Bulgaria pledges adoption of a gender equality law and aims to achieve full equality in 15 years (updated)

Bulgaria views gender equality as a key priority in the national human rights agenda and an absolute necessity for the full realization of human rights. To achieve full gender equality in the next 15 years, it plans to adopt a new specialized law on gender equality that has already been drafted, and will ensure that a gender perspective is mainstreamed into all policies.

The Government has committed to further developing and updating the national strategy on gender equality. It is determined to abolish the gender wage gap, and committed to combatting all forms of violence against women.

Within the UN system, it will support the inclusion of women in all aspects of decision-making.

Speaking at the Global Leaders' Meeting on 27 September 2015, President Rosen Plevneliev said: “We need to turn words into actions in order to be true to the commitments we all made when adopting the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.” [ Speech ]

Developments since Bulgaria’s commitment

In April 2016, Bulgaria adopted a new Law on Equality between Women and Men, which establishes the principle of equality as a coordinated state policy and designates specialized bodies and mechanisms for its implementation at all levels. Moreover, the Government is currently upgrading the National Strategy for the Promotion of Gender Equality to further strengthen the provisions related to equal treatment, equal access to resources and equal participation in decision-making, as well as to ensure gender equality in all spheres of social, economic and political life of the country.

In April 2016, Bulgaria signed the Convention of the Council of Europe on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) and is fully committed to its implementation through the adoption of special legislative measures and the development of relevant policies and programmes to prevent and combat violence against women and girls in all its forms. [ Full update ]