OSCE invites political parties to sign Gender Equality Pledge ahead of 2014 elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina welcomes today's release of the Gender Equality Pledge for Political Parties by the BiH Gender Equality Agency. The pledge will be open for all political parties in BiH to sign ahead of the 2014 general elections.

“We hope that the pledge will help set the tone early in the pre-election period concerning gender equality and women candidates,” said Nina Suomalainen, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH. “Women candidates should have equal access to the media, equal access to party financing and equal access to campaign tools.”

The Pledge was finalized following open consultations with civil society organizations.

“The OSCE commends the BiH Gender Equality Agency for its initiative and invites all political parties to sign the pledge and advance gender equality in BiH”, Suomalainen said.

The Gender Equality Agency and the OSCE Mission are also partnering to provide training for approximately 400 women candidates running for offices at different levels across BiH. The trainings will focus specifically on campaign and outreach tools aiming to increase women candidates’ access to potential voters.

The full text of the pledge is available here at the website of the BiH Gender Equality Agency.