Report from GAP III Structured Dialogue meeting November 2023

Report of the Annual Structured Dialogue with Civil Society and Local Authorities on the Implementation of the EU Gender Action Plan (GAP) III held on November 28, 2023 

In the third annual GAP III dialogue, high-level EU representatives including Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Stella Ronner Grubacic, the EU Ambassador for Gender and Diversity, and Eva del Hoyo, Director General for Sustainable Development Policies, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EU Presidency holder) met with representatives of more than 100 civil society organisations (CSOs) and associations of local authorities (ALAs). The meeting focused on the Joint mid-term report on the implementation of GAP III issued on 20 November, 2023, and featured an interactive discussion on the care economy, a priority of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU.

In the introductory part, EU representatives highlighted the main conclusions of the Joint mid-term report on the implementation of GAP III:

• GAP III has elevated gender equality as a strategic priority in external action, which means that the EU works to mainstream gender across key EU strategies.
• It has contributed to a more strategic EU vision for a gender-equal world with country level implementation plans (CLIPs) set up in almost all partner countries.
• Funding for gender equality has increased through better gender mainstreaming and gender targeted actions (in 2022, 72% of external actions featuring gender equality as a significant or principal policy objective).
• EU has increased engagement with partner governments, women and youth organisations and national gender equality networks. At country levels, a total of 84% of EU delegations engaged in civil society dialogues on gender equality in 2022.
• Awareness and capacity building on “gender responsive leadership” as a responsibility of leadership was highlighted.

With the mid-term report, the EU recommitted to the GAP III as the political and operational roadmap for gender equality and women’s empowerment, including its key principles and thematic priorities. To align the duration of the GAP III with the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, the EU extended the implementation period until 2027. Looking ahead, more work should be done in implementing the GAP III key principles, notably intersectionality. As regards funding for grass-root and community-level initiatives, the new Youth Empowerment Fund aims at providing low barrier funding for young people at community grassroots level to support youth-led initiatives, including for gender equality. 

CSO views on the implementation of GAP III were shared on behalf of the CONCORD gender equality working group by Marie Tempesta, Advocacy Advisor at the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network. Main points included that the mid-term review should serve as an opportunity to better mainstream the principles of the GAP III, including intersectionality, and ensure the translation of commitments in CLIPs into concrete programming. EU delegations should include CSOs in ongoing and continuous dialogue throughout the implementation of the GAP III / the CLIPs. With respect to funding, the number of gender targeted actions and the achievement of the related targets is still lagging. CSOs, in particular local and grass-root organisations, continue to face difficulties in accessing resources and EU funding, and therefore, the EU is encouraged to continue trying to provide accessible long-term funding to women's rights organisations. 

The interactive discussion on the care economy was opened by Giulia Massobrio, Coordinator of the Trade Union Development Cooperation Network - International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), who highlighted care economy as a key labour issue. She explained the “5R Framework for Decent Care Work” to recognise, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work; reward care workers; and promote representation of unpaid carers, care workers and care recipients in social dialogue.

Participants then split into breakout groups to discuss promising practices of transformative care policy and the role of the EU and other development actors in promoting decent care work in partner countries. The discussion centred around two main questions: 1. What lessons can be drawn from successful models, policies and strategies of care economy promotion in different regions, and how can these models be adapted to different cultural and socioeconomic contexts? And 2. How do you imagine a care-centred, gender-responsive city, and what services and structures would be in these cities?

On the question of lessons drawn from successful models of care economy promotion, participants highlighted that investments in the care economy can create more jobs, whereby the return on investment is better compared to infrastructure projects. In times of austerity, countries are pushed to reduce funding for social services. Consequently, women are the first buffer of an economic crisis, and their unpaid care labour is increased. In general, there is a lack of awareness and few campaigns to spread knowledge regarding the importance of the care economy. 

On the question of what a care-centred, gender-responsive city looks like, participants noted that the welfare state is being dismantled and privatised in many parts of the world. Furthermore, the burden of care remains unpaid, unrecognised, and largely assumed by women. However, socio-demographic changes in families, with same sex marriages and families with one child/no children, are gradually changing the traditional roles, and will help democratise the care economy in cities.

Civil society and local authorities’ representatives in the steering group will formulate a set of key recommendations on the basis of the discussion in the breakout groups.