Gender mainstreaming in Montenegrin parliament focus of OSCE Mission training course

In an effort to ensure that gender equality is a core component in legislative drafting, the OSCE Mission, in co-operation with the Parliamentary Committee for Gender Equality in Montenegro, held a training course on gender mainstreaming on 18 and 19 September 2018 in Podgorica.

Members of Parliament and parliamentary committee staff discussed how to analyse legislation from a gender perspective, strategize to mainstream gender in state institutions and develop gender equality policy consistent with international standards.

“We want to support the parliament in its efforts to translate its legislative commitments into good practices, to become more and more a gender-sensitive parliament,” says Ana Krušić, Senior Programme Assistant at the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro has been working in partnership with the parliament for many years on projects which, in addition to the promotion of gender mainstreaming, have included capacity building of committees, working with administrative staff and supporting exchanges of regional experiences.

Gender expert Karolina Leaković, who led the training course, said: “Co-operation with the parliament and its service is important because the parliament is at the centre of the legislative process and has an important role in developing gender-sensitive legislation and promoting principles of gender equality.”

The training course is a part of the education on gender equality and gender mainstreaming envisaged by the Action Plan for a Gender Sensitive Parliament, which was developed and adopted by the Committee with the support of the Mission and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The first course was organized in April this year.