Activities of Frances FITZGERALD related to 2019/2167(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Gender Equality in EU’s foreign and security policy (debate)
Amendments (37)
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas achieving gender equality by 2030 requires the full awareness and unwavering commitment by EU and its Member States; whereas this includes the promotion of women’s and girl’s full enjoyment of all human rights, gender equality and the empowerment and promotion of women and girls as a priority across all areas of policy and action; whereas the EU Gender Action Plan(GAP) II is a key tool to contribute to achieving these goals and must be safeguarded against any deterioration and progress must be accelerated;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas women and girls are particularly affected by violence, poverty, armed conflicts, and the impact of the climate emergency; whereas there is a growing global trend towards authoritarianism and an increasing number of fundamentalist groups, both of which are clearly linked to a backlash against women’s and climate change; whereas there are studies highlighting growing backlash against women’s and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTIQ+) rights; whereas any understanding of security that focuses on States rather than human beings is defective and will not lead to peaceLGBTIQ+ persons are protected under existing international human rights law, and whereas the “EU Guidelines on LGBTI” serve to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by LGBTI persons;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas men and women are affected differently in conflict, post- conflict and fragile situations; whereas women are not only victims but also agents of positive change, who could contribute to conflict prevention and resolution, peacebuilding, peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction; whereas the importance of meaningful participation of women and girls in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and conflict resolution as well as in building the resilience of local communities must be highly considered;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas women and girls might experience different forms of discrimination; whereas one in three women in the world is likely to experience physical and sexual violence at some point in her lifetime; whereas 14 million girls are forced into marriage every year;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas Denmark, Switzerland and Norway have a strong gender equality-focused foreign policy; whereas Spain, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Germany have announced their intention to make gender equality a priority of their foreign policy; whereas the new Commission has made gender equality one of its key priorities across all policy areas;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the EU Strategic Approach to Women, Peach and Security (WPS) emphasises the need for concrete commitments and actions, as well as the need to engage, protect and support women and girls to achieve lasting peace and security as intrinsic components of human rights and sustainable development; whereas the EU Strategic Approach to WPS represents significant progress in terms of the EU’s engagement with the WPS agenda;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas the new Gender Action Plan II 2016-2020 (GAP II) emerged from Parliament’s recommendations with a focus on shifting EU institutional culture at headquarters and delegation levels in order to create a systemic change in how the EU approaches the principle of equality between women and men, as well as on transforming women’s and girls’ lives through four pivotal areas; whereas the four pivotal areas created within GAP II are: ensuring girls’ and women’s physical and psychological integrity; promoting the economic and social rights and the empowerment of girls and women; strengthening girls’ and women’s voice and participation; and a horizontal pillar consisting of shifting the institutional culture of the Commission services and the EEAS in order to more effectively deliver on the EU’s commitments;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Ec. whereas Gender Equality in EU’s foreign and security policy is highly dependent on a successful implementation and evaluation of the Gender Action Plan II (GAP II)in order to recommend actions for an improved future GAP framework (a new EU Gender Action Plan III in2020); whereas the ambitious gender equality targets within GAP III should include other dimensions, such as age and disability in order to ensure positive compounding effects;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas GAP II constituted an important step forward in fostering gender equality in the EU’s external relations, but its implementation still displays with a number of positive trends; whereas there also a number of shortcomichallenges such as a narrow scope, the absence of gender-responsive budgeting, a lack of commitment on the part of the EU’s leaders, and a lack of institutional architecture and incentives to motivate and adequately support staffas regards the reporting and implementation of key priorities and gender-related SDGs and the monitoring of progress on all objectives, as well as in terms of gender mainstreaming in policy dialogue; whereas even greater commitment of the EU’s leaders is of vital importance to achieve tangible results in terms of enhanced gender equality worldwide; whereas efficient use of the existing and future EU resources with gender responsive budgeting plays an important role, in particular in time of challenges in front of the next MFF, budgetary constraints and post COVID-19 crisis implications;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas the EU delegations and missions are on the frontline of implementing GAP II in partner countries, and the leadership and knowledge of delegation and mission heads and staff play a significant role in ensuring the successful implementation of GAP II; whereas it is recommended that more women access leadership and management posts in