Activities of Ernest URTASUN related to 2019/2167(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Gender Equality in EU’s foreign and security policy (debate)
Gender Equality in EU’s foreign and security policy (debate)
Reports (1)
REPORT on Gender Equality in EU’s foreign and security policy
Amendments (26)
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. Whereas a foreign and security policy that does not represent women, girls and LGBTI+ rights and does not address current injustices further reinforces imbalances; whereas anyone who wants to put an end to these injustices must recognise the unequal balance of power between the genders;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas 2020 marks important anniversaries of women’s rights and gender equality frameworks, including the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995 and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on WPS of 2000;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the EU Strategic Approach to WPS represents significant progress in terms of the EU’s engagement with the WPS agenda; whereas despite the EU Action Plan on WPS adopted in 2019 to implement such Strategic Approach, translating this policy commitment into action remains a challenge; whereas still many EU staff members have not integrated WPS as part of their work and this agenda is seen as one that can be applied at their discretion and with the objective of improving the effectiveness of missions, but not as way to ensure women’s rights and gender equality on its own;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas the Gender Equality strategy 2020-2025 has set the objective to reach gender balance of 50% at all levels of the Commission’s management by the end of 2024;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
Ib. whereas EU policies tend to present women as victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and to address their protection primarily after SGBV has occurred; whereas a stronger policy and operational focus on prevention of human rights violations addressing the power imbalances in gender relations would improve the EU´s policies in this area;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I c (new)
Recital I c (new)
Ic. whereas violence against women has not been considered a root cause of conflict in EU conflict prevention policies; whereas this reveals a blind spot in the EU´s understanding of conflict and therefore in the effectiveness of its prevention policies;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the work of gender advisers and focal points is central to translating EU policies on gender equality and WPS into analysis, planning, conduct and evaluation, as well as to facilitating the integration of a gender perspective into daily tasks and operations; whereas gender advisers and focal points face numerous challenges in the performance of their duties, including lack of prioritisation of gender in the EU Delegations, insufficient time for gender mainstreaming due to other tasks to be performed under their job description and difficulties to ensure that project managers sufficiently take into account gender in their work; whereas still a majority of the Gender Focal points’ tasks and responsibilities are not reflected in their job description;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas the civil society space is shrinking in various spheres, including with regards to women’s organisations and women human rights defenders, SRHR, and LGBTIQ+ rights; ; whereas women human rights defenders often face additional and different risks and obstacles that are gendered, intersectional and shaped by entrenched gender; whereas in the context of global backlash against gender equality and SRHR there has been increasing attacks and a reduction on the level of protection of women and girls; whereas more ambitious internal and external actions are needed in order to actively combat regressive discourses and initiatives and continue advancing towards gender equal societies;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M a (new)
Recital M a (new)
Ma. whereas including the gender perspective in the EU´s foreign and security policy also means to acknowledge and combat the specific gender dimensions and impact of global phenomena such as climate change, migration, trade and security, as well as to put the focus on the experiences and needs of women and groups facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalization at the centre of policy making;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the EEAS, the relevant Commission services and the Member States to systematically integrate gender mainstreaming and an intersectional perspective into the EU’s foreign and security policy, including in multilateral fora and in all political and strategic dialogues, human rights dialogues, policy formulation and programming, country level human rights strategies, public statements, global human rights reporting as well as in the monitoring, evaluation and reporting processes;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that further analysis needs to be done on the power dynamics inherent in EU’s policies and practice and in the current programming in order to analyse and address their gender implications;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Recalls the importance of integrating an intersectional perspective in all EU external action and that EU actions should integrate the experiences of women from diverse backgrounds and especially those facing intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalization based on their age, gender, race, religion, socio economic and legal status, ability, sexual orientation and gender identity; reminds that women are not a homogenous group or speaking with one voice;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the EEAS, the Commission and EU member states to recommit, through the new GAP, to gender mainstreaming in all sectors, including in non-social sectors such as trade, energy, agriculture and migration; calls on the EEAS, the relevant Commission services and EU member states to commit in parallel to implement more gender targeted actions in addition to gender mainstreaming;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission to adopt a mechanism to track the amount of EU funding for gender equality allocated and disbursed in partner countries and report on it through the GAP III; further calls on the Commission to undertake a formal evaluation of the gender impact of the different programmes financed by the EU, including modalities such as budget support, and to report back to the European Parliament; stresses