JOINT COMMUNICATION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL EU GENDER ACTION PLAN (GAP) III – AN AMBITIOUS AGENDA FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN EU EXTERNAL ACTION
Date: 2020-11-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission
Subjects: EU action, EU relations, gender equality, position of women, sexual discrimination, women's rights

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNION FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND SECURITY POLICY Brussels, 25.11.2020  JOIN(2020) 17 final  JOINT COMMUNICATION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL EU GENDER ACTION PLAN (GAP) III – AN AMBITIOUS AGENDA FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN EU EXTERNAL ACTION  {SWD(2020) 284 final}  
 
 
EU GENDER ACTION PLAN (GAP) III – AN AMBITIOUS AGENDA 
FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN EU 
EXTERNAL ACTION  

Gender1 equality is a core value of the EU2 and a universally recognised human right, as 
well  as  an  imperative  to  well-being,  economic  growth,  prosperity,  good  governance, 
peace and security. All people, in all their diversity, should be free to live their chosen life, 
thrive socially and economically, participate and take a lead as equals.  

The EU is a global front-runner in promoting gender equality as a key political objective 
of its external action and common foreign and security policy, aimed at accelerating progress 
towards global goals including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) at the core of the 
2030  Agenda.  The  EU  pursues  a 
three-pronged  approach,  combining  gender 
mainstreaming, targeted actions and political dialogue. 

The challenges to gender equality are as varied as the contexts in which they emerge and call 
for context specific responses. There is, however, not a single country in the world that is 
close to achieving by 2030 gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. In 
2020, it is 25 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action3 and 20 years since 
UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security4 were adopted. Some 
progress has been achieved, but deep-rooted inequalities persist, including on basic access 
to  health,  education  and  jobs,  but  also  with  regards  to  widespread  gender-based  violence 
everywhere in the world.  

In  many  places,  women’s  and  girls’  rights  are  called  into  question  and  often  denied. 
Instability,  fragility,  conflict,  climate  change,  environmental  degradation,  migration,  forced 
displacement and lately the COVID-19 pandemic are among the critical factors exacerbating 
inequalities and threatening hard-won gains. Civil society organisations, including women’s 
rights organisations, are facing shrinking civil, civic and democratic space. 

However,  challenges  also  bring  opportunities.  Women  and  girls  increasingly  take  part  in 
shaping  global  transformations,  with  new  generations  active  in  global  and  grassroots 
movements for a green and just transition, equal rights for all, democracy, and for peaceful 
and  inclusive  societies.  This  shows  that  positive  change  is  possible.  The  post-COVID-19 
recovery  must  be  an  opportunity  to  address  structural  inequalities  and  build  more  inclusive 
societies.  

Drawing from the EU gender equality strategy 2020 - 2025, which calls for a gender-equal 
Europe, this new EU gender action plan for 2021–2025 (GAP III) calls for a gender-equal 
world and is complementary to the LGBTIQ equality strategy for 2020-2025. It will scale up 
the EU contribution to reach SDG 55 in all EU internal and external policy areas and across 
the 2030 Agenda.      

1  ‘Gender’  means  the  socially  constructed  roles,  behaviours,  activities  and  attributes  that  a  given  society 
considers appropriate for women and men.  
2 Art. 2, 3(3) and 21 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU), Art. 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the 
European Union (TFEU), and Art. 21 and 23 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. 
3 https://www.un.org/en/events/pastevents/pdfs/Beijing_Declaration_and_Platform_for_Action.pdf 
4 https://www.unwomen.org/en/docs/2000/10/un-security-council-resolution-1325 
5 https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5  

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Building on the evaluation of EU support to gender equality6 and stakeholder consultations7, 
GAP III provides a policy framework for the EU to boost its level of engagement, focusing 
on five pillars: 

(1) Making  EU  engagement  on  gender  equality  more  effective  as  a  cross-cutting 
priority of EU external action in its policy and programming work. The European 
Commission  and  the  High  Representative  reconfirm  that  by  2025  85%  of  all  new 
external  actions  will  contribute  to  this  objective8.  This  requires  further  gender 
mainstreaming in all external policies and sectors and a gender-transformative9, 
rights-based and intersectional10 approach.  

(2) Promoting, 

together  with  EU  Member  States,  strategic  EU  engagement  at 
multilateral, regional and country level and jointly stepping up implementation of 
GAP  III  in  each  partner  country  and  region,  in  close  cooperation  with  partner 
governments,  civil  society,  the  private  sector  and  other  key  stakeholders.  This  will 
require greater coordination, cooperation and transparency.  

(3) Focusing on key areas of engagement: ensuring freedom from all forms of gender-
based  violence;  promoting  sexual  and  reproductive  health  and  rights;  strengthening 
economic  and  social  rights  and  the  empowerment  of  girls  and  women;  advancing 
equal  participation  and  leadership;  implementing  the  women,  peace  and  security 
agenda, addressing challenges and harnessing the opportunities offered by the green 
transition and the digital transformation. 

(4) Leading  by  example,  by  establishing  gender-responsive11  and  gender-balanced 
leadership  at  top  EU  political  and  management  levels.  This  requires  leadership 
buy-in, investing in knowledge, resources and pooling action with EU Member States.  

(5) Reporting  and  communicating  on  results,  putting 

in  place  a  quantitative,  
qualitative,  and  inclusive  monitoring  system  to  increase  public  accountability, 
ensure transparency and access to information and achieve better EU outreach on 
the impact of its work worldwide. 

1.  Making EU engagement for gender equality more effective 

1.1. Tackling the root causes of gender inequality: three core principles   

To address the root causes of gender inequality and contribute to counter the multiplicity of 
stereotypes and biases still prevailing in many contexts, the EU action should be guided by 
three principles:  

  Take  a  gender-transformative  approach.  This  means  examining,  questioning,  and 
changing  rigid  gender  norms  and  imbalances  of  power  which  disadvantage  women 

6  Evaluation  on  ‘EU  support  to  gender  equality  and  women’s  and  girls’  empowerment  (2010-2018)’, 
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/tenders/monitoring-and-evaluation_en   
7 https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/topics/empowering-women-and-girls_en 
8  Targets will  be  aligned  with  the  Regulation  establishing the  Neighbourhood, Development  and International 
Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), once adopted. 
9 An approach is gender transformative when it aims to shift gender-power relations, for a positive change of the 
paradigm(s) that produce discriminations and inequalities.  
10  An  approach  is  intersectional  when  it  is  based  on  an  acknowledgement  of  the  multiple  characteristics  and 
identities  of  an  individual,  to  analyse  and  respond  to  the  ways  in  which  sex  and  gender  intersect  with  other 
personal characteristics. 
11  Gender-responsive:  aiming  to  increase  accountability  and  accelerate  implementation  of  commitments  to 
gender equality with a rights-based approach at international, national and community level. 

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and  girls    and  generate  discriminations  at  all  ages,  starting  from  early  childhood,  in 
societies.  This  means  the  EU  promoting  change  in  social  attitudes,  including  by 
actively  engaging  men  and  boys  and  by  putting  a  focus  on  young  people  as 
drivers of change. To work in a way that is context-sensitive, it is essential to forge 
strong  partnerships  and  dialogue  with  local  actors,  civil  society  and  local 
communities and to support women’s organisations.  

  Address  intersectionality  of  gender  with  other  forms  of  discrimination12.  Focus 
should  also  be  on  the  most  disadvantaged  women,  for  instance  indigenous  peoples 
and  persons  belonging  to  racial/ethnic/religious  minorities,  forcibly  displaced, 
migrant, economically and socially deprived women, those living in rural and coastal 
areas, as they face multiple discrimination. Specific challenges for girls and of elderly 
women  should  be  considered.  Women  with  disabilities,  also  protected  by  the  UN 
the  Rights  of  Persons  with  Disabilities13,  are  particularly 
Convention  on 
disadvantaged.  The  rights  of  women  with  disabilities  should  be  at  the  core  of  the 
future strategy on the rights of persons with disabilities for the coming years (2021-
2030). In the same spirit, advancing the rights of LGBTIQ persons is the focus of the 
EU  LGBTIQ  equality  strategy14,  to  be  read  in  conjunction  with  GAPIII.  All 
intersecting dimensions are equally relevant.   

