Concrete action needed to achieve gender equality in OSCE region, say participants at OSCE Second Gender Equality Review Conference

VIENNA, 12 June 2017 – Participants in the second OSCE Gender Equality Review Conference in Vienna stressed today that more systematic and concrete action is needed to achieve progress advancing towards gender equality in the OSCE area.

The two-day event is organized by the OSCE Gender Section, the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and aims to assess progress in the implementation of the 2004 Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality while taking into account the recommendations from the 2014 Conference.

The high-level conference brings together representatives of OSCE participating States, Partners for Co-operation, executive structures, civil society organizations and academia to discuss challenges and gaps, exchange good practices and identify areas for action in the short and medium terms.

Sophie Karmasin, Austria’s Federal Minister for Families and Youth, opened the conference, underlining the importance of addressing gender equality across the politico-military, economic and environmental and human dimensions of the OSCE, in order to build societies in which women and men are fully equal in all spheres of life.  

“Women make up half the world’s population and they must not be marginalized and excluded from exercising the same rights as men. Equal rights and participation for women are essential contributors to stability and security for all,” Karmasin said.

Referring to the OSCE’s efforts in gender mainstreaming, aimed at integrating a gender perspective throughout its programmes, as well as in the technical assistance it offers to governments of participating States, Karmasin said that this approach can move gender equality forward in a substantial way and allow for women’s voices to be heard.

“The realization of Gender Equality is a characteristic of a modern and peaceful society. I fight for this kind of peaceful and just world. Women can change a lot; we only have to let them participate to contribute,” stressed Karmasin.

Director of the Office of the OSCE Secretary General Paul Bekkers highlighted the impact the Gender Action Plan has had on the OSCE, noting positive achievements since its adoption, such as an increase in programmes and projects that are gender mainstreamed across all three dimensions. “OSCE Executive Structures have stepped up their work to assist OSCE participating States with the implementation of their gender equality commitments,” he said. “Gender equality, apart from being a matter of human rights, is a prerequisite for achieving and maintaining peace and stability in the OSCE region.”

Katarzyna Gardapkhadze, First Deputy Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said: “We must continue to support gender equality, women’s rights and women’s participation across the OSCE participating States, across political lines, across religious lines, across any lines. Women’s rights are crucial to human rights, democracy, stability and prosperity in the OSCE region, and we must not allow these rights to be compromised.”