Celebrating equality gains in Europe and Central Asia

Third Quarter Newsletter

July - September 2019

News Highlights

In Focus: Beijing+25 - An equal future starts today!

Women across the region are gearing up for a celebration. Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. To galvanize momentum and take stock of how far the region has come—and where it needs to go—UN Women has hosted three subregional preparatory gatherings for the Eastern Partnership countries and Romania, Central Asia and the Western Balkans and Turkey. Government and non-governmental participants applauded much progress. But they also made renewed demands for action on issues such as persistent gender gaps in laws and enforcement, and political instability that hinders progressive reforms. National institutions for achieving gender equality remain underfunded and understaffed.

As part of marking the 25th anniversary and stepping up efforts for the work that lies ahead, UN Women is bringing together the next generation of women’s rights activists with the gender equality advocates and visionaries who were instrumental in the Beijing Platform. Collectively, change-makers of all ages and genders can tackle the unfinished business of empowering women. A groundbreaking campaign, “Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future”, will rally the region and the world behind equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end to sexual harassment and all forms of violence against women and girls, health-care services that respond to women’s and girls’ needs, and equal participation in all forms of decision-making. Read more.

Empowering Women in the Economy

	Rural girls in Kyrgyzstan take a step towards STEM Hundreds of rural girls participated in the first Technovation Coding Caravan. They conquered stereotypes about girls in science and tech, and learned skills to launch future careers. Read more.
	Women entrepreneurs network for better business in Georgia Women entrepreneurs in a marginalized area linked up with trained mentors in business development for six months. The network they forged continues providing advice and moral support. See more.
	Study finds big gender gaps in support for business in Serbia A study backed by UN Women makes the case for scaling up investment in women-owned businesses. Current subsidies and grants for women lag far behind their economic contributions. See more.
	Businesses aim to empower women in Kazakhstan Business leaders put their heads together to consider what private enterprise can do to propel progress on gender equality and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. See more.

Leadership and Political Participation

	Future women leaders in Moldova learn to pitch their positions Through the Women 4 Leadership Academy, women interested in entering local politics took part in simulated public debates, making their case to improve their communities Read more.
	Young women from Kosovo[1]have their day in Parliament Members of the parliamentary Women’s Caucus sat for a special session encouraging young women to take up their rightful roles in politics. An accompanying exhibit with portraits and inspiring messages from women legislators encouraged viewers to weigh in on priorities for Parliament. Read more.
	A gathering in Turkey builds solidarity and buoys women’s leaders After local elections, more than 100 women from different political parties as well as representatives of civil society organizations swapped experiences and mapped ways to reach shared goals for gender equality. Read more.

Ending Violence Against Women

	A referral mechanism ups the response to survivors in Albania In the municipality of Kamza, training for 700 service providers has made the dedicated Referral Mechanism more effective than ever before. The mechanism has a life-saving task—protecting survivors of gender-based violence. Read more.
	Performances in the Republic of Moldova tackle taboos and open minds For 16 months, theatre director Ianos Petrascu travelled through the country to stage performances that used pantomime and dance to show the fallout from violence against women. Read more.

	A public space in Kosovo tears down the walls of “private” violations An interactive exhibition in Pristina’s central square invited passers-by to enter a labyrinth while listening to the stories of domestic violence survivors. The message: break the silence and end the violence behind the walls of homes and other private places. Read more.

Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action

	Georgia’s security sector gains a new take on gender Over 100 senior security leaders learned to apply a gender perspective to achieve political, military, strategic and operational objectives. Read more.
	From the war in Syria to the top 100 in Paris The 50 women of the SADA Women’s Cooperative draw on motifs from Afghanistan, Syria and Turkey to create and market leather bags and textiles. The Paris Peace Forum dubbed their efforts one of the top 100 economic inclusion initiatives. Read more.
	Ukraine probes toxic masculinity in the security sector Spearheading a novel 36-country global study, Ukraine will conduct the first-ever masculinity survey of a security sector. It will explore views on gender equality and norms that sustain discrimination. Read more.

Governance and National Planning

	National statistics offices commit to crunching new numbers GEOSTAT and UN Women convened the heads of national statistics offices in seven countries to deliberate leading issues in gender statistics, such as measuring time use. They committed to developing national statistical systems to meet the demands of the 2030 Agenda. Read more.
	Expert’s Take: Gender equality cannot be achieved without gender data “Without gender statistics, we cannot measure and monitor where we are. For the protection of human rights, for protection of the rights of women and girls….” UN Women Chief Statistician Papa Seck explores statistical issues. Read more.

Campaigns and Advocacy

	Turkey's Fenerbahçe Sports Club tears down gender barriers One of the country’s oldest and most popular sports clubs, Fenerbahce Sports Club is a member of the global HeForShe movement—and well on the way to becoming a gender-sensitive, inclusive club that aims to be a model for the world. Read more.
	Odessa International Film Festival joins HeForShe A new member of the global HeForShe movement, the festival created a special HeForShe prize and hosted thought-provoking panels on women in film and gender equality in action. Read more.

Hear Our Voices!

In the following stories, UN Women captures the powerful first-hand perspectives of women and men with whom it partners to galvanize the drive for gender equality.

	From where I stand: “We fight prejudices by raising our voices” An aspiring journalist, Alexandra Tomasevic, 25, draws on her personal experience with cerebral palsy in advocating for children and youth with disabilities in Serbia. Read more.
	Take Five: "We have come a long way in fighting gender-based violence, but the struggle continues" Albanian activists Mirela Arqimandriti works with civil society organizations to keep progress in reducing gender-based violence on track in six municipalities. Read more.
	In the words of Meltem Akkaya: "It is important to get to know each other because our prejudice may turn out to be wrong" Akkaya is a Turkish woman who joins refugee women from Syria in training courses at UN Women’s SADA Women Empowerment and Solidarity Centre. The experience has given her new skills—and strengthened community solidarity. Read more.

In the words of Fabiola Laco Egro: “Women need to take part and to voice their priorities in the budgeting process”
Activist Fabiola Laço Egro has led a drive to boost women’s roles in shaping the public budget of Tirana, the capital of Albania. Read more.

Upcoming Events

21-23 November: Gender-responsive budget trainings for the Parliamentary Institute, Skopje, North Macedonia.

25 November: Region-wide launch of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, under the slogan "Generation equality stands against rape".

26 November: North and Central Asian dialogue on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, taking place within the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Beijing+25 Review, Bangkok, Thailand.

26 November: “20 years of Achievements and Challenges of 1325 in the Western Balkans,” an international conference in Kosovo.

5 December: Training of trainers on gender-responsive budgeting for local governments, Skopje, North Macedonia.

Read and Be Inspired

Advancing Gender Equality in Europe and Central Asia: UN Women Achievements in 2018
Change is in the air. Women are on the move. This booklet highlights just some of UN Women’s many achievements in Europe and Central Asia in 2018, from ending violence to promoting more gender-inclusive economies to expanding women’s participation in politics and peace processes. Read more.

[1] This and all references to Kosovo in this document shall be understood to be in full compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).

About UN Women

UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. The UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, which oversees the work of 12 countries, was established in Istanbul in 2014. To see UN Women’s main areas of work in the region click here.

For more information, please visit eca.unwomen.org.

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