evaluation of the european social fund’s support to gender...
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Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s support to Gender Equality
European Commission, Directorate-General Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
Synthesis Report
FINAL
24 January 2011
submitted by GHK and Fondazione G. Brodolini
Under the Multiple Framework Contract ‘Provision of evaluation and evaluation related services to DG
EMPL, including support for Impact Assessment Activities’ (Lot N° 3, VT/2009/057, Identification N° 003)
30 St Paul’s Square, Birmingham, B3 1QZ, UK
Tel: + 44 121 233 8900
www.ghkint.com
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
INDEX
Index ..................................................................................................................................................2
Foreword ............................................................................................................................................4
Executive summary .............................................................................................................................5
Résumé analytique ........................................................................................................................... 23
Zusammenfassung ........................................................................................................................... 44
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 65
1.1. The general aim of the study .............................................................................................. 65
1.2. The evaluation methodology .............................................................................................. 66
1.2.1. Documentation review ................................................................................................ 66
1.2.2. Fieldwork in the Member States ................................................................................. 67
1.2.3. Thematic reports ........................................................................................................ 68
1.3. The Synthesis Report: structure ......................................................................................... 69
2. The gender equality objective in ESF operational programmes ................................................... 71
2.1. Gender Equality in EU Member States: the Gender equality Index (GEI) ............................ 71
2.1.1. Equal sharing of paid work ......................................................................................... 76
2.1.2. Equal sharing of money.............................................................................................. 77
2.1.3. Equal sharing of decision-making power .................................................................... 78
2.1.4. Equal sharing of unpaid time ...................................................................................... 79
2.2. Importance and interpretation of the gender equality objective in ESF Programming .......... 80
2.2.1. Scale and size of ESF funding for the Gender Equality Objective in 2007-2013 .......... 81
2.2.2. Importance of the gender-equality objective in 2007-2013: the point of view of
Managing Authorities ................................................................................................................. 88
2.2.3. The application of the gender mainstreaming principle ............................................... 90
2.2.4. Gender-equality infrastructure .................................................................................... 94
2.2.5. Grouping Member States: ESF policy effort toward gender equality and the GEI ........ 98
2.2.6. Main specific objectives for gender equality in ESF Operational programmes ........... 104
2.2.7. Intervention logics: types of actions for the main gender-equality objectives ............. 109
2.3. The consideration of some key themes for gender equality in the ESF OPs ..................... 119
2.3.1. Relevance of the themes in ESF programming ......................................................... 120
2.3.2. Indicators by theme in the programming documents ................................................ 123
2.3.3. Programmed actions in the six selected themes ....................................................... 123
3. Initial implementation and organisation of the monitoring arrangements, monitoring systems and
evaluation in relation to the gender equality objective ...................................................................... 126
3.1. The gender-equality objective in the initial implementation phase ..................................... 126
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
3.2. Organization of the ESF monitoring arrangements, monitoring systems and evaluation in
relation to the gender-equality objective ....................................................................................... 132
4. European Added Value ............................................................................................................ 135
4.1. European Added Value at the country level: the status of the gender-equality objective.... 138
4.2. European Added Value at the country-level: Operational Added Value ............................. 142
5. Conclusions and recommendations .......................................................................................... 151
5.1. Conclusions on evaluation question 1 ‘the extent to which the promotion of gender equality
was taken into consideration in the ESF programming in Member States, and in particular the
application of the so called dual approach of gender mainstreaming and specific actions’ ............ 151
5.2. Conclusions on evaluation question 2 ‘the extent to which the promotion of a gender equality
objective has been translated into OPs’ first implementation and is embodied in OPs’ general
monitoring organization, monitoring systems and evaluation activities’ ......................................... 158
5.3. Conclusions on evaluation question 3 ‘the main areas in which the ESF is producing or
expected to generate European added value as far as gender equality is concerned’................... 159
5.4. Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 162
6. References and data sources ................................................................................................... 167
ANNEX I ......................................................................................................................................... 174
ANNEX II ........................................................................................................................................ 179
ANNEX III ....................................................................................................................................... 185
ANNEX IV ....................................................................................................................................... 188
ANNEX V ........................................................................................................................................ 196
ANNEX VI ....................................................................................................................................... 200
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
FOREWORD
This Synthesis Report is submitted by the consortium GHK Consulting Ltd and Fondazione G.
Brodolini as the final output of the study ‘Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s support to Gender
Equality’ requested by the DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (DG EMPL) of the
European Commission under the Multiple Framework Contract ‘Provision of evaluation and
evaluation related services to DG EMPL, including support for Impact Assessment Activities’.
This Report presents a synthesis of the findings from country-level analyses conducted on each of the
27 EU Member States and on six specific aspects of gender-equality policy (thematic areas defined in
the "request for services" and further specified in the Inception report of this study), and it puts
forward recommendations.
