OSCE commits to new gender equality targets at Generation Equality Forum in Paris

PARIS, 1 July 2021 – The OSCE has pledged to improve gender equality by taking action on Gender Based Violence, Economic Justice and Rights and Technology & Innovation.

The commitments come as part of the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, the largest global gathering on gender equality since the World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. The OSCE Secretary-General, Helga Schmid, joined the Forum at the invitation of the French government and UN Women, also meeting with its host, President Emmanuel Macron.

“It has been inspiring to hear from civil society, youth representatives, governments and business, who all share a fierce and heartfelt commitment to overcome disparities and improve gender equality.

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly set us back - impacting girls’ access to education, hindering women’s economic empowerment, and sparking a worrying rise in domestic violence. So it is high time we renew our commitment and accelerate progress, to build a more equal future. The OSCE is determined to play its part,” Schmid said.

Specifically, OSCE Executive Structures committed at the Forum to:

-          Implement activities in all areas of our mandates and build capacity of our staff to prevent and combat gender-based violence/violence against women and girls, including trafficking in human beings.

-          Contribute to closing the gender digital gap by 2026, by ensuring that 80% of all its technology and innovation projects, programs and activities are fully gender mainstreamed.

-          Provide capacity-building to OSCE participating States to strengthen legal and policy frameworks that combat violence faced by women and girls through digital technologies.

-          Recommend policy and legal frameworks that ensure women’s access to the labour market, with special attention on State-supported maternal, child and elderly care services;

-          Promote an enabling business environment for women’s entrepreneurs, including access to credit and fiscal incentives as well as legal and other support services; especially in the digital economy;

-          Support policies and services in the social and economic sphere which address the specific needs of women in vulnerable situations and from socially marginalized groups, including survivors of violence and human trafficking, as well as women belonging to minority groups.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has independently joined the Action Coalitions on Gender-Based Violence and on Feminist Movements and Leadership.

In addition, the OSCE has become a Catalytic Member of the Forum’s Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action. The OSCE will target two priority areas of the Compact, bringing together women mediators and peacebuilders, and partnering with women’s networks to advance their leadership.

The actions undertaken are in line with the 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality.