Gender equality is an important policy goal of the Council of Europe (CoE). Priority areas of intervention are defined by the Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023 and working methods include intergovernmental work, cooperation projects and gender mainstreaming.
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.