Gender Task Force

The Gender Task Force under the Stability Pact, Working Table One, had its third meeting on October 21, 2000 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The event was hosted by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and funded though a voluntary contribution by the Norwegian Government. The meeting, which was chaired by the GTF Chair, Sonja Lokar, included governmental and non-governmental representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro (FRY), Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Greece, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia.

The purpose of the meeting was to define the strategic framework for the GTF in the years to come, as well as, to co-ordinate current project implementation and evaluation. The GTF adopted a framework that incorporates sustainable grassroots activity regarding women's political empowerment and gender equality into national and international economic, social, and security policies.

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Robert L. Barry, gave an opening statement, in which he noted the impressive accomplishments of the projects that were implemented over the last year. Special guest Helga Konrad, Chair of the Trafficking Task Force and Ennie Wesseldijke, of the Stability Pact Parliamentary Exchange Task Force also addressed the participants. Southeast European GTF Country Representatives made short presentations of the activities organised to date in their respective countries. In particular, "Women Can Do It - WCDI" women's political empowerment programs have been implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM, Serbia and Montenegro (FRY). WCDI will soon begin implementation in the remaining countries of the region, which include Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. National ëWomen Can Do It' Evaluations are to take place in each of the implementing countries over the next month, and a Regional Evaluation Meeting is scheduled for December 1-3, 2000 in Skopje, FYRoMacedonia.

The participants also discussed the GTF's presentation in the next Working Table One Meeting of the Stability Pact at the end of October in Bucharest. The GTF and Trafficking Task Force Chairs signed an agreement on co-operation between their two task forces. This co-operation will take the form of joint projects in the areas of media, public information, and governmental lobbying.