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Beijing Platform for Action

What is the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA)?

In 1995, the official representatives of more than 180 countries gathered in Beijing, China for the Fourth World Conference on Women, organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Their common goal was to proceed on action that had been taken in the past by the international community with regards to the promotion of gender equality. The overarching objective of the Conference was to elaborate further action for women’s empowerment and towards their full participation on the basis of equality across all facets of society.

The Conference helped to develop and refine a document reflecting the issues and concerns of the world's women at the end of the last century.

The document is known as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for Equality, Development and Peace (BPfA).

What are the topics that BPfA is addressing?

The implementation of BPfA brings on board the commitment of governments and the international community. Its 12 critical areas of concern represent clear and present obstacles towards the advancement of women requiring particular action (in bold the nine areas reviewed):

  1. Women and Poverty (A)
  2. Education and Training of Women (B)
  3. Women and Health (C)
  4. Violence against Women (D)
  5. Women and Armed Conflict (E)
  6. Women and the Economy (F)
  7. Women in Power and Decision-making (G)
  8. Institutional Mechanisms (H)
  9. Human Rights of Women (I)
  10. Women and the Media (J)
  11. Women and the Environment (K)
  12. The Girl Child (L)
How is the European Union linked to the Beijing declaration?

The European Union regards equality between women and men as a fundamental principle.

"The rights of women and girls are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights".

Following the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, the European Council requested an annual review of the implementation of the BPfA in the Member States.  In the following years, the EU Member States carried out this exercise and reached the conclusion that 'there is a need for a more consistent and systematic European Union approach in monitoring and assessing the implementation of the BPfA.

Therefore, in 1998 a decision was taken that the Council of the EU would be responsible for providing information about progress, by Member States, in the area of gender equality, as well as for reviewing and evaluating this progress. For this purpose, each EU Council Presidency to this day produces a report that covers the development of a specific selected BPfA critical area of concern in all EU member States. 

Since 1999, within this framework, sets of quantitative and qualitative indicators have been developed by successive Presidencies in nine (9) out of twelve (12) critical areas of concern. Based on the evaluation presented in the Presidency Report, every six months, the Council adopts its conclusions on recommended indicators. As currently stands, indicators for the following three areas are yet to be developed: Human Rights of Women; Women and the Media; Women and the Environment.

In December 2008, the Council of the EU invited the European Commission and the Member States to perform a general review of all the BPfA critical areas of concern. The report identified those areas which prevent gender equality from becoming a reality while at the same time pinpointing major future challenges. The Swedish EU Presidency consequently used this report as a basis and prepared the conclusions and namely a "Review of the implementation by the Member States and the EU institutions of the Beijing Platform for Action – "Beijing + 15": A Review of Progress" adopted by the Council in its meeting of 30 November 2009.

What is the role of EIGE?

In several critical areas of concern the EU-agreed indicators do not cover all the strategic BPfA objectives and statistical data is not always available at EU level; it is sometimes missing even at national level. This makes it difficult to fully monitor the effectiveness of policy developments in the Member States that are relevant to BPfA .

The Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015, describes the role of EIGE in the following manner: 'the European Institute for Gender Equality will help the Commission and the Member States to report on the EU-level indicators established under the Beijing Platform for Action in areas of particular concern and to develop further indicators where needed (such as on women and the environment)'.

The Member States have agreed on the need to strengthen EIGE's role and its collaboration with successive Presidencies in the follow–up and development of indicators.

The European Institute for Gender Equality will provide technical support to the Council of the EU and to its Presidencies in the follow-up of the BPfA, and in reviewing and developing indicators and will assist the Presidency countries developing necessary indicators and benchmarking information. This will include:

  • Ensuring follow-up for the areas covered by existing indicators;
  • Providing advice on updating and improving existing indicators;
  • Supporting Presidencies in developing indicators and benchmarking information; analysing and reviewing the area of concern chosen by upcoming Presidencies;
  • Promoting visibility and dissemination of indicators.
What areas have been selected by the forthcoming EU Presidencies?

