Brussels, 26/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 25 February, the European Parliament called for the adoption and implementation of specific gender equality policies, including pro-active measures to achieve more quickly de facto gender equality and promote all fundamental rights for women and girls. With the adoption of a resolution drafted by Eva-Britt Svensson (GUE/NGL, Sweden) regretting that the goals of the United Nations gender equality programme, known as the Beijing Platform for Action, have not been achieved, the EP said too that women's sexual and reproductive health also
had to be improved. Fathers should also be encouraged to share family responsibilities by taking paternity leave.
The EP said that the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women also belongs to the women's rights agenda, and that efforts must be made to strengthen them in Europe and globally. It said that abortion “should not be promoted as a method of family planning and that women who have had recourse to abortion should receive humane treatment and counselling”.
MEPs urge the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) to develop strategies and tools for gender mainstreaming, particularly in the areas of gender impact assessment and gender budgeting. They also urge EIGE to promote exchanges of knowledge between member states in all fields addressed in the Beijing Platform.
EU 2020 strategy. The EP called for a strong gender equality priority or chapter to be included in the revision of the Lisbon Strategy in 2010, accompanied by new targets, for links with the Beijing Platform for Action to be strengthened, and for the Beijing indicators, developed for the follow-up to the Platform for Action, to be used to increase the gender dimension in national reform programmes and in national reports on protection and social inclusion strategies. (L.C./transl.rt)