News and press releases

Today, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mission) marked a significant milestone in its ongoing initiative to strengthen gender representation in law enforcement through the provision of IT equipment to the Police Women’s Network Association and the RS Ministry of Interior Women’s Network (RS WPON).

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe organized a five-day training course titled “Facilitation and Conflict Prevention: Fundamentals and Practical Approaches”, which took place from 28 October to 2 November 2024. The course brought together 26 facilitators from the OSCE-supported Women's Resource Centres (WRCs), including 23 women.

From 28 to 31 October, the 2024 Central Asian Youth Forum on Combating Human Trafficking convened young leaders, activists, and experts from across the region to address the gendered aspects of trafficking in human beings. The forum, held in the Issyk-Kul province of Kyrgyzstan, concluded with the development of a regional co-operation plan for 2025, along with a media campaign.

With the aim to empower aspiring women in cybersecurity, the OSCE Presence in Albania, in partnership with the National Cybersecurity Authority, organized a workshop featuring testimonies and panel discussions from successful female leaders in the field, on 24 October 2024.

On 17 and 18 October 2024, the OSCE hosted the second in-person meeting of women professionals from Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe working on preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (P/CVERLT). Established in February 2023 by the OSCE Secretariat’s Gender Issues Programme WIN Project, in collaboration with the OSCE Secretariat's Transnational Threats Department, the two regional networks comprise 68 women professionals from diverse sectors including government agencies, civil society, academia, media and OSCE field operations.

On 15 and 16 October, the OSCE Secretariat with the support of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and other OSCE Field Operations in Central Asia organized an international seminar that initiated the establishment of the Association of Women in Border and Law Enforcement Agencies in Central Asia. The international seminar, held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, builds on OSCE’s ongoing efforts to empower women officers and strengthen regional security.

The critical role of men in supporting gender equality was discussed at an event organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) CHANGE project and OSCE Gender Issues Programme’s WIN project during this year’s Warsaw Human Dimension Conference.