Efforts to Mainstream Gender Equality in the Work of the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

Abstract

This article analyses the jurisprudence of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities with regard to gender equality in order to establish the efficacy of gender mainstreaming outcomes in the monitoring of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. At the outset, we elaborate on gender mainstreaming as a policy instrument developed by international human rights organizations, which is gradually being promoted in national policies through action plans and institutional structures that pursue gender mainstreaming efforts, gender budgeting policies, and training of relevant actors. Subsequently, we analyse the Advisory Committee’s efforts in the pursuit and promotion of gender equality in order to establish the extent to which this monitoring mechanism helps the realization of the rights of minority women and girls. In preparing this article, we conducted a detailed examination and evaluation of the country-specific opinions prepared by the Advisory Committee and the relevant academic literature on gender mainstreaming.