Zonta Essentials: The "Standard-Setting" one of the Council of Europe's key strengths
Through Zonta's Council of Europe (CoE) Committee, Zonta holds participatory status at the Council of Europe, Europe's leading human rights organization. The committee will provide regular updates to enhance members' understanding of Zonta's role with CoE.
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Part 7. The "Standard-Setting" - one of the CoE's key strengths.
The standard-setting includes activities aiming at drawing up and adopting standards – whether legally binding or not. Through this action the CoE provides standards to promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
The outputs of standard-setting are: Legal instruments (conventions), recommendations, tools, guidelines and good practices.
Member states and other target groups like institutions, INGOs and civil society:
- Rely on standards to fill gaps or to respond to emerging challenges
- Rely on tools to raise awareness
- Relay on conclusions and recommendations to identify measures
Finally to change their national legislation, policies and practices in line with the CoE standards, adhering to the CoE’s fundamental values.
The difference between convention – recommendation – guidelines:
Convention/treaty: is legally binding - once the CoE member state has signed and ratified the convention. The then so-called state party to the convention is obliged to transfer convention requirements into national law and provisions.
Recommendation: is a non-legally binding policy framework. It is a proposal provided by the Committee of Ministers that member states can implement on national level.
Guidelines: are non-legally binding, provide practical advice and recommendations for member states to implement policies and practices related to specific areas. For instance, there are guidelines on upholding equality and protecting against discrimination during crises like COVID-19.
Gender Equality - One of the key areas of CoE standards
The Council of Europe’s pioneering work in the field of human rights and gender equality has resulted in solid standards, which bring member states closer to real equality between women and men.
Milestone achievements in this respect include the CoE Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) and the CoE Convention on action against trafficking in human beings (Anti-Trafficking Convention).
In addition, a number of recommendations/guidelines adopted by the Committee of Ministers addresses gender equality issues in a broad range of areas, notably violence against women, balanced participation of women and men in political and public decision-making, media, education, health and sports.
Or guidelines like the one on the place of men and boys in gender equality policies and on policies to combat violence against women.
Next episode: The Council of Europe’s global cooperation.
23 JUNE 2025