To celebrate 60 years since Cyprus joined the Council of Europe, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, in collaboration with the Council of Europe, is organising a high-level conference on 26 October 2021 on “The role of foreign policy in advancing gender equality: Addressing the challenges, pushbacks and obstacles faced by women”.
Gender equality and the situation regarding women’s rights worldwide, including the gender-related aspects of international migration and humanitarian policies need to be a major focus of international relations, in order to promote the full implementation of international standards everywhere in the world. While a number of European countries have developed “feminist foreign policies” in the last years, the meaningful and effective participation of women and girls in international relations, from preparatory processes and decision-making to implementation of decisions, as well as the integration of a gender equality perspective in all aspects of foreign policy continue to be a major challenge in member States of the Council of Europe.
This conference will focus on the role of foreign policy in the promotion of women’s rights and achieving gender equality, including within the migration context, assess current state on women’s rights and their participation on the multilateral level and discuss the way forward.
For more information on the Conference, including the programme and the livestreaming link, you may visit the page dedicated to the Conference on the Council of Europe’s website.