EU statement on the Annual Progress Report

EU statement on the Annual Progress Report on the Implementation of the OSCE 2004 Action Plan on the Promotion of Gender Equality as delivered in the Permanent Council, Vienna, 18 September 2025.

  1. The European Union thanks OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlufor for his presentation of the Annual Progress Report on the Implementation of the Sofia 2004 OSCE Action Plan on the Promotion of Gender Equality.
  2. Gender Equality is a cornerstone of the OSCE comprehensive approach to security and essential to achieving peace, security and stability.
  3. The EU will continue to strongly oppose and step up action to combat all forms of discrimination, with specific attention to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including on grounds of sex, race, ethnic or social origin, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity. The EU furthermore reaffirms its position of zero tolerance towards sexual and gender-based violence, which continues to be a serious obstacle to achieving equality, development and peace.
  4. It is unacceptable that, in 2025, women and girls still face gender-based discrimination, gender stereotypes and negative social norms, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, hindering their full and equal enjoyment of human rights, and reaching their full potential.
  5. We strongly condemn the violence against women and girls in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including as a shameful tactic of war by Russian Armed Forces, as substantiated in the reports of the International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, the UNSG Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Moscow Mechanism expert missions and ODIHR. We reiterate our steadfast commitment to upholding international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and to ending impunity for international crimes.
  6. We stress the importance of the full implementation of all international obligations in the field of gender equality, including the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions, as well as all OSCE commitments and recommendations on equality of rights, equal opportunities, non-discrimination, including the OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality.
  7. We highly value the work of the autonomous institutions, the OSCE Secretariat, field missions, and the CiO Special Representative on Gender in supporting participating States in implementing their commitments. Integrating gender mainstreaming into the monitoring and evaluation of all OSCE activities, programmes and projects, enhances their effectiveness in all three dimensions.
  8. We welcome that the OSCE Gender Parity Strategy from 2019 aiming at promoting professional, inclusive, equitable, and a safe work environment in the OSCE has resulted in the continued increase in women employed in the organization. However, there is still a low nomination rate for seconded senior management fixed-term staff positions. We strongly encourage participating States to be mindful of gender balance in their nomination processes, to second more female candidates to senior management positions, keep statistics on female nominations, and share this information with the Secretariat.
  9. We agree on the importance of engaging men for gender equality, and therefore especially welcome activities aimed at doing so.
  10. To conclude, we warmly thank the Finnish Chairpersonship for keeping issues related to gender equality high on the OSCE agenda. The EU recall its commitment to support women’s and youth’s equal, full, effective and meaningful participation, in all their diversity, including in all spheres of public and political life.