Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Change 6

AddedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

AddedThe Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted in 1995, was a milestone for gender equality and women’s rights. With the theme of the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (10-25 March 2025) being reviewing and appraising the Beijing Declaration ahead of the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is vital that the EU develop a common approach and understanding of what must be done in the coming years.

AddedAt the current rate of progress, it would take 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory legislation for women globally, with not a single indicator under SDG goal 5 for gender equality achieved.

AddedThis recommendation states the need for the Council, on behalf of the EU and its Members States, to underline the EU’s full commitment to the Beijing Declaration, and to demonstrate this commitment through implementing gender equality and women’s rights in all aspects of EU external action, towards a feminist foreign, security and development policy.

AddedAs Parliament has stated on many occasions, gender equality and women’s rights are vital components of, and indeed, necessary parts of achieving the EU’s many other goals, from combating climate change, to achieving peace and prosperity. The recommendation calls for gender mainstreaming principles in all policy areas and cycles, backed by proper funding and political leadership.

AddedAs the Council negotiates in New York, it should be able to point to the EU leading by example, with women taking their rightful role in decision-making alongside their male peers in all walks of life, and yet the EU still fall short of this goal. The recommendation reiterates the need for equal opportunities, and condemns the negative stereotyping of women, online and real-world, which all too often discourages women from entering or progressing in public, political, economic, academic or cultural life.

AddedLikewise, the global backlash against women’s rights has found a place in the EU - we must redouble efforts and lead the fight back against this backlash.

AddedTo do this, the recommendation calls for the systemic and root causes of women’s poverty to be addressed. Education, training, lifelong learning, non-discriminatory labour opportunities, access to social services, the balancing of unpaid care and social responsibilities through legislative initiative, combating gender stereotyping and promoting women as role-models are all vital elements of our toolkit.

AddedHealth services must be fully accessible to women in all their diversity - we only need to look at the devastating effects of restricting access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) within the Union and without to see that this is a matter of life or death. Our generation should not accept backtracking in hard-won sexual and reproductive health and rights.

AddedThe recommendation, in line with previous calls, urges that civil society organisations supporting women’s rights be supported and strengthened - gender equality and women’s rights are not something that can be imposed from above, but come through from the grassroots, from CSOs who truly understand their community’s needs. Yet without support, their efforts will not realise their potential.