The workshop focused on the analysis of gender-sensitive parliaments in Europe and Central Asia. It brought together 15 national parliaments of OSCE Member States which achieved good results in improving gender sensitivity in parliamentary representation, lawmaking and oversight.

The Parliament of Finland hosted the workshop, at the initiative of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and with the support of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and OSCE field operations.

This participants discussed global developments and standards in improving the gender sensitivity of parliaments, the activities and competencies of parliamentary bodies responsible for gender equality, gender audits and action plans on gender equality in parliaments, as well as the fight against violence against women.

Committee member Andrijana Aleksandrov was one of the panellists at the special session dedicated to the role of male politicians in advancing gender equality. She pointed out that achieving equality is not an issue that should be addressed only by women, but that it requires support and initiative from men in politics, including men in parliament. This support existed in the National Assembly when adopting regulations that introduced gender-responsive budgeting, as well as when introducing a quota on electoral lists, which ensured greater participation of women. She pointed out that the Bill on the Exercise of Rights from the Alimony Fund is currently in parliamentary procedure, and that regulating unpaid domestic work is an important issue that should be worked on jointly.

The participants agreed that the gender quota has contributed to the greater participation of women in politics, but that in the next decade it is necessary to work on achieving gender parity. It was also concluded that instead of formal equality, it is necessary to establish real equality and effective participation of women in politics.