In the margins of the 67th CSW in New York, the Council of Europe organised a side-event opened by the Prime Minister of Iceland,  Katrin Jakobsdóttir. The event was co-organised with the Permanent Mission of Iceland to the United Nations during the Icelandic Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. It highlighted the challenges and specific needs of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls, and outlined the existing legal framework, providing useful guidance.

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, the Council of Europe launched a gender equality calendar on the organisation’s Gender Equality homepage.
This calendar highlights people and events in Europe's gender equality and women’s rights history. 
With 212 entries to date, it is a living calendar which can evolve and be updated to include new entries. 
Proposed updates or new entries may be submitted to the Secretariat via the form. 

AI can reproduce human prejudice and perpetuate bias, further stigmatising and marginalising women on a global scale.
This webinar aimed to explore both the alarming negative impact of AI systems on gender equality, the reasons behind this reality and how to mitigate such risk, as well as the opportunities brought by properly designed and regulated systems for advancing gender equality. The speakers also shared their insights into what kind of regulatory environment and support initiatives by governments could bring about changes in the right direction.

On the policy development agenda, GEC members held a first discussion on a draft Gender Equality Strategy for 2024-2029. This will be the Organisation’s third Gender Equality Strategy. GEC members held exchanges with Luxembourg’s Minister of Equality between Women and Men, Taina Bofferding, as well as with the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on Migration and Refugees, Leyla Kayacik, and with Tatyana Teplova, Head of Policy Coherence for the SDGs Division and Senior Counsellor, OECD.

The Council of Europe Recommendation on preventing and combating sexism, adopted in 2019, is available in 26 languages, in addition to the official English and French versions.
The Campaign “Sexism: See it. Name it. Stop it!” aims at raising awareness about the causes of sexism and its various forms, and at identifying ways to prevent and combat it. The action page on sexism is now available in 29 languages. The brochure is now available in 7 languages.

The gender equality cooperation unit under the COVAW project supported the better protection of refugee, migrant and asylum-seeking women and girls, through translations of the Recommendation on protecting the rights of migrant, refugee and asylum seeking women and girls in Ukrainian. The Recommendation is now available in 7 languages, in addition to the official English and French versions.

On 21 March 2023, the project was officially launched in Yerevan.
During the first Steering Committee meeting, the project team presented the activities that will be implemented across two areas: preventing and combating gender-based violence, including in digital forms and women empowerment. On 22 March, representatives from civil society organisations learned about the methodology and toolkit for civil society organisations, developed by the Council of Europe in co-operation with WAVE and UN Women, to run awareness raising campaigns to promote main provisions of the Istanbul Convention.

On 23 May 2023 the project team met with representatives of Azerbaijani authorities, civil society organisations and the European Union Delegation in Baku. These meetings aimed at fostering effective communication, coordination, and collaboration among stakeholders under the third phase of the Joint European Union/Council of Europe PGGIII. Participants underlined the achievements of the previous phase of PGG and assessed the current situation and needs for concrete actions required on the ground.

On 13 February 2023, a conference presented recommendations provided to Georgia to combat and prevent violence against women by GREVIO, the Council of Europe independent expert body which monitors the implementation of the Istanbul Convention. On 23-25 June, for the third time, the Council of Europe and the Open Air Festival in Tbilisi collaborated to promote human rights at one of the most popular music events in Georgia. Four projects of the Council of Europe joined forces to showcase the values and activities of the Council of Europe at the “Human Rights Corner”.

On 29 March 2023, the Council of Europe launched a new project aiming to combat violence against women and domestic violence. The launching conference was attended by more than 80 participants, including representatives of the local authorities, law enforcement agencies, embassies, local civil society, and international organisations.  
Mr Frank Power, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Pristina emphasised that the high attendance rate reflects a shared commitment to work together to tackle domestic violence and violence against women, in all its forms.

The project held its first meeting of project partners on 30 March 2023. It focuses on developing institutional capacities and raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention's requirements. In April, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers examined domestic violence cases concerning the failure of the authorities to take the necessary measures to protect women or their children from the violent actions of their male partners, ex-partners, fathers, or sons-in-law. On 17-20 July the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine organised a training aimed at enhancing support for victims of sexual violence in Ukraine.

The Bulgarian platform European women’s lobby finalised a communication and advocacy project. It is one of the two projects selected in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Platform-EWL project aimed to raise awareness about the values, aims, provisions and benefits of the Istanbul Convention among Bulgarian decision-makers and society. The second communication and advocacy project was run by Animus Association Foundation. It raised awareness of the Bulgarian society on the nature of domestic and gender-based violence, the values, aims and provisions of the Istanbul Convention and the need to adapt Bulgarian legislation.

On 22 June 2023, representatives of judicial training institutes from western Balkans’ beneficiaries, the European Union and the Council of Europe participated in the first Steering Committee meeting of the regional action. The meeting constituted an opportunity to discuss and plan with partners how the action’s activities will address the challenges and barriers women in the Western Balkans face when accessing justice.

On 15 June 2023, an international conference on ensuring Roma women's right to be free from violence by the SYNERGY Network against gender-based and domestic violence highlighted European examples of promising practices in addressing violence against Roma women. As a partner organisation in domestic violence programme in Slovakia, the Council of Europe gender equality division provides technical advice, supports programme development, and promotes adherence to European standards.