The Declaration of Principles on Equality and activities of the Council of Europe
Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 12971
| 26 June 2012
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted
at the 1146th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (20 June 2012). 2012 - Third part-session
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 1986
(2011)
- Thesaurus
1 The Committee of Ministers has taken
note of Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1986 (2011) on “The
Declaration of Principles on Equality and activities of the Council
of Europe” and has brought it to the attention of the governments
of member States.
2 The Committee of Ministers highlights the fact that it reasserted
the main principles to which the Assembly refers in its Declaration
“Making gender equality a reality”, adopted in Madrid, at its 119th
Session on 12 May 2009.
3 It points out that these principles gave rise to the adoption
of several Committee of Ministers’ recommendations, such as Recommendation
Rec(2003)3 on balanced participation of women and men in political
and public decision making, Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)13 on gender
mainstreaming in education and Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)17 on
gender equality standards and mechanisms. All the recommendations
it has adopted have been collected together in a compilation entitled
“Make equality in law a reality in fact”,
Note a
source of inspiration for all those wishing to promote gender equality
as an essential precondition for protecting human rights and genuine
democracy.
4 Promoting these principles in member States, the support to
be given to them for their implementation, and co-operation with
the Council of Europe’s various international partners in this field,
in particular the European Union, the OSCE and the United Nations,
were recommended by the action plan adopted by the Council of Europe
Conference of Ministers responsible for Equality between Women and
Men (Baku, 24-25 May 2010). These recommendations have been given
practical expression in the 2012‑2013 Programme and Budget in the
form of a cross-sectoral programme for gender equality.
5 Lastly, the Committee of Ministers acknowledges the importance
of ratification of Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on
Human Rights by those member States which have not yet taken this
step. It also encourages those member States which have not already
done so to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing
and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, implementation of
which is a key element for making gender equality a reality in fact.
6 All the instruments quoted above offer an effective legal
framework to promote the principles of equality and combat all forms
of discrimination. The Committee of Ministers calls the authorities
of member States to take the necessary steps in order to achieve
complete de jure and de facto equality, placing particular emphasis
on equal participation in political life and the decision-making
process, in accordance with the above-mentioned legal instruments.
;
