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EU Statement
- The European Union and its Member States thank the Chairpersonship-in-Office of North Macedonia for organising this important and timely meeting. Gender equality is a fundamental human rights principle of the EU, directly related to the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security and an inherent part of our common commitments. The three main topics of the conference, reflecting all three OSCE dimensions, are highly relevant for the advancing of gender equality in the OSCE area and beyond.
- Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine has highlighted the importance of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and its implementation in our region. We see the importance of the leadership of the Ukrainian women who - as soldiers, diplomats, journalists, civil society representatives, or politicians - contribute to putting an end to this war. The growing evidence of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) shows the enormous need for focusing also on recognizing vulnerabilities and providing protection. We will do our utmost to ensure accountability and justice for the survivors and victims. As the largest regional security organization in the world and a key instrument for early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation, the OSCE can make a strong contribution to the regional implementation of the WPS agenda. We recall our unwavering support for the elaboration of an OSCE-wide Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and express our gratitude to the OSCE Secretariat, ODIHR and the field missions for contributing to the implementation of the WPS agenda.
- Mr/Ms Chairperson, the OSCE participating States have recognized that corruption represents one of the major impediments to the prosperity and sustainable development of societies. Corruption undermines their stability and security and threatens the OSCE’s shared values. Furthermore, participating States have acknowledged that corruption disproportionately affects women, calling for further efforts to promote their full, equal, and meaningful participation in the development and implementation of relevant anti-corruption activities, with the view to achieve gender equality. The EU calls for the implementation of all commitments in this regard and welcomes the Secretary General’s and the Secretariat´s efforts to highlight the linkages between gender and corruption and to promote gender-responsive anti-corruption policies.
- The full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all aspects of political and public life is the fundament of a democratic society, helping advance gender equality and affecting both the range of policy issues considered and the solutions proposed. To counter women’s underrepresentation, it is essential to eliminate discrimination and SGBV as well as to empower women and girls, so that everyone has equal opportunities to contribute to political and public life.
- In the context of existing challenges to ensuring full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all matters concerning peace and security and achieving gender equality as outlined in the course of this conference, our OSCE commitments are more relevant than ever. We call on all participating States to live up to them as we will mark 20 years of the OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality next year.
