Hedy Fry meets with civil society organizations in Porto, 29 June 2025PORTO, 29 June 2025 – Coinciding with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Annual Session in Porto (29 June – 3 July), OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender Issues Hedy Fry (Canada) has published her 2025 Gender Report entitled “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the OSCE Region: Protecting Gains, Countering Threats.”
The report explores the advancements and setbacks with regards to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in the OSCE region. It offers a comprehensive analysis of regional developments in this field, underlining that overall progress with regard to gender equality and the empowerment of women has been too slow, inconsistent and uneven. It also points out that in 2025, no country has yet achieved full gender equality. On the contrary, rather than improving, the report indicates that the gender situation in some countries and parts of the world has actually deteriorated in recent years.
“Efforts to protect, preserve and build upon the SRHR and broader gender equality gains of the past 30 years are at an inflection point. Decades of global progress in the area of SRHR are being threatened by growing political and social polarization and anti-gender ideologies and movements,” said Dr. Fry. Against this backdrop, the report urges “OSCE participating States to redouble their support for SRHR internationally through new funding commitments, including toward neglected SRHR areas such as family planning and contraceptives.”
Part II of the report summarizes Dr. Fry’s activities and initiatives as OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender Issues for 2024–2025. The report concludes with data on the gender balance in the OSCE PA Bureau and Secretariat, statistics on the participation of women in OSCE PA statutory meetings, election monitoring missions and ad hoc committees, as well as information on the representation of women in national parliaments of OSCE participating States.
Dr. Fry’s report will be discussed during the Annual Session’s Working Lunch on Gender Issues, which is taking place on 30 June under the theme “Strengthening Support for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the OSCE Region.”
Dr. Fry also met today with civil society organizations (CSOs) working on gender equality in Portugal. The meetings provided an opportunity for CSOs to present their work, as well as to discuss challenges with regards to advancing gender equality.
To read the full version of Dr. Fry’s report on “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the OSCE Region - Protecting Gains, Countering Threats” in English and French, please click here.
More information about the work of the OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender Issues is available here.
For more information on the OSCE PA's 32nd Annual Session, please click here.
