The European Union’s commitments and actions for gender equality in development cooperation
Gender equality and women’s empowerment is one of the five principles of EU’s development policy.
The EU pursues a twin-track approach on gender equality in development cooperation:
- It takes measures specifically designed to tackle gender inequalities and,
- more widely, it aims to incorporate gender issues into all aspects of development policy (“mainstreaming”).
The crucial significance of gender equality in development policies is recognised in various policy documents such as the European consensus on development (where Gender Equality is identified as a cross-cutting issue). According to the 2014 edition of The Official Directory of the European Union, women account for 33% of higher ranking officials.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council (2007) identifies five areas for action and provides guidelines on how to work gender equality into other development policies more effectively. In particular, it describes how gender equality can be furthered through new forms of aid such as budget support and sector-based aid, which are starting to replace traditional methods of supporting individual projects.
The paper promotes equal rights (political, civil, economic, social and cultural); equal access to and control of resources; equal opportunities to exercise political and economic influence.Council of the European Union (2007), Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development Cooperation – Conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council, available at: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/07/st09/st09561.en07.pdf
The 2010 Commission Staff Working Document EU Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development
The EU implements the above 2007 Communication and Council Conclusions. It is an operational document that seeks to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs and other international development goals.
The Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development (2010-2015)
was adopted in June 2010 on the basis of this Staff Working Document, as part of the Council Conclusions on the MDGs. The plan aims to improve the EU’s work to advance gender equality in developing countries.
It has 9 specific objectives, 37 actions and 53 indicators and contains an accountability framework encompassing Member States, the EU Commission, the European External Action Service and the EU delegations in developing countries.
Under the action plan, gender equality is systematically included in political and policy dialogues with partner countries to raise awareness and encourage change. It also proposes training on gender equality for staff in the EEAS and relevant Commission services, including all Heads of EU Delegations. The action plan also intends to make sure that gender equality issues are part of the annual and multi-annual planning process and to apply internationally accepted standards such as the “OECD Gender Equality Marker System “, to track aid devoted to this issue.
The Council also decided that a progress report regarding the implementation of the plan would be presented and discussed annually and a mid-term review would be conducted in 2013.
Financial Support
For the period 2007 – 2013, the EU’s action on gender equality and development is financed through Country cooperation strategies and the thematic Instrument ‘Investing in People’ which contains a separate financial envelope for the period 2007-2013 for funding EC actions on gender equality and the empowerment of women. The available funding of € 57 M is almost three times higher than in the previous three years (when € 3 M was directly spent on gender specific actions on annual average). Funding is allocated through calls for proposals, and by direct agreements with selected partners. Priorities include implementing international commitments at country level; supporting women’s NGOs; helping governments produce better statistics broken down by gender.
Efforts have been made to ensure that gender equality is properly incorporated into strategy papers and EU staff have detailed guidelines.
See also
- European Commission
- EU Commission - United Nations Women launch new partnership on women’s empowerment
- Irish Aid and Gender Equality
References
- Council of the European Union (2007), Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development Cooperation – Conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council, available at: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/07/st09/st09561.en07.pdf
- European Commission (2010), COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT, EU Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development 2010-2015, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/SEC_2010_265_gender_action_plan_EN.pdf
- Council of the European Union (2010), Council conclusions on the Millennium Development Goals for the United Nations High-Level Plenary meeting in New York and beyond, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/EU_council_conclusions_MDGs_20100614.pdf
- Council of the European Union (2011), Commission Staff Working Document – 2011 Report on the Implementation of the “EU Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development 2010-2015”, available at: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/11/st17/st17880.en11.pdf
- European Parliament (2006), The European Consensus on Development, Official Journal of the European Union, 2006/C 46/0, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/european_consensus_2005_en.pdf
- Council of the European Union (2010), Council conclusions on the Millennium Development Goals for the United Nations High-Level Plenary meeting in New York and beyond, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/EU_council_conclusions_MDGs_20100614.pdf
- European Commission (2008), Programming Guide for Strategy Papers, Programming Fiche: Gender Equality, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/F43_genderequality_fin_en.pdf on addressing gender equality in country and regional programming.