  Follow  an  approach  based  on  human  rights,  which  places  the  principles  of  non-
discrimination and countering inequalities at the centre of all action15. This includes 
helping  every  human  being  to  exercise  their  human  rights,  participate  in  decisions 
concerning them and seek redress when their rights are violated.  

The EU should continue to condemn violations and abuses of women’s and girls’ rights and 
to strongly support civil society, as well as women and men working for gender equality and 
women’s empowerment, including women human rights defenders.  

The  EU  should  support mobilisation  of  religious  actors  for  gender  equality  in  line  with  the 
Faith for Rights framework16. 

The  European  Commission  will  strengthen  and  update  the  methodology  connecting  gender 
equality,  the  right  based  approach  encompassing  intersectionality  in  its  Toolbox:  a  rights-
based approach, encompassing all human rights for EU development cooperation.17. 

1.2.   Promoting gender mainstreaming in all areas of EU external action  

Gender  mainstreaming  remains  the  primary  means  to  achieve  gender  equality.  Its 
purpose  is  to  ensure  that  all  policies  and  programmes  maximise  their  benefits  for  all  and 
contribute to stop the perpetuation of inequality18. The European Commission and the High 

12 Article 10 TFEU, when ‘defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union shall aim to combat 
discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation’. 
13 See UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, so far ratified by 182 countries, 
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/ConventionRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx; Article 6: 
Women with disabilities. 
14 COM(2020) 698 final. 
15 https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/racism-and-
xenophobia/eu-anti-racism-action-plan-2020-2025_en 
16 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomReligion/Pages/FaithForRights.aspx      
17 http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%209489%202014%20INIT  
18 “The aim of gender mainstreaming is to redistribute power, influence and resources in a fair and gender-equal 
way, tackling inequality, promoting fairness, and creating opportunity.” Gender Equality Strategy, p. 15. 

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Representative  are  committed  to  gender  mainstreaming  in  all  policies  and  actions  as  a 
responsibility for all, including in the EU institutions. Member States are encouraged to join 
this effort.  

SDG 5 is one of the three least financed SDGs globally. The EU has made a commitment that 
at least 85% of all new external actions19 will have gender equality and women’s and girls’ 
empowerment as a significant objective or as a principal objective by 2025.20  

Building  on  the  progress  of  the  EU  Gender  Action  Plan  (2015-2020),  this  share  steadily 
increased from around 58% in 2016 to 65% in 2019. The EU is now determined to reach the 
85% target by 2025.  

In  this  perspective,  the  design  of  all  external  EU-funded  programmes  will  apply  three 
minimum standards: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

conducting and using updated gender analyses to inform decision-making on future 
action  and  integrating  these  into  all  relevant  dialogues,  policies,  strategies, 
programmes and operations21;  
applying  gender-sensitive  and  sex-disaggregated  indicators  and  statistics  to 
monitoring and evaluation22;  
giving  robust  reasons, based  on  the  findings  of  the  gender  analysis,  to  substantiate 
any action deemed not to contribute to gender equality.  

The  European  Commission  and  the  High  Representative  will  promote  actions  targeting 
gender equality as their principal objective, with a transformative potential. There will be at 
least  one  action  with  gender  equality  as  a  principal  objective  supported  in  each 
country23.   

The  European  Commission  will  also  step  up  its  support  for  gender-responsive  budgeting 
via  programmes  to  support  public  finance  management.  It  will  ensure  that  new  public 
expenditure  and  financial  accountability  (PEFA)  assessment  reports  include  the  module  on 
gender responsiveness.   

Following  the  practice  of  the  EU’s  External  Investment  Plan  (EIP),  the  NDICI 
implementation will take an integrated approach combining support for private investment in 
partner  countries  with  actions  to  improve  the  investment  climate.  The  EIP  will  address 
barriers to women’s empowerment and gender mainstreaming will be applied to EU blending 
operation funds and guarantees.   

The  EU  should  continue  to  promote  gender  equality  through  its  trade  policy.  New  trade 
agreements  should  include  strong  provisions  on  gender  equality,  including  compliance 
with  relevant  ILO  and  UN  Conventions.24  Compliance  with  these  conventions  should 

19  “Gender  Equality  and  Women’s  Empowerment:  Transforming  the  Lives  of  Girls  and  Women  through  EU 
External Relations 2016-2020” (Joint SWD(2015)182 final); Council conclusions 13201/15, 26.10.2015.  
20 GAP III applies the DAC gender equality scoring system. Significant (marked 1) means that gender equality 
is  an  important  objective,  but  not  the  principal  reason  for  undertaking  the  action,  while  principal  (marked  2) 
means  that  gender  equality  is  the  main  objective.  For  humanitarian  aid,  the  Commission  applies  its  own 
Marker: 
humanitarian 
https://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/policies/sectoral/gender_age_marker_toolkit.pdf  
21 Gender analysis should inspire and lead to the development of a country implementation plan, see section 2. 
22 See Joint SWD (2020)284 accompanying GAP III. 
23 Responding to the G2 score of the OECD policy marker. See note 21. 
24 ILO Convention No 100 on Equal Remuneration; ILO Convention No 111 on Discrimination in Employment 
and Occupation; UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). 

Gender-Age 

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remain a requirement under the new Generalised Scheme of Preferences regulation, which 
will take effect in 2024. The EU will also continue to include dedicated gender analyses in 
all ex-ante impact assessments, sustainability impact assessments, and policy reviews linked 
to trade.  

Given the important role women play in the fishery supply chain, including aquaculture, the 
sectoral support of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) is already used for 
projects in this area.25 

With women and girls accounting for approximately half of all international migrants, their 
contributions  to  economic  and  social  developments  in  countries  of  origin,  transit  and 
destination, as well as their specific needs must be recognised. The EU should ensure that the 
human  rights  of  migrant  women  and  girls  are  fully  realised  through  gender-responsive 
migration  policies,  programmes  and  laws,  and  gender-responsive  migration  governance  at 
global, regional and national levels reinforced. The EU will build on lessons learnt, including 
under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF).  

EU  humanitarian  aid  should  continue  to  be  both  gender  and  age-sensitive,  and  aim  to  be 
gender-age-responsive, taking into account specific needs, vulnerabilities, and the capacities 
of  all.  The  use  of  the  Commission’s  humanitarian  Gender-Age  Marker26  and  targeted 
actions will contribute to this endeavour.   

GAP  III  implementation  will  contribute  to  the  humanitarian-development-peace  triple 
nexus, and collaboration between actors is strongly encouraged.  

Research  and  Innovation  has  a  pivotal  role  in  advancing  gender  equality  and  women’s 
empowerment. The Horizon Europe programme will, through its international cooperation, 
contribute  to  joint  solutions  for  global  challenges,  by  supporting  gender  studies  and 
intersectional research, women’s access to research funding and their participation in research 
careers, and the integration of a gender perspective in research content. 

2.  Promoting a strategic EU engagement at country, regional and 

multilateral levels  

A  coordinated,  strategic  and  coherent  EU  engagement  at  multilateral,  regional  and 
country levels should be pursued in the implementation of GAP III.  

2.1. Working together at country level 

Based on a sound gender country profile 27, EU Delegations, Common Security and Defence 
Policy  (CSDP)  operations  and  missions,    in  coordination  with    EU  Member  States’ 
embassies,  should  prepare  a  ‘country-level  implementation  plan’,  setting  the  policy 

25 According to the World Bank, 47% of 120 million people all over the world work in extractive fishing and 
subsequent  activity  areas  such  as  processing  or  selling,  are  women,  a  figure  that  increases  to  70%  in  the 
aquaculture industry. 
26 https://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/policies/sectoral/gender_age_marker_toolkit.pdf 
27  An  updated  gender  country  profile  and  gender-sector  analysis  will  be  produced  during  the  programming 
process to integrate the gender perspective into the overall programming and in each priority area. If possible, 
this  work  should  be  carried  out jointly  with  EU  Member  States.  In  fragile  and  conflict-affected  contexts,  this 
should always form an integral part of the risk, vulnerability and conflict analysis.  

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priorities and identifying actions and key objectives selected from the thematic policy areas 
set out in Chapter 3 of this Joint Communication28.     

