Accelerating progress in gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in a world that is far from being achieved and weakened by the Covid-19 crisis is the ambition of the new ‘EU Action Plan of Gender equality and women's empowerment in external relations’ (2021-2025 GAP III).
It was unveiled on Wednesday 25 November by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, at a time when no country in the world is on track to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by 2030.
While this is the third action plan, it is the first to provide a political framework endorsed by the College of Commissioners and to demonstrate the political will to lead to more inclusive and prosperous societies. It is “a comprehensive framework to guide our actions in all sectors of external action”, Mr Borrell specified.
GAP III was presented to the press on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, but its scope is much broader.
It focuses on six areas: – end gender-based violence; – sexual and reproductive health rights; – economic and social rights and empowerment; – equal participation and leadership; – women; – peace and security.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has increased inequality. After decades of progress, gains are at risk of being lost and women and girls are on the front line”, Ms Urpilainen insisted, stressing that the plan must promote sustainable societies in which men and women have equal opportunities.
According to her, Monday’s discussions between the European Development Ministers showed that the plan has won the support of a majority of Member States (see EUROPE 12608/17). While Poland and Hungary objected to the use of the term ‘gender equality’, preferring equality between ‘the sexes’, it was up to the Council of the EU to resolve this issue, the High Representative said.
‘Gender equality’ is “international terminology that we use and are committed to”, the European Commissioner stressed. The High Representative, for his part, indicated that the College had unanimously agreed on the use of the “widely used and universally understood” term.
Areas of action. The plan details areas where progress is expected in particular.
By 2025, as a consequence, 85% of EU actions should contribute to achieving gender equality (up from 64% in 2019).
A specific action plan per partner country will have to be prepared – “tailor-made”.
It will also mean the EU and Member States working better together, as Team Europe is doing in the global response to the pandemic.
In the fight against gender-based violence, the EU should in particular support the preparation, prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence and provide more support to women’s rights organisations.
It should also ensure the promotion of sexual and reproductive rights by supporting, inter alia, getting rid of practices such as genital mutilation.
The EU also intends to support women’s economic empowerment, access to education and health, given that in 2020, globally, less than 50% of women are in the labour market, compared to 76% of men, and that 2 out of 3 of the world’s 740 million illiterate adults are women.
The EU also intends to support actions to advance women’s equal “participation and leadership”, including in peace processes.
“Between 1992 and 2018, women constituted only 13%of negotiators, 6%of mediators and 6%of signatories in major peace processes”, the text details.
What place should there be for women in the European institutions?
Noting that 87% of senior management posts in the European External Action Service (EEAS) are still occupied by men, MEPs last month called on the Commission to start by addressing these gender inequalities (see EUROPE 12587/7).
Parliament then called on the EEAS to ensure that 50% of its management posts are held by women, including those of heads of delegations and missions and operations under the Common Security and Defence Policy (see EUROPE 12588/25).
While the Commission is determined to “lead by example” and “make a leap forward”, it does not set itself any concrete targets, but merely reiterates the commitment of its President, Ursula von der Leyen, to achieving a 50/50 gender balance in management positions by the end of her term of office.
“A key priority has been to encourage Member States to nominate female candidates for all posts in the EEAS”, says the penultimate and short part of GAP III, devoted to gender equality in the institutions.
Finally, the Commission asserts that it wants to strengthen the role of the “gender focal persons/points”, in particular by ensuring that their “network will be increased”, and states that management staff will receive compulsory training on gender equality and on the implementation of the action plan. This was also required by the European Parliament.
However, Hannah Neumann (Greens/EFA, Germany), Parliament rapporteur for the opinion, noted, “We now need clear and measurable targets”, and called on the Commission to “act and to act fast, to make this good plan change the reality in our own institutions and in the world”.
See GAP III: https://bit.ly/3fEH867 (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki and Aminata Niang)