5 years after the creation of the gender component of EUROsociAL, a positive assessment and transformative effect

For 17 years, the EUROsociAL programme has contributed to the development and implementation of public policies to strengthen social cohesion and reduce inequalities in Latin America. This programme is implemented by a consortium composed of the International and Ibero-American Foundation (FIIAPP), which coordinates the Democratic Governance component, Expertise France, which is responsible for the implementation of the Gender Equality Policies component, and the International Italo-Latin American Organisation (IILA), which is responsible for the Social Policies component. The Secretariat of Central American Social Integration (SISCA), based in Panama, is also part of the consortium.

 

The EUROsociAL+ programme is an effective and innovative tool to improve public policies on social cohesion. It has developed over the years by taking an innovative approach to better meet the needs of the recipient countries. Firstly, it is a demand-driven programme, meaning that the needs of the countries are listened to and assessed and that a customised offer is submitted to ensure that the response is as relevant and appropriate as possible. Secondly, it encourages horizontal and triangular cooperation by sharing good practices between the public administrations in the two regions and building links between countries to promote mutual learning. Thirdly, it is a flexible programme that adapts to the contexts of Latin American countries. Fourthly, it is a programme that encourages regional and bi-regional alliances and promotes intersectoral strategies to ensure that public policies are integral and sustainable. Finally, it promotes gender mainstreaming in all the projects and activities.  

 

In 2016, and for its third phase, the programme adopted a specific Gender Equality Policies component with the aim of reducing inequalities between women and men and promoting the physical, socioeconomical and political empowerment of women. The objective is also to integrate and mainstream the gender perspective both in all the activities and in the other components and work processes.

 

About a hundred activities implemented since 2016

 

The first major innovation of the programme has been the creation of a specific Gender Equality Policies component which recognises the existence of specific agendas and rights for women and girls.

Our component has worked constantly to strengthen the Ministries of Women’s Rights and all the institutions working for gender equality 

Ana Perez Camporeale, Coordinator of the Gender Equality Policies component, EUROsociAL

 

Gender is an essential dimension for social cohesion. In 2016, the creation of a specific component to improve gender equality policies seemed self-evident. However, initiating a dialogue on public policies between Europe and Latin America based on gender, which was not an automatic reflex in the discussions, was a real challenge.

The action of the gender component has contributed to the national, regional and international agendas and established a real peer-to-peer policy dialogue between Europe and Latin America. It has especially contributed to legitimising Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women in Latin America in their own institutional architecture and strengthening their policies, as well as their participation in the implementation of sectoral policies.

 

It is necessary to influence sectoral policies by introducing units specialised in gender equality in public institutions to ensure gender mainstreaming. Strategic alliances are also very important. They have allowed us to work on gender-sensitive budgeting with the support of EUROsociAL 

Mayra Jiménez, Minister for Women, Dominican Republic

 

Since its creation, the Gender Equality Policies component has set up 113 activities and mobilised over 170 experts in 15 Latin American countries and 23 European Union Member States.

At national level, several concrete results can be highlighted. They include the evaluation of the professional equality standard in Mexico, the implementation of a mechanism to monitor equal pay in Colombia, the joint construction of better social protection systems in several countries, such as Argentina and Costa Rica, the strengthening of the legal framework for the economic rights of women in partnership with the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), as well as measures to combat gender-based violence and improving victim support programmes, for example, in Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay and Uruguay.

At regional level, one of the main results has been the strengthening of the Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women in order to give effective support to gender mainstreaming and the development of public policies that reduce inequalities. Through the demand-driven work, activities have been carried out to improve the regional tools that aim to reduce gender-based violence, and also improve care systems from a gender perspective. The component has been able to work closely with the institutions in order to identify the practical and strategic needs of women, propose specific measures and guide and coordinate the intersectoral responses.

 

Added value of the Gender Help Desk

The EUROsociAL+ programme has worked to ensure that women are more included in the development and benefits of social inclusion policies. The Gender Help Desk was created for this purpose. It is a unit responsible for mainstreaming gender in all the activities, components and work processes. 