The EU should work in partnership with national gender equality networks and ministries.  
Wherever possible, it will support relevant national and sectoral gender equality strategies, as 
this  is  key  for  the  long-term  sustainability  of  EU  action.  The  EU  should  maintain  regular 
dialogue  on the implementation of  GAP III  and work in  cooperation with  a broad range of 
actors, such as local authorities and civil society organisations, women’s rights activists, 
human rights defenders, young people, religious and faith-based organisations. 

The country  roadmaps  for  EU  engagement  with  civil  society  will  integrate  the  gender 
perspective  and  will  ensure  meaningful  participation  of  women’s  and  girls’  organisations 
and grassroots organisations.  

The  EU  should  strive  for  close  coordination  with  country  representations  of  international 
organisations,  notably  of  the  UN  system.  The  EU  should  also  cooperate  with  the  private 
sector to promote gender equality and business and human rights standards.  

2.2. Scaling up EU engagement at multi-country and regional levels 

The EU should step up its engagement, dialogue and partnership with regional stakeholders 
by  supporting  gender  equality  strategies  run  by  international  and  regional  organisations, 
ensuring that the gender perspective is mainstreamed in all its regional programmes. 

Boosting  synergies  between  regional  and  country  levels  has  yielded  positive  results  in  EU 
regional cooperation in the Southern Neighbourhood, for example by strengthening the EU 
partnership with the Council of Europe (CoE) on preventing and combating violence against 
women  and  domestic  violence,  in  line  with  the  standards  and  objectives  of  the  CoE 
Convention  on  preventing  and  combating  violence  against  women  and  domestic  violence 
(Istanbul  Convention),  and  by  supporting  the  Union  for  the  Mediterranean  in  advocating 
for women’s human rights, and this should be continued 

The  EU  accession  process  has  prompted  legal  reforms  promoting  gender  equality  in 
candidate countries and potential candidates, as they are expected to progressively align with 
EU gender equality acquis, and have the institutional framework to enforce it. 

Similarly,  the  EU  should  support  initiatives  such  as  the  Association  of  Southeast  Asian 
Nations  (ASEAN)  Commission  on  the  Promotion  and  Protection  of  the  Rights  of  Women 
and  Children,  the  Pacific  Leaders  Gender  Equality  Declaration  and  the  Montevideo 
Strategy in Latin America.   

In  the  framework  of  the  Africa-EU  partnership,  the  EU  should  support  African  Union 
targeted  initiatives,  such  as  the  strategy  for  gender  equality  and  women’s  empowerment 
(2018-2028)29  and  the  new  decade  of  African  women’s  financial  and  economic  inclusion 
(2020-2030)30. It should also advocate for full ratification and implementation of the Maputo 

28 These plan will be inspired by the accompanying staff working document ‘Objectives and indicators to frame 
the Implementation of GAP III’, SWD(2020) 284. 
29 https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36195-doc-
au_strategy_for_gender_equality_womens_empowerment_2018-2028_report.pdf 
30 https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20200214/promising-projections-new-decade-african-womens-financial-and-
economic 

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Protocol and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights 
of Women in Africa31.  

Mainstreaming  gender  equality  in  all  work  strands  of  the  Africa-EU  Partnership,  the 
EU should also enhance women’s role as rights-holders, peacebuilders and decision-makers 
for peace and security, democracy and the rule of law and promote their access to justice and 
basic services. Support to the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should benefit 
women. In the broader context of urban development, business opportunities for women and 
participation will be promoted through cooperation between EU and African cities under the 
100 Intelligent Cities Challenge Initiative32.  

EU regional action should address gender-related challenges with a cross-border dimension, 
such  as  climate  change,  migration  and  forced  displacement,  including  trafficking  in  human 
beings  and  security.  A  new  programme  of  capacity-building  for  military  personnel 
supporting  development  and  security  (CBSD)33  will  be  implemented  in  African  countries 
and will incorporate the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. 

In  every  region,  the  European  Commission  and  the  High  Representative  will  support 
transformative actions for gender equality based on a regional gender analysis, wherever 
appropriate.  In  Sub-Saharan  Africa,  for  instance,  support  should  go  to  multi-country 
partnerships, creating synergies between efforts to address sexual and reproductive health and 
rights  (SRHR),  education,  nutrition  and  access  to  finance  and  business  opportunities  for 
women. 

2.3. Taking stronger EU leadership at multilateral level  

The EU should boost its leadership role on gender equality, women’s and girls’ rights and 
empowerment  at  multilateral  level,  contributing  to  advancing  this  agenda  in  international 
forums. Building on its authority and convening power, the EU should be ready to initiate, 
sponsor  and  co-sponsor  resolutions  and  declarations  on  gender  equality  and  to  consistently 
promote  the  inclusion  of  gender-responsive  language  in  all  resolutions  and  declarations. 
Strengthening and forging partnerships and alliances is key to renewing existing international 
commitments  on  gender  equality,  women’s  rights  and  empowerment.  This  is  especially 
evident in tackling global challenges, such as COVID-19. The multilateral EU delegations 
have  a  special  responsibility  to  promote  political  initiatives,  while  coordinating  with  EU 
Member States diplomatic authorities on the ground and with partner countries.  

As part of its multilateral engagement, the EU engages actively with the UN system and with 
all  UN  bodies  and  specialised  agencies  on  gender  equality.  The  EU  should  remain  a  vocal 
advocate  of  women’s  rights  at  the  Human  Rights  Council,  ensuring  full  engagement 
throughout  different  sessions.  The  European  Commission,  alongside  some  EU  Member 
States, is part of the Generation Equality Forum34, a global gathering for gender equality, 
convened  by  UN  Women  and  co-hosted  by  the  Mexican  and  French  governments,  in 
partnership  with  civil  society,  the  private  sector  and  international  organisations.  The 

31 This includes the legal prohibition of female genital mutilation FGM and of forced marriage and marriage of 
girls under 18, eradication of all forms of gender-based violence against women (GVAW), in public and private 
spheres, and the legal protection of adolescent girls from abuse and sexual harassment. 
32 https://www.intelligentcitieschallenge.eu/ 
33 Commission Implementation Decision Brussels, 30.7.2020, C(2020) 5215 final. 
34 https://forum.generationequality.org/ 

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European  Commission  co-leads  the  Generation  Equality  Action  Coalition  on  countering 
gender-based violence. 

The  EU  should  continue  to  engage  closely  with  and  promote  the  global  humanitarian 
initiative Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies and 
its new road map35.   

The  EU  should  continue  to  engage  in  G7  and  G20  forums,  to  advance  the  WPS  agenda, 
women’s empowerment and gender equality, including in the labour market. In the context of 
the  G20,  the  EU  and  other  members  are  actively  working  towards  the  Brisbane  target 
(adopted by the G20 in 2014) to reduce the gap in the labour force participation rate between 
men and women by 25% by 2025. 

In the OECD context, the European Commission will remain an active member of the DAC 
Network on Gender Equality36, whose goal is to improve policies and practices to strengthen 
gender  equality  in  development  programmes  and  to  secure  girls’  and  women’s  rights, 
contributing to the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.  

3.  Towards a gender-equal world: focusing on key thematic areas of 

engagement  

The aim of GAP III is to accelerate progress towards gender equality and women’s and girls’ 
empowerment, by setting objectives and action in six key thematic policy areas. It builds 
on the previous GAPs and tackles new challenges and opportunities, while ensuring internal-
external  policy  coherence.  The  specific  objectives  and  indicators  for  each  of  the  areas  of 
engagement are set out in the staff working document ‘Objectives and indicators to frame the 
implementation of GAP III. 

3.1. Ensuring freedom from all forms of gender-based violence  

Every human being has the right to live a life free from all forms of violence. However, 
this is far from being a reality and multiple forms of gender-based violence against women 
and girls- or violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects 
women disproportionally37 persist in every country, constituting one of the most widespread 
and under-reported forms of human rights violations.38 Women and girls with disabilities, of 
minority  groups,  migrant  women  and  girls,  LGBTIQ  are  among  the  groups  particularly  at 
risk39.  

