Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 17 December 2003 - Strasbourg

11. Gender equality in development cooperation

  President. – The next item is the report (A5-0447/2003) by Olga Zrihen, on behalf of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities, on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on promoting gender equality in development cooperation (COM(2003) 465 – C5-0367/2003 – 2003/0176(COD)).

  Nielson, Commission. – Mr President, firstly I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mrs Zrihen, for the excellent cooperation and for all her efforts to secure adoption at first reading. I sincerely hope this is still a reality.

Our proposal for a regulation on promoting gender equality in development cooperation is very important in providing a clear political goal and in emphasising that the achievement of gender equality is crucial for development in general.

Since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, global improvement has been made in terms of promoting gender equality in developing countries. In particular, progress has been made in putting in place a comprehensive gender mainstreaming strategy within the general framework of EU development cooperation. However, even if the process is on track in setting the priorities, much remains to be done in terms of delivering results, such as improving the conditions of women in developing countries within a definite time perspective.

Therefore a more comprehensive strategic approach is needed to support the present implementation strategy. In particular this regulation gives a stronger orientation that will make the process clearer and more visible and will make it easier to activate the necessary change to promote gender equality in development cooperation, building up a strong link to the achievement of the UN millennium development goals.

We all know that promoting gender equality is a long-term process. Certainly it has taken a long time to get where we are, so that is the sad proof of the reality that this is long-term. It is therefore vital that the catalytic and strategic role played by the present regulation is reinforced. In fact there is a need for this regulation to fund innovative actions which are cost-effective and have the potential to be replicated in other areas or scaled up using other funding sources. This is the real key to understanding the purpose of this regulation.

Parliament originally proposed to raise the budget of this regulation but I believe this is not the solution we are looking for. As I explained in a letter to the chairmen of the Committee on Budgets, the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities and the Committee on Development and Cooperation and to the rapporteur, we cannot meet the relatively small increase. The resources are simply not there. We made great efforts earlier this year in the fight against the major poverty-related diseases and in promoting sexual and reproductive health. It is simply not possible to find any more money. In any case, as a proposed amendment to the recitals makes clear, it is the whole of Community development-related funding which should contribute towards gender equality as a cross-cutting issue.

I need therefore to confirm to you that the Commission, fully supported by the Council, cannot accept the proposed increase in the budget. I hope that this is also the response we will see tonight from Parliament.

I am convinced that by supporting this regulation Parliament will allow us to fund operations and agencies working to reach the international development targets to promote gender equality and empower women and contribute to poverty reduction.

The existence of this special budget line and regulation makes a lot of sense because this is where we find the inspiration and the impetus to inject a sense of direction into the mainstreaming effort, but we will never be able to do what needs to be done on the gender issue by a special budget line. That is the reality and I appreciate the understanding of the proportions and the mechanisms of how to do this. I hope that will be reflected in the way Parliament reacts. I hope that we can do this in one reading in Parliament. I would regret it very much if we could not.

  Zrihen (PSE), rapporteur. – (FR) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to point out to you that this report seems to me to be absolutely fundamental. It is fundamental because one of the prime objectives of the European Union’s development policy is to encourage the eradication of poverty in the developing countries. In the same way, we believe that the consolidation of democracy and of the rule of law, as well as respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, are objectives that we should strive to achieve.

We should be deluding ourselves, however, if we were to believe that the battle against poverty can be fought without the aid of women. Women are the pillars of society, particularly of the societies with which we are concerned here. At the same time, it has to be said that, along with children, they are among the most vulnerable people when it comes to disease, poverty, illiteracy and war. For this reason, all the strategies that we implement and all the projects that we want to develop must make it possible to contribute towards the emancipation and action of women in every field and in every country. Women must participate in a very practical way in the development of their country, because each woman is a potential agent of success, change and development.

The report that we are discussing today is, I hope, one of the fundamental steps in this approach to cooperation, because it makes provision for a number of measures to promote, to develop and to support practical projects in this area. It is important that they should be practical. What we want this regulation to be is a catalyst, a driving force for gender-equality initiatives, capitalising on pilot initiatives, defining good practices and providing information about them.

It covers the period from 2004 to 2006. It seems essential to us, therefore, that by January the regulation can start to be applied so that calls for tender can be issued for the projects. I believe that there are hundreds of people out there who are waiting for our decision and, if we equivocate, the consequences will be damaging to all those involved locally who want to participate and act, in practical terms, in order to achieve equality of opportunity.

