Debate: The EU priorities for the th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
Date: WEDNESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2020
Speaker: Nikolina Brnjac
Language: EN

Gender equality matters to all our citizens. It is not just a women’s issue but a social issue and also an economic issue: allowing everyone an equal chance to contribute brings significant benefits in terms of our economic strength. The upcoming session of the Commission on the Status of Women will be dedicated to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. At the next session of the Commission on the Status of Women, we should identify gaps in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and reconfirm the full validity of the commitments undertaken 25 years ago. We should re-energise international efforts towards gender equality, the full enjoyment of all human rights by all women and girls and their empowerment. The UN Secretary-General highlighted that process and progress in many areas is lagging behind. This is in particular the case concerning the exposure of women and girls to extreme poverty and violence against women and girls. We also continue to have a gender gap in labour force participation and under-representation in decision-making and a leadership role across all sectors. The EU will set the bar high in all these areas. They should be backed up by substantial financial resources.  When it comes to the negotiation of the political declaration, the EU will demonstrate its strong leadership role on gender equality. The EU’s agreed position is rooted in the EU’s legal and policy framework and is intended to guide our negotiators in New York. Some of the most critical issues include the following: equality and non-discrimination, sexual and gender-based violence, family and family oriented policies, health, education, social protection, decent work, sexual and reproductive health and rights as per the new European consensus on development, and desegregated data collection. Furthermore, the position paper also includes guiding principles on climate change and information and communication technology. The EU will make every effort to ensure that past achievements are safeguarded and that further progress is achieved on the road to full equality among women and men.  The EU will also strive for a political declaration which recognises women civil society organisations and women human rights defenders. They play a critical role in the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the human rights of all women and girls. The EU will therefore pledge to continue supporting civil society and ensuring a safe and enabling environment for them to operate effectively at local, national, regional and global levels.  As to the EU’s political statement at the opening session, we are convinced that the European Parliament and the Council share the same values and interests and the same priorities. We therefore look forward to hearing your suggestions today.  President, honourable Members, on the issue of gender equality more broadly, you rightly underlined in your question for today’s debate that gender equality is not a separate domain, but one that cuts across the whole of society and the economy. Progress in this field, therefore, requires the integration of gender equality goals into all relevant strategies and policy goals. In other words, we need gender mainstreaming as well as specific actions. Precisely in this spirit, in its conclusions from December last year, the Council called on the new Commission to adopt a stand-alone, high-level EU gender equality strategy and I’m delighted that the Commission has undertaken to do just that. The Council, furthermore, called for an effective and systematic implementation of gender mainstreaming in all policy areas. The Council also called on the Commission and the Member States to pursue a stronger focus on gender equality within the different phases of the European Semester process.  Finally, a few words about the Council’s work programme in the months to come. We of course look forward to the initiatives that the Commission has announced, such as measures relating to pay transparency. Meanwhile, as you are aware, gender equality and non-discrimination is one of the priorities of the Croatian Presidency. We intend to table a set of Council conclusions on the impact of long-term care on work-life balance, as we all know women perform a far greater share of informal care work than men and this limits their ability to participate in the labour market. On 30 January the Croatian Presidency organised a high-level conference on the topic: Participation of women on the labour market – Benefit for society! It’s results will be discussed within the UN Commission on the Status of Women. While a lot has been done, there is still a long way to go in order to achieve full equality both within the EU and especially beyond its borders.