35 https://www.calltoactiongbv.com; For information on the EU’s global chairmanship of the Call to Action in 
2017-2018, see: https://ec.europa.eu/echo/sites/echo-site/files/booklet_eu_leadership_c2a.pdf 
36 GenderNet http://www.oecd.org/dac/gender-development/about-gendernet.htm  
37 Article 3 (d) of the Istanbul Convention. 
38 Data: WHO, “Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of 
intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence” 2013; UNICEF, “What is Female Genital 
Mutilation?”, 2019. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/stories/what-you-need-know-about-female-genital-
mutilation; UNFPA, Child Marriage Overview, Available at: https://www.unfpa.org/child-marriage 
39 In low and middle-income countries, women with disabilities are two to four times more likely to experience 
intimate partner violence. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-
figures#notes. 

8 

 
 
                                                            
35% of women have experienced 
gender-based violence. In some 
countries, this rises to 70% 

Each year, over 4 million girls 
are at risk of female genital 

mutilation 

In some countries 40% of girls 
are married before they turn 18, 
and 12% before they are 15 

Rooted in harmful social norms and stereotypes across cultures and social classes, gender-
based violence affects all communities at tremendous cost for victims, their families, societies 
and economies. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll with a substantial increase 
in  femicide  and  gender-based  violence,  including  domestic  violence,  in  many  parts  of  the 
world.40 

COVID-19 crises is expected to result in an additional total 13 million child marriages taking 
place that otherwise would not have occurred between 2020 and 2030 

The EU has funded a broad range of initiatives and programmes worldwide aiming to end all 
forms of gender-based violence, including child, early and forced marriage (CEFM), female 
genital  mutilation  (FGM)  and  gender-biased  selection  (preferring  sons  at  birth)  etc.  Special 
emphasis  is  placed  on  the  dire  effects  of  conflict-related  sexual  violence,  as  it  is  a  crime 
against humanity and a war crime, usually committed against women of all ages, as well as 
men and boys, to punish, subjugate and/or destroy whole communities or populations.41  
The  EU-UN  Spotlight  Initiative42,  launched  with  an  initial  EU  contribution  of  EUR  500 
million,  is  an  unprecedented  global  programme,  investing  in  prevention  and  support  to 
eliminate  all  forms  of  violence  against  women  and  girls.  It  focuses  on  improving  laws  and 
policies,  institutional  capacity  building,  the  quality  of  essential  services  delivery,  data 
management and women’s movements empowerment, as well as challenging harmful social 
norms  and  stereotypes.  Lessons  learned  from  the  gender-transformative  approach  of  the 
Spotlight Initiative and similar programmes will inform actions.43  

Humanitarian  crises,  conflict,  disasters  and  pandemics  exacerbate  the  risks  of  sexual- 
and  gender-based  violence,  which  must  be  prevented  and  addressed  from  the  very  onset. 
Survivor-centred  approaches  that  take  into  account  intersecting  forms  of  discrimination 
remain key.  

40 https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2020.pdf; UNFPA 
Interim Technical Note, “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Family Planning and Ending Gender-based 
Violence, Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage”, 27 April 2020. 
41  The  EU  supports  the  Nadia  Murad’s  Sinjar  Action  Fund,  and  the  Global  Fund  for  Survivors  of  Conflict-
related Sexual Violence (the Mukwege/Murad Fund).  
42 https://spotlightinitiative.org/ 
43The results of the mid-term evaluation of the Spotlight Initiative will be available early 2021. 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
 
 
EU  humanitarian  assistance  includes  action  to  prevent  and  respond  to  sexual  and  gender-
based violence under its protection and health programme44. 

EU action should contribute to: 

 

increasing  protection  –  by  supporting  legislation  criminalising  all  forms  of  gender-
based  violence  and    capacity  building  of  law  enforcement  institutions,  in  line  with 
international legal and policy frameworks45; 

  promoting  prevention  –  by  challenging  harmful  gender  norms,  working  with  all 
relevant  stakeholders  to  ensure  a  victim-centred  approach  and  measures  that  end 
recidivism  by  perpetrators,  also  engaging  men  and  boys,  traditional  and  religious 
leaders;  

 

  contributing  to  increasing  prosecution  of  perpetrators  including  those  involved  in 
human trafficking by strengthening a victim-centred approach by the law-enforcement 
bodies;  
increasing protection of survivors also by supporting access to life-saving social and 
justice  services  with  a  survivor-centred  approach,  particularly  in  fragile  and 
conflict/post-conflict settings or when survivors face intersecting discriminations;  
  supporting access to psycho-social support services and participation in economic and 
social  life  of  victims  of  gender-based  violence  and  victims  of  trafficking  in  human 
beings; 

  safe  and  quality  humanitarian  actions  that  support  preparedness,  prevention  and 
response to sexual and gender-based violence and the work of the Call to Action;  
  strengthening  women's  rights  organisations  and  social  movements  as  well  as  civil 
society  organisations  (CSOs)  working  on  the  intersectional  dimension  of  gender-
based violence and of conflict-related sexual violence. 
3.2. Promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights  

SRHR  are  crucial  for  women’s  and  girls’  right  to  self-determination.  The  EU  remains 
committed to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of all human rights and to the full and 
effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of 
the  International  Conference  on  Population  and  Development  and  the  outcomes  of  their 
review  conferences  and  remains  committed  to  sexual  and  reproductive  health  and  rights 
(SRHR), in this context. 

Each individual has the right to have full control over and  decide freely and responsibly on 
matters affecting their sexuality and sexual and reproductive health, free from discrimination, 
coercion and violence, to lead healthy lives, and to participate in the economy and in social 
and  political  life.  Access  to  quality  and  affordable  comprehensive  sexual  and  reproductive 
health information, education, including comprehensive sexuality education, and health-care 
services is needed46.  

44 During 2018 and 2019, the EU allocated more than EUR 62 million. 
45  The  Council  of  Europe  Convention  on  preventing  and  combating  violence  against  women  and  domestic 
violence (Istanbul Convention) is the benchmark for international standards in this field. All EU Member States 
have  signed  the  Convention  and  21  have  already  ratified  it.  The  EU  signed  the  Convention  in  2017,  and 
concluding the EU’s accession is a key priority for the Commission. 
46 See European Consensus on Development: https://ec.europa.eu/international-
partnerships/system/files/european-consensus-on-development-final-20170626_en.pdf 

10 

 
 
                                                            
In 2017 295 000 maternal deaths occurred during and following pregnancy and childbirth. 94% 
occur in low-resource settings. Among adolescent girls aged 15-19 years, pregnancy and childbirth 

complications are the leading cause of death globally 

Harmful gender norms and stereotypes prevent access to family planning, either through legal 
barriers  or  community  pressure,  harassment  and  abuse,  while  a  backlash  against  gender 
equality is threatening hard-won progress and existing laws.  

EU action should contribute to: 

  An  enabling  legal,  political  and  societal  environment  that  protects  the  sexual  and 
reproductive health and rights of women and girls and increase access  to sexual and 
reproductive  health  services  and  information,  including  HIV&AIDS  prevention  and 
treatment;  

 

  The  elimination  of  harmful  practices  such  as  FGM,  CEFM  and  gender-biased  sex 

selection, by supporting country, regional and global initiatives47; 
Increasing services in humanitarian settings, including obstetric care, the provision of 
the minimum initial service package48, HIV/AIDS prevention, reproductive, maternal 
and  new-borns  health,  family  planning,  addressing  specific  nutrition  needs  and 
vulnerabilities. 

3.3. Strengthening economic and social rights and empowering girls and women  
Women and men in all their diversity should have equal opportunities, equal access to 
employment,  decent  work,  equal  pay  for  equal  work  in  order  to  be  economically 
independent.  Furthermore,  women  and  men  should  equally  share  care  responsibilities  and 
have  access  to  adequate  social  protection,  public  services,  and  financial  and  business 
opportunities.  

In addition, women and girls also need to have access to enabling conditions, such as access 
to  safe,  affordable  and  accessible  public  transport  and  other  mobility  options,  both  in  rural 
and urban areas. 

