Mainstreaming, Affirmative Actions and Inclusion of Civil Society
In the light of
- the upcoming Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference strengthening the Role of Women in Society scheduled to take place in Istanbul 13-15 November 2005 which will adopt a Five Year Plan of Action on strengthening the role of women in society to lead the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership work on promotion and protection of women’s rights
- the conclusion of several action plans with the Mediterranean Partners in the framework of the European Neigbourhood Policy (ENP);
- and as a follow-up to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network’s (EMHRN) report on ‘Integration of Women’s Rights from the Middle East and North Africa into the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership’
The EMHRN, comprising 84 human rights and women’s rights organizations in more than 30 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region, and with a track record of working to promote and protect human rights in the region, would hereby like to put forward the following recommendations to all relevant parties involved in the protection and promotion of women’s rights in the region.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON ACHIEVING GENDER EQUALITY IN THE EURO-MEDITERRANEAN REGION
In general
- Partner States in the Barcelona Process (hereafter Partner States) should lift reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and ratify CEDAW’s optional protocol.
- The EU and Partner States should fight all forms of discrimination against women in the region within the overall framework of human rights and democratisation, respect the universality of human rights, and cease treating women’s rights as primarily an issue of ‘religious norms and cultural traditions’.
- Gender mainstreaming should be integrated into all EU, EMP and ENP policies, programmes, and projects and at the same time affirmative action and specific programs targeted at women should be put in place.
- Gender should become a high priority on national levels as well as on EU levels, and it should be worked on by high level bodies.
On Gender Mainstreaming[1] and Affirmative Action
- The EU and the Partner States should clearly reconfirm in the framework of the EMP and the ENP their commitment to gender mainstreaming as their strategy for achieving gender equality in the region, and ensure the means and competencies to implement this strategy.
- In the framework of the EMP and ENP gender mainstreaming should be included in all political dialogues, policies, programs and projects, from the planning to the evaluation stage and a follow-up mechanism should be set up to monitor progress on women’s rights and gender equality.
- In addition, the EU should design affirmative action programmes within the EMP and the ENP aimed at increasing the participation of women in all main areas of activities and support them by appropriate financial and technical resources.
- The EU should reserve a consequent budget line for the prevention of and fight against discrimination and violence against women in the region in the European Neighbourhood Partnership Instrument (ENPI)
- The EU institutions and the Partners’ States administrations should ensure sufficient gender-sensitive expertise within their staff at central level as well as in their representations and delegations in the Partner States. Gender specialists should be appointed at the policy level, in technical services, and at the operational level. In addition, training on women’s rights should be organised widely in order to facilitate mainstreaming.
On integration of Gender in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, European Neighbourhood Policy and Political Dialogues
- The EU and its Partner states should systematically integrate women’s rights with focus on gender equality into all their dialogues at all levels and on all issues, in particular on the basis of the human rights clause in Article 2 of the Association Agreements.
- A transparent monitoring mechanism of the ‘human rights clause’ that takes into account women’s rights should be set up. In this regard the EU and Partner states should design concrete gender-specific human rights indicators and criteria to be examined at the multilateral and bilateral political levels.
- Gender should be integrated in all the chapters of the European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plans and women’s rights should also be specifically addressed in a comprehensive manner by the Plans. A precise calendar for the implementation of measures and benchmarks should also been set up in this framework to evaluate the implementation.
- Regular consultation with civil society on the implementation and evaluation of the Association Agreements as well as the ENP Action plans from a gender perspective should be closely associated with these dialogues and include representation of relevant independent women’s rights organizations.
- Sub-Committees on human rights, including women’s rights and gender mainstreaming, should facilitate the dialogue and the monitoring mechanism and be established under each ENP Action Plan within the framework of each Association Agreement. The Sub-committees should be composed of representatives nominated by European Union and Partner countries. They should consult with civil society and integrate its views in its dealings.
- A specific Committee on gender issues should be put in place in the EMP framework with the aim to propose gender equality and gender mainstreaming measures, as well as to monitor the implementation of the EMP 5 Year Plan of Action expected to be adopted mid-November 2006 and the gender provisions of the ENP Action Plans.
- A Task Force specialised in gender mainstreaming in the Euro-Mediterranean region should also be established within the European Commission.
- The Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly should establish mechanisms for the promotion of gender mainstreaming in the region.
On the Five Year Plan of Action on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society
(expected to be adopted at the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial meeting mid-November 2006)
- The Five Year Plan should in its preamble clearly state the Partner states commitment to gender mainstreaming following the principles of:
- equality between men and women which is universally recognized
- women’s rights are human rights and thus indivisible including economic, political, civil, social and cultural rights
- The Five Year Plans should clearly state the Partner states commitment to the principles of gender mainstreaming as the strategy to achieve gender equality, combined with affirmative actions targeting the existing inequality of men and women and fighting discrimination against women.
- The Five Year Plan should ensure synergies between the EMP and ENP frameworks in relation to gender mainstreaming and promotion of women’s rights.
- The Five Year Plan should be clear, explicit and specific in the goals it wants to achieve on short, medium and long term and the time frame within which to achieve these goals. It should develop clear indicators and benchmarks in order to measure progress towards its goals. It should make recommendations for working tools to be used in the implementation of the proposed plan. If a Follow-up Committee is established, its composition, mandate, the reporting process as well as the financial resources at is disposal should be specified. The Plan should entail a periodic and systematic evaluation.
- The Five Year Plan should specify the level at which responsibility for the implementation of the different actions lies – whether at national level of individual Partner States, at EU level or at regional level.
- The Five Year Plan should ensure that a fixed budget is allocated with sufficient financial resources enabling a realistic implementation of the Plan. It should be specified where the different parts of the budget comes from – i.e. from member states, from the ENPI etc. Financial contribution from the Partner states should be included in order to create ownership of the Plan.
On Participation of Civil Society
- The European Union and the Partner States should strengthen information and consultation with NGOs on the gender equality dimension of the EMP and the ENP. This could be done by:
- Quotas reserved for the participation of women’s rights organisations in consultations with NGOs.
- Draft documents (such as the draft of the Five Year Plan) be made available on the EU Website for comments by NGOs in time for their comments to be taking into account before documents are adopted
- Participation of independent civil society organizations and women’s rights networks and groups without prior acceptance/authorisation by their governments
- Regular meetings between the EU and NGOs, in Brussels and in the Partner States, to evaluate progress in the implementation of work programs for achieving gender equality and promoting women’s rights
- The EU should reserve specific budget headings to finance regional women’s networks and organisations as well as work on women’s rights both within the MENA region and between the two Mediterranean shores.
- The EU should make more funding possibilities available to women’s rights organisations and design them specifically to match the needs of these organisations and networks taking into account the varying capacities.
The EU should be firm with Partner governments on the right of independent associations to receive funds in order to reinforce civil society’s capacity and activities as part of a democratic society.
[1] It has been widely recognized that gender equality is essential for men and women to participate on equal bases to develop their societies. The most widely accepted and comprehensive strategy to achieve gender equality is gender mainstreaming. Gender mainstreaming means the systematic integration of gender issues and the (re)organisation, improvement and evaluation of political processes so that male-female equality is incorporated in all policies at all levels and at all stages.
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