• Basque country

    Model Actors involved Guidelines Strenghts and weaknesses Model Gender impact assessments have been required by law in the Basque Country since 2005, in the framework of the Equal opportunities between women and men Act. Furthermore, the province of Gipuzkoa, within the Basque Country, has also developed its own gender Equality Act, which regulates in detail the gender impact assessment process...

  • Sweden

    Model Actors involved Guidelines Strenghts and weaknesses Model Gender impact assessment is a relatively common instrument to support gender-mainstreaming implementation in Sweden. It appears to be strongly embedded and is carried out at the initiative of different levels of governance, from the local to the national level. At the level of government offices, gender impact assessments are most regularly performed...

  • Finland

    Model Actors involved Guidelines Strenghts and weaknesses Model There is no legal obligation to conduct gender impact assessments in Finland. Yet, the Act on Equality between Women and Men (1986/609) includes a broad gender mainstreaming obligation for public officials, which has been interpreted as the legal basis for gender impact assessment implementation by the central gender equality structure. Moreover, instructions...

  • Denmark

    Model Actors involved Guidelines Strenghts and weaknesses Model Gender impact assessment has not been formally regulated so far in Denmark, where it nonetheless derives from the most recent Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan (2007-2011), and the national Gender Mainstreaming Strategy (2013-ongoing). Both of those strategic documents emphasise that a gender analysis should take place as an integrated part of policymaking and...

  • Belgium

    Model Actors involved Guidelines Strenghts and weaknesses Model At the end of 2013, Belgium adopted the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), which is a preliminary assessment of potential consequences of regulatory projects in the social, economic and environment fields as well as on public authority. It includes a section on gender. The RIA integrates 21 subjects among which four are analysed...

  • Austria

    Model Actors involved Guidelines Strenghts and weaknesses Model Since 1 January 2013, a regulatory impact assessment should accompany all drafted legislation starting from its inception within the responsible ministries up to parliament. As part of this procedure, the dimension of gender equality has to be addressed with respect to benefits, employment, income, education, unpaid work, decision-making and health. Actors involved...

  • European Commission

    Model Actors involved Guidelines Strenghts and weaknesses Model The European Commission deploys a variety of methods in its approach to gender mainstreaming. These methods span the whole policy cycle, from policy definition, through implementation to monitoring and evaluation. In the policy-definition phase, gender impact assessment is integrated within the European Commission’s impact assessment system. Indeed, the Commission does not perform...

  • Examples from the European Union

    The implementation of a gender impact assessment in the European Union is not homogenous. Although gender impact assessment has been developed both at the European level (European Commission) and in many Member States, it is not an institutionalised method. While the main principles of gender impact assessment are the same for all, different models of gender impact assessment can be...

  • General considerations

    There are a few essential rules to keep in mind when considering the implementation of gender impact assessment. Policital commitment The gender impact assessment is an instrument for the implementation of gender mainstreaming. Therefore, it is only a tool and as such it needs to respond to a clear objective. Therefore, to realise its full potential, it requires unambiguous institutional...

  • Following up on gender impact assessment

    When performing the gender impact assessment, it is important to to take into account an internal system to ensure the quality of the assessment and the relevance of the measures proposed within it. To do this, central bodies for gender equality may have a fundamental role, since this is where knowledge and expertise on gender equality is concentrated. At this...

  • Step 5: Findings and recommendations

    Conclusions must be formulated in terms of the impacts on women and men within the target group(s). Furthermore, proposals should be put forward that will promote gender equality in response to the existing situation. To do this, one should identify how gender equality could be strengthened in the different parts of the draft initiative, taking into account the conclusions reached...

  • Step 4: Weighing gender impact

    In this phase it is important to establish how the policy or legislative measure will contribute to gender-equality, as well as to assess the foreseen impact in gender relations. Once the effects of the proposed policy have been identified, they should be ‘measured’, taking into consideration the expected trends as previously identified. To do this, it may be useful to...