Activities of Lola SÁNCHEZ CALDENTEY related to 2017/2012(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Gender equality and women's empowerment: transforming the lives of girls and women through EU external relations 2016-2020 (debate) ES
Gender equality and women's empowerment: transforming the lives of girls and women through EU external relations 2016-2020 (debate) ES
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the implementation of the Joint Staff Working Document (SWD(2015)0182 - Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016-2020 PDF (480 KB) DOC (88 KB)
Amendments (35)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197) and the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to the Council of Europe Convention of 11 May 2011 on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention),
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 b (new)
Citation 1 b (new)
- having regard to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)Report of 2012 entitled “Marrying Too Young - End Child Marriage”,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
— having regard to the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action from the 4th World Conference, and the outcomes of the review conferences,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 b (new)
Citation 2 b (new)
- Having regard to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the outcomes of the review conferences
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
- having regard to United Nations Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security 1325 (2000);1820 (2009);1888 (2009);1889 (2010);1960 (2011);2106 (2013);2122 (2013) and 2242 (2015),
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
- having regard to Article 208 of the Lisbon Treaty establishing the Principle of Policy Coherence for Development, requiring that the objectives of development cooperation be taken into account in policies that are likely to affect developing countries,
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the original Gender Action Plan I (2010- 2015) brought some progress, it also contained a number of gaps : narrow scope, a weak understanding of the gender equality framework and reproductive monitoring by the EU delegations, a lack of commitment among the EU leadership and a lack of resources, institutional architecture and incentives to motivate staff;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the new Gender Action Plan II 2016-2020 came out of these recommendations with a focus on shifting EU institutional culture at headquarters and delegation levels to create a systemic change in how the EU approaches gender and on transforming women’s and girls’ lives through four pivotal areas;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the release in August 2017 of the first annual implementation report for the year 2016, which demonstrates a clear momentum towards the implementation of the GAP II; emphasizes the need to have future implementation reports finalised and released in a shorter timeframe and regrets that the publication of this report was significantly delayed;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the strong monitoring and accountability framework established to measure progress in GAP II and acknowledges that its increased ambition provides a real opportunity for the EU to advance equality between women and men as well as the empowerment of girls and women in the field of external relations; recognizes however the need for deeper understanding and harmonisation of this framework in order to properly assess the impacts of EU actions;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Condemns all forms of violence against women and girls, and all forms of gender-based violence, including trafficking in human beings, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, honour crimes, female genital mutilation and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war;calls on the EU and all Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention, the first legally binding international instrument seeking to prevent and combat violence against women;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Notes that it is unclear how targeted (G2) and mainstreamed actions (G1) complement each other;calls for further efforts to clarify gender mainstreaming and to increase targeted actions with more significant financial envelops;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Regrets that women, who have experienced or are experiencing violence, are unequally supported against male violence, in terms of information on, access to and provision of shelters, support services and rights, helplines, rape crisis centres, etc.;emphasises that the Istanbul Convention should place male violence against women as a core focus on the Convention, while also addressing all gender-based violence by tackling violence motivated by an intersection of various grounds, including sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression;underlines the importance of strategic measures to proactively combat gender stereotypes and counter patterns of patriarchy, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia, as well as gender normativity and heteronormativity;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Strongly regrets that, as per the European Parliament's study assessment on the implementation of the GAP II, current programming appears to side-line the gender dimension in situations of crisis or difficult conflicts;and that, among other outcomes, this has meant that girls and women victims of war rape do not have access to non-discriminatory care, specifically comprehensive medical care, including abortion, despite the GAP II aiming to empower women to have control over their sexual and reproductive life;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Notes that the report shows the need for stronger support to sexual and reproductive health and rights(SRHR) as a pre-condition for gender equality and women's empowerment, and the necessity for appropriate tools to measure progress with regards to ensure universal access to SRHR;we recall, in this regard, EU commitment to the Programme of Action of the ICPD and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences;and the Sustainable Development Goals 3.7.,5.3 and 5.6;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission to take further steps to facilitate exchange of best practice in gender mainstreaming between delegations and units such as establishing and promoting a network of gender focal points and sharing more positive examples of successful practice; points out the strikingly low presence of women in the highest academic and decision-making positions, which indicates the existence of invisible barriers based on prejudices which stand in the way of women accessing positions of responsibility;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission to take further steps to facilitate exchange of best practice in gender equality and mainstreaming between delegations and units such as establishing and promoting a network of gender focal points and sharing more positive examples of successful practice;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Calls on the Commission and EEAS to ensure that the gender analyses effectively impact the programmes implemented by the EUDs, as well as their political dialogue;stresses therefore the importance of consulting widely with civil society for this gender analysis;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Calls on the Commission to systematically implement the GAP II, including in humanitarian settings where it must provide non-discriminatory access to medical services, in line with international humanitarian law;calls once again on the Commission to actively inform its humanitarian partners that the Commission's policy foresees that, in cases where the pregnancy threatens a woman’s or a girl’s life or causes unbearable suffering, international humanitarian law and/or international human rights law may justify offering a safe abortion rather than perpetuating what amounts to inhumane treatment;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that the link between trade and gender is not sufficiently addressed in the GAP II and more generally that gender mainstreaming remains a challenge beyond social sectors; recalls in this respect that negotiation of trade agreements could be used as an effective tool for advancing gender equality between women and men and calls for all EU trade agreements to include references to women’s rights and gender equality; Acknowledges that the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) and GSP+ systems need to be improved by linking economic incentives to the effective adoption and constant monitoring of core human, gender and labour rights conventions;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that the success of the GAP II will ultimately depend on long term and consistent engagement of high level political and senior leadership across all EU actors as well as in the availability of sufficient human and financial resources for its implementation; welcomes in this regard the positive engagement from the Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development and encourages more commitment from other Commissioners; notes the special responsibility of the High Representative to coordinate and strengthen this engagement in the coming years; calls for all EU actors to make use of the Gender Resource Package to ensure that gender mainstreaming is consistently applied to realise the ambitious goals of the GAP II;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 e (new)