In this report, it seemed to me vital to consider, before anything else, access by women of all ages to all resources and services such as health, education, training and infrastructures. We should also note that women are excluded from participation, access and control in all sectors. As a woman, but above all as a democrat, I hope to be able to encourage such participation in all the countries concerned. I also hope that the main beneficiaries of our aid will be the local agents and women’s organisations who work tirelessly in order to bring about a change in mentality in favour of gender equality.

In everything we say, however, and in everything we hope for, there is always the budgetary aspect. For this regulation, the European Commission has given us EUR 9 million. Perhaps that is not very much to us, but it represents a veritable fortune for those involved at the coalface, enabling them to undertake specific projects. Nevertheless, we wanted to ask for EUR 11 million, because it seems to us that an additional EUR 2 million is not very much. However, as Commissioner Nielson has just explained, it seems that this is impossible. I therefore accepted the report at first reading, with the support of my fellow Members, in order to encourage practical action, in other words in order to get this regulation adopted as rapidly as possible, in fact tomorrow, so that it will be in force in January 2004. It seems, however, that that is not the view of other political groups. It seems that we shall have to go in to battle again, because we might be able to scrape together a few more pennies and that is what counts at the coalface.

I should like, however, to ask all those who are due to speak in the debate that we shall be holding in this House tomorrow to give due thought to the fact that in doing so we are taking on a clear and precise responsibility to start a second reading procedure and that we do not know how long that procedure will take. I also think that all the organisations which are affected by our failure to reach agreement are entitled to expect from us, and from the Council and the Commission, mature behaviour and a practical indication of our desire to see these objectives attained.

As far as I am concerned, if I still have any decision-making powers as the rapporteur, I would argue once again that this text should enter into force in January 2004. Whatever happens, if the negotiations that we shall be holding this evening and tomorrow make it necessary for us, at any given moment, to reconsider our position, I can only regret it, but in that case I shall immediately seek a meeting with the Council and the Commission so that we can reach agreement as quickly as possible.

  Sanders-ten Holte (ELDR), draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on Development and Cooperation. – (NL) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union sets great store by equal rights for men and women and also by development cooperation policy. We are all familiar with the poignant examples: the Nigerian woman, Amina Lawal, who was going to be stoned while her lover got off scot-free; women who, simply because they are women, have no access to loans to set up small businesses; girls who continue to be denied education because as women, they will not need it anyway and they can meanwhile help out in the home. A great deal remains left to be done.

We incorporate it in every regulation, but ‘paper is patient’ and it is difficult to implement it. Especially in the delegations, expertise is required in this area. I think it is somewhat disappointing that the Commission, during the review of the regulation – which lapses at the end of 2003 – presented a proposal that seeks only to act as a catalyst. From reports of the results of previous actions, it transpired, in fact, that these were not very impressive, while moreover, the planned budget is only partly being used. I do not want to go into the reasons for this, but I hope that this new approach, which the Commission supports, will be more effective. Commissioner, the budget for this regulation is small, too small according to my committee, even if the Commission wants the objectives to be achieved by synergy and other actions and programmes.

I would therefore underline the fact that it is essential to have experts on the ground. That costs money. Surely, we should be able to find the money? This requires training and refresher training, as I heard from Peru’s delegation only last week. However, constant requests are being made for the more effective regulation of these matters elsewhere too. Three years is not long, but it would be good if we could say: ‘Look, progress is being made, more women have a prospect of a say in the political, social and economic spheres; more girls are allowed schooling and women are also entitled to good health.’ Commissioner, I am making an urgent appeal to you.

  Martens (PPE-DE). – (NL) Mr President, Commissioner, Article 3 of the Treaty sets out the European Community’s desire to ban all forms of inequality and to promote equality between men and women. The Council has mentioned gender equality as the basis for development cooperation. In Beijing, a 10-point action programme on this has been adopted and has been signed by all countries. The situation still leaves a great deal to be desired, not least in the area of development cooperation. Of the approximately 1.5 billion people who live under the poverty line, 70% are women. Not only are they lacking financial resources, but also, in most cases they have to go without social rights, such as the right to proper food, drinking water, education, health care and fundamental human rights.

