Europe can and must make a difference by funding projects that follow four key principles.

During our travels in Paraguay and South Africa we have asked to participants and leaders of projects funded by the EU and EU Member States how can EU’s international partnerships become a gateway for equality. All the testimonies and lessons learnt are collected in the report What makes the difference for equality?

Watch the video to find out more!

The EU frames GAP III as “an ambitious agenda for gender equality and women’s empowerment in EU external action” and it sets out a clear plan to tackle the root causes of gender inequalities. If it is to succeed, the EU and Member States need to ensure that the appropriate funding is made available for its implementation. This fact sheet aims to provide an overview of the different approaches taken by the EU when it comes to funding gender equality in external action.

Several gender equality targets exist in the EU frameworks. However, they do not represent the level of actual funding going to gender equality bacuse they relate to the share of new programmes, and not to the overall amount of funding or share of EU ODA. 

The European Parliament calls for establishing a specific target of 85 % of the EU’s ODA funding dedicated to programmes with gender equality as a principal or significant objective. It also stresses that the objectives set should be quantified in terms of dedicated funding and not just as a percentage of the overall programmes. This is the direct result of active advocacy by CONCORD.

See the fact sheet for more details on CONCORD’s position and recommendations.

CONCORD’s 2023-26 strategy is written at a time of particular uncertainty. One thing is sure: much of the progress we have made over the past two decades in terms of human development, also in terms of poverty reduction and gender-based violence, has been reversed, or at the very least suffered considerable setbacks as a result of recent events.

This means that the global community – states, local governments, civil society, the private sector, communities – must redouble our efforts to meet the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring that we leave no one behind.

Through our EU-wide membership, CONCORD is in pole position to influence the future and the way the EU addresses global challenges and human rights violations. We have already seen that some of the changes we have championed for years are now becoming ‘mainstream’, even in the hallowed realm of the economy. We have influence, but can be even more ambitious if we wish to effect truly transformational change. We will therefore put more emphasis on setting the agenda, engaging with the EU at all levels, while maintaining our focus on the essentials.

We have already begun this journey and the coming four years offer us an opportunity to make a step change in our ways of engaging and successfully influencing the EU so as to achieve the sustainable world we seek.

This strategy is about how we’ll get there. Together.

On 17 December 2018, CONCORD took part in a panel discussion of the on-going EU-ACP negotiations. This document provides a report the discussion, as well as outlines our key recommendations for the future EU-ACP agreement. 

As a part of our series #Budget4Solidarity, CONCORD held an interview with Bruno Rivalan, from Coordination Sud, on the future EU budget. In this video, the focus on security and migration control in the future EU budget is highlighted.