Poland (July - December 2011) will review developments at EU-level and in the Member States in implementing the BPfA in area F: Women and the Economy, with a focus on the issue of work – life balance as a way of addressing the objective of promoting the harmonisation of work and family responsibilities for women and men. 

Denmark (January-June 2012) has selected an area that is yet to be developed, namely area K: Women and Environment. Given that this area is considerably broad and unexplored from neither a gender nor an EU perspective; the Danish Government and EIGE have agreed to focus the analysis and discussions on gender and climate change. The focus will also expand to following the scope of the strategic BPfA objective by analysing women's representation within the decision-making processes related to climate change negotiations and policies. Finally, both parties will also enter into discussions on the gender distribution in research and educational areas related to climate change topics. 

Area K: Women and the Environment set out the following strategic objectives for actions:

  • K.1 Involve women actively in environmental decision-making at all levels.
  • K.2 Integrate gender concerns and perspectives in policies and programmes for sustainable development.
  • K.3 Strengthen or establish mechanisms at the national, reginal and international level to assess the imact of development and environmental policies on women.
What has EIGE achieved so far in this area of work?

During 2010, EIGE conducted a series of activities with regards the collection of information related to the Beijing indicators. In EIGE's capacity as the guardian of reliable background information, and for the purposes of advising on actions to work on harmonising existing indicators and developing new ones, a study on existing indicators and statistics on gender equality in the European Union was launched. An additional study was launched to collect information, to identify good practices and to produce a report on the BPfA implementation methods: a study on implementation methods of work with the Beijing indicators in the European Union.

EIGE's role in reviewing, updating and improving existing indicators, as well as developing new ones, wherever necessary, has been discussed in several expert meetings. A Working Group on the Beijing indicators with participants from the Member States has been established. The goal of this working group is to support EIGE by contributing to the development of reliable, harmonised and qualitative information necessary for the follow-up to the BPfA implementation and mainly for the indicators used for the identified critical areas of concern.

EIGE takes responsibility for the preparation of the Presidency report. In 2010, EIGE established contacts, discussed support strategies and began working on reviewing and developing indicators for the forthcoming Polish and Danish Presidencies. During the first half of 2011, contacts with relevant authorities of in the context of the 2012 Cypriot Presidency have been established to discuss future cooperation and the selected area for review.

Where can I find more information?
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Gender Equality Index

Worldwide gender equality Indexes
United Nations Development Programme Gender-related Development Index and Gender Empowerment Measure:two measures for advocacy and monitoring of gender-related human development analysis and policy discussions
OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index: focuses on the root causes behind gender inequalities
World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index: addresses women’s leadership and global gender gaps

 
Social Watch Gender Equity Index: makes the gender inequities more visible and to monitor the evolution in the different countries of the world. It reflects measurement in three dimensions, education, economic participation and empowerment
What is a satelite index?

A satellite index or satellite account of a core index maybe developed for issues which:

  • would provide more in depth information on certain domains which are also covered by the core index (for example the quality of jobs)
  • are not part of the overall concept, because data are not available on a regular basis or because they are not easily described in terms of outcomes variables (such as gender based violence).

By creating a framework of a core index with a satellite account would provide more flexibility to the whole instrument and might increase the usefulness of the index.

Where can I find more information?
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Gender Mainstreaming

What is Gender Mainstreaming?

Gender Mainstreaming is not a goal in itself but a strategy to achieve equality between women and men. It is used to integrate gender concerns into all policies, and programmes of the European Union institutions and Member Sates.

Gender Mainstreaming within the European Union (EU) was firstly defined by the European Commission (COM) in 1996 (COM (96) 67 final)  as: (…) mobilising all general policies and measures specifically for the purpose of achieving equality by actively and openly taking into account at the planning stage their possible effects on the respective situations of men and women (gender perspective).

It was underlined that: The systematic consideration of the differences between the conditions, situations and needs of women and men in all Community policies and actions, this is the basic feature of the principle of "mainstreaming" which the Commission has adopted. This does not mean simply making Community programmes or resources more accessible to women, but rather the simultaneous mobilisation of legal instruments, financial resources and the Community's analytical and organisational capacities in order to introduce in all areas the desire to build balanced relationships between women and men.