that this evaluation should be based on gender- disaggregated data and that its result should be integrated in future programming; Reminds the importance to ensure that partners count with sufficient financial resources for gender mainstreaming;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Member States to create a formal Council working group on gender equality; recommends for the new Council WG to develop rules to allow in- depth participation of civil society;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the EEAS Gender and Equal Opportunities Strategy 2018-2023, but regrets the lack of specific and measurable objectives; calls for it to be updated in order to include concrete and binding goals on the presence of women in management positions; recommends a target of 50 % of management positions being held by women, including as Heads of Delegation and Heads of CSDP missions and operations; welcomes the progress that the European Commission has made in this regard, reaching a 41% of women managers at all levels; regrets that the EEAS is far from reaching that goal and calls the current HRVP to take the necessary steps to remedy this situation; regrets, in addition, the absence of other diversity targets and of overall diversity in the EU institutions, especially regarding race, ability and ethnic backgrounds;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the VP/HR to ensure that Heads of EU Delegations abroad have a formal responsibility to ensure gender equality is mainstreamed throughout all aspects of the delegation’s work and that they be required to report on it; further calls on the VP/HR to ensure that there is one full-time gender focal point in the EU delegations; with sufficient resources to perform their tasks and with job descriptions detailing their responsibilities on the operational and political portfolios; stresses that they should report directly to the Head of EU Delegation/Head of Section, have access to all relevant documents needed to perform their duties, that they are fully involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of concrete projects and that they have management responsibilities, where appropriate; calls for specific gender equality guidelines for all EU delegations; stresses the need to include a new EU budget line that would finance the position of gender advisers in military CSDP missions;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that achieving gender equality is not possible without a gender- responsive leadership; calls, in this context, for mandatory training on gender equality for all middle and senior managers of the EEAS and Heads/Commanders of CSDP missions and operations; highlights that the mission letters and job descriptions for the new Heads of EU Delegations need to include specific references to gender equality; stresses that their evaluations need to include specific criteria on work undertaken to ensure gender mainstreaming;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls for an active promotion and support of comprehensive trainings for all staff on gender mainstreaming and gender analysis; stresses that these trainings need to be followed-up in the medium and long term;
Amendment 219 #
12b. Calls for an update of the Upgraded Generic Standards of Behaviour for CSDP Missions and Operations to include the principle of zero-tolerance to non-action for EU leadership and management regarding sexual and gender-based violence;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls on the EEAS to consider reviewing the ‘EU guidelines on violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them’ in order to add references to specific measures to combat the increasing attacks and threats against women’s human rights defenders and transgender or gender non-conforming people, and to align the guidelines with the Istanbul Convention definitions and recommendations;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the VP/HR, the EEAS and the Member States to ensure full implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, and to adopt an annex aiming to recognise and develop additional strategies and tools to respond better and more effectively to prevent the specific situation, threats and risk factors faced by defenders of women’s human rights; calls for the immediate introduction of a gender perspective and specific measures to support and WHRD in all programmes and instruments aiming to protect Human Right Defenders;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Call on the Commission and the EEAS to systematically support universal enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights, including through effective access to comprehensive sexuality education, contraception, family planning, safe and legal abortion services, and quality maternal health care, and respect for women’s right to decide over their own bodies, and to be protected against any form of discrimination, coercion or violence in this regard; calls on the European Commission to counter the impact of the “global gag rule” by significantly supporting sexual and reproductive health and rights funding, including through the new NDICI;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Recognizes that gender equality is a prerequisite for peace, security and sustainable development and the efficient management of climate challenges and that in order to achieve a fair and just transition which leaves no one behind all climate action must include a gender and an intersectional perspective; regrets that only 30% of climate negotiators are women and reminds that meaningful and equal participation of women in decision making bodies at EU, national and local level climate policy and action is vital for achieving long-term climate goals; asks that the EU and its Member States to ensure access of women’s organisations to international climate funds;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15c. Recognises the fact that humanitarian crises intensify sexual and reproductive health and rights related challenges and recalls that in crisis zones, women and girls are particularly exposed to sexual violence, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual exploitation and unwanted pregnancies;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Paragraph 15 d (new)
15d. Calls on the European Commission and Member States to give a high priority to gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights in their humanitarian aid response, as well as accountability and access to justice and redress for sexual and reproductive rights violations and gender- based violence, and in terms of training of humanitarian actors as well as funding;