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Strengthening the Role of Women in the Neighbourhood

27-04-2012

Cooperation to achieve gender equality

Equality between men and women is a fundamental right in the Charter of Human Rights, and is a fundamental value of the EU’s Founding Treaties and the Lisbon Treaty.

The promotion and protection of women’s rights figures highly in the EU’s external policy. In line with this commitment, in June 2010 the Foreign Affairs Council adopted the EU Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Development for the period 2010-2015, underlining that: “The EU reiterates its strong commitment to gender equality as a human right, a question of social justice and a core value of the EU development policy.”

This action plan aims to accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), in particular on gender equality and maternal health, as well as to work towards other international development goals related to gender equality. Indeed, figures show that thanks to the plan, EU Delegations and Member States are putting in place new procedures to ensure that gender issues are systematically taken into account; both in their policy making and, frequently, also in their budget support programmes.

This commitment was underlined on International Women’s Day last year, in a joint statement by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding: “Equality between women and men is a fundamental right, a common value of the EU and a necessary condition for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth within the EU as well as a key principle in its external action.”

It was a sentiment echoed by Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, who stressed in his statement: “On this special day, I want to make it clear: there will be no human and economic development without a sound respect of women’s rights and conditions. This is a fundamental part of the development policy that I wish to champion, providing rights and security to these women.”

In cooperation with the Eastern Neighbourhood, the issue of integrating women into social and economic life is covered in the regional Priority Area of people to people activities, while the both regional and national strategy papers all stress that, “gender will be mainstreamed as a cross-cutting issue in all assistance measures.”

The promotion and protection of women’s rights is a key priority outlined in every national Action Plan, and is systematically discussed at bilateral level between the EU and its partner countries, with gender projects funded under the ENPI.

EuropeAid drawing competition

Every year since 2007, the European Commission's EuropeAid Directorate General has run an international children's drawing competition on gender equality. The aim of the competition, which is launched every year on International Women’s Day on 8 March, is to motivate children from the EU’s partner countries to take part in an exercise to raise awareness of the role of women in society.

In 2011, over 40,000 children aged between eight and ten, from 60 countries in seven regions – Africa, Asia, Caribbean, the Pacific, Latin America, Mediterranean, the Middle East and the European Neighbouring Countries of the EU – sent in their visions of how to make the world a fairer and more equal place. A nine-year-old Russian and a child from Kosovo were the winners for the EU neighbourhood countries region.

Useful links

EuropeAid Cooperation and Development: Gender webpage

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/gender/index_en.htm

EuropeAid fact sheet - International Women's Day 2012

European External Action Service – Euromed and Women

http://eeas.europa.eu/euromed/women/index_en.htm

European External Action Service – Women’s Rights in EU External Policy

http://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/women/index_en.htm

EEAS feature - In partnership with women: empowerment through action

http://eeas.europa.eu/special-features/working_women_en.htm

EU and Gender Equality webpage

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=418&langId=en