EU delegations;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas women remain largely under- represented in politics, particularlyincluding in the area of foreign policy and international security; whereas in the EU, 6 women hold the post of defenc, not only in the EU but mostly worldwide minister and only 3 out of 27 foreign ministers are women the third countries outside the EU;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas progress has been made in the realisation of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) across the world, but important shortcomings continue to exist and threats of regression persist; whereas in 2018 the number of EU actions on SRHR decreased and the lowest number of global actions by Commission services on gender equality pertained to SRHR; whereas, in this context, there is a strong need to reaffirm the EU’s commitment to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the right of every individual to have full control over matters related to their SRHRs free from discrimination and violence; whereas there is the need for access to sexual and reproductive health information, education and health-care services;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas only one third of all EU Delegations work on the rights of LGBTIQ+ people; whereas the EU’s LGBTIQ+ Guidelines are not being applied uniformly and their implementation depends strongly on the knowledge and interest of the Delegations’ leadership instead of respecting a structural approacha more structural approach is needed to uniformly apply EU’s LGBTIQ+ Guidelines by all the Delegations’ leadership this way ensuring the rights of all LGBTIQ+ people;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Urges the Commission, the High Representative and the Member States to further strengthen their support for gender equality, the full enjoyment of human rights by all women and girls and their empowerment across the globe and to play a key and increasing role in streamlining and leveraging resources to that end;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Notes that GAP II has served an important purpose and supported the entire EU foreign policy agenda, and welcomes in this regard the choice of three thematic pillars, namely ensuring girls’ and women’s physical and psychological integrity, promoting the economic and social rights and the empowerment of girls and women, and strengthening girls’ and women’s voice and participation; stresses that these pillars are intended to tackle the main factors and causes involved in discrimination and marginalisation; also takes note of the horizontal pillar consisting of shifting the institutional culture of the Commission’s services and the EEAS in order to more effectively deliver on the EU’s commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment through the EU’s external relations;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal to carry out a review and present a new EU Gender Action Plan III (GAP III) in 2020; stresses that this document needs to take the form of a communication in order to ensure its effective implementation; calls on GAP III to challenge the backlash against women’s rights, through strengthening access to sexual and reproductive health for women and girls, free from coercion, violence, discrimination and abuse; welcomes the EU Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, and calls for its robust implementation; welcomes the decision to renew the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, and calls for gender mainstreaming and targeted actions for gender equality and women’s rights, including SRHR, to be included in the Action Plan;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that progress has been uneven across the thematic priorities and amongst different EU actors; calls therefore for greater efforts by the Commission, the High Representative and all Member States to fully implement the EU’s gender equality policy in external relations and attain the minimum performance standards set out in the Gender Action Plan;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Underlines the importance of strong cooperation with civil society in implementing GAPIII; values the critical role of civil society, CSOs and SMEs through active engagement and consultations;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Stresses that the new EU Gender Action Plan should explicitly cover protection, participation and advancing women’s rights in all contexts and include fragile states and conflict-related contexts;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the need to ensure continued commitment at the highest political levels to the implementation of GAP III; requests that GAP III specify that 85 % of official development assistance (ODA) should go to programmes which have gender equality as a significant or as a principal objective, and that, within this broader commitment, 20 % of ODA should be allocated to programmes with gender equality, including SRHR, as a principal objective; calls for further targeted actions to achieve gender equality; calls, furthermore, for the new plan to strengthen qualitative analyses and to move beyond the ‘box ticking’ logic toa solid evidence-based approach with qualitative analyses this way assessing the real impact of such programmes in advancing gender equality;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Underlines that girls and young women are particularly vulnerable and that specific focus is needed to ensure their access to all levels of education; calls in this regard for the consideration of a range of opportunities in the field of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM subjects);
