Equality between women and men is a fundamental principle of European Union law and a core objective of EU external action. The forthcoming EU Action Plan for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in External Action 2028–2034 (GAP IV) represents a critical opportunity to move beyond declaratory commitments and establish a coherent, human rights-based, women’s rights informed, and sex-explicit framework.
The following key areas and recommendations are highlighted in the document:
Sex and Gender: There is a persistent and deeply entrenched conceptual conflation between sex and gender across EU external action. GAP IV should ensure that sex is consistently used as a category of analysis and require the systematic collection and use of sex-disaggregated data in all external programming.
Financing for Women’s Rights: Current trends reflect increasing fragmentation and the marginalisation of grassroots feminist organisations in favor of large intermediaries. GAP IV should establish clear financing specifically dedicated to women and women-led organisations, prioritising long-term, flexible, and directly accessible funding.
Protection and Sex-Segregated Spaces: The absence of sex-segregated spaces in humanitarian and migration settings continues to expose women to heightened risks of violence. These spaces must be recognised as a non-negotiable protection standard across all EU external action.
Systems of Sexual Exploitation: The EU should explicitly recognise the system of prostitution as a form of violence against women and address its links to organised crime and migration.
Technology-Facilitated Violence: Violence against women in digital spaces, including online harassment and sexual exploitation, must be systematically integrated into EU external action with the same priority as the protection of minors.
Women, Peace, and Security: The Resolution 1325 framework must be fully operationalised, particularly for women at the borders of Europe, ensuring substantive participation for migrant and refugee women in decision-making processes.
Global Trade and Supply Chains: The EU must firmly align its trade and external economic policies with its commitment to equality, ensuring robust due diligence obligations to address the systemic exploitation of women in global value chains.
Without these shifts, GAP IV risks reproducing existing limitations rather than delivering the transformative change necessary to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by women.