Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni met today with Alexey Vovchenko, First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Development of the Russian Federation, who is in charge of preparing a national gender equality strategy.

The priorities for this plan will include the issues of women’s political participation, the economic and social situation of women, women’s health issues, conditions for the development of women, including education, prevention of violence against women, and preparation of gender statistics. The Council of Europe will provide expert advice on the draft Strategy currently under consideration and organise meetings at expert level in Moscow.