Specific findings for the Member States and the themes of focus have been presented in distinct
country reports and thematic reports respectively as interim outputs of this study. These reports
were slightly improved (in terms of presentation) during the finalisation stage of this evaluation and
are presented as Annexes to this Synthesis Report. These are 27 Country Reports (one for each
Member State) and 6 Thematic Reports: Enhancing women’s access to employment’, ‘Vertical
segregation (under- or over-representation of women in certain levels of the professional hierarchy)’,
‘Horizontal segregation (concentration of women in certain sectors of the economy)’, ‘Work and
private life reconciliation’, ‘Participation of women in enterprise creation and growth’, ‘Education
and training’.
Fulfilling the main purpose of this evaluation, this Synthesis Report provides an overall assessment of
the ESF’s (2007-2013) support to gender-equality policy by drawing an overall picture of the gender
sensitivity of ESF programmes addressing the three evaluation questions defined in the original
"request for services". This Synthesis Report is therefore the core document of this evaluation study.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The overall aim of the study was to assess the ESF’s support for gender equality of the 2007-
2013 ESF programming cycle on the basis of available evidence on the programming process
and initial implementation.
Three evaluation questions were addressed:
i) the extent to which the promotion of gender equality was taken into
consideration in the ESF programming in Member States, and in particular the
application of the recommended ‘dual approach’ of combining specifically funded
actions with gender-equality mainstreaming practices;
ii) the extent to which the promotion of a gender-equality objective has been
translated into OPs’ initial implementation and is embodied in OPs’ general
monitoring organization, monitoring systems and evaluation activities;
iii) the main areas in which the ESF is producing or expected to generate European
added value as far as gender equality is concerned.
The Study Synthesis Report summarizes answers to these evaluation questions by
highlighting similarities and differences in Member States’ approaches and strategies
concerning (i) the importance and the specific characterization of the gender-equality
objective within their OPs, (ii) some preliminary evidence as to the degree of
implementation of gender-equality strategies and the degree of gender sensitivity of
monitoring, evaluation and organizational setup, and (iii) the main ways in which the ESF
intervention generates or is expected to generate added value as far as gender equality is
concerned.
The Report relies mainly on the content of 27 Country Reports and 6 Thematic Reports
prepared according to a methodology purposely designed for the study, along with
information directly collected by submitting a questionnaire to all ESF Managing Authorities.
The evaluation study was undertaken in spring 2010; hence the information collected
reflects the situation at that time.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
6
Key Findings and Conclusions
i) On the extent to which the promotion of gender equality was taken into consideration in the ESF programming in Member States, and in particular the application of the recommended ‘dual
approach’ of combining specifically funded actions with gender-equality mainstreaming practices
There are still significant differences in the overall situation of gender equality among EU
Member States, but in no case can equal visibility, empowerment and participation of both
sexes in all spheres of public and private life (as measured by the Gender-equality index–
GEI) be considered fully achieved. All Member States have indeed considered the issue of
gender equality within their ESF OPs. However, the importance attributed to the gender-
equality objective differs among Member States, partially in response to their relative
positions with regard to gender-equality attainments and autonomous budget capabilities
outside of EU contributions.
Considering the amount of ESF funding for specific actions enhancing gender equality (as
approximated by the most conspicuous category of expenditure considered by Regulations),
at the programming stage results vary within a range between 0 and 18 per cent of total ESF
EU contribution available at the country-level. The importance of the gender-equality
objective – on average rated quite high by almost all ESF Managing Authorities – is to some
extent rated higher in those Member States where the gender-equality index (GEI) is lower
and hence the needs greater.
1. Overall, available information suggests that the adoption of the ‘dual approach’ for
gender equality has led to a decrease of support for gender-specific actions, and
greater weight assigned to gender mainstreaming. The total amount of ESF funding
programmed for the most important category of expenditure for gender equality has
decreased by over one billion Euros between the previous (2000-2006) ESF
programming cycle and the current 2007-2013 cycle. Although gender-equality specific
actions can in theory be implemented also under other categories of expenditure, this
is not the main explanation behind the decline in specific funding. Country-level
analysis has in fact shown that Member States are on average relying on gender
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
7
mainstreaming much more than in the past, and that a few Member States are
considering gender equality only as a horizontal priority.
2. The contribution of the ESF to gender equality in the current cycle will be crucially
dependent on how the relatively more limited resources for gender-equality specific
actions are focussed on critical issues, and especially on the extent to which the
gender mainstreaming principle is widely understood and successfully applied. As
regards both the focus of specific actions and the application of the gender
mainstreaming principle, the picture emerging from the study is multifaceted, with both
positive findings and matters of concern.
3. A common feature, which should be positively judged, is the almost universal
awareness that gender equality is a far-reaching objective, and pursuing it requires
dedicated and specialized expertise. Not in all Member States and not for all
Managing Authorities however, has this expertise also been secured through the
establishment of a permanent gender-equality infrastructure that can play the
necessary role of focal point for knowledge pooling, matching needs to resources, and
practice dissemination. Staff training in gender-equality issues also appears to vary
greatly among Member States and a significant number of them are still not investing
sufficiently to increase their internal capacity.
