United Nations Development Programme Report on Women in Eastern Europe and CIS
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 10:28 AM

The United Nations Development Programme released a report (Word, 28 pages) on “accelerated regional progress towards sustainable human development” in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The report highlights reasons why women have been minimally involved in the political process in the region and includes a table of recommended actions toward achieving gender equity. The action plan includes trainings, writing reports, developing regional gender mainstreaming tools, and implementing gender equality projects on the state level.

The Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS (RBEC) of the UNDP will work to promote the participation of women in government, incorporating women’s needs into national policy, and increasing community awareness about gender equality. An overarching theme is to eliminate violence against women, not only because it impacts all of the UN Millennium Development Goals, but because it violates women’s human rights.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which all states in the region are parties, provides a framework from which to work on creating gender equality. Other documents such as the Beijing Platform for Action, the Treaty of Lisbon, and the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review are also discussed in terms of how they already deal with gender equality. The UNDP report then examines why gender inequality still exists, even though states have agreed to promote gender equality through many different venues. Gender-based violence, for example, is cited as a primary concern in that it affects women’s health and women’s human rights.

Compiled from: UNDP Regional Report on Women and Governance, UNDP: Europe & CIS, 2008; Regional Gender Equality Strategy, 2008-2011, UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS (Word, 28 pages).