Petra Debusscher
Ghent University, Political Sciences, Faculty Member
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The year 2015 will be a milestone for the future of women’s rights and gender equality policy in EU external relations as it provides the opportunity to take stock of a number of international and European initiatives. While aid flows in... more
The year 2015 will be a milestone for the future of women’s rights and gender equality policy in EU external relations as it provides the opportunity to take stock of a number of international and European initiatives. While aid flows in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment have risen significantly over the past years in the international and EU context, most of this aid went to the education and health sector, while women’s lack of economic and political empowerment remain among the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals agenda. Sustained investments and a renewed international commitment to gender equality are thus crucial.
Among international organisations, the EU stands out in its support for gender equality, both in terms of its commitment to the implementation of the global women, peace and security agenda, as well as in terms of its commitment to mainstream gender across all areas of EU external policy. However among the EU’s external policy agencies, competency in gender policy analysis and receptiveness to gender mainstreaming vary across the respective policy areas. While the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation – Europeaid seems to have taken the lead on the matter, the Directorate-General for Trade has not given much attention to gender inequalities. Other external policy services including, the Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, the Directorate-General for Enlargement and the European External Action Service have recently begun to take important steps towards a systematically gender mainstreamed policy.
A number of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can be drawn out of this analysis. First of all the EU has a strong policy framework in place covering most aspects of the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment in external policy, involving regular reporting on progress at a high level. Second, investments have been made to institutionalize expertise and capacity-building. Nevertheless, despite the fact that political commitments and high-level reporting tools create momentum and awareness-raising, effective implementation on the ground remains unclear. In addition,
the analysis reveals that policy development and follow-up have been uneven across policy areas, while institution-wide gender expertise remains insufficient, dissipates, and is situated mostly at the lower levels of the hierarchy. Also the external environment forms a threat in the sense that donors operate in a context of economic crisis, marked by insufficient resources and priority overload. Sustained investments in the support of the global gender equality agenda thus remain essential. The European Parliament should therefore call upon the Commission and the EEAS to develop a strong position on gender equality and women’s rights in foreign affairs and development cooperation, so that the EU can take a leadership role in promoting the
gender equality agenda globally after 2015. More specifically, the following recommendations are provided and discussed: building a coherent gender equality policy across all aspects of external relations, broaden and deepen the EU’s gender policy in its external relations and development cooperation, sustain and strengthen political leadership and accountability and further invest in institution wide expertise and capacity-building.
Among international organisations, the EU stands out in its support for gender equality, both in terms of its commitment to the implementation of the global women, peace and security agenda, as well as in terms of its commitment to mainstream gender across all areas of EU external policy. However among the EU’s external policy agencies, competency in gender policy analysis and receptiveness to gender mainstreaming vary across the respective policy areas. While the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation – Europeaid seems to have taken the lead on the matter, the Directorate-General for Trade has not given much attention to gender inequalities. Other external policy services including, the Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, the Directorate-General for Enlargement and the European External Action Service have recently begun to take important steps towards a systematically gender mainstreamed policy.
A number of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can be drawn out of this analysis. First of all the EU has a strong policy framework in place covering most aspects of the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment in external policy, involving regular reporting on progress at a high level. Second, investments have been made to institutionalize expertise and capacity-building. Nevertheless, despite the fact that political commitments and high-level reporting tools create momentum and awareness-raising, effective implementation on the ground remains unclear. In addition,
the analysis reveals that policy development and follow-up have been uneven across policy areas, while institution-wide gender expertise remains insufficient, dissipates, and is situated mostly at the lower levels of the hierarchy. Also the external environment forms a threat in the sense that donors operate in a context of economic crisis, marked by insufficient resources and priority overload. Sustained investments in the support of the global gender equality agenda thus remain essential. The European Parliament should therefore call upon the Commission and the EEAS to develop a strong position on gender equality and women’s rights in foreign affairs and development cooperation, so that the EU can take a leadership role in promoting the
gender equality agenda globally after 2015. More specifically, the following recommendations are provided and discussed: building a coherent gender equality policy across all aspects of external relations, broaden and deepen the EU’s gender policy in its external relations and development cooperation, sustain and strengthen political leadership and accountability and further invest in institution wide expertise and capacity-building.