Empowering women economically is key to reducing poverty and to achieving inclusive and 
sustainable growth under the 2030 Agenda.49 

Estimates show advancing gender equality could add about EUR 11 to 21 trillion to global 
GDP by 2025 

Economic empowerment  

47  This  includes  the  UNFPA-led  global  programme  to  address  the  preference  of  sons  at  birth,  the  UNFPA-
UNICEF global programme to end FGM, the UNFPA-UNICEF global programme to end CEFM and the EU-
UN Spotlight Initiative. 
48 https://www.unfpa.org/resources/what-minimum-initial-service-package 
49  McKinsey  Global  Institute  report  The  Power  of  Parity:  How  Advancing  Women’s  Equality  can  add  $12 
Trillion to Global Growth, 2015. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
Progress  in  closing  the  global  gender  gap  in  labour  force  participation  rates  has 
stalled50.  Pay  and  income  gaps51  put  women  at  a  further  disadvantage.52  Regulations  and 
practices on property ownership, access to bank credit, inheritance rights and access to 
identification  often  discriminate  against  women  and  limit  their  access  to  resources  and 
finance.53  Supporting  the  economic  empowerment  of  migrant  women  in  the  EU  is  also 
important in this context. The EU action plan on integration and inclusion includes action to 
support women’s economic empowerment.   

In 2020, less than 50% of women 
are in the labour market, compared 
to 76% of men, resulting in a 
gender gap of 27 percentage 

points globally 

Women bear 76.2% of total 
hours of unpaid care and 

domestic work globally, which 

undermines their prospects in 

education and in the labour 

market 

The  consequences  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic  are  affecting  women,  as  they  are 
disproportionately represented in sectors negatively affected by the crisis, in precarious and 
informal  employment54,  as  well  as  in  the  care  workforce  (in  the  fields  of  education,  social 
work  and  health  among  other  sectors,  and  domestic  workers)55.  In  addition  they  are  also 
carrying  the  increasing  burden  of  unpaid  care  work.56  This  underscores  the  urgent  need  to 
adopt  non-discriminatory  and  inclusive  social  protection  schemes,  formal  employment,  to 
extend  labour  rights  and  entitlements  to  informal  and  precarious  workers  and  have  a 
particular focus on improving the working conditions and pay of care workers.  

EU action should contribute to:  

  Promoting  decent  work,  equal  pay  and  labour  rights,  and  women’s  transition  to  the 
formal  economy,  among  other  by  reducing  labour  market  segregation,  boosting 
women’s  leadership  and  increasing  their  bargaining  power  in  economic  and 
household decision-making and social dialogue, in sectors with a majority of women 
workers, including domestic work, as well as in non-traditional sectors; 
  Creating an enabling environment for women’s economic activities and access to 
productive  resources  and  eco-system  services,  including  women’s  access  to 
land57,  seas and  oceans  activities, remittances, technology, finance, as well as to 
identification  and  control  over  mobility,  including  access  to  safe  and  affordable 

50  World  Economic  Forum’s  Global  Gender  Report  2020  and  World’s  Women  2020  (UN  Department  of 
Economic and Social Statistics). 
51 Ibidem. Bonnet, Florence, Joann Vanek and Martha Chen. 2019. Women and Men in the Informal Economy – 
A Statistical Brief. Manchester, UK: WIEGO.  
52  Bonnet,  Florence,  Joann  Vanek  and  Martha  Chen.  2019.  Women  and  Men  in  the  Informal  Economy  –  A 
Statistical Brief. Manchester, UK: WIEGO.   
53  World Bank Women, Business and the Law 2020. 
54 https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/briefingnote/wcms_755910.pdf 
55 Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work, International Labor Office – Geneva: ILO 2018. 
56https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/impact-sex-and-gender-current-covid-19-pandemic-2020-may-28_en; 
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/covid-19-and-gender-equality-countering-the-
regressive-effects 
57 By promoting women’s access to land resources, there are opportunities for blending private-sector finance 
also in sustainable, women-managed value chains from sustainable farming and land management.  

12 

 
 
 
                                                            
 
 
 
transport options; 

  Supporting  universal  social  protection  systems,  and  recognising,  reducing  and 
redistributing unpaid care and domestic work by providing more support for gender-
responsive budgeting;  

  challenging  gender  norms  within  the  household  and  the  labour  market,  recognising 
men  and  boys’  responsibilities  and  fostering  legislative  developments,  such  as  the 
introduction of paid paternity leave;  

  Supporting  women  entrepreneurship  and  women-led  businesses,  including  social 
entrepreneurship,  and  their  access  to  finance  by  providing  innovative  investments 
schemes  through  the  EIP58,  addressing  the  market’s  failure  to  reach  women  and 
promoting  the  creation  of  SMEs.  Additional  targeted  action  will  include  business 
development services and support for employment, including for women in recovery 
contexts and in forced displacement; 

  Supporting  and  empowering  migrant  women  contribute 

the  sustainable 
development of countries of origin, transit and destination through remittances, skills 
and knowledge;   

to 

  Promoting  gender  equality  through  trade  policy,  including  through  the  EU’s 
engagement  in  the  World  Trade  Organisation  and  its  work  on  Aid  for  Trade,  and 
ensuring robust use of sustainability impact assessments of trade initiatives and policy 
reviews. 

Promoting gender equality in education  
Global  progress  in  gender  parity  in  primary  and  secondary  school  enrolment  have  not  yet 
eliminated gender gaps in schooling and learning.59  

2 in 3 of the 740 million 
illiterate adults in the world 

In 2016, 335 million girls 
went to primary and secondary 

Only around 30% of female 
students in higher education 

are women 

schools without water and soap 

choose STEM fields of study 

Girls’ access to education is limited by the lack of progress on ensuring their SRHR, by 
unsafe learning environments and by the lack of appropriate sanitation facilities.60 A UN 
estimate  from  2016  showed  that  246  million  children  worldwide  experience  school-related 
gender-based violence, disadvantaged girls and children being particularly affected.61 CEFM 
and  early  pregnancy  affect  girls’  secondary  level  completion  rates  (36.9%  below  that  of 

58 Such as the NASIRA Guarantee with the FMO and the blending Women’s Financial Inclusion Facility with 
Women’s World Banking. 
59 Education for All Global Monitoring Report (June 2015), Policy Paper 21: Humanitarian Aid For Education: 
Why  It  Matters  and  Why  More  Is  Needed,  p.  3  http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002335/233557E.pdf; 
UNICEF (2017) Education Uprooted: For every migrant, refugee and displaced child, education 
60 UNESCO, #HerEducationOurFuture: The latest facts on gender equality in education, 2020 (1/3, ¼, ½) 
UNICEF, Guidance on Menstrual Health and Hygiene, 2019 other data in the box:  
United Nations.  The World's  Women  2015: Trends and  Statistics.  New  York: United Nations,  Department  of 
Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, 2015.  
61 https://en.unesco.org/news/gender-based-violence-schools-significant-barrier-right-education 

13 

 
 
 
                                                            
 
 
 
boys),  compromising  their  earning  potential  and  their  decision-making  power62.  Every 
additional year of primary school increases girls' eventual wages by 10-20%63. Lack of access 
to schools further increases the gaps for girls with disabilities. Gender stereotypes limit girls’ 
aspirations for science and engineering careers and discourage boys from pursuing jobs in the 
care  sector.  They  also  prevent  women  from  advancing  to  leadership  positions,  including  in 
education, even though most teachers are women. 

In crisis-affected contexts, including the global COVID-19 pandemic, school closures have 
increased the risk of child labour, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, early pregnancy and 
CEFM.64  Girls  receive  less  distance  education,  as  they  have  less  access  than  boys  to  the 
internet  (17%  less  access  globally)  and  to  mobile  phone  technology  (26%).65  Half  of  all 
refugee girls in secondary school will not return to school after COVID-1966. 

In humanitarian settings, the EU budget for education in emergencies significantly increased 
from  1%  in  2015  to  10%  as  of  2019,  which  means  more  than  EUR  450  million  benefiting 
over  8.5  million  girls  and  boys  in  59  countries  around  the  world,  leading  by  example  and 
championing education for peace and protection.67 

A shift is needed to move beyond gender parity in numbers, and focus on how the education 
system can advance gender equality. 