Since the Council has defined gender mainstreaming as the guiding principle for development cooperation policy, disappointingly little has actually happened. That is why I welcome the action programme. It should give gender equality in development cooperation policy an extra shot in the arm. Reference has already been made, in this House’s debates and documents, to the link between poverty and gender inequality. The countries where there is great inequality between men and women are also the poorest. There is less poverty in countries where inequality between men and women is not so pronounced. The success rate of development projects in the fields of health care, literacy schemes and agriculture, for example, appears higher if women are involved. Investing in girls appears to lead to lower child mortality and mortality among women, offers higher food safety and means an improvement in the fight against poverty. This is not, unfortunately, common knowledge, and so I was pleased with the publication of research by UNICEF on 11 December last, which clearly underlined this. The report, in fact, states that without measures to get more girls into schools, it will be impossible to achieve the millennium objectives. It is apparent that more girls attending school not only benefits them, but also boys and their countries. The report describes that gender discrimination stops developments in their tracks. The report also describes that, barring a few exceptions, the industrialised countries and international financial institutions have failed to make good their own promises.

Hence my support for the action programme which aims to promote analysis and integration of the gender aspect in the priority areas of Community development cooperation, horizontal integration of the gender aspect in projects and programmes, and the advancement of gender capacity in the European Community itself. These are three important points, particularly the last one: a change of mentality is needed, not least in the bodies of the European Union itself. In the light of the urgency and opportunities, I am backing the amendment to increase the budget from EUR 9 million to EUR 11 million. I sincerely hope that the Commission will be able to agree to this.

  Valenciano Martínez-Orozco (PSE). – (ES) Mr President, it has become a custom in this House for us to talk about equality between men and women during night sessions. It does not matter, but it is a reality which is nonetheless curious to say the least. I would like it if we could talk about equality between men and women one afternoon as well.

The policy of equality between men and women is one of the best allies in the European Union’s commitment to combat poverty. We have said this endless times during these night sessions, and almost all of us sitting here are convinced of it. It is a question of making it a reality in the budget as well.

Since the nineties we have made a lot of progress with regard to these policies, but we have not yet achieved the desired results. We all know this as well. As the Commission's document argues, it is necessary to explore new avenues and, above all, to achieve the effective application of the measures we approve at national level, which is where we face the greatest difficulties.

While in 2001, in the action programme, we stressed the need to integrate the gender factor, that is, to consider, to draw up and to evaluate objectives in a manner which is inclusive of women, we now have to supplement that strategy by creating a solid basis for this policy linked to the millennium development objectives.

As we always reiterate, it is necessary to intensify the political message with regard to the promotion of equality between men and women, both within the Union and, above all, in the developing countries. Poverty, illiteracy, disease, unemployment, lack of autonomy, dependency, and the violation of the most fundamental rights, are a reality for the majority of women in the developing world. The gender perspective, specific policies, increasing awareness and support for the public and private capacities of the developing countries, so that they can take the initiative of promoting equality between men and women, are some of the measures essential to progress on this strategy.

Cross-border and regional cooperation, the promotion of a complementary policy and programmes relating, for example, to reproductive and sexual health, which are currently being seriously jeopardised by religion-based conservative policies, are essential conditions for the achievement of our objectives.

The regulation we are debating today will undoubtedly contribute to improving our action. It has clearly been improved during its parliamentary phase, since we have insisted on key issues, such as the participation of women's organisations on the ground, which are the real protagonists in terms of the progress of their communities; also, control and access by women to training and health services and decision-making processes. It is necessary to stress the need for technical assistance, including evaluation of the impact on equality in areas such as education, training and the media.

Combating AIDS and violence against women and giving women power are still outstanding debts. It is necessary and urgent to adopt this regulation without excessively extending the time limits. It is therefore necessary to reach a compromise so that the application of this regulation may be effective from January 2004. That is what I wish to call for now.

  Thors (ELDR). – (SV) Mr President, I wish to take the opportunity of talking about girls’ education, for without girls’ education there is no equality for women. Our fellow MEP, Mrs Martens, also mentioned that UNICEF’s report, ‘The State of the World's Children, 2004’, published last week, really does make frightening reading.

We give pledge after pledge, for example in the millennium declaration. Following the UN Special Session on Children, we undertook to reduce the difference between girls and boys where illiteracy is concerned and to giving girls good access to education. We have had the fast track initiatives within the World Bank’s Development Committee, but what is happening? Today, we know that more than 120 million children have no schooling. Fifteen per cent of all boys and 21% of all girls do not go to school. In South-East Asia and in the countries south of the Sahara, the situation is particularly painful.

