The European Parliament holds its fourth European Gender Equality Week and we want to share our assessment of EU policies advancing girls’ rights.
As the European Commission leadership and European Parliament approach the end of their term, the European Week of Action for Girls (EWAG) coalition of CSOs, including IPPF EN, DSW and EPF, is looking back at the past years to assess EU policy frameworks and regional partnerships and evaluate their contribution to promoting girls’ rights.
The paper provides an overview of positive advancements, as well as shortcomings, and puts forward a set of recommendations on how to better advance girls’ rights in EU external action onwards. The EU policy frameworks we analyse in this paper are:
- Youth Action Plan
- EU Gender Action Plan for External Action 2021-2025
- Global Health Strategy 2022-2030
- EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child 2021-2024
- EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025
The paper also looks at regional partnerships – like those between the EU and African Union, the EU and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, the EU and the Latin American and Caribbean States – and how they might be advancing girls’ rights.
Finally, as we know adequate financial support is key to the implementation of any policy framework, but there is currently no mechanism to effectively track the amount of funding invested in the promotion of girls’ rights. Nonetheless, we share the data we have so far and recommendations on how the situation can be improved.
