OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2019-20
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 1
Offentligt

MEMORANDUM

To:

Vice-President Kari Henriksen

From: Secretary General Roberto Montella

Re:

Gender Representation in OSCE PA events, activities and media outreach

material

Date: 08 October 2019

Dear Vice-President Henriksen, Dear Kari,

Thank you very much for raising concerns about gender representation during the Marrakech

meeting of the Standing Committee. I have taken careful note of your advice which I view as

an important contribution in advancing gender mainstreaming and balance.

As I mentioned in my reply to your Standing Committee statement, I have made it a priority of

my tenure as Secretary General to advance gender mainstreaming and balance in the

International Secretariat of the OSCE PA as well as in the Leadership appointments made by

the President upon the advice of the Secretary General.

I will continue to address the gap during the coming years as a number of staff of the

International Secretariat will leave the organisation and as new recruitments will take place.

I would also like to reassure you that we have made some important steps forward during the

past few years.

Since I took over the responsibility of OSCE PA Secretary General in January 2016, increased

comparative balance has for instance been achieved in the nomination of leadership positions

in our Election Observation Missions. I have attached some data which illustrates this. I am

also pleased to note that 5 out of 7 Special Representatives / Rapporteurs appointed in 2019 are

women. In the International Secretariat, where I have a direct responsibility, I have very

recently hired women for positions in the Media Department, Election Department and

appointed a woman in a Senior Management position as Chief of Administration and Finance.

This is work in progress and more needs to be done, I agree.

I am confident that we will continue to improve gender mainstreaming and balance, not least

related to exposure in the media.

OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

Meanwhile, I have enclosed herewith some statistical data which perhaps helps better identify

the outstanding gaps and how to address them:

The Panels of the Marrakech Autumn meeting

Media outreach material

Election leadership of Election Monitoring Missions since January 2016

Gender disaggregated data of participation to OSCE PA events in 2018-2019

Gender disaggregated data of Special Representatives/Rapporteurs appointments since

2016

I hope you find it useful.

In conclusion, let me thank you once again for your valuable contribution. I stand ready to

provide any clarification or additional information regarding the aforementioned data.

I thank you once again for raising these important issues.

Sincerely yours,

Roberto Montella

OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

1- The Panels of the Marrakech Autumn meeting

The responsibility for the programme of an OSCE PA conference is shared between the

International Secretariat and the host parliament. As such, both the host parliament and the

International Secretariat invited guest speakers.

In light of the fact that the host parliament was initially planning on inviting male only

speakers, the International Secretariat sent an early gender warning at the time of the

Luxembourg session. Here is an excerpt of the message we sent to Rabat:

“I take

this opportunity to make a general remark, for the moment there is not yet a single

woman identified as speakers in the different sessions. It is counterproductive to have panels

of men only (a pejoratively termed "manels" in the OSCE) because some participants will

inevitably notice it and criticize it. In any case, be aware that this would require us to identify

moderators (our Vice-Presidents, for example) for sessions 1, 2 and 3. So let's try to feminize

the agenda as much as possible!”

11 July 2019

The message was positively received in Rabat and, as a consequence, several women

speakers were identified by the host parliament:

- Session 1: Ms. Mbarka Bouaida, President of the Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, was

undoubtedly one of the prominent speakers of the conference. Having already

accomplished an outstanding parliamentary and governmental career despite her

young age, she became the first ever women elected at the leadership of a Moroccan

region in July 2019

- Session 3: Dr. Mariam Ait Ahmed, Professor of the University of Ibn Tufail and

International Expert in Religion and Belief. She is the first woman to be awarded the

International Religious Dialogue Prize in 2013

The International Secretariat invited the following women speakers:

- Mediterranean Forum: Ambassador Claudia Wiedey, Head of the Delegation of the

European Union to the Kingdom of Morocco

- Session 2: Ms. Teresa Botella, Deputy Chief of Mission of the International

Organization for Migration (IOM) in Morocco

Last week, Dr. Mariam Ait Ahmed and Ambassador Claudia Wiedey both cancelled their

participation to the conference due to changes in their agendas. Without these last-minute

cancellations, we would have had at least one-woman panellist in every session.

