COPENHAGEN, 19 December 2025 - The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) jointly held an online webinar on 18 December 2025 entitled “Gender Parity: Why Is It Important and How to Make It Happen?”, which gathered more than 120 participants from across the OSCE region, including parliamentarians, parliamentary staff, OSCE representatives, and experts, to advance concrete action toward equal representation of women and men in political decision-making.
The webinar underscored that gender parity has evolved from an aspirational goal into a recognised democratic standard. Participants discussed how the persistent under-representation of women in political life weakens democratic legitimacy, narrows policy perspectives, and undermines public trust in institutions. The discussion was framed by recent developments in international human rights law, notably CEDAW General Recommendation No. 40, which articulates parity as the benchmark for equal and inclusive representation and calls for comprehensive measures to remove structural barriers across electoral systems, political parties, and parliamentary practice.
The event was opened with remarks by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Pere Joan Pons (Spain), who emphasized the centrality of gender parity to democratic governance and highlighted the responsibility of parliaments to lead by example in advancing equal and inclusive representation. The webinar concluded with closing remarks by the OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender Issues, Dr. Hedy Fry (Canada), who underlined the need for political will to translate international commitments into concrete parliamentary action. She reiterated the role iof civil society and disaggregated data to support targeted actions to advance gender parity in political spaces.
Building on this normative shift, ODIHR presented its Gender Parity Roadmap, a seven-step, practical framework designed to support national stakeholders in moving from commitments to measurable results. The Roadmap outlined a sequence of actions ranging from assessments and constitutional or legal reforms to party accountability, gender-sensitive parliamentary procedures, the engagement of male political leaders, and robust monitoring mechanisms.
The objectives of the webinar were to highlight why gender parity is essential for democratic quality, legitimacy, and effective governance; to present ODIHR’s Gender Parity Roadmap as an implementation tool; to share concrete practices that have delivered results in different national contexts; and to explore how the OSCE PA and ODIHR can support national parliaments in developing and implementing impact-oriented parity action plans.
Speakers and participants exchanged experiences and good practices from across the OSCE area, emphasizing that sustainable progress toward 50/50 representation requires system-level change rather than isolated measures. Particular attention was given to the role of political parties, parliamentary leadership, and internal parliamentary rules and cultures in either enabling or obstructing parity.
The event brought together members and staff of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, members and staff of national parliaments of OSCE participating States—especially those leading on gender equality—as well as representatives of OSCE executive structures, international organizations, and civil society organizations working on gender equality in politics.
The OSCE PA and ODIHR reaffirmed their commitment to supporting participating States and national parliaments in translating international standards on gender parity into concrete reforms and action plans, with the shared objective of accelerating progress toward equal, inclusive, and representative democratic institutions across the OSCE region.