Another well known definition of Gender Mainstreaming comes from the Council of Europe (1998): “Gender mainstreaming is the (re)organisation, improvement, development and evaluation of policy processes, so that a gender equality perspective is incorporated in all policies, at all levels and at all stages, by the actors normally involved in policymaking.”

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO), advocate a systematic approach to the gender mainstreaming strategy — including in particular:

  • effective application of a gender impact assessment of policies;
  • development of statistics broken down by sex; 
  • use of indicators to measure progress;
  • training programmes to develop gender expertise.

Gender Mainstreaming does not replace positive actions for women. In the face of persisting gender gaps the European Union follows the so-called the dual track:  Gender Mainstreaming plus specific actions to advance women; the latter is one way to remedy past discrimination and to compensate for existing inequalities.

What do we mean by Methods and Tools?

The tools are to be understood as operationalised instruments, which can be used separately or combined together to shape largely different programmes, in terms of aims, approaches and dimensions. Some are practical, ready to use "how-to" tools while others are more elaborated combinations of different elements.

The term "methods" relates in this context to general methodological approaches that facilitate integration of gender into policies and programmes. They utilise different tools in a strategic way and propose coherent systems (or elements of a system) for gender mainstreaming. Again, they can be combined together to collect information, enhance knowledge and shape largely different programmes.

The examples of tools and methods for the GM policy development and implementation include (the list was created for PRAGES Programme – Guidelines for Gender Equality Programmes in Science): Best/good practices, Books and reports, Communities of Practice, Consultations, Courses, lessons and seminars, Databases, Guidance packages, Manuals, Monitoring and evaluation tools, Networks and networking, Observatories, On-demand services, Research and data collection, Standards minimum, Training, Training of Trainers (ToT) and Training materials, Web-based discussion spaces and Thematic Websites, Equal Rights/Women's Rights approach, Gender Analysis, Gender Budgeting, Gender Impact Analysis/Assessment, Integration of gender into a project cycle, Intersectional approach, Monitoring and Evaluation, Multi-stakeholders approach.

Tools and methods that EIGE is focusing on follow the classification proposed by the Council of Europe in Gender Mainstreaming, Conceptual framework, methodology and presentation of good practices. Techniques and tools are defined there as "(…) groups or types of means to put the gender mainstreaming strategy into practice, i.e. to (re)organize, improve, develop and evaluate policy processes in order to incorporate a gender equality perspective"  and divided into analytical, educational, consultative and participatory techniques and tools.

Such tools include: Statistics, Survey and Forecast, Cost-benefit analyses, Research, Checklists, guidelines and terms of reference, Gender impact assessment methods, Monitoring, Awareness-raising and training courses, Follow-up action, Manuals and handbooks, Educational material for use in schools, Working or steering groups and think tanks, Directories, databases and organisational charts, Participation of both sexes in decision-making.

What do we mean by Good Practices?

Good practices are often used for promoting gender equality and sharing experiences on mainstreaming gender into the policies and programmes of the Institutions of the European Union and EU Member States. Documenting good practices entails recording positive steps made towards achieving gender equality. Good practices need to be recognized as such, shared, and interpreted: their elements—contexts in which they work and contexts in which they do not work; mechanisms at work—have to be identified and disseminated.

In the report prepared at the request of the COM  and discussing the Member States practical approaches to implementation of the General Regulation Article 16 on gender equality and non-discrimination, good practice is defined as “any action, tool or method which is intended to integrate the provisions of Article 16 (implicitly or explicitly) into the OP and/or any stage of its implementation”. The study proves that there is a certain model of mainstreaming that could be described as a good practice, in opposition to partial or exclusively formal solutions.

GM good practice definition may also be supported by literature asserting some basic principles of successful GM (on the basis of: The Principle of Gender Equality in the new ESF programmes (2007-2013), 2006):

  • A top-down approach with clear political will and allocation of adequate resources,
  • The formulation of viable gender equality objectives on the basis of gender analysis,
  • Appropriate implementing measures at all system levels (management, monitoring, control, evaluation) 
  • Strategies that bring on board people from the whole system – the responsibility for GM is system-wide,
  • The availability of relevant knowledge and expertise to all system levels,
  • Women’s balanced participation in decision-making.
What is the role of EIGE?

