR USAID.GOV

technical support for achieving quality certifications, assistance with export logistics, and connecting producers with EU buyers.

● Continue collecting and reporting gender-disaggregated data on participation, employment, and training outcomes for USAID/BiH interventions. For example, a capacity-building program could track the number of women trained and hired, while a follow-up assessment a year later could provide insights into participants' long-term outcomes.

● Address entrenched gender roles in the whole of society through public awareness campaigns targeting the general population and government officials.

Public awareness campaigns could showcase men and women in diverse roles both at home and in the workplace to reduce stereotypes and encourage more balanced gender participation across job types in tourism and hospitality.

● Collaborate with entity Gender Centers and officials in government tourism institutions to build an awareness among government officials that gender considerations are essential for long-term success in their sectoral work. These activities should aim to help government officials understand that fostering gender balance will, over time, lead to improved results within their specific sectors.

● Continue providing targeted training and skill-development programs for women tourism workers, with an emphasis on women in rural areas. Conducting a market analysis of tourism products and the labor force could be beneficial to inform the design of targeted, women-oriented interventions based on geographical location, urban/rural placement, income level, and sector-related challenges women face in advancing their businesses. Targeted training and skill-development programs could include confidence-building and risk-readiness training programs for women entrepreneurs to help address concerns about risk-taking, business visibility, and accessing tourism intermediaries.

● Include CSO champions who support women in tourism into tourism-related interventions. Build on positive examples and lessons learned from regions where the number of women interested in tourism development programs increased, such as from

Una-Sana Canton. Consider identifying such potential champions in other regions and including them in Activity implementation.

● Plan future interventions with attention to avoiding reinforcing negative cultural norms. For instance, interventions commonly funded by donors, such as supporting agricultural tourism products, may support female entrepreneurship, but they may also risk reinforcing traditional views that women are suited only for small-scale production in and around the home, rather than larger-scale operations. For this reason, targeted interventions should ensure that beneficiaries are equipped with knowledge and skills required to explore other work models (e.g., tourism CSOs, production cooperatives) and grow their businesses.

ANNEX I - DOCUMENTS REVIEWED

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Available at https://6yka.com/bih/zene-u-bh-turizmu-pomjeraju-granice-a-rade-za-14-nize-plate-od-muskaraca/

2. FBiH Ministry of Environment and Tourism (2022). FBiH Tourism Development Strategy

2022-2027. Available at:

https://www.fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/bosanska%20FINALNI_FBIH%20STRATEGIJA%20RAZV

OJA%20TURIZMA%202022-2027%20novembar%202023.pdf

3. Government of FBiH (2024). Law on the Special Registry of Persons Convicted of Criminal

Offenses Against Sexual Freedom and Morality Involving Children and Minors in the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Available at https://fbihvlada.gov.ba/hr/3-zakon-o-posebnom-registru-lica-pravomocno-osudenih-za-krivicna-djela-protiv-spolne-slobode-i-morala-prema-djeci-i-maloljetnicima-u-federaciji-bosne-i-hercegovini

4. MEASURE II (2023). Performance Evaluation of USAID/BIH’s Developing Sustainable

Tourism in BiH (Turizam). Available at https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina

5. MEASURE II (2024). National Survey of Citizens’ Perceptions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Available at https://www.measurebih.com/uimages/2023-NSCP-BiH-Report-508.pdf

6. MEASURE II (forthcoming). Country Gender Analysis: Bosnia and Herzegovina.

7. Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Law on Gender Equality. Available at https://arsbih.gov.ba/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/GEL_32_10_E.pdf

8. Porezna Uprava FBiH (2023). Izvještaj o stanju tržišta nekretnina u Federaciji BiH za 2023.

godinu.Izvjestaj o Available at https://www.katastar.ba/download/Izvjestaj_RCN_2023.pdf

9. Republicka uprava za geodetske i imovinsko-pravne odnose RS (2023). Godisnji izvjestaj o trzistu nepokretnosti Republike Srpske. Available at https://rcn.rgurs.org/reports/report-23sr

10. RS Government (2019). Strategija razvoja preduzetnistva zena Republike Srpske za period

2019-2023. Available at https://komorars.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Strategija-razvoja-preduzetnistva-zena-Republike-Srpske-za-period-2019-2023.pdf

11. RS Government (2021). RS Tourism Development Strategy 2021-2027. Available at https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vladaf

12. RS Government (2021). RS Tourism Development Strategy 2021-2027. Available at https://www.vladars.net/documents

13. Sathyanarayanan, S., Kavenagh, M. and Varella, (2018). Bosnia and Herzegovina Country

Overview: A report on the scale, scope and context of the sexual exploitation of children.