Under the World Bank’s fast track initiatives, the developed countries approved a USD 326 million funding plan last year, but, to date, only USD 207 million has been given by way of appropriations. This means a funding deficit of nearly USD 118 million in a year and a half. We have not fulfilled our pledges. It is we in the developed countries who have not done our part. The developing countries have put forward their plans and done what they should have done. Among the EU countries, Italy allocates only 0.3% and Germany only 2.1% of their aid budgets to development. It is really only the Netherlands that has fulfilled its pledges to the world’s children.

How will matters stand after all the declarations and, in particular, following the UN Special Session on Children, at which young people themselves were present and demanded the right to education? The sums concerned are, after all, small in comparison with those entailed in many other pledges. I believe that the EU and the Commission combined should get their act together and fulfil their pledges made, for example, within the World Bank.

  McKenna (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, in relation to promoting gender equality in developing countries, it is clear that poverty is one of the issues that has to be tackled.

Women and children are worst affected by poverty, but women are the ones at the coalface who can truly make the difference. It is quite incredible to hear the Commission here today begrudging a measly EUR 2 million. The Commissioner talks about the Council and the Commission – both male-dominated – deciding that they think that the EUR 2 million extra is not acceptable. They are hoping to browbeat this Parliament into accepting what two male-dominated institutions have decided. It is incredible when you consider that even EUR 11 million is absolute crumbs when you look at the overall budget, and yet you want this Parliament, even on first reading, to give up on that extra 2 million. It is completely unacceptable.

I hope that Parliament tomorrow will vote an increase, as the committee did, from EUR 9 million to EUR 11 million. If you want to promote gender equality you have to be willing to go that extra distance to ensure that you are truly committed to it. If you say you begrudge EUR 2 million and that you cannot find EUR 2 million in the budget to increase this budget line, it is absolutely unacceptable; and I hope that Parliament will send a strong message to the Commission and to the Council that this is no longer acceptable.

We talk about gender equality in the European Union, but we have to prove this by saying that we are willing to pay for promoting it in developing countries, to pay for supporting women in developing countries who in many cases have been persecuted and who are the ones who have been pushing to try and progress gender equality and also to alleviate poverty. The money there is well deserved and you cannot begrudge this EUR 2 million.

  Claeys, (NI). – (NL) Mr President, the efficiency of development aid remains a problem.

Moreover, it is a fact that misplaced feelings of guilt about our colonial past have made discussion of this problem taboo, a taboo in which, fortunately, cracks are starting to appear.

An increasing number of observers, and those involved at the sharp end, take a critical view of the way in which development aid is generally organised. The resources used often do not reach their destination.

Simply donating money is, moreover, not always the answer. Quite the opposite, there are other factors that help determine success. I am thinking, for example, of the presence of a free market economy and of freedom full stop.

Gender equality, the topic of this report, is a very important element in this. It is stated, with good reason, that discrimination against women forms a barrier to sustainable and effective development.

So it is indeed the case that we should concentrate on better education, training and participation, both economically and politically speaking. In this respect, the Commission provides for, inter alia, ‘support in terms of the analysis and improvement of statistics according to gender, age, development and distribution of methodologies, guidelines, gender impact reports, thematic studies, indicators and other operational instruments’.

This is all undoubtedly useful and necessary, but we should ensure that we do not lose sight of a number of essential facts. Many developing countries are being plagued by archaic cultural patterns to which the disadvantaged position of women is directly attributable. In that respect, it is astonishing that neither the Zrihen report, nor the Commission’s own, should make any reference to Islam at all. In the Islamic world, women are, as it were, structurally inferior, and it makes no sense whatsoever to tiptoe around this unpleasant fact. As long as people refuse to accept this, this regulation will at best be a source of employment for gender experts and other development workers from Europe, but nothing more than that.

  Bastos (PPE-DE). – (PT) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, as everyone knows, the main aim of the European Union’s development cooperation policy is to combat and ultimately eradicate poverty. Consequently, the specific measures intended to promote equality between men and women, women’s independence and their role in the economic, social and environmental spheres make significant contributions as well as being a matter of fairness. This is because it is most frequently women and children who are the victims of poverty.

The progress that has already been made as a result of adopting a global strategy to mainstream the gender perspective in development cooperation should be acknowledged and underlined, but much remains to be done. There are aspects that are crucial to gender equality and women’s independence and it is to these that particular attention must be paid, with particular emphasis on areas such as health, education, training, access to economic and social activities, and also access to employment and to infrastructures and participation in decision-making processes.

