Council of Europe
The GEO works to the UK’s gender, LGB&T and equality related
commitments within the Council of Europe (CoE). The CoE promotes
human rights, democracy and the rule of law through a combination
of standard setting, monitoring, and awareness-raising. The CoE’s
work on gender includes promoting European co-operation to achieve
equality between the sexes, and addressing a range of themes on
gender equality including:
- violence against women,
- gender mainstreaming,
- balanced participation of women and men in political and
public,
- decision making,
- trafficking in human beings,
- conflict prevention and peace building, and
- men and gender equality
The GEO engages with the CoE’s gender-related work through its
participation on the Steering Committee on Equality between Men and
Women (CDEG). This Committee meets twice a year and informs the
work of the Council of Ministers in areas such as violence against
women, political representation and tackling the pay gap.
The CoE Conference of Minister responsible for Equality
between women and men takes place every few years. GEO
represented the UK at the 7th CoE Conference was held on 24-25 May
2010 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Information is available on the
CoE website.