EU action should contribute to:   

  promoting  gender  equality  in  and  through  quality,  affordable  and  inclusive 
education at all levels by maintaining funding for education in emergencies at 10% 
of the humanitarian aid budget and by increasing overall funding for education; 
  building stronger gender responsive education systems to promote gender equality 
and  deliver  more  equitable  education  results  for  girls  and  boys  through  safe  and 
healthy  learning  environments,  teacher  recruitment,  training  and  professional 
development, curricula and learning materials, work with parents and communities; 
 increasing  investment  in  girls’  education  to  achieve  equal  access  to  all  forms  of 
education  and  training,  including  science,  technology,  engineering  and  maths, 
digital literacy and skills, and technical and vocational education and training; 
improving  access  to  comprehensive  sexuality  education  for  in-school  and  out-of-
school adolescents; 

 

 

  adopting  robust  measures  to  combat  gender  stereotypes,  discriminatory  social 

norms and school-related gender-based violence in and through education.  

62 “The cost of gender inequality notes series. How large is the gender dividend? Measuring impacts and costs 
for gender inequality”, World Bank February 2020, pp. 5, 26-27, 46. 
63 UNESCO, #HerEducationOurFuture: The latest facts on gender equality in education, 2020. 
64  UNFPA  Interim  Technical  Note,  “Impact  of  the  COVID-19  Pandemic  on  Family  Planning  and  Ending 
Gender-based Violence, Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage”, 27 April 2020. 
65 https://itu.foleon.com/itu/measuring-digital-development/gender-gap/  
65  OECD  (2018),  Bridging  the  Digital  Gender  Divide,  p.  13.http://www.oecd.org/internet/bridging-the-digital-
gender-divide.pdf 
66 UNHCR (2020), Coming Together for Refugee Education, p. 5. 
67 https://ec.europa.eu/echo/sites/echo-site/files/eie_mapping_report.pdf 

14 

 
 
                                                            
Promoting universal access to health  

Public health systems receive insufficient funding, strongly affecting the services provided to 
girls and women.68 

At least 50% of the world’s population does not have access to the health services they 
need, whereas around 1 in 3 of married women in developing countries report having 
little or no say over their own healthcare 

The  COVID-19  crisis  has  further  compromised  essential  healthcare  services  and  access  to 
safe  medicines  and  vaccines,  leading  to  an  increase  in  maternal  deaths  and  unintended 
pregnancies69.  As  frontline  workers  and  caretakers,  women  often  face  a  higher  risk  to  their 
health  in  the  context  of  the  pandemic.  The  shift  of  health  systems  resources  to  focus  on 
COVID19 has severely affected HIV treatment and prevention services, as well as increased 
stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV, particularly affecting women.70  

Women and girls with disabilities are at heightened risk due to inaccessible information on 
prevention and assistance and acute barriers to accessing health or basic water, sanitation and 
hygiene services. Sustained funding of universal health coverage, including SRHR services, 
is more important than ever.  

EU action should contribute to:  

  promoting universal health coverage through sustainable and resilient health systems 
and  equitable  access  to  essential  services  and  information,  including  sexual  and 
reproductive  health,  maternal  care  and  capacity  to  address  communicable  and  non-
communicable  diseases,    with  a  particular  attention  to  women  and  girls  with 
disabilities; taking into account the disruptions to access to care that were caused by 
the COVID-19 pandemic; 

  ensuring  availability  and  equal  access  for  women  to  diagnostics,  vaccines  and 

 

treatments for COVID-19; 
increasing  access  to  water  and  decent  sanitation  facilities  and  responding  to 
inadequate  menstrual  hygiene  management  by  awareness  raising,  promoting  school 
sanitation programmes and by providing sanitary facilities in schools; 

  nutrition  programmes,  including  in  humanitarian  settings,  in  particular  for  pregnant 

and lactating women and for children under five years of age. 

3.4. Advancing equal participation and leadership 

Women and girls should participate equally in the public and private sphere, to achieve 
a  functioning  democracy  and  economy,  and  to  fulfil  human  rights  for  all.  This  has  major 
benefits  for  society  as  a  whole,  ranging  from  the  enhanced  credibility  of  democratic 
institutions to a lower incidence of state-perpetrated violence.71 

Nevertheless,  women  continue  to  be  under-represented  as  voters,  political  leaders  and 
elected  officials,  as  official  peace  negotiators  and  mediators.  Change  is  slow  in  elected 

68 https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/progress-of-the-worlds-women 
69 https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/in-focus-gender-equality-in-covid-19-response  
70 https://www.theglobalfund.org/media/9819/covid19_mitigatingimpact_report_en.pdf; UNAIDS, Start Free 
Stay Free AIDS 2019 Report. 
71 Foreign Affairs, volume 99, number 1 “Women under Attack. The backlash against female politicians”. 

15 

 
 
 
                                                            
positions and decision-making bodies at all levels.72 Although some 39% of countries have 
brought 
in  parliaments  or  political  parties, 
implementation is hampered by factors, such as gender stereotypes, political party structures 
and the lack of political financing. 

in  quotas  for  women  representation 

Women represent around 25% 
of national parliamentarians 

worldwide, marking a slow 
increase from 11.3%  

Between 1992 and 2018, women 
constituted only 13% of negotiators, 
6% of mediators and 6% of 
signatories in major peace processes 

Women  in  public  life,  including  politicians,  journalists  and  activists  are  often  subject  to 
gender-based violence, including different forms of online violence and even femicide, amid 
shrinking  civic  space.  Politically  motivated  attacks  on  women  have  been  on  the  rise  in 
nearly every region, reaching a record high in 2019. A 2016 survey of female politicians from 
39  countries  found  that  82%  percent  had  experienced  psychological  violence,  with  44% 
percent facing violent threats.73  

At the same time, a new vocal generation of young women and girl activists has taken up a 
wide  range  of  causes  including  girl  and  women  empowerment.  They  should  be  given  a 
platform to speak up and engage.  

EU action should contribute to: 

 

increasing the level of women participation, representation and leadership in politics, 
governance  and  electoral  processes  at  all  levels,  via  support  for  democracy  and 
governance programmes and public administration reforms; 

  enhancing  women’s  capacity  as  political  leaders  in  governments  and  parliaments 
through  training,  women’s  caucuses,  and  promoting  gender-responsive  legislative 
processes and budgeting74 and promoting young leaders programmes;  

  Encouraging  young  women  and  adolescent  girls’  civic  engagement,  also  in 
partnership with youth organisations, scaling up support to parliamentary monitoring 
organisations  run  by  and  engaging  young  people  and  bringing  together  EU  and 
partner country representatives; 
reducing  gender  stereotypes  in  media  content,  in  cooperation  with  the  audio-visual 
sector  and  the  media,  and  empowering  and  supporting  women’s  rights  as  users  and 
producers of information, and as entrepreneurs and decision-makers in the sector75; 
  enhancing  equal  legal  capacity  and  access  for  women  to  justice  through  support  to 

 

grassroots efforts and to legal and justice systems reforms; 

  Promoting an enabling and safe environment, including online, for civil society, girls 
and  women’s  rights  organisations,  women’s  human  rights  defenders,  peacebuilders, 
women  journalists  and  representatives  of  indigenous  people.  Strengthen  protection 
mechanisms and to support women’s leadership roles will include global and regional 
hubs,  and  advocacy  and  actions  that  document  violations  against  defenders  of 

72 Data in the box: Inter-Parliamentary Union. “Women in national parliaments,” as of 1 February 2019 
Council on Foreign Relations, Women’s Participation in Peace Processes, 2019. 
73 https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/issue-briefs/2016-10/sexism-harassment-and-violence-against-
women-parliamentarians  
74  See  the  peer-to-peer  project  “INTER  PARES  |  Parliaments  in  Partnership”  and  the  ‘iKNOW  Politics’ 
platform. https://www.iknowpolitics.org/en  
75 See e.g. the Media4Democracy initiative and the EU supported TV production addressing gender roles as in 
Burkina Faso, Kenya and in the MENA Region ‘One Woman Show’.  

16 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
women’s human rights. 

3.5. Integrating the women, peace and security agenda 

In  the  21st  century,  disasters  and  human-made  crises,  including  conflict,  have  become 
more complex, protracted, and increasingly linked to global challenges, such as climate 
change,  environmental  degradation,  displacement,  and  more  recently,  -  pandemics.  The 
COVID-19 pandemic effect has demonstrated the centrality of the WPS agenda in addressing 
increased violence threats and including women through the security/gender equality nexus. 