4. The importance of gender mainstreaming is widely recognized and genuine efforts
have been undertaken in almost all Member States. However, there is not yet a
common clear understanding of its theoretical underpinnings and operational
implications. In theory, gender mainstreaming could be applied to both the two main
phases of the OP: the preparation of the strategy and its implementation. As far as the
strategic setting is concerned, Member States, apart from gender-equality specific
objectives and actions, target many valuable objectives in the ESF interventions. These,
however, are expressed mainly in rather general and gender-neutral ways. Hence most
Member States have in actual fact chosen to put the gender mainstreaming principle
into operation almost exclusively in the OPs’ implementation phase, through a
commitment to ensure that gender equality is taken into account when deciding which
projects are to receive ESF funding. Mechanisms devised to ensure that projects respect
the gender-equality principle are very different and not all of them seem to be effective.
In this respect, a specific subject of concern is the gender sensitiveness of project
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
8
promoters and applicants, along with the logic of project-selection criteria and the
screening ability of project-selection assessors.
5. Some interesting supporting practices are in place in several Member States which are
taking a more pro-active approach to enhance gender mainstreaming at the project
level. These practices are not limited to offering written guidelines for applicants or
imposing formal gender-sensitive requirements, but extend to offering specialized
support and/or organizing public events in order to attract the most suitable
applicants.
6. As for specific actions, the main objective pursued by most Member States remains
the increase in women’s active and productive participation in the labour market. This
often takes the form of fostering female entrepreneurship; this may be qualified by
focusing on groups of women that are particularly vulnerable (because of race, parental
status, residence in marginalized areas, etc). Reconciliation between work and family life
is often granted the status of a specific objective, but a more accurate analysis shows
that in many cases it is in fact considered as an additional instrument to foster labour
market participation. Much less widespread, and often considered for implementation
only by pilot or small-scale projects, are objectives addressing educational segregation,
cultural and social stereotypes, easing of caring duties , domestic and criminal violence,
women’s empowerment and female poverty. Helping individuals to access jobs has
been long indeed the core interest of the ESF, however some reflection is needed at
the EU level on whether and to what extent the ESF is and will be able to sustain a
broader gender-equality policy that might in the long run also affect the way in which
jobs (which types and where) are created and work organization is shaped.
7. The sources of gender inequality, even when it manifests more obviously as
unsatisfactory labour-market outcomes for women, lie in more profound and not fully
acknowledged factors. They are determined by social and cultural norms governing not
only individual opportunities, but also group interactions and collective actions that still
unequally affect gender roles even within the EU. Addressing these other factors is
therefore critical to sustain gender equality even if a privileged focus on women’s
labour-market outcomes is kept as central in the ESF perspective.
8. In many Member States the study has revealed difficulties in the analysis of the main
causes of gender inequality. Such difficulties also occur in relation to the analysis of the
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
9
‘better employment for women’ objective. In general, appropriate measurements of
gender inequalities in their different dimensions are lacking and far too much reliance
is placed on general indicators which are insufficient to provide directions for change.
9. Instrumental strategies still privilege a supply-side approach — addressing ‘ women’s
capacities to compete in the labour market’— much more than trying to affect the
socio-cultural environment that both shape the behaviour of critical decision-makers
and determine the range of opportunities for women. This policy choice may hide
misperceptions on the causes of gender inequality or difficulties in working out new
actions, other than those aimed at reinforcing human capital. However, the picture
greatly differs among Member States and there are signs of change. Although a supply-
side approach still prevails, some Member States have devised strategies that
combine actions working on women’s capacities not only with more traditionally
‘demand side’ actions addressing firms’ willingness to hire women, but also with some
actions (for instance counselling and training or networking activities) more clearly
directed at reinforcing the sensitivity and pro-activeness towards gender equality of
the social, economic and institutional environment.
10. Some Member States are working to directly target change in the way policy-making is
conceived, and have included ‘gender mainstreaming ability’ as an objective per se, with
actions directed at raising the gender-equality sensitiveness of public officers and policy-
makers across the board and outside the traditional reach of the ESF.
11. The extent to which ESF initiatives for gender equality are conducted in conjunction
with other actions and policies to reinforce potential impacts is more difficult to
assess, although some signals have been found in the case of childcare services
provision, in which ESF actions sometimes occur in combination with other types of
actions funded not only by the ERDF but also by other national/regional sources.
However, a more focused investigation should be carried out, because integrated
interventions (in which immaterial actions targeted on individuals, such as those
undertaken by the ESF, are combined with other types of structural action) are a
valuable asset for gender equality.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
10
ii) On the extent to which the promotion of a gender-equality objective has been
translated into OPs’ initial implementation and is embodied in OPs’ general monitoring
organization, monitoring systems and evaluation activities
In most ESF OPs the implementation phase did not start until mid-2008, and in a few cases
even later. Hence only preliminary remarks can be made about the degree to which gender
equality is being taken into account in the implementation phase.
12. According to available information, it is possible to report that in the majority of
Member States implementation had started more slowly for gender-equality specific
actions than for other parts of the ESF OPs or that various obstacles in implementing
gender-equality actions were encountered.
13. For a limited number of Member States, greater difficulties have emerged in the
implementation of ESF gender-equality strategy as a consequence of the economic
crisis. This has shifted attention and resources away from the gender-equality objective
in favour of more general active labour-market policies