OSCE Centre in Astana co-organizes seminar on gender equality draft law

ASTANA, 29 May 2009 - A two-day seminar co-organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana, focusing on how a draft law on gender equality can be promoted, started in Borovoye in northern Kazakhstan today. 

During the seminar, participants will examine the draft law "On equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men" and highlight how it complies with OSCE commitments and European best practices on gender legislation and monitoring mechanisms.

The meeting brought together more than 60 participants, including high-level officials from government ministries, parliamentary deputies, members of the working group on the draft law and national and international experts, as well as representatives of non-governmental and international organizations.

Tone Tingsgard, Deputy Chairperson and Special Representative on Gender Issues of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, said: "While taking cultural specificities into account, it is important that OSCE participating States comply with the universal values of human rights, including gender equality."

Ambassador Alexandre Keltchewsky, Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, added:

"The Centre stands ready to further assist Kazakhstan in its efforts and hopes that the draft law will be adopted soon."

International politicians and experts, including representatives of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the UN Committee that monitors the implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, will describe how gender-sensitive legislation positively influence the implementation of economic and political programmes of the state.

"The adoption and implementation of legislation and policies on equal rights and opportunities for women and men, as well as the establishment of effective institutions, are indispensable for the democratic and economic development of Kazakhstan," said Gulshara Abdykalikova, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Kazakhstan.

The seminar was jointly organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana, the United Nations Fund for the Development of Women, the Parliament and the National Commission on Women's Affairs and Family-Demographic Policy.