Conflict, crisis and  fragility  hamper progress towards  sustainable  peace and security and to 
achieving  the  SDGs.  The  WPS  agenda  focuses  on  the  links  between  gender  inequality  and 
conflict, how they are mutually reinforcing, and emphasises the need to understand gender 
inequality  as  a  root  cause  and  driver  of  conflict  and  fragility.  Inequalities  coupled  with 
exclusion of women from power, opportunities, services and security create a fertile ground 
for  conflict  and  gender-based  violence,  especially  when  linked  to  weak  state  capacity  or 
legitimacy. Preventive action should adopt a risk-, needs- and rights-based approach. 

Women are often victims in these situations but not always; they play multiple and diverse 
roles as combatants, peacebuilders, mediators, politicians, business women and activists. The 
number of women involved in peace processes remains low, despite global, regional and 
national  commitments76  and  many  peace  agreements  do  not  even  include  gender 
provisions that adequately address women’s needs. Increasing the participation of women 
in all matters related to peace and security is a priority for the EU.  

Based  on  the  EU’s  Strategic  Approach  to  WPS,  the  EU  will  implement  its  Action  Plan  on 
WPS77 which  identifies  clear objectives  and fulfilment criteria, under the key priority areas 
of:  (i)  prevention;  (ii)  protection;  (iii)  relief  and  recovery,  and  the  three  overarching  and 
cross-cutting  principles  of  (iv)  participation;  (v)  gender  mainstreaming  and  (vi)  leading  by 
example. 

The  EU  objectives  on  WPS  should  be  achieved,  among  others,  through  political  and 
diplomatic  engagement  of  EU  leadership  and  by  integrating  a  gender  perspective  and 
ensuring women's participation and leadership in all peace and security-related contexts. It 
is  also  necessary  to  take  specific  measures,  including  targeted  training  for  the  military, 
justice and security forces.  

Synergies between the WPS agenda and the other thematic priorities will be harnessed. WPS 
monitoring  and  reporting  will  be  aligned  with  the  GAPIII,  also  to  fully  integrate  the  EU 
policy framework on WPS in the EU’s overall gender equality policy framework. 

EU action should contribute to78: 

  supporting  and  conducting  capacity-building  and  mentoring  on  women’s  leadership, 

76 There are some good practices that can be built upon, such as women participation in peacebuilding in the 
relation to the conflict in Syria, both through civil society and the UN-led political process. As a result largely of 
EU pressure, the intra Syrian Constitutional Committee set up by the UN consists of 30% women. 
77 The EU’s strategic approach to WPS is annexed to the FAC Conclusions on WPS adopted on 10 December 
2018,  (Council  document  15086/18),  the  EU  Action  Plan  on  WPS  (EEAS  2019/747-  Council  document 
11031/19).  Responsibility  for  implementing  the  EU  policy  framework  on  the  WPS  Agenda  lies  with  the  EU 
Member States and with all relevant Commission services. The EU’s WPS action plan is annexed to the GAP III 
SWD. Its reporting follows the GAP III reporting, while the EU Task Force on WPS provides monitoring. 
78 As already agreed in the EU Action Plan on WPS. 

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for women negotiators and mediators, to improve their effectiveness and the quality 
of their participation in peace processes; 

  working towards reaching at least 33% of women participating in all EU activities and 

projects related to peace processes;  

  establishing  and  institutionalising  consultative  mechanisms  on  all  conflict-related 
issues  with  grassroots  women  activists  and  CSOs,  both  in  Member  States  and  in 
conflict-related settings, where there are CSDP missions and operations;  
rolling  out  mandatory  training  on  mainstreaming  gender  perspectives  for  all  staff  at 
HQ, EU delegations, CSDP missions and operations, etc.; 

 

  promoting and supporting inclusive policies/activities across the whole WPS agenda 

with full and equitable participation, also by men and boys;  

  promoting  the  strengthening  of  the  rule  of  law,  the  criminal  justice  system  through 
transitional  and  restorative  justice,  and  Security  Sector  Reform  (SSR),  to  end 
impunity for perpetrators of SGBV crimes; 

  promoting  the  provision  of  medical,  psycho-social,  legal  and  safety  support  to  all 
victims/survivors of conflict-related sexual and/or gender-based violence/SGBV. 
3.6. Addressing the challenges and harnessing the opportunities offered by the 

green transition and the digital transformation  

Promoting a fair and inclusive green transition  

Women and girls  in  developing  countries are particularly affected by the impact of  climate 
change and environmental degradation, such as ecosystem loss, loss of access to key natural 
resources, malnutrition and respiratory, water-related and vector-borne diseases.79  

Women account for 80%  
of the people displaced by the 

impacts of climate change 

Poor women and children are up 
to 14 times more likely to be 
killed than men by a climate-

fueled disaster, such as a 

hurricane or flood 

On average, women account for 
43% of the agricultural labour 
force in developing countries, 
but present less than 15% of 
all agricultural landholders 

As primary users and managers of natural resources, women play an essential role for climate 
change mitigation and adaptation and environmental protection. However, they are prevented 
from participating equally in related governance processes for multiple reasons, including 
harmful  gender  norms,  inadequate  legal  frameworks,  low  access  to  education  and  land 
ownership.  However,  women  activists  all  over  the  world  are  championing  environmental 
rights and young women are taking the lead to advocate for change.  

The  EU  is  determined  to  act  on  the  gender  dimension  of  environmental  degradation  and 
climate change also with regard to fragile situations, and mindful of the specific needs and 
roles of indigenous women directly relying on natural resources.   

79  Data  in  box:  UNDP,  Gender  and  Climate  Change,  2016;  UNDP,  Gender,  climate  change  adaptation  and 
disaster risk reduction, 2016; The State of Food and Agriculture: Women in Agriculture. FAO, 2011 
FAO, The Gender Gap in Land Rights, 2018. 

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EU action should contribute to: 

  promoting  girls’  and  women’s  participation  and  leadership  in  order  to  ensure 
gender-responsive  strategies  to  climate  mitigation  and  adaptation,  disaster  risk 
reduction, and the inclusive and sustainable management of natural resources; 
  supporting  women  networks  in  green  transition  sectors  such  as  sustainable  forest 

management, agriculture and energy;  

  capacity-building,  financing  and  support  for  investment  in  gender-responsive 
national  climate,  environment  and  disaster  risk  reduction  strategies  and  action 
plans; 

  supporting  women’s  entrepreneurship  and  employment  in  the  green,  blue  and 
circular  economy,  including  clean  cooking  and  sustainable  energy,  sustainable 
fishing  activities,  by  promoting  a  gender-transformative  approach  to  agriculture, 
fishing and aquaculture and food systems, based on (i) capacity building for rural 
women;  (ii)  policy  reforms  to  regulate  more  fairly  land  tenure  and  to  manage 
natural resources and (iii) economic empowerment and access to finance;  
improving  data  collection  on  the  gender-differentiated  impacts  of  climate  change 
and environmental degradation to inform gender-responsive policies and action. 

 

Grasp opportunities for women empowerment through digitalisation  

Promoting women’s equal access to the untapped potential of digital technologies is central 
to the EU’s digital strategy80 and to sustainable growth.81 

Bringing an additional 600 million women online worldwide would result in a GDP increase 
of up to abut EUR 13 billion, bringing benefits to public health, education, women’s 
employment, entrepreneurship, community welfare and social life 

Digital  technologies  and  solutions  can  accelerate  progress  on  gender  equality  and women’s 
empowerment in areas such as education, employment and entrepreneurship and preventing 
and  combating  gender-based  violence.  They  can  help  women  cope  with  emergencies,  as 
demonstrated in the COVID-19 pandemic, mitigating the social and economic consequence 
and building resilience. E-services, such as digital finance can create opportunities for women 
economic empowerment by improving their access to and usage of financial services.   

The  digital  divide,  i.e.  the  gap  between  those  having  access  to  digital  technologies  and 
connectivity  and  those  who  don’t,  affects  people’  abilities  to  participate  and  grasp  the 
opportunities  of  the  digital  age.  It  varies  hugely  across  geography  regions  and  between 
women and men.82 

Women  located  in  rural  or  remote  areas  experience  a  triple  (digital,  gender  and  rural) 
discrimination,  facing  huge  barriers  in  access  and  use  of  digital  technologies,  due  to 
unaffordability,  low  digital  literacy  and  social  norms.  Moreover,  digitalisation  also  brings 

80 https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/communication-shaping-europes-digital-future-feb2020_en_4.pdf  
81 Intel, Dalberg Global Development Advisors, GlobeScan, “Women and the Web”, 2015. 
82 Data in box: GSMA, Connected Women The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019; OECD, Bridging The Digital 
Gender Divide, 2018. GSMA, The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019. 