Paragraph 13 e (new)
13 e. Urges the EU to take advantage of the mid-term review of its international cooperation programmes to increase funding for gender overall in bilateral cooperation and through thematic programmes;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 f (new)
Paragraph 13 f (new)
13 f. Welcomes, in this regard, the launching of the joint EU-UN global gender initiative so-called Spotlight Initiative in line with the objective of the GAP II to address sexual and gender- based violence and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), early forced marriage, or human trafficking;stresses that recognising and enforcing SRHR are preconditions to end violence against women and girls and calls for the Spotlight Initiative to be resourced with additional funds not already earmarked to gender equality;notes, however, that the Spotlight Initiative addresses mainly elements of the agenda which are already a shared concern globally, as proven by the implementation report and underlines, therefore, the need to advance gender equality in a more comprehensive way, through an adequate mix of programmes and modalities;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Emphasises that universal respect for and access to SRHR contributes to the achievement of all the health-related development goals:prenatal care and the ability to avoid high-risk births, reduce infant and child mortality;points out that family planning, maternal health and safe and free abortion services are important elements to save women´s lives;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13 b. Strongly condemns the Global Gag Rule and its impact on girls access to comprehensive sexuality education, sexual and reproductive health and rights services, including safe and legal abortions;Calls on the EU and the Member States to counter the impact of the gag rule by significantly increasing financing for sexual and reproductive health and rights, in particular funding explicitly destined to ensure access to birth control and safe and legal abortion, using both national as well as EU development funding, in order to fill the financing gap left after the Trump administration’s moves to crease funding all overseas aid organisations that provide sexual and reproductive health and rights services;emphasises that universal respect for and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights contributes to prenatal care and the ability to avoid high-risk birth, such as in the case of child pregnancies, and reduce infant and child mortality;points out that family planning, maternal health and safe abortion services are fundamental elements to save girls’ and women’s lives;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 c (new)
Paragraph 13 c (new)
13 c. Urges that the provision of humanitarian aid by the EU and the Member States should not be subject to restrictions imposed by other partner donors regarding necessary medical treatment, including access to safe abortion for women and girls who are victims of rape in armed conflicts, and should instead follow international humanitarian law;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 d (new)
Paragraph 13 d (new)
13 d. Acknowledges the fact that the growing trend of liberalisation, privatisation and reduction of basic social services, and the weakening of governments to ensure equitable access to social protection, which increase feminisation of poverty, has brought into sharp relief the need to find systemic solutions to the serious lack of social protection affecting women workers;calls for the promotion of Gender-Responsive Social protection by including the issue of women’s and men's roles in care economies;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the flexibility the GAP II gives delegations to choose priorities according to their country context; recommends nonetheless that delegations should be encouraged to have shownmust report progress on at least one priority per thematic pillar by the end of the GAP II, as per the requirements enshrined in GAP II, to ensure a more even coverage of the different thematic areas;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the importance of conducting systematic gender analysis, using sex and age-disaggregated data, in consultation and with the participation of local CSOs and women’s group and feminist groups, human rights organisations and local and regional authorities for the selection and assessment of the choice of objectives, the means of implementation and monitoring sources, and the efficacy and sustainability of the outcomes; welcomes that 42 country gender analyses have been completed and encourages rapid completion for all other countries; encourages the EU to explore possibilities for sharing and manag, managing and updating gender analysis in a more systematic manner to help improve coordination;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls that women’s rights are human rights and encourages further work to be undertaken with regards to addressing social norms and gender stereotypes in societies through greater cooperation with civil society, grass roots organisations advocating women’s rights, creating new or developing existing networks, and involvement of the private sector, if possible; notes that girls and women are agents of change and that inclusion of boys and men is necessary to ensure real equality between women and men; stresses that social norms with regards to women’s and men’s roles place women in a situation of greater vulnerability, particularly in relation to their sexual and reproductive health, concerning harmful practices such as FGM or child, early and forced marriages;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Stresses the need of budgetary allocations for child marriage prevention programmes that aim to create an environment where girls can achieve their full potential, including by means of education, social and economic programmes for out-of-school girls, child protection schemes, girls’ and women’s shelters, legal counselling, and psychological support;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17 b. Notes that priorities related to family planning or reproductive health are neglected both in terms of funding and programmes;regrets that no EUDs in the Middle East and North Africa and the Europe and Central Asia regions chose any SRHR-related indicator despite the great need regarding SRHR in these regions;calls on EUDs in these regions to re-evaluate these worrying figures to determine whether they may be linked to misreporting or if there is a need to complement current programmes with targeted actions on SRHR, taking advantage of the mid-term review of the programming;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Underlines the need for a simplified method of reporting which keeps bureaucracy to a minimum;call for future implementation reports to be finalised and released in a shorter timeframe; calls for the development of online reporting, clear templates and the issuing of a guidebook to facilitate the work of the delegations;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Underlines that the dedicated chapter on SRHR must be kept in the annual report in order to truly assess the transformative impact of the GAP II, and to ensure that SRHR progress is appropriately captured by the methodological approach of the report;