On 27 May 2021, the Council of Europe organised the third Project Steering Committee of the EU and CoE joint programme PGGII regional project: “Women access to justice: delivering on the Istanbul Convention and other European gender equality standards”.
The meeting gathered participants from different Eastern Partnership countries, including the project’s national partners, the legal training institutes for judges and prosecutors, as well as representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, representatives of EU Commission, EU Delegations in the region and the Council of Europe. The participants took stock of the implementation status of the project, in light of the impact of the COVID-19 and geopolitical situation in the region on women’s access to justice and reviewed the results and accomplishments of the project. The participants provided in depth updates on activities enhancing women’s access to justice in the justice system in the region. They reiterated their commitment to advancing women’s rights without discrimination, while addressing root causes of gender stereotypes among legal professionals in order to eliminate barriers to women’s access to justice.
The meeting focused on lessons learned and gathering ideas for phase three of the project which will remain regional as a valuable dimension to addressing comprehensively the gender sensitive justice systems and legal professionals. The link to the Istanbul Convention ratification and implementation was highlighted as an essential part of any future project developments, as violence against women and domestic violence remain one of the main barriers for equal access to justice for women and men. The conclusion of the meeting reconfirmed the long term impact of sustainable rights based capacity building efforts such as the Mentoring Programme for legal Professionals on Women’s Access to Justice which is developing into an educational model for legal training institutes across Council of Europe Member States, including the Eastern Partnership countries.