Available at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ECPAT-Country-

Overview-Report-Bosnia-Herzegovina-2018.pdf

14. Turizam (2022). Gender Assessment in the Tourism Sector. Available at:

https://academy.turizambih.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tourism-gender-assessment_usaid-turizam.pdf

15. UN Women (2021). Bosnia and Herzegovina: Women Entrepreneurs. Available at https://eca.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Field%20Office%20ECA/Attachments/Publications/

2021/8/Expo%20Report/Bosnia%20and%20Herzegovina_Factsheet-min.pdf

16. US Department of State (2020). 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report: Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Available at https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-persons-report/bosnia-and-herzegovina

17. World Bank (2020). Bosna i Hercegovina: azurirana sistematska dijagnostika zemlje. Available at https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/115651591353775302/pdf/Bosnia-and-

Herzegovina-Systematic-Country-Diagnostic-Update.pdf https://6yka.com/bih/zene-u-bh-turizmu-pomjeraju-granice-a-rade-za-14-nize-plate-od-muskaraca/ https://6yka.com/bih/zene-u-bh-turizmu-pomjeraju-granice-a-rade-za-14-nize-plate-od-muskaraca/ https://6yka.com/bih/zene-u-bh-turizmu-pomjeraju-granice-a-rade-za-14-nize-plate-od-muskaraca/ https://www.fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/bosanska%20FINALNI_FBIH%20STRATEGIJA%20RAZVOJA%20TURIZMA%202022-2027%20novembar%202023.pdf https://www.fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/bosanska%20FINALNI_FBIH%20STRATEGIJA%20RAZVOJA%20TURIZMA%202022-2027%20novembar%202023.pdf https://www.fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/bosanska%20FINALNI_FBIH%20STRATEGIJA%20RAZVOJA%20TURIZMA%202022-2027%20novembar%202023.pdf https://www.fmoit.gov.ba/upload/file/bosanska%20FINALNI_FBIH%20STRATEGIJA%20RAZVOJA%20TURIZMA%202022-2027%20novembar%202023.pdf https://fbihvlada.gov.ba/hr/3-zakon-o-posebnom-registru-lica-pravomocno-osudenih-za-krivicna-djela-protiv-spolne-slobode-i-morala-prema-djeci-i-maloljetnicima-u-federaciji-bosne-i-hercegovini https://fbihvlada.gov.ba/hr/3-zakon-o-posebnom-registru-lica-pravomocno-osudenih-za-krivicna-djela-protiv-spolne-slobode-i-morala-prema-djeci-i-maloljetnicima-u-federaciji-bosne-i-hercegovini https://fbihvlada.gov.ba/hr/3-zakon-o-posebnom-registru-lica-pravomocno-osudenih-za-krivicna-djela-protiv-spolne-slobode-i-morala-prema-djeci-i-maloljetnicima-u-federaciji-bosne-i-hercegovini https://fbihvlada.gov.ba/hr/3-zakon-o-posebnom-registru-lica-pravomocno-osudenih-za-krivicna-djela-protiv-spolne-slobode-i-morala-prema-djeci-i-maloljetnicima-u-federaciji-bosne-i-hercegovini https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina https://measurebih.com/performance-evaluation-of-usaid-bih-s-developing-sustainable-tourism-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina https://www.measurebih.com/uimages/2023-NSCP-BiH-Report-508.pdf https://www.measurebih.com/uimages/2023-NSCP-BiH-Report-508.pdf https://arsbih.gov.ba/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/GEL_32_10_E.pdf https://arsbih.gov.ba/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/GEL_32_10_E.pdf https://arsbih.gov.ba/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/GEL_32_10_E.pdf https://rcn.rgurs.org/reports/report-23sr https://rcn.rgurs.org/reports/report-23sr https://komorars.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Strategija-razvoja-preduzetnistva-zena-Republike-Srpske-za-period-2019-2023.pdf https://komorars.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Strategija-razvoja-preduzetnistva-zena-Republike-Srpske-za-period-2019-2023.pdf https://komorars.ba/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Strategija-razvoja-preduzetnistva-zena-Republike-Srpske-za-period-2019-2023.pdf https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/MTT/Documents/%D0%A1%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%B0%20%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5%20%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B5%202021-2027_184076603.pdf https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/MTT/Documents/%D0%A1%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%B0%20%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5%20%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B5%202021-2027_184076603.pdf https://www.vladars.net/sr-SP-Cyrl/Vlada/Ministarstva/MTT/Documents/%D0%A1%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%98%D0%B0%20%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%B0%20%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5%20%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B5%202021-2027_184076603.pdf…