Meeting of the ESF Committee, Vilnius, 26.09.2013 The benefits of ESF for increased gender equality in the EU Member States Meeting of the ESF Committee, Vilnius, 26.09.2013

Vision: Making equality between women and men a reality for all Europeans and beyond. Mission: Support better policy Making at EU and Member States levels. Build awareness among decision makers and the public of progress and challenges in implementing gender equality policies.

Gender-based Violence Data Indicators Good Practices Methods & Tools EIGE Reports for the Presidency of the EU Council EU Gender Equality Index GE Index EU Council Gender-based Violence Gender Mainstreaming

The Gender Equality Index

Relevant projects: Review of the Institutional Mechanisms for gender equality in the EU; Overview of gender mainstreaming implementation in the EU, including gender impact assessment; Analysis of gender training in the EU.

Institutional mechanisms for gender mainstreaming in the EU Member States Structures Gender equality central structures In all EU Member States institutional capacity to implement gender mainstreaming differs.

No countries were found as having truly institutionalised gender mainstreaming, protecting it against political and leadership changes.

Employment and education are the most mainstreamed areas

Main findings: Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Main findings: GM needs to be better embedded in the policy process; Often is applied on a “a la carte” basis; GIA and other MTs are used randomly; Not enough attention is paid to the structural roots of inequalities; There is no automatic correlation between the overall institutional capacity for gender mainstreaming within a country and the ways in which this is implemented in the selected policy areas. Image courtesy of -Marcus-/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Main findings : Image courtesy of xedos4/FreeDigitalPhotos.net Image courtesy of Tom Curtis/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Driving forces and obstacles for gender mainstreaming: Important drivers for gender mainstreaming: Legislative framework; Gender expertise; Capacity development/Gender training Some of the training organized with the financial support of major EU funding programmes like PROGRESS and ESF. Image courtesy of digidreamgrafix/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Recommendations for Member States: Establish or strengthen an inter-ministerial structure and ensure enhanced networking and cooperation within the structure and consultation with the governmental body on gender equality; Introduce legal obligations for the use of gender mainstreaming tools and methods, including gender analysis, gender impact assessments and gender budgeting; Strengthen the legal and institutional commitment to improving gender competence of civil servants across the different sectors. Image courtesy of Sura Nualpradid/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Slow progress towards the integration of gender considerations in the EU policy-making process: The case of EU structural funds Three identified challenges: Coherent approach to gender mainstreaming. Structural support to help the actors working with the ESF to mainstream gender. Availability of tools for assessing the impact of allocated funds to women and men.

Driving forces and obstacles for gender mainstreaming: ESF OPs can contribute to advancements mainly by: Innovating; Reinforcing; Complementing. Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuone/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Recommendations for ESF Managing Authority: Cooperation with gender equality institutions and gender experts; Establishment of gender mainstreaming support structures; Provision of technical assistance, including training for policy makers and implementers; Facilitation of exchange of good practices: ESF Jämt – Process Support in GM (Sweden), The Valtava GM Development Programme (Finland), The European Community of Practice on GM (European Commission). Image courtesy of Graur Codrin /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

www.gendercop.com Recommendations : Consult the European Standard on Gender Mainstreaming in the ESF Build a “critical mass” of ESF key actors in MS with capacity to integrate gender into their working areas Aggregate the learning on Gender Equality from ESF programmes into gendered policy messages Use new gender knowledge to improve policies Consider becoming a part of the Community of Practice on Gender Mainstreaming www.gendercop.com

Contacts Virginija Langbakk – Director Virginija.Langbakk@eige.europa.eu Therese Murphy – Head of Operations Therese.Murphy@eige.europa.eu Barbara Limanowska – Senior Gender Mainstreaming Expert Barbara.Limanowska@eige.europa.eu Priya Alvarez – Gender Expert Priya.Alvarez@eige.europa.eu Indre Mackeviciute – Gender Expert Indre.Mackeviciute@eige.europa.eu Maurizio Mosca – Gender Expert Maurizio.Mosca@euige.europa.eu