Grabar Kitarovic said that the issue of women's rights was primarily an issue of human rights. Despite progress in the participation of women in decision-making, women are still insufficiently represented in political institutions and on the public scene in general, the minister said.
The existing regulations, both on the national and global levels, should serve to promote policies and programmes ensuring a critical amount of women holding strategic economic, social and political positions and capable of contributing to politics and overall gender equality, Grabar Kitarovic said.
The minister recalled an initiative put forward by Croatia at last week's meeting of women foreign ministers and other senior women officials at the first session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, when a declaration on the participation of women in politics was adopted.
The declaration calls on the governments of the member-countries to eliminate stereotypes and obstacles in order to achieve real gender equality in politics and public life, and adopt measures to
accomplish the actual equality of women, including a revision and amendment of the existing election legislation.
Grabar Kitarovic was also due to speak at a panel discussion on the expansion of the European Union to Southeastern Europe later in the day.
During her visit to Monaco, the minister will meet Prince Sovereign Albert II and open an honorary consulate of Croatia in Monaco.