Concept Note

OSCE is dedicated to supporting the efforts of OSCE participating States in achieving full gender equality. As the 20th anniversary of the 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality approaches, significant progress is noted with regards to gender mainstreaming of policies, capacity building of state and non-state actors, and empowerment of women. However, such progress has proved to be fragile, demonstrating the need to increase engagement of all actors in society on the topic of gender equality. While often gender equality is narrowed as a women’s problem, it affects all members of society and the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality is of key concern, including in the OSCE region.