Kosor was speaking at the 49th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women where delegations of about 100 governments and 6,000 activists were discussing the progress made in this field since the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995.
"We can see positive developments in fighting discrimination against women, but there are still many gaps and areas for improvement that are going to be examined during this session," Kosor said in her address to the Commission.
She said that Croatia aligned itself with the statement of the European Union.
Kosor pointed out that it was important to take a gender-sensitive approach to all efforts and everyday activities in order to eliminate "stereotyped roles for men and women and accelerate de facto equality between men and women".
Croatia was among the 134 countries that submitted a report to the UN on the steps they have taken over the past ten years in promoting gender equality and implementing the Platform for Action adopted at the Beijing Conference, which called on governments to end discrimination against women in politics, employment, education, health care and other areas.
Kosor said that in the past few years Croatia had adopted a number of significant laws in this field, starting with constitutional amendments that recognised the principle of gender equality as a constitutional value. She also cited the Family Act, the Protection against Domestic Violence Act and the Gender Equality Act, and added that the Labour Act and the Criminal Code had been amended and that other regulations had been adopted with a view to improving the position of women in Croatian society.
The Croatian Parliament has appointed the first ever Ombudsperson for Gender Equality and established the Government Office for Gender Equality. Gender equality commissions have been established on local levels, and the Government has recently adopted the National Strategy for Protection from Domestic Violence for the period 2005-2007, the Croatian minister said.
Kosor highlighted a continuous increase in women's participation in public and political life in Croatia since the 1990s, saying that nearly 21 per cent of members of Parliament and 35 per cent of ministers were women.
In January this year, the Croatian government submitted a report on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
Kosor said she was pleased with the concluding comments of the Committee in which it commended Croatia for legislative changes aimed at promoting gender equality and eliminating discrimination against women. She stressed that the Croatian government would pursue the Committee's recommendations for the full implementation of the Convention.
Kosor also said that in implementing the UN Millennium Development Goals, Croatia would continue promoting gender equality in the areas of education, labour, prevention of violence against women, and a stronger participation in public and political life.