From Mexico to Paris, the EUROsociAL+ programme accompanies the organisation of the Generation Equality Forum, a global dialogue that calls for urgent action and ensures accountability to achieve gender equality. As part of the Forum launch, the programme brought together high-level European and Latin American authorities last March. During the second phase of the Forum, held in Paris between 30 June and 2 July, EUROsociAL+ continued to contribute to expanding the call for international mobilisation.
Photo: ONU-Mujeres
The first part of the Forum, held in Mexico City last March, brought together almost 10,000 people (half of them under 30) and more than 250 speakers from 85 different countries. Within this framework, the EUROsociAL+ Gender Equality policy area organised a high-level virtual session “Cooperation for Action – Reducing Gender Inequalities as a Key to Social Cohesion in Latin America and Europe” during which they exchanged good practices, experiences and challenges related to gender equality in the framework of the Latin America and Europe bi-regional dialogue in order to:
– Lay the foundations for future coalition commitments and define those that are a priority, facilitating the understanding of the current context relating to the gender agenda in the two regions;
– Raise the role of public gender policies in the post-Covid recovery in both regions, highlighting the added value of the EUROsociAL+ programme.
The event brought together officials and political authorities from both sides of the Atlantic. This included representatives of all the institutions in charge of executing the EUROsociAL+ programme: Anna Terrón, Director of FIIAPP (the lead institution in the consortium), Jérémie Pellet, General Director of Expertise France, Antonella Cavallario, Secretary General of IILA and Anita Zetina, Secretary General of SISCA.
During the exchange, issues related to the digital divide, masculinities and the need to implement affirmative actions to fight against structural inequality were addressed. However, two main themes were prioritised: (1) inequalities between women and men in the Latin American and European employment market and (2) the gender violence that affects both continents. The speakers’ reflections underlined the importance of taking into account the impact of the health crisis (and the action taken to mitigate the spread of the pandemic) on the lives of women.
From the first stage in Mexico City to the second in Paris, EUROsociAL+ will continue to actively participate in the process to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform at the international level. More specifically, through technical assistance, the organisation of technical workshops, the preparation of candidatures for membership of the coalitions and the design of webinars and virtual thematic seminars, the programme supports five Forum action coalitions:
– Gender violence.
– Economic justice and rights.
– Feminist action to promote climate justice.
– Technology and innovation for gender equality.
– Body autonomy and rights in matters of sexual and reproductive health.
These coalitions bring together countries, international organisations, civil society, youth organisations, the private sector and foundations. They seek to improve international mobilisation regarding gender inequalities and guarantee the application of structural mechanisms to combat them. They will be maintained until 2030 to ensure compliance with the established objectives.
The Europe-Latin America seminar series pursues several goals:
– Provide inputs to define the commitments by the lead Latin American countries in the gender coalitions.
– Promote the exchange of experiences by building bridges between key actors for gender equality change, the Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women and the networks of European and Latin American civil society organisations.
– Provide technical support to Latin American countries and regional organisations to prepare their candidacies to join the coalitions. For example, EUROsociAL+ is accompanying Honduras in its process to join the Gender Violence Coalition.
– Gender violence.
– Economic justice and rights.
– Feminist action to promote climate justice.
– Technology and innovation for gender equality.
– Body autonomy and rights in matters of sexual and reproductive health.
These coalitions bring together countries, international organisations, civil society, youth organisations, the private sector and foundations. They seek to improve international mobilisation regarding gender inequalities and guarantee the application of structural mechanisms to combat them. They will be maintained until 2030 to ensure compliance with the established objectives.
The Europe-Latin America seminar series pursues several goals:
– Provide inputs to define the commitments by the lead Latin American countries in the gender coalitions.
– Promote the exchange of experiences by building bridges between key actors for gender equality change, the Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women and the networks of European and Latin American civil society organisations.
– Provide technical support to Latin American countries and regional organisations to prepare their candidacies to join the coalitions. For example, EUROsociAL+ is accompanying Honduras in its process to join the Gender Violence Coalition.
Calendar of four events at the Generation Equality Forum held in Paris.
Expected events schedule:
| Name | Date | Organising institution | Time | Registration link |
| Exchange meeting INMUJERES Uruguay – INAM Honduras | 01/06/2021 | EUROsociAL+ | 11 am – Montevideo 8 am – Tegucigalpa 4 pm – Paris | Event closed |
| Meeting of LAC Region Leaders in IGF Action Coalitions | 08/10/2021 | EUROsociAL+, FGI Mexico | 10 am – Mexico | Event closed |
| Exchange meeting INMUJERES Uruguay – Iceland Ministry of Foreign Affairs | 09/06/2021 | EUROsociAL+ | 12 midday – Montevideo 3 pm – Reykjavik 5 pm – Paris | Event closed |
| Workshop on Prevention of Sexual Violence within the framework of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and Resolution 1325 | 10/06/2021 | ICRC, Government of Mexico Ministry of Foreign Affairs | 11 am – Mexico | Event closed |
| Webinar: Technologies and Innovation Coalition for Gender Equality commitments to action: Euro-Latin American visions and proposals for an intersectional and intersectoral digital transformation through and for equality | 17/06/2021 | EUROsociAL+ | 10 am – Mexico 5 pm – Brussels | Click here |
| Webinar: Commitments for action by the Autonomy Coalition on the body, rights and sexual and reproductive health: Euro-Latin American visions and proposals to prevent teenage pregnancy and promote egalitarian gender relations | 22/06/2021 | EUROsociAL+ | 11 am – Argentina 4 pm – Brussels 3 pm – United Kingdom | Click here |
| Webinar: Justice and Economic Rights Coalition Commitments to Action: Inclusive and egalitarian economic and social recovery based on development plans and care policies with a gender perspective | 25/06/2021 | EUROsociAL+ | 10 am – Mexico 5 pm – Brussels | Click here |
| Webinar: Gender Violence Coalition Commitments to Action: Euro-Latin American visions and proposals to improve the care and shelter for victims of gender violence | 29/06/2021 | EUROsociAL+ | 10 am – Mexico 5 pm – Brussels | Click here |
| Fourth Meeting of the Network on long-term care policies in Latin America and the Caribbean (RedCUIDAR+) Network on long-term care policies in Latin America and the Caribbean (RedCUIDAR+): Care policies: how to transform a growing sector into an opportunity for employment | 30/06/2021 | RedCUIDAR+, BID, AFD, EUROsociAL+ | 10 am – Washington D.C. 9 am – Mexico, San José 9 am – Bogota, Lima 11 am – Buenos Aires, Santiago, Brasilia 4 pm – Brussels | Click here |
GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS
AFD: Agence Française de Développement
IDB: Interamerican Development Bank
ICRC: International Committee of the Red Cross
INAM: National Institute of WOMEN, Honduras
INUMERES: National Institute of Women, Uruguay
Red CUIDAR: Long-Term Care Policy Network in Latin America and the Caribbean
