8. Expressing serious concern over the conflicts persisting in various areas of the OSCE and acknowledging that conflicts are detrimental to human rights and negatively impact the economy, regional co-operation and development, and stressing that poverty, inequality and exclusion represent a challenge to the stability and security of participating States, 9. Acknowledging that situations of armed conflict and crisis affect women and men, boys and girls differently and that gender inequalities are deepened and exacerbated by violence, 10. Recognizing the vital roles that women play in consolidating peace, including by promoting understanding and tolerance between different groups; and also noting that women’s limited engagement in mediation efforts heightens the risk of conflict relapse, 11. Underlining that inclusive mediation is not only about the number of women involved in peace processes but also about enlarging the influence of women in decision-making, 12. Deeply concerned that, despite existing commitments, women continue to be underrepresented in formal peace processes and that gender issues are not adequately considered in most peace processes, The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly: 13. Calls on participating States and OSCE personnel and representatives involved in mediation to ensure that equal opportunities exist for women to hold meaningful roles in decision-making as part of mediation processes, including leadership positions as mediators and lead negotiators, and that the inclusion of women is considered in the design of all mediation processes; 14. Calls on participating States and OSCE personnel and representatives involved in mediation to ensure that women from diverse backgrounds, including minorities and other marginalized groups, are involved in mediation processes; 15. Recommends that participating States consider local and regional authorities as important facilitators for women’s empowerment; 16. Urges OSCE institutions to examine how gender mainstreaming, also referred to as gender-based analysis, can be practically implemented within conflict prevention structures, activities, and in outcome documents of peace agreements; and also calls for the OSCE to increase mentorship, training and networking opportunities to prepare women for increased roles in mediation and on participating States to ensure that funding is in place for such initiatives; 17. Urges participating States to address the barriers to women’s involvement in mediation processes, including sexism, lack of education and childcare and inadequate access to funding; 18. Calls on men involved in OSCE mediation efforts to champion gender mainstreaming in all such efforts, by promoting the inclusion of women in the process and ensuring that women’s perspectives and needs are integrated in the outcome documents of such processes; 28