Gender and comprehensive security in focus at annual OSCE, UN and Council of Europe meeting

VIENNA, 14 June 2010 - Achieving peace and stability requires equal inclusion of both women and men, OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut said today at a meeting between the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

"In order to be successful and sustainable, all efforts to manage conflict and to establish long-term stability and peace require the inclusion of women and men on an equal basis," de Brichambaut said.

Gender and comprehensive security was the topic of the annual High-Level Tripartite Meeting, organized this year by the OSCE.

More than 50 participants discussed lessons learned and possibilities for enhanced co-operation between international and regional organizations to take gender aspects into account in efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts and to combat violence against women and girls during, before and after armed conflicts.

De Brichambaut said that despite efforts by the OSCE and others, "there is still a lot of work to be done".

"Women continue to suffer from different forms of violence, they are left out of peace negotiations, and their talent is still insufficiently used in economic and political decision-making spheres around the world," he added.

De Brichambaut said that OSCE missions and institutions work to promote the UN Security Council's Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Stability. He pointed to such examples as an OSCE project that aims to increase the representation of women in the military and police and an online coaching module that seeks to integrate gender perspectives in conflict prevention, policing, military reform and border management. In its efforts to combat domestic violence, the OSCE supports hotlines for victims and works with the police and legislators.

The OSCE, the UN and the Council of Europe convened the meeting and issued a Joint Communiqué at its end. The OSCE Chairmanship and Troika; the EU, the International Organization for Migration, the International Committee of Red Cross, NATO and the Collective Security Treaty Organization also participated in the meeting.

The Tripartite Meeting has been held annually since 1993.