As Secretary General Berset arrived in New York for the United Nations General Assembly week, he took part in the High-Level Conference on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, representing a European organisation pivotal to the global multilateral system. He underscored how the Council of Europe's values - human rights, democracy, and the rule of law - are at the centre of progress for women and girls:
A girl born today may never see gender equality - and neither will her daughter. Thirty years after Beijing, we are still over one hundred and twenty years away. For her, that is not a number. It is a world where nearly one in three women face partner violence. Where one in six experience sexual violence. Where safety and dignity are still out of reach for too many women and girls.
Violence drives a vicious cycle of inequality - generation after generation.
The Council of Europe has made hard-won progress. At the heart of it is the Istanbul Convention, our legally binding standard to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women. Developed halfway between the Beijing Platform for Action and today, the convention has shaped legislation, expanded support services, and strengthened professional training. It responds to several critical areas of concern of the platform: violence, political participation, media, and health.
But violence is evolving.
Online abuse, disinformation, and deepfakes are pushing women out of public space, out of politics, out of power. AI can deepen the harm - or help prevent it.
That is why the Council of Europe is developing new standards. On tech-facilitated violence, to ensure accountability from perpetrators to platforms. And on AI and gender equality, to guard against bias and discrimination.
Excellencies, the Council of Europe was never just about lines on a map.
It is about the values we share: human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. For men and women alike.
Not as a promise for the next century. But as a call to action - here and now. In Europe and beyond.
The Secretary General's address maintains the enduring relationship with the United Nations - which the Council of Europe qualifies as an "across-the-board partner" - reaching back to the very origins of both organisations. Mr Berset's visit has underlined how crucial his organisation's norm-setting and values are to global democratic security.
The Secretary General will continue to promote the foundations of peace through a series of meetings and events throughout the week in New York, contributing to several high-level discussions, involving President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the children of Ukraine; and on fighting extremism alongside the Presidents of Brazil and Chile and the Spanish Prime Minister. The Secretary General will also be holding bilateral meetings with several heads of state, government leaders and senior officials from Council of Europe member and non-member states, the United Nations, and other international organisations.
The Council of Europe and the United Nations
The United Nations general assembly
The New Democratic Pact for Europe
The Council of Europe and gender equality
