3.1 Gender Section Introduction 2015 marked the 15 year anniversary of the adoption of UN Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. As a regional organization under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, the OSCE has developed its own policy framework on gender equality, dealing with issues such as women in the conflict cycle, women’s economic empowerment, and women’s participation in politics and public life. Furthermore, in 2015, a majority (27 out of 50) of the national action plans for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 were developed in the OSCE region, thus providing a broad understanding of the implementation of the resolution in both post-conflict and peaceful and stable societies. These experiences and analyses were gathered in the OSCE/PRIO “Study on National Action Plans on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325”, which was published in 2014. In July, the “Secretary General’s Annual Evaluation Report on the Implementation of the 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality” was published. It shows no improvement in the recruitment of women in field operations as experts in police affairs, leaving police affairs type roles to be the weakest with regards to gender equity. Furthermore, the report shows that the politico-military dimension continues to have the lowest number of projects that include all aspects of gender mainstreaming, but also the highest number of projects that rely only on the participation of women. Thus, there is still a strong need to enhance the awareness of staff in recognizing entry points for gender mainstreaming. Activities Related to General Police Development and Reform Gender and Ethnic Mainstreaming In April, the Gender Section, together with the Government of Lithuania and UN Women, organized a conference in Vilnius to discuss implementation modalities of UNSCR 1325 across the OSCE region, in order to contribute to the UN Global Study on UNSCR 1325. The conclusions and recommendations of the meeting were integrated into the Global Study. In October, the OSCE Senior Adviser on Gender presented the work of the OSCE with regards to women, peace and security at the UN Security Council’s High-Level Review, where the UN Global Study was first launched. In November, the OSCE Secretary General, with the support of the Gender Section, devoted an OSCE Security Day event to UNSCR 1325, at which the conclusions of the UN Global Study and the OSCE’s future work in the field were discussed. The conference gathered civil society and governmental experts from the OSCE region. In 2015, the Gender Section continued to raise awareness on UNSCR 1325 and aspects of women in the conflict cycle through several side events during formal OSCE meetings. On the margins of these meetings, the Gender Section arranged events focusing on topics such as disarmament and non-proliferation and UNSCR 1325 implementation within the Swedish Armed Forces. Gender Section – Police-Related Activities 2015 ACTIVITIES ON: General Police Development and Reform 100% Threats posed by Criminal Activity 0% 32