Who do we work with? 

Within this project, EIGE works with the following EU candidate countries and potential candidates: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Türkiye.

The main governmental cooperation partners are the national bodies responsible for gender equality policies and national statistical offices.

Other important non-governmental stakeholders are civil society, academia, gender equality experts and journalists.

EIGE is also ready to cooperate with national parliaments, ministries and other national authorities.

To make the most of EIGE’s synergies with other EU institutions, cooperation is coordinated with:

  • Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG ENEST);
  • Directorate-General for Justice, Consumers and Equality (DG JUST);
  • European External Action Service  (EEAS);
  • EU Delegations / EU Office in the region.

EIGE also works in cooperation with international organisations particularly:

  • UN WOMEN, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women;
  • UNDP, the United Nations Development Programme;
  • UNFPA, the United Nations Populations Fund.

Principles of co-operation

  1. Transparency: EIGE’s cooperation with EU candidate countries and potential candidates is transparent and inclusive. EIGE shares information through its regular communication channels.
  2. Country-driven approach: The initiative for cooperation must come from the EU candidate countries or potential candidates with strong political commitment. For example, EIGE may support those that have expressed interest in developing a national Gender Equality Index.
  3. Expertise: EIGE provides methodological guidance, expert support and other forms of technical assistance.

How do we work? 

We have identified several ways to bring gender equality forward in the region of the Western Balkans and Türkiye and to make use of the work done for the EU Member States. Here are a few examples of how we work:

  • Foster regional cooperation and peer-learning;
  • Organize regular meetings of the ‘Regional Coordination Platform for Gender Equality Action’ that is coordinated by EIGE. The Platform allows the national authorities in charge of gender equality and national statistics offices’ gender statistics focal points to meet regularly, hear about the recent EU developments, and exchange information on the regional level.
  • Support the development of national Gender Equality Indices;
  • Include data from the region on Women and Men in Decision Making into EIGE’s Gender Statistics Database;
  • Share EIGE’s methods and tools on gender mainstreaming;
  • Inform on EIGE’s work on combating gender-based violence and involve in the relevant working groups;
  • Promote examples of gender equality and gender mainstreaming initiatives in the region.

Why this project? 

The European Union has a special programme for supporting candidate countries and potential candidates seeking to become members of the EU. The programme is called the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) and is managed by the Directorate-General for for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood Negotiations (DG ENEST). 

Funds from the IPA programme are used to support the Western Balkans and Türkiye to implement necessary political, legal and economic reforms before they can join the European Union.   

As gender equality is one of the key principles of the European Union, EIGE works with EU candidate countries and potential candidates to build their capacity in this area within the IPA programme.

Cycles of EIGE’s cooperation with EU candidate countries and potential candidates

Currently EIGE is in the 6th cycle of project implementation that targets EPA countries. Below is an overview of project implementation periods and project titles.

  1. 2013-2014

    Preparatory measures for the participation of EU candidate countries and potential candidates in EIGE's work.

  2. 2014-2015

    Participation of EU candidate countries and potential candidates in EIGE's work.

  3. 2015-2017

    Involvement of EU candidate countries and potential candidates in EIGE's work and deepening of cooperation in common priority areas.

  4. 2017-2018

    EIGE's cooperation with EU candidate countries and potential candidates: improving monitoring on gender equality progress.

  5. 2018-2023

    Increasing capacity of EU candidate countries and potential candidates to measure and monitor impact of gender equality policies.

  6. 2025-2029

    Increased capacity of EU candidates and a potential candidate in the Western Balkans and Türkiye to monitor and mainstream gender equality.

 

Contact information

For more information on the IPA project, please contact:

Kristaps Petermanis, Kristaps.Petermanis@eige.europa.eu

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.