CD Establishes Working Group on Gender Equality and Women's Rights

On April 12, foreign dignitaries and civil society representatives gathered in Vilnius, Lithuania to formally establish the CD Working Group on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights. The working group is co-chaired by Melanne Verveer, United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, and Evaldas Ignatavičius, Lithuanian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and was presided over by President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė, who endorsed the establishment of this CD working group. Also in attendance were representatives of the governments of Lithuania, the United States, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, and Sweden; as well as civil society representatives from the European Institute of Gender Equality and the Nordic Council of Ministers.

In its statement, the working group agreed that:

"The status of the world’s women is not only a matter of morality and justice, but a political, economic and social imperative.  When women are free to develop their talents and contribute fully to their societies, everyone benefits.  Most of the world is now in agreement that women’s rights are human rights.  We say a further step is needed:  women’s progress is human progress.”

Furthermore, participants agreed that the Working Group should focus on four key areas:

• Increasing women’s political participation
• Developing women’s economic opportunities
• Ending domestic violence and other forms of abuse toward women
• Increasing women’s participation in peacekeeping and post-conflict-resolution endeavors. 

The working group will next convene during the High Level Democracy Meeting at the 10th anniversary of the CD in Krakow, Poland in July 2010. At this gathering, working group members will present work plans for proposed projects and submit them for formal approval. The approval of these work plans will begin the process of implementing these proposals. 

Currently proposed work plan projects include:

• leadership training for women in Afghanistan, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine;
• training and mentoring for women in Iran;
• business, entrepreneurship, and leadership training for women in Eastern Europe and former Soviet countries;
• anti-human trafficking programs in Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine;
• gender studies training for representatives in Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia; and
• the organization of a conference on women’s issues in Central Asia and Afghanistan. 

In addition, the group also proposed that the September 2010 Democracy Caucus meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, focus on issues of women’s equality and the role of women in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

The entire press release may be found here:

CD Press Release on the Working Group on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights

For further information on this meeting, please see:

US Department of State Press Release - Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer Travel to Lithuania, Russia, and Egypt