 

Through the creation of the Help Desk, the component has been able to adapt the work processes, habits and methods. In this respect, it has created sustainable methodologies enabling a dialogue on gender inequalities, while measuring the progress achieved.

With this unit, the programme has built a common framework for action between the three components, based on the logic of the political and operational commitments which define equal opportunities and the reduction of inequalities as the decisive criteria of the programme. The Help Desk has now become a permanent reference tool for the technical staff for the integration of the gender approach in the activities. It has also had a real impact on the dialogue with the institutions. It has undoubtedly contributed to a qualitative improvement in the programme’s operations, with a greater integration of the gender dimension and a broadening of the spectrum of public policy outcomes at various levels (national, regional and even bi-regional).

 

The Gender Help Desk has been a transformative tool that has brought about a change in the situation of women. We have tried to set our sights on maximum and not minimum standards, by overcoming a certain resistance often embedded in the institutional culture

Bénédicte Lucas, Head of the Gender Help Desk

 

Tangible progress has been achieved through this unit’s work. Indeed, the programme has increased the proportion of activities with a gender perspective (partial or integral) from 63.5% prior to the creation of the unit to 85% today. A total of 76% of the activities of the entire programme have a gender perspective.

 

+EUROPA: a winning strategy for a strong mobilisation of European Union countries

Through the +Europe strategy we have managed to mobilise 23 European Union Member States and over 80 European experts. The European Union has much to learn from Latin American experiences and initiatives and vice versa. Facilitating the links between the two continents has been a source of much pride.

EUROsociAL+ has shown that together we can move towards a more inclusive, equal and sustainable world

Alfonso Martinez Saenz, Deputy Coordinator of the Gender Equality Policies component, EUROsociAL

 

Another success of the Gender Equality Policies component has been the conceptualisation and implementation of the +Europe strategy. In this respect, we have worked with over 23 European Union Member States through the implementation of activities such as seminars, technical assistance and study visits to promote the gender expertise of European experts and the organisation of high-level events such as “Two Continents United for Equality” which was held on 4 March 2021 in the context of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In Paris, it gathered 12 ministers and representatives of the Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women from Europe and 13 from Latin America to strengthen the dialogue and exchange of good practices on the economic empowerment of women. This type of event has a very strong capacity to influence the agendas and roadmaps of countries, at both national and regional level. They are essential forums for partnerships, as well as for the identification of good practices and the requirements of countries. This helps to coordinate the activities, the interests, and the lessons learned from them.

 

Growing demand and the need to sustain the gender achievements in Latin America

Six years after the creation of the component, it is today essential to sustain the gender achievements in the region. It is more than ever necessary to understand that it is impossible to reduce inequalities without addressing the structural inequalities of gender.

To integrate the gender dimension, adopting specific agendas is not sufficient, gender also has to be mainstreamed. This will make it possible to build a new social pact based on redistributive political agreements that promote inclusive and sustainable development for all, and in which all the sectoral policies start from the assumption that each public policy has different effects on women and men. Furthermore, greater attention needs to be given to diversity and human rights, with an approach based on the life cycle, from birth to old age.

 

The needs are clear in the region. Requests are being made even in the final phase of the programme. Long-term processes with impacts are coming into being, by placing (rather late in the day) women at the centre, and that is what is important: being protagonists in our history and in our policies 

Ana Perez Camporeale, Coordinator of the Gender Equality Policies component, EUROsociAL

 

The institutional architecture of the Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women needs to be further strengthened and strategic alliances need to be formalised between Latin American countries and European projects in terms of gender equality. It is also necessary to promote complementarity between the projects implemented by the cooperation agencies of European Union Member States. 

Finally, as the EUROsociAL+ programme has shown, it is necessary to maintain the capacity to respond to requests by being flexible, adapting the response and integrating new actors, as well as the various administrative levels and governments.

 

Find out more about the EUROsociAL programme