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 of women and men are essential to foster peace, sustainable democracy and economic development.

The OSCE aims to provide equal opportunities for women and men, as well as to integrate gender equality into policies and practices, both within participating States and the Organization itself. With local partners, the OSCE develops and runs projects across the OSCE region to empower women, and build local capacities and expertise on gender issues. It co-operates with authorities in reviewing legislation and assists in building national mechanisms to ensure equality between women and men.

The 57 OSCE participating States have adopted several specific policies and measures in support of gender equality. The Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality provides the main framework for OSCE activities on gender equality and assigns responsibilities and tasks to the Organization’s Secretariat, Institutions and field operations as well as to participating States, including:

Ensuring that all OSCE policies, programmes and activities are gender mainstreamed;
Providing staff members with tools and training on gender mainstreaming;
Developing a professional, gender-sensitive management culture and working environment;
Increasing the representation of female managers in higher positions;
Supporting the efforts of participating States in achieving gender equality;
Setting specific priorities for the promotion of women’s rights;
Highlighting and promoting the role of women in conflict prevention and peace reconstruction processes; and
Monitoring and evaluating progress on the implementation of the Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality. The OSCE Secretary General presents a progress report annually to the Permanent Council.

List of OSCE commitments related to gender equality

The Gender Section, within the Office of the OSCE Secretary General, assists with the integration of a gender perspective into the Organization’s policies and programmes in the three dimensions of security: the politico-military, the economic and environmental, and the human dimension. The Gender Section implements thematic programmes and develops operational tools, guidelines and capacity building materials to assist staff members and participating States.

The OSCE has appointed gender focal points in each field operation and Institution, as well as in all departments of the Organization’s Secretariat. They are tasked with raising awareness and supporting OSCE staff in mainstreaming gender issues in different policies, programmes and projects.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) implements programmes on increasing the participation of women in the political and public arena, capacity building of women’s networks, combating violence against women and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 emphasizing the involvement of women in conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.

The Parliamentary Assembly has appointed a Special Representative on Gender Issues, whose responsibility is to mainstream gender issues in the Assembly’s decisions, reports and resolutions.

Gender equality

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Highlights

Photo gallery: Oath-taking ceremony and launch of new police patrol unit

Kyiv, 4 July 2015

Real men don't beat women!

Video prepared by the OSCE Mission to Moldova for the annual 16-Day Campaign against Gender-Based Violence

Mentoring workshop for psychologists to combat domestic violence

Organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova in Chisinau, 22 May 2015

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Gender equality

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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OSCE Secretariat

Gender equality

The OSCE recognizes that equal rights and opportunities for women and men are fundamental to achieving comprehensive security, and has committed to ensuring that a gender perspective is integrated into all its activities. To do this effectively, the Secretariat’s Gender Section gives support to all OSCE structures, field operations and participating States.

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Field Operations

OSCE Centre in Ashgabat

The Centre works with a local public organization on a number of awareness-raising projects targeting gender equality and domestic violence issues. It helps the organization establish and maintain a support centre of victims of domestic violence, run a hotline service, and provide legal and psychological consultations for these victims. The Centre runs workshops and seminars on gender legislation reform and good law enforcement practices to prevent domestic violence.

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OSCE Mission in Kosovo

The Mission promotes women’s empowerment, gender equality and women’s rights by supporting the development and implementation of non-discriminatory legal frameworks and policies. There is a particular focus on women’s participation in public decision-making and gender-responsive budgeting, ensuring that the interests of women and men are equally taken into account.

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OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Women continue to be severely under-represented at all levels of public and political life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Gender-based violence remains widespread and under-reported, and the implications for the security of women remain a marginal issue in the political agenda.

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OSCE Mission to Moldova

The Mission advocates for a greater participation of women in political and public life in Moldova. It works with the authorities and civil society to introduce international gender equality standards in the country and helps produce and distribute law manuals and handbooks for judges, prosecutors and lawyers. It also supports an anti-trafficking and gender network, which provides information on activities, news and events in this field.

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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

To help increase the participation of women in Albania’s political life, the Presence works towards the re-establishment and strengthening of gender mechanisms at national and local levels, which in turn would improve the level of implementation of gender-related legislation. It also trains women leaders and helped in the re-establishment of a Women’s Caucus in the country’s Assembly.

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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, the Office works with key actors in the country and helps 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 communities and the police on gender-based violence. The Office emphasises the significance of gender in the security sector; supporting female professionals across law enforcement agencies. To this end, the Office supports the Kyrgyz Association of Women Police (KAWP) and the Kyrgyz Association of Women in Security Sector (KAWSS) to empower the roles of women in security sector governance.

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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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OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine

In line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, the Co-ordinator works to ensure the pivotal role of women in crisis situations. The Project Co-ordinator helps Ukraine execute the National Action Plan for the implementation of the Resolution, developed jointly with other international partners.

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