The projects must be in line with reality and to achieve this we must have data and statistics that are broken down by gender, which will enable us to evaluate actions before they are selected and once they have been undertaken. We must highlight the crucial role of organisations working in the field, taking account of their direct and more extensive knowledge of the real needs and of the means needed to undertake actions.

Another point that I would underline is the need to create partnerships. The key actors, including regional authorities, should form networks in order to exchange experience, and good practice so as to define actions better and to achieve better participation in their implementation. To conclude, I wish to emphasise that promoting gender equality in development cooperation for the 2004-2006 period must be given a budget that matches the needs. I understand the reasons that the Commission has put forward in this debate and by the rapporteur, whom I congratulate, but, taking account of the measures that still need to be implemented and the efforts that still need to be made, the corresponding budget line must be increased to EUR 11 million.

  Schierhuber (PPE-DE). – (DE) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, let me start by thanking the rapporteur for producing this report.

The European Union has declared gender equality to be one of its key objectives, and I think it is extremely important that this priority be factored into development cooperation. It is still predominantly women and girls who can neither read nor write and who are discriminated against in education. Education, however, is the key to escaping from the vicious cycle of poverty and illness. Anyone unable to read and write has no chance in our computer– and Internet-dominated world. Whatever happens, it is essential that in promoting equal opportunities, we ensure that all women benefit, regardless of age.

The report concentrates primarily on strengthening existing local organisations, because they have the experts on the ground, the experts on the underlying structures, who know what is really needed there. Women are indispensable in all rural areas and essential to further development in the regions. As previous speakers have already pointed out, women in developing countries are often given a passive role in projects and planning processes. This means they do not have enough input into projects, and consequently less attention is given to the needs of women. Women therefore need to be included as active participants in local planning processes, so that they can actively shape their environment and so they can also take on new challenges with 100% commitment.

As has already been said, the financial framework for implementing this regulation needs to contain the EUR 11 million, in order to introduce efficient measures that will also have an effect when implemented. I therefore ask Parliament to approve these EUR 11 million tomorrow. Gender mainstreaming may well be over-used as a term, and perhaps seems to have worn thin at times, but it is still a fundamental concept which must be applied to all policy areas.

  Nielson, Commission. – Mr President, not with pleasure but with some regret, I will start by saying that Mrs McKenna's choice of language is disappointing. I do not accept that the Commission is male-dominated. This is outside the scope of how we work professionally in this field. This is not nice, and it is also factually wrong.

We do things in this area which are not normally or not always labelled as gender activity. We are engaged in land reform issues and changing legislation in many countries without describing this as gender action. However, it is extremely important to devise modern legislation that creates equal rights on land ownership and, for a country like Kenya which decided to go for free primary education in one big step, to provide budget support that makes it possible for girls to benefit from that opening. The budget support of EUR 50 million for Kenya was not labelled gender support but, in reality, this is hard-core, big-money, gender-relevant policies. This is mainstreaming.

I must insist that this is where the big battle is being fought. I could understand the discussion here if this was about the distinction between 9 and 200 million euros, rather than about the distinction between 9 and 11 million euros. Then I would see some sort of logic in what has been said here tonight. But the budget line on this specific activity is a catalyst for moving forward good new ideas, innovative approaches, etc., to inspire the more general work on mainstreaming. That is why it is a mistake to move the money level as such up and down. I would very much regret it if Parliament did not act on this issue in a manner that will create a smooth and rapid decision-making process. It is a mistake to think that the attitude and the sincerity of the fight for gender equality is reflected in a choice between 9 or 11 million euros. We must be judged by our general work and we are relatively confident of that judgement.

  McKenna (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, no personal offence to the Commissioner – as male Commissioners go, he is probably one of the more progressive concerning gender equality. But the reality is that both the Commission and the Council are male-dominated. When we look at the numbers, both are basically dominated by men. If we had more equality both in the Commission and in the Council in relation to the number of women, things would be a bit different.

This is not a personal attack on you, Commissioner. In relation to women's issues you are better than some of our Commissioners, including Mr Pádraig Flynn, who was here a few years ago! The reality is nevertheless that the Commission and Council are male-dominated.

  President. – We shall treat that as an olive branch.

That concludes the debate.

The vote will be at 11.30 a.m. tomorrow.