Learning meeting shines a light on the EU4Gender Equality Reform Helpdesk’s support for EaP countries

A learning meeting between the EU4Gender Equality Reform Helpdesk project for the Eastern Partnership (EaP), DG NEAR and EU Delegations on 27 February 2024 took stock of the Helpdesk’s achievements in supporting gender equality across the region.

During the first phase of this three-year EU-funded project, the Helpdesk has provided expert, demand-driven assistance to the Governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. This includes supporting gender mainstreaming in strategic and other documents, such as Ukraine’s National Recovery Strategy. It also involves responding to government requests for strategic support on alignment with EU standards, which is especially relevant in the enlargement context.

Capacity building and coaching by the Helpdesk have strengthened the capacities of 1,843 government officials (1,456 women and 387 men), as well as of EU Delegation and civil society representatives on a range of issues. These run the gamut from gender-responsive budgeting to addressing gender-based violence and implementing gender mainstreaming, among many others. The Helpdesk has developed 39 knowledge products on gender equality issues in EaP countries, including its recent mapping of care policies and practices in the EaP region, and good practices on women’s economic empowerment in EaP countries. Aligned with EU standards and best practices, the Helpdesk’s publications contribute to the knowledge base needed to inform responsive decision-making. The Helpdesk has also supported EU Delegations to develop and update Country Gender Profiles and Country Level Implementation Plans for the EU Gender Action Plan III. 

Governments in the EaP region are increasingly committed to gender mainstreaming following the Helpdesk’s support, and are taking concrete steps to undertake gender-responsive budgeting. By supporting the gender-responsive implementation of reforms, the Helpdesk is supporting the delivery of effective results for women and men in the region.

For the next phase of the Helpdesk project, meeting participants recommended bolstering knowledge-sharing between EaP countries, as well as with EU Member States and civil society. They also highlighted the need for more systematic coaching to ensure that government commitments are put into practice. A second phase of the Helpdesk project (adopted under the Regional Action Programme 2023) is foreseen for the next three years.

EaP countries face similar gender equality issues, such as the unequal distribution of care work between women and men, women’s underrepresentation in decision-making positions, high levels of gender-based violence and gender pay gaps. The EU4Gender Equality Reform Helpdesk is a key regional EU project supporting EaP countries to overcome these challenges by strengthening the use of gender analysis in decision-making and reforms – with a view to improving the lives of women and men, girls and boys, in all their diversity.

Learn more about EU support for gender equality:

EU Neighbours East

EU4GenderEquality Reform Helpdesk

EU4 Gender Equality Reform Helpdesk factsheet