VIENNA, 2 July 2018 – Strengthening law-enforcement and judicial responses to violence against women, raising awareness about its multiple and invisible forms and empowering victims are crucial elements of any effective strategy to prevent such violence, participants said today at the opening of a two-day OSCE conference in Vienna.
The meeting, Countering Violence against Women – Everyone’s Responsibility, was organized by the Italian OSCE Chairmanship, with the support of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and in co-ordination with the Gender Section of the Office of the OSCE Secretary General. It gathered representatives of OSCE participating States, civil society and international organizations to discuss current challenges and good practices in preventing and countering violence against women in the OSCE region.
"Promoting the empowerment of women and fighting gender-based violence are deeply intertwined,” said Ambassador Alessandro Azzoni, Chairperson of the OSCE Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Italy to the OSCE. "The recognition of women as political, economic and social subjects can help to prevent and counter violence against them."
Data on DAC members’ aid targeting gender equality and women’s empowerment are compiled with the help of the gender equality marker in the Creditor Reporting System (CRS). Every aid activity reported to the CRS should be screened and marked as either (i) targeting gender equality as a “principal objective” or a “significant objective”, or (ii) not targeting the objective.
An activity should be classified as gender equality focused (score Principal or Significant) if it is intended to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment or reduce discrimination and inequalities based on sex.
Criteria for eligibility: gender equality is explicitly promoted in activity documentation trough specific measures which:
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Reduce social, economic or political power inequalities between women and men, girls and boys, ensure that women benefit equally with men from the activity, or compensate for past discrimination; or
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Develop or strengthen gender equality or anti-discrimination policies, legislation or institutions.
WILPF – Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom
Direct Link to Full 24-Page 2017 WILPF Publication:
https://wilpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BOOKLET-3-Member-States-online.pdf
A state-run institution for children in Moldova – Photo: Eurochild
Strengthening families and tackling child poverty goes hand-in-hand with ending institutional care for children.
Jana Hainsworth is Secretary General of Eurochild, a network of organisations working to promote the rights and well-being of children and young people. Eurochild has been running the Opening Doors for Europe’s Children campaign in 15 countries, aiming to end institutional care and strengthen families in Europe.
Hundreds of thousands of children across Europe are growing up, away from their families, in institutional care.
Children enter institutions – or ‘orphanages’, as they are often called – due to poverty or disability, rarely because they are orphans. In fact, most children who end up in institutions have at least one living parent. For example, it is estimated that 85% of children who entered institutional care in 2015 in Ukraine were placed there by their biological parents because of poverty.
The new ILO (International Labour Organization) Report highlights inadequate policy responses to the rising demand and quantifies the extent of the care burden on women.
Direct Link to Full 525-Page 2018 ILO Report:
New ILO report Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work takes a comprehensive look at unpaid and paid care work and its relationship with the changing world of work. A key focus is the persistent gender inequalities in households and the labour market, which are inextricably linked with care work.
