Promoting gender equality through parliamentary diplomacy

The purpose of this study is to support the European Parliament (EP), in particular its standing delegations, in implementing the commitment made in the EP resolution of 23 October 2020 on gender equality in EU foreign and security policy. Based on desk research as well as quantitative and qualitative empirical analysis, the study describes the existing EP practices of gender equality promotion, analyses whether the current practices deliver on the commitment, and presents what can be learned both from the bottlenecks identified in the EP’s existing institutional arrangements and from the practices of other national parliaments and international parliamentary institutions. The study concludes that while the EP is highly advanced when it comes to gender mainstreaming in external relations, there are a number of aspects that need improvement or fine-tuning. To facilitate the implementation of the overarching EP gender action plan, the study provides a set of policy recommendations aimed at increasing the effectiveness of gender equality promotion through parliamentary diplomacy. The recommendations comprise proposals to strengthen the institutional framework, clarify the roles of gender focal points, increase access to gender-specific information and training, maximise the use of interparliamentary meetings and DEG activities for gender mainstreaming abroad, streamline the links with civil society and other external stakeholders, and improve the gender dimension of oversight over EP external relations.