Gender mainstreaming is an approach to policy-making that takes into account both women's and men's interests and concerns, aimed at designing better policies.

The Council of Europe was instrumental in developing the concept of gender mainstreaming from the 1990’s onwards. Since then, the gender mainstreaming strategy has been an integral part of the work and activities of the Council of Europe to promote the full realisation of gender equality. Gender mainstreaming is now a policy tool that is widely used by national governments and international organisations. A practical short Online HELP course on gender equality and gender mainstreaming is available for free and for all on the Council of Europe HELP Platform.