The event was opened by Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek, Swedish Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ann Linde and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid. Minister Kulhánek emphasised in his speech that “as women are more exposed to the consequences of the pandemic, we must ensure that all recovery plans provide adequate gender-sensitive support programmes so as to accommodate all the specific needs of women and girls.”

PhDr. Lenka Simerská from the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, chief administrator of the 22% Towards Equality project, also addressed the Forum. The project focuses on solving the problem of unequal pay for women and men in the Czech Republic.

The OSCE Informal Group of Friends on the Environment welcomed in its statement the efforts of the Swedish Chairpersonship to promote environmental topics and at the same pointed out that the OSCE commitments in the environmental field have not been strengthened since 2013. The Czech Republic belongs to the founding members of this group.