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new risks and challenges for gender equality related, for instance, to possible gender biases 
through Artificial Intelligence or to an increase of gender-based violence. 

165 million fewer women than men own a mobile 
phone in low- and middle-income countries. 48% of 
women use internet compared to 58% of men  

Women are under-represented in ICT careers:  
men are 4 times more likely to be ICT specialists.  

52% of young women and girls have experienced online abuse, including threating 
messages, sexual harassment and the sharing of private images without consent 

The  EU  should  continue  to  address  the  structural  barriers  that  underpin  the  digital  gender 
divide  and  support  an  inclusive  and  fair  digital  transformation.  This  includes  promoting  a 
gender-responsive participatory approach in development policies, projects and programmes 
that support partner countries’ digital transformation. 

EU action should contribute to: 

  Promoting  policy  and  regulatory  reform  in  partner  countries,  ensuring  that  digital 
transformation aligns with the EU’s human-centric approach, bringing benefits to all, 
while protecting human rights, both online and offline, and ensuring a safe and secure 
cyber space, where data are protected in line with EU standards (e.g. GDPR); 
Improving access of girls and women to affordable, accessible, safe and secure digital 
connectivity, reaching out to the rural and remote areas;  

 

  Promoting digital literacy for girls in education, as well as digital skills for jobs and 
entrepreneurship while addressing the gender norms and stereotypes that steer women 
and girls away from technology; 

  Supporting  women  digital  innovators  and  entrepreneurs  across  multiple  industrial 
ecosystems  to  build  an  inclusive  digital  economy,  for  example  via  public-private 
partnerships such as the International Finance Corporation, with the aim of closing the 
digital gender gap in big tech companies; 

  Supporting  the  provision  of  public  and  private  services  through  gender-responsive 
digital  channels,  technologies  and  services  (e.g.  e-government,  digital  financial 
services)  that  will  enhance  women  and  girls’  inclusion  and  participation  in  the 
society. 

4.  The EU leads by example 

The  ‘institutional  cultural  shift’  initiated  by  GAP  II  has  brought  significant  but  uneven 
progress. With GAP III, the EU is determined to make a leap forward, strengthening its own 
capacity to deliver on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment as  a collective 

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responsibility for all its staff. This transformation requires gender-responsive leadership83 
and sufficient institutional capacity.  

EU  leadership,  including  heads  of  EU  delegations,  must  promote  gender  equality  and 
women’s  empowerment  as  an  integral  part  of  their  appointment  and  performance 
assessment, continuing to reinforce an institutional ‘gender equality culture’.  

Institutional capacity and ownership needs to be improved in all Commission’s external 
directorates-general,  the  European  External  Action  Service,  the  EU  Delegations  and  CSDP 
Missions and Operations. Gender expertise must be available, and positioned to report to the 
highest  decision-making  bodies.  Under  GAP  II,  gender  focal  persons/points84  have  been 
pivotal in setting in motion the ’institutional culture shift’ and this has contributed to genuine 
progress. Their capacity and role will be strengthened, including by offering knowledge 
opportunities  and  tools,  and  their  network  increased.  It  is  also  encouraged  to  appoint 
senior gender advisers to support leadership and staff, ensuring that gender equality is high 
on the agenda and promoting key initiatives85.  

All  relevant  services  will  report  annually  on  raising  awareness  of  gender  equality  in  the 
annual activity reports and as part of their respective  equality work plans.  

The EU is also committed to making substantial progress on gender parity in management 
positions,  in  line  with  the  EU  gender  equality  strategy.  As  announced  in  the  political 
guidelines by President von der Leyen, by the end of the Commission’s mandate the gender 
balance for managers will be 50/50.  

The  EEAS  is  also  actively  pursuing  its  efforts  to  enhance  gender-balance  at  management 
level. A key priority has been to encourage Member States to nominate female candidates for 
all posts in the EEAS, including for senior management positions and as Heads of the CSDP 
missions and operations. In addition, a series of actions have been implemented in-house to 
improve gender balance at all levels.  

Management  will  receive  mandatory  training  on  gender  equality  and  on  implementing 
GAP  III.  Promotion  of  gender  equality  should  be  incorporated  in  the  list  of  core 
competences and responsibilities of all leadership and management positions. 

Improving gender knowledge and expertise within all sectors and at all levels, notably for 
EU delegations and Member States’ embassies at country level, is key. This will include:  

(a)  a comprehensive training programme, building on a training needs analysis, and other 

capacity-building measures;  

(b) resources  for  research,  analysis  and  expertise,  including  technical  assistance  in 

programmes for gender mainstreaming and GAP III implementation; 

83  Gender  responsive:  aiming  to  increase  accountability  and  accelerate  implementation  of  commitments  to 
gender  equality  with  a  rights-based  approach  at  international,  national  and  community  level.  The  gender-
responsive  leader:  (i)  leads  by  example  both  in  the  workplace  and  when  directing  implementation  of  the 
mandate;  (ii)  mainstreams  gender  equality;  (iii)  motivates  and  enable  staff  to  deliver  on  gender  equality;  (iv) 
consults and strategically involves gender advisers, gender focal points and other gender equality experts and (v) 
holds staff and mission to account for implementing gender equality commitments. 
84 A Gender Focal Person should have technical capacity and sound knowledge of gender issues, is responsible 
for  advising  and  coordinating  actions  to  implement  the  EU  Gender  Action  Plan  in  the  activities  of  the  EU 
Delegation/Unit/Directorate, supports the process of gender mainstreaming, which is a shared responsibility. 
85 This function can be fulfilled by the equality coordinator in each external DG or by dedicated senior managers 
in EU delegations and CFSP missions.  

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(c) pooling  resources  and  knowledge  sharing  with  EU  Member  States  and  international 

organisations. 

5.  Reporting and communicating on results 

The Commission services, in cooperation with the EEAS, will monitor progress each year on 
implementing GAP III, tracking the “EU institutional and strategic objectives and indicators” 
presented in Part 1 of the staff working document on ‘Objectives and Indicators to frame the 
implementation of GAP III.  

Moreover, the Annual Report on the implementation of the European Union’s instruments for 
financing external actions will report comprehensively on gender equality actions and results.  

A  report  looking  at  the  quantitative  and  qualitative  results  of  EU,  including  WPS,  will  be 
published at the mid-term point and at the end of GAP III implementation. It will assess the 
impact  of  EU  action,  in  line  with  the  EU  Results  Framework,  selected  SDG  and  other 
indicators and other reporting commitments. It will include good practices, stories of change, 
and the results of ad hoc evaluations. Progress will be reported by thematic area at country, 
regional and international level.  

To this end, Part II of the staff working document entitled ‘Objectives and indicators to frame 
the implementation of GAP III contains a menu of “key thematic outcome indicators”  to  be 
integrated  in  the  design  of  each  ‘country-level  implementation  plan’  and  of  new  actions. 
Thematic  indicators  will  be  integrated  in  the  corporate  monitoring  system,  with  guidance 
available  for  support.  Member  States  are  encouraged  to  use  these  indicators  to  build 
aggregate reporting on results. The indicators in the EU’s WPS action plan are integrated in 
parts I and II of the staff working document. 

Renewed  strategic  communication  efforts  will  stimulate  an  informed  dialogue  with 
stakeholders. At country level, EU delegations, in collaboration with Member States and with 
CSDP missions and operations, are encouraged to organise exchanges on gender equality and 
on  implementing  GAP  III  to  discuss  progress,  catalyse  the  support  of  national  stakeholders 
involving civil society. In Brussels, in addition to discussions at inter-institutional level with 
the European Parliament and the Council, the Commission and the High Representative will 
annually discuss progress with civil society organisations.  

The Commission will launch an end-of-term evaluation of GAP III no later than in 2024. 

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to endorse GAP III and to 
work  with  the  Commission  and  the  High  Representative  to  implement  this  Joint 
Communication. 

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