|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Gender mainstreaming in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Gender equality is one of the foundational principles of the EU. The European Community Treaty sets out that the ‘Community shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women’ and the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999) incorporate gender equality as one of the objectives of the EU. Moreover, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU in 2000 stipulates the principle of gender equality in all areas. But the acquis communitaire does not only affect the EU territories but also the Neighbouring countries. As a result, EU regulations and agreements –such as the 2000 MEDA framework- take into consideration gender issues. Apart from these declarations, the Cairo Programme of Action ratified in 1994, the Beijing Platform of Action held in 1995 and the Millennium Development Goals, published in 2000, notably contributed to promote progress and to increase awareness on this field. The Millennium Goals emphasize women´s rights especially in health and education. In fact, the third goal is based in the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women with the objective of eliminating gender disparities in education by no later than 2015. In 1995, with the occasion of the Barcelona Conference, gender equality became one of the points of strength within the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. However, ten years later few steps were done in this field. In the Euro-Med Women´s Conference held in Barcelona in November 2005 the President of the EU Parliament Josep Borrell stated that "gender equality is an integral part of good governance" and recognised that "the Barcelona process has not been sufficiently effective to this end". For instance, concerning female political participation, only 30% of EU parliamentarians are women (221 female members out of a total of 732) and in the Middle East this percentage* goes down to 5,82%, the lowest in the world. Within the EU framework, the Strategy on Gender Equality for 2001-2005 establishes the goal of promoting gender equality through different approaches such as capacity building and good governance. Later on, a new directive on Gender Equality in Development Cooperation (2004-2006) would focused on gender mainstreaming. One of the most relevant events on this field was the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference held in Istanbul in November 2006 which strengthened the role of women in society adopting a Five Year Plan of Action to lead the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and the Neighbourhood Policy works on promotion and protection of women´s rights. One of the conclusions was the inclusion by Euro-Mediterranean partners of women’s political, civil, social, economic and cultural rights in the European Neighbourhood Policy action plans and in the EU programs and projects. The importance of increasing women´s participation in political and economic was underlined in most of the meetings which were held. The organizers announced that a follow-up conference will be celebrated in 2009 to discuss issues related to the full enjoyment of all human rights by women. As Dr. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy stated after the meeting, "for the very first time since the creation of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership we are holding a conference focused specifically on women and gender equality. In fact, I firmly believe that this conference is a historic moment for the Partnership". The participation in the European Year is open to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) partner countries, in accordance with the general principles and the general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Community programmes laid down in the May 2004 Strategy Paper and the Country Action Plans. The financial framework for the implementation of the actions is € 13.6 Million, which will cover preparatory actions in 2006 as well as the various activities taking place during the European Year itself in 2007. Torna indietro |
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