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the European Commission to accurately track all spending on gender related activities, including in the area of external action, to assess the impact and to improve the quality of gender mainstreaming;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the EU Delegations to recognize girls and young women as drivers of change, and to support their safe, meaningful and inclusive participation in civic and public life; stresses the positive impact girls, young women and women have in achieving sustainable peace and social cohesion, including through local girls and women- led initiatives in conflict prevention and peacebuilding;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the EU Delegations to take into consideration the feedback of youth- led organisations and to support them through capacity-building as youth bear the biggest burden to conflicts and disasters and are key actors of change;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls for the examination of synergies between those internal and external programmes of the Union to ensure a coherent and continuous approach to policies inside and outside of the Union, such as in the case of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM);
Amendment 208 #
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 pointsmooth work flows and to keep bureaucracy at a minimum in the EU delegations;
Amendment 213 #
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 trainingunit-specific training programs on gender equality for all middle and senior managers of the EEAS and Heads/Commanders of CSDP missions and operations;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls for a continued cultural shift, including the better coordination between EU institutions and between these institutions and the EU Member States; calls, in this regard, for a better inclusion of gender equality and human rights considerations in policy and political dialogue, to further strengthen the role in fostering accountability in the humanitarian system;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Underlines the need for a simplified method of reporting in all of EU’s gender-related aspects in order to keep bureaucracy to a minimum; calls for the development of online reporting, clear templates and the issuing of a guidebook to facilitate the work of the delegations;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 c (new)
Paragraph 12 c (new)
12c. Underlines the importance of EU Member States to continue to substantially improve the use of gender analysis and the consistent gender mainstreaming, including the collection and use of sex-and age-disaggregated data and gender sensitive indicators in identification, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of all processes in the EU’s external action; underlines that these areas shall include trade, infrastructure-related investment, private sector investment and security- related initiatives and climate change, particular attention should be paid in all external actions to thematic areas which have a potential gender transformative objective and content;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls foron the EU and the Member States to comply withstrengthen their efforts to enhance equality between women and men, following all international commitments and best practices related to the global gender equality agenda; calls, furthermore, for them to encourage and support partner states to repeal the reservations they have entered with regard to hrough recommendations to advance women’s rights, highlighting the importance of complying with the commitments contained in the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW,) and to implement, the Declaration and the Action Plan from the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, including through legislation among others; highlights the importance of the OECD/DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance; welcomes in this context the focus on addressing abuse and harassment by relevant stakeholders in development cooperation, in the humanitarian context and in conflict-related settings in Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls for the EU and the Member States to ensure an adequate budget for education in emergencies to ensure that every girl can succeed, despite circumstances of conflict and natural disasters.
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls for the EEAS to work with partner countries to advance the status of women including in areas such as inheritance rights to property and land, access to legal status including through birth registration, a reduced burden of unpaid care work, access to financial and digital literacy, technical and vocational education and training, and protection from child labour and other forms of exploitation;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Condemns all forms of violence against women and girls, including trafficking in human beings, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, honour crimes, female genital mutilation (FGM) and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war; calls on the EU and its Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention, as the first legally binding international instrument seeking to prevent and combat violence against women, this way setting an example worldwide and making their commitment to eradicate such violence credible in the EU external relations;
Amendment 256 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15c. Emphasises that universal respect for and access to sexual and reproductive health contributes to the achievement of all the health-related SDGs, such as prenatal care and measures to avoid high- risk births and reduce infant and child mortality; points out that access to family planning and maternal health services are important elements for saving women’s lives;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 e (new)
Paragraph 15 e (new)
15e. Notes the continued progress on the implementation of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls worldwide, which amounted to EUR270 million committed for programmes in Africa and Latin America in 2018;callsfor the EU’s strong leadership on the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies and the support provided to the survivors of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, reminds the Commission and the EU Member States the importance of the outcome of the Oslo Conference on Ending Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Humanitarian Crises;