Gender equality

The OSCE aims to integrate gender equality into policies and practices in order to foster peace, sustainable democracy and economic development.

(OSCE/Volodymyr Gontar) Photo details

The OSCE recognizes that equal rights and opportunities for women and men are essential to peace, democracy and sustainable economic and environmental development.

The participating States have declared their commitment to gender equality in the 1999 Charter for European Security, the 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality and related decisions.

The Secretariat’s Programme for Gender Issues, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and all other OSCE executive structures work to implement the OSCE’s commitments on gender equality.

Security

The OSCE supports the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. The organization works to ensure that peace agreements and security measures reflect the different perspectives and protect the human rights of both men and women. The OSCE promotes the meaningful participation of women in peace efforts and security institutions, thereby improving their effectiveness.

Public and political life

The OSCE works to promote non-discriminatory laws and policies and increase women’s participation in politics and the electoral processes. Women are equal members of society and have a strong role to play in public and political life.

Economic and environmental activities

The OSCE considers men and women's equal rights and opportunities as a cornerstone to build prosperous and cohesive societies. It addresses imbalances by promoting gender-responsive socioeconomic and environmental policies while fostering men and women's equal participation in decision-making processes. The aim is to ensure that men and women can contribute equally to a peaceful and stable OSCE region."

Combating violence against women

The OSCE works with participating States to combat violence against women by collecting data, assisting with the development of robust policies and providing information and legal assistance to potential victims and survivors and enhancing the capacities of law enforcement and service providers. Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation and a threat to the life of communities.

Within the OSCE

The OSCE mainstreams gender into all of its programmes, projects and activities. It is implementing measures to achieve gender parity in all levels of staff and management and has adopted a zero-tolerance policy on sexual discrimination and harassment within its executive structures.

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OSCE in Action

Information and activities on Gender equality from across the Organization.

Institutions and Structures

OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Gender equality

Gender equality in the OSCE region is improving but significant inequalities persist. ODIHR works to strengthen gender-equality institutions, identify discriminatory laws and policies, and increase women’s participation in politics and electoral processes. Through gender equality training for parliamentarians, civil society and security sector personnel, and by encouraging women’s recruitment and promotion within the security ranks, ODIHR supports effective institutions, policies and programmes that reflect the needs and interests of both men and women.

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Legislative support

Good and effective legislation is the foundation of every functioning state based on the rule of law. Laws should be adopted through democratic procedures and be clear and concise. To ensure the quality and effectiveness of laws related to the human dimension, ODIHR supports participating States by reviewing their law-making systems and relevant draft and existing legislation. In providing such support, the Office draws on legislative guidelines in specific areas, such as election, freedom of assembly and political party legislation, as well as the resources of Legislationline.org, ODIHR’s online legislative database.

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Field Operations

OSCE Centre in Ashgabat

The Centre works and maintains partnerships with national legislative and human rights institutions, public organizations and unions on a number of issues and projects targeting gender mainstreaming and domestic violence. The Centre ensures the promotion of gender equality by providing expert and legal advice to relevant national authorities and stakeholders in Turkmenistan on gender-related commitments.

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OSCE Mission in Kosovo

Women’s empowerment, gender equality and women’s rights are at the core of all the OSCE Mission’s activities. The Mission focuses on supporting enactment and implementation of non-discriminatory legal frameworks and policies. Particular attention is given to women’s participation in public and political life and gender-responsive budgeting to ensure that the interests of women and men are equally taken into account in all public policies.

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OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina

In order to combat gender inequality, the Mission actively integrates a gender perspective into all aspects of its political and programmatic work concentrating on promoting women’s political participation and eradicating gender-based violence.

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OSCE Mission to Montenegro

An overarching priority for the Mission is to reduce inequalities between men and women and mainstream gender equality within national institutions and municipalities in line with the 2004 OSCE gender action plan.

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OSCE Mission to Serbia

Working with Serbia’s independent human rights bodies, state and local institutions, and civil society organizations, the Mission runs a number of activities to mainstream gender equality in policy and practice. Among others, it supports a mentoring programme for young women – in particular from the Roma community – to help them with their career choices; organizes an annual summer school; and supports the parliament and the Women’s Parliamentary Network in their efforts to monitor the implementation of gender-related policies.

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OSCE Mission to Skopje

The Mission has contributed to setting up and improving the country’s legislative and institutional infrastructure in the field of gender equality and non-discrimination. It assisted the government with drafting the Law for Equal Opportunities of Women and Men. It also initiates discussions on gender mainstreaming and supports capacity building for establishing a female mentoring network for the National Council for Gender Equality.

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OSCE Presence in Albania

The Presence promotes civil society development and youth mainstreaming by engaging with civil society, youth leaders and activists at the central and local level through civil society forums, meetings, public activities, field visits and online events. The Presence supports women empowerment and women access to decision-making through a series of interventions ranging from donor co-ordination efforts to direct support to raise the capacities of locally elected women officials.

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OSCE Programme Office in Astana

The Office works with civil society and government agencies to raise awareness for gender issues in society and to promote the participation of women in politics and economy at decision-making levels. It provides expertise to improve the legislative framework on equal rights and opportunities for women and men, as well as on preventing and combating domestic violence, and trains local non-governmental organizations on these issues.

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OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek

In support of Kyrgyzstan’s National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality and the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the OSCE Programme Office works with key actors in the country to help raise awareness of gender aspects of security, women’s participation in public life, and the involvement of men in promoting gender equality. It supports a network of Women’s Initiative Groups and helps establish referral mechanisms between local self-government bodies, police and communities on addressing and preventing gender-based violence. The Programme Office emphasizes the significance of gender equality in the security sector by supporting female professionals across law enforcement agencies.

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OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe

To strengthen the participation of women in public and political life, the Programme Office works with Tajikistan's authorities, political parties and civil society in capacity-building programmes that support greater access to rights and opportunities. It co-operates with the police and local communities to prevent and combat domestic violence by offering training that helps police respond to cases and assists civil society in developing psychosocial and legal services for families in need. The Programme Office also supports a nationwide network of resource centres that act as crisis centres and community focal points for women and families.

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