As for the Chairing of the Sessions: Vice-Presidents Allizard, Wicker, de Sena (co-chairing),

Cederfelt (co-chairing) and Henriksen. We had a good gender representation.

OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

2- Media outreach material

In selecting photos for uploading on Flickr and publicizing the Assembly’s

work on our website

and social media platforms, great care is taken to ensure as much gender balance as possible

and to highlight the work of women. Naturally, however, the photos only reflect the reality of

what is taking place in our meetings, our field work and our election observation missions, and

if women are underrepresented in these activities, there will consequently be an imbalance

portrayed in photos as well.

The report on the Luxembourg Annual Session that was recently published is a good example

and contains prominent pictures of women MPs (Elona Gjebrea Hoxha, Margareta Kiener

Nellen, Margareta Cederfelt, Nilza de Sena, Sofio Katsarava, Nahima Lanjri, Doris Barnett,

Hedy Fry, etc).

You will see from the raw figures of participation (following pages of this document) that we

have indeed a problem of representation of women in our meetings and activities. But this is a

problem that is beyond the control of the International Secretariat. We should try to encourage

more and more a gender balance composition of national delegations and members sent to

election observation missions. This will positively affect the media profiling.

However, with this mind, a number of steps can be taken to ensure the best possible optics in

our public affairs material:

We can refrain from using photos that only feature men.

We can implement a quota system in our photo selection to ensure equal

representation of men and women.

We can try to ensure that women are always included in our activities, which in turn

would ensure that they are portrayed in photos.

The latter is obviously the best course of action.

OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

3- Election leadership of Election Monitoring Missions since January 2016

OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

4- Gender disaggregated data of participation to OSCE PA events in 2018-2019

Annual Sessions

27th Annual Session of the OSCE PA, Berlin, 7-11 July 2018

MPs

Men.

–

182

Women.

–

69 (27%)

28th Annual Session of the OSCE PA, Luxembourg, 4-8 July 2019

MPs

Men.

–

186

Women.

–

69 (27%)

Autumn Meetings

OSCE PA Autumn Meeting 2018, Bishkek, 3-6 October 2018

MPs

Men.

–

110

Women.

–

33 (23%)

Autumn Meeting of the OSCE PA, Marrakech, 4-6 October 2019

MPs

Men.

–

128

Women.

–

54 (29%)

Winter Meetings

17th Winter Meeting of the OSCE PA, Vienna, 22-23 February 2018

MPs

Men.

–

171

Women. - 61 (26%)

18th Winter Meeting 2019, Vienna, 21-22 February 2019

MPs

Men.

–

178

Women.

–

61 (25%)

OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 1: Memo on Gender Representation OSCE PA

5- Gender disaggregated data of Special Representatives/Rapporteurs and ad hoc

Committees heads appointments since 2016

2016 :

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♂

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♂

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Christine Muttonen, Central and Eastern Asia

Kent Harstedt, Belarus/Eastern Europe

Kristian Vigenin, South Caucasus

Illka Kanerva, Mediation

Filippo Lombardi, Migration

2017 :

- Pascal Allizard, Mediterranean Affairs

- Makis Voridis, Countering Terrorism

2018 :

- Roman Haider, Central and Eastern Asia

- Mark Pritchard, South East Europe

- Nahima Lanjri, Migration

2019:

Torill Eidsheim, Arctic Issues

Margareta Cederfelt, Nemtsov enquiry

Pia Kauma, Civil Society

Irene Charalambides, Fighting Corruption

Luca Santolini, Desinformation and Propaganda

Adid Qayyum Raja, Countering Terrorism

Lisa Chambers, Countering Terrorism

There were 17 appointments since 2016, 7 of which were women appointees (41%). In 2019,

there were 7 appointments, 5 of which were women appointees (71%).