Mr President, Commissioner Schreyer, ladies and gentlemen, here we are at the second reading of a report that should not pose any problems. Nonetheless, I want to stress some points that I feel are essential in this report and once again make a number of observations. A disproportionate majority of poor people in the world today are women. There is a close link between gender inequality and poverty, just as there is between the eradication of poverty, greater independence for women and gender equality. The four countries placed bottom on the United Nations index measuring gender equality also come last in terms of human poverty. If we want effectively to reduce poverty, then gender equality must be improved. Furthermore, if we take into account the important role played by women in society in developing countries, it is widely acknowledged that the full and complete participation of women is a prerequisite for sustainable development. Women have for many years, women have been recognised as actors who have an important role in the success of projects, in change and in development. It would be a mistake to undertake measures to promote development and sustainable development without taking into account the opinion of women and without genuinely involving them in projects. The development cooperation policy that we are pursuing must not boil down to simply funding projects in order to clear our consciences. It must rather be an investment for the future so that the people and the countries targeted will one day become partners and can promote their own development. Women play many and various roles in many societies. They are wives, mothers, and teachers at the same time. They start small businesses, they grow things, they sell things, they are genuine operators, and dare I say it, industrialists. Nevertheless, in many cases, they are also the victims of societies that are falling apart; they are the victims of wars, disease and patriarchal structures. Our action must consist of promoting and supporting the participation of women in economic, social, political and environmental fields. Similarly, we must strive to ensure better access for women of all ages to the entire range of resources and services, such as health, education, training and infrastructures. By strengthening the position and the power of women, we are allowing them to take charge of their own lives so that they can set their own objectives, so that they acquire the skills they need, so that they have more self-confidence, so that they can deal with their problems and learn to become independent. By acting in this way, we allow men and women to take part in social and political life and to thus obtain citizenship, which is a fundamental element in any democracy. This will also allow us to consolidate the rule of law and finally ensure that human rights, rights of the person and fundamental freedoms are respected in territories other than our own. For several years, gender equality has formed an integral part of the political framework which includes the European Union’s development cooperation. The priorities and the objectives have been defined but there is still a long way to go to achieve tangible results and to improve the situation of women in developing countries. The aim of the regulation that we are voting on this week is, therefore, to strengthen the implementation of measures aimed at promoting equality in the policies, strategies, and operations of the European Union’s development cooperation. Activities funded under this regulation must act as a catalyst for supplementing and strengthening existing policies and programmes in developing countries. Financing this regulation is the only stumbling block that we have come up against. Having found a solution, I hope that the sooner the projects are included, the more swiftly money will be released and actions taken on the ground together with NGOs and local women’s associations. We need something tangible; we need actions and not just talk and fine words. Finally, I dare to hope, Commissioner, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, that the next time we renew this regulation we will finally obtain a substantial increase in the budget, as well as an impact assessment on the type of work carried out and a summary broken down by country and by area of actions. Working together towards the future is our only chance of ensuring that democracy will be achieved.

Political group: PSE