Cooperation and Gender for Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe

The International Gender Policy Network (IGPN) released an in-depth regional report on advocacy for development cooperation and gender for Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the Caucasus

IGPN evaluated the specific Country Strategy Papers (CSP), the EC´s main programming tools for development cooperation, for the Eastern and Southeastern European countries and the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russiaand Ukraine). The evaluation revealed that, although gender equality is mentioned as a cross-cutting issue, the documents prove to be rather blind in terms of gender concerns. This is reflected in concrete measures for gender mainstreaming and women´s empowerment. NGOs working on gender equality in Armeniaare rather dissociated from the EC´s support and have no information on the EC Delegation´s commitment to gender equality. In Azerbaijan, where women´s rights are brusquely violated but lack a specific governmental institution to deal with gender concerns, NGOs are beginning to take advantage of the EC´s call for proposals, though in a context that requires more transparency and fairness. Lack of political will is the main impediment to gender justice implementation in Georgia.
Following the findings of the report, IGPN put forward key recommendations:

The EU institutions should explicitly integrate gender concerns in policies and in their implementation, in calls for proposals, and in other stages of the project cycle. They should also strengthen the capacity of EC administrations to help ensure the financial sustainability of women´s NGOs.
National governmentsshould comply with the EU´s cooperation agreements, improve their institutional and legal frameworks for gender equality, increase communication and transparency with CSOs and the EU, and undertake effective gender impact assessments.

CSOsshould lobby national governments and the EU institutions for the achievement of gender equality; monitor and provide shadow reports on the actual implementation of women´s empowerment and gender equality projects; and strengthen networking among women´s organisations.\"