Debate: The gender perspective in the COVID- crisis and post-crisis period - The EU Strategy for Gender Equality - Closing the digital gender gap: women’s participation in the digital economy
Date: THURSDAY, 21 JANUARY 2021
Speaker: Helena Dalli
Language: EN

Every day we continue to discover more about the havoc which the COVID—19 pandemic has played, and is playing, on the lives of people who are already in disadvantaged positions in our societies, and about how existing inequalities have been exacerbated. Many women, as frontline workers, were at the deep end of this pandemic and thus impacted by it disproportionately. But this is not only at the place of work. While at home, confinement measures have kept many women in abusive and hostile environments. The situation of closed schools and childcare facilities meant more care work for many women. Many lost their jobs and thus their financial independence.  All this means that we must, more than ever before, step up our work towards equality. It is with this conviction in mind that the Commission continues to work with one goal in mind: to do everything in our power not to leave anyone behind. This Commission has already taken a number of actions in response to the social and economic consequences of the pandemic. In particular, the EU long—term budget 2021—2027, together with Next Generation EU, form the largest stimulus package ever financed, through the EU budget, of EUR 1.8 trillion. This will promote gender equality through gender mainstreaming and specific targeted measures.  In line with its commitment to the Gender Equality Strategy and the Interinstitutional Agreement, the Commission is working on the development of a methodology to track gender—related expenditure at programme level and in the new MFF. This will bring significant progress on gender mainstreaming across all EU policies.  Gender mainstreaming is also at the core of the Gender Equality Strategy, which I presented in March last year. The crisis we are living today has only amplified the importance of this strategy. It has confirmed the need to address core issues such as women’s economic empowerment, violence against women and the gender digital gap, which are all priorities of the Gender Equality Strategy.  The first major initiative of the strategy is the proposal to introduce binding pay transparency measures. We are in the final preparation phase and aim to present the proposal shortly. In essence, the purpose is to detect and prevent gender—based pay discrimination or unjustified pay differences and empower those being discriminated against to enforce the right to equal pay.  The Commission will move forward also with new initiatives on gender equality. By the end of 2021, we will present a legislative proposal to prevent and combat specific forms of gender—based violence. This year we are preparing an initiative to extend the list of EU crimes to include hate speech and hate crime, including on the basis of a person’s gender. These actions will be followed by a recommendation on the prevention of harmful practices against women and girls, such as female genital mutilation, to address the need for effective pre—emptive measures, acknowledge the importance of education and strengthen public services. Based on work already started, we will establish a cooperation framework with internet platforms to tackle online violence against women and girls. We are preparing initiatives in the area of childcare and long—term care. We will propose the revision of the Barcelona targets on childcare and propose a child guarantee on social inclusion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, including through affordable and quality early childhood education and care.  We will also adopt a comprehensive strategy on the Rights of the Child, which seeks to ensure equal rights, protection and support to all children regardless of background, origin, gender or residence status. We will publish a report on long—term care, which will also be adopted this year. The report will also analyse the gender dimension of long—term care, including the impact of the provision of informal care.  It is essential that we follow up and keep monitoring the development and implementation of the strategy. International Women’s Day would be a good opportunity to take stock of what has been implemented one year from the adoption of the strategy.  The need to address the digital gender gap is absolute. Empowering women’s success in the digital economy opens the doors to growth. The under—representation of women in the digital industries persists, as we have heard. Women are still not involved as much as they should be in our building of a digital future. This is a huge loss of untapped talent to our economies and societies. More women in digital jobs could create an annual EUR 16 billion GDP boost in the EU. For that, we need to encourage girls to study science and technology so that more women choose a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, essential areas for developing our digital sphere.  The Commission has taken various steps to encourage more girls and women in the digital sector by supporting networks and challenging gender stereotypes. These culminated in the ministerial declaration of commitment on Women in Digital, where Member States have now agreed to a number of actions to address the various facets of this problem. The Commission will support these efforts under the new MFF and Next Generation EU.  Our efforts to build a more sustainable economy and society through digital innovation depends to a large extent on women’s involvement. Many women’s talents and skills remain untapped. This is a waste of human capital. More women get involved if we start at the root. We must break down stereotypes and bias and encourage girls to choose their parts without influencing them with our biases. We must also give the necessary space for women to thrive in the digital economy and support more women as entrepreneurs and leaders.  I strongly believe that this is key to the transition to a resilient and competitive economy, so I look forward now to hearing your remarks and, of course, I remain available to reply to your questions. Thank you again, thank you for being here, thank you for your report, and thank you for participating in this debate.