In 2010 EIGE has engaged in a process of consultations with the stakeholders  and commissioned a number of Background Papers  to establish the priorities in the area of work on the methods and tools (M&T). While establishing the priorities it was taken into consideration that in a long time perspective the work on methods and tools for gender equality and gender mainstreaming potentially should include:

Collecting M&T – information on what kinds of tools and methods are used by the EU Institutions and the Member States:

  • creation of a system for storing, searching and accessing information on GM (GM Database);
  • systematic, on-going work on collecting and updating this information;
  • building links and continuous exchange of information with the T&M producers/users;
  • consolidation of existing databases (one stop shop for GM).

Processing:

  • Development of a meta-methodology for the categorizing and assessment of the methods and tools;
  • analysing – use of the chosen methods for categorizing and assessment of the collected tools;
  • comparative studies based on qualitative and quantitative research;
  • creating modifications, tailor made solutions and new models;
  • monitoring GM processes and evaluation of the effectiveness of different tools and methods.

Dissemination:

  • Information on the existing tools accessible to the users via the website, network of practitioners, meetings and publications;
  • dissemination of the tailor made and new tools;
  • promotion of GM tools and methods;
  • building and coordinating GM Community of Practice – network of GM professionals.

In 2010 EIGE started to work on the above tasks through:

  • developing a concept/system for collecting, processing and disseminating information as the integral part of the EIGE's Resource and Documentation Centre,
  • preparing for the collection of information on the tools and methods, and good practices (GP) in gender mainstreaming and gender equality and
  • initiating work on M&T and GP in a few chosen priority areas.
What are the priority areas on EIGE's work on methods and tools and on good practices?

In 2010 three issues were identified as the priority areas for the work on methods and tools (M&T), and on Good Practices(GP):

  1. the priority areas selected by the European Council Presidencies,
  2. development of systematic approach to gender training as one of the important tools for gender equality and gender mainstreaming and
  3. development of standards and objective criteria for the classification of "good practices" in gender mainstreaming.

Selection of the priority areas was undertaken with a view to identify the tools/methods for gender mainstreaming and gender equality that EIGE should start working on and on choosing priority areas on which to focus and collect information about available tools, methods and good practices. This process was initiated by conduction a research into the current approaches to gender mainstreaming, commissioning Background Papers in the three pre-selected areas: Gender Training, Gender and Intersectionality, Mainstreaming Gender into European Structural Funds and analysing the results of the Background Papers.

The consultations process with a group of experts proposed by the EIGE's Experts' Forum was carried out. It resulted in the decision to focus on Gender Training (as the tool for gender mainstreaming) and on establishing basic criteria for the future work on Good Practices. A Study on the use of "good practice" as a tool for mainstreaming gender into policies and programmes of the EU institutions and Member States was commissioned.  The results of this study will support the process of the methodology development to be carried out in 2011 and, to be presented to the EIGE stakeholders at an information seminar in Brussels for the European Commission, Member States, the European Parliament and other interested organisations in November 2011.

Additionally three thematic areas were chosen as the pilot areas for collecting information on M&T and GP to establish the methodology for the future work on the topics selected by the Presidencies:

  1. area of Reconciliation of work and family life - following the work done within the framework of Beijing Indicators and support to the Polish Presidency,
  2. Gender Based Violence – with particular focus on the Observatory as the tool for collecting information on GBV, and
  3. collection of information on actors, M&T and GP in the filed of Men and Masculinity – understood as a horizontal, cross-cutting issue, to be included into the future work of EIGE.

As stated in the Regulation, EIGE has started working with selected methods and tools, which were considered and acknowledged as good practices in the field of gender mainstreaming and the promotion of gender equality. By 2012, EIGE will have developed a comprehensive approach to good practices. A set of criteria will be developed and applied to identify certain methods and tools as good practices. EIGE will make good practices available online, engage in analysis and facilitate sharing information on effective methods and initiatives.

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Resource and Documentation Centre

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