COPENHAGEN, 4 October 2022 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) today published a “Participatory Gender Audits of Parliaments, a Step-by-Step Guidance Document,” which offers comprehensive tools and detailed steps on how parliaments can fully capitalize on their potential to implement a gender-sensitive and intersectional approach to legislative processes.

The PA and ODIHR collaborated on the publication, which sets out how to implement participatory gender audits through a clear framework and step-by-step process. The Guide recognizes that each parliament is unique and will undertake the audit in unique circumstances and it allows parliaments to choose the scope of the audit, the format and the timescale within which it will be conducted. As such, it adds to the extensive OSCE acquis in support of all parliaments of the region and it is in line with institutions’ respective mandates to advocate for ensuring transparency and accountability of all parliamentary procedures, practices, and standards, including those aimed at gender mainstreaming and conducting gender audits or assessments.

“In my experience as a parliamentarian and as the OSCE PA’s Special Representative on Gender Issues, I know that parliamentarians have a unique role to champion progress towards gender equality,” said Dr. Hedy Fry, OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender Issues, who participated in the development of the publication. “I strongly encourage my fellow parliamentarians to use all the tools in this document to effectively improve the gender sensitivity of their legislative assemblies.”

The “Participatory Gender Audits of Parliaments, a Step-by-Step Guidance Document” complements the “Realizing Gender Equality in Parliament: A Guide for Parliaments in the OSCE Region,” published in December 2021, which brought together lessons learned and good practices from 46 national parliaments in North America, Europe and Central Asia on introducing and improving gender sensitivity in parliaments, on which the two Institutions have also closely co-operated.

The Guide is available here in English language, and here in Russian language.

For more information about the work of ODIHR on this topic, please click here.

More information about the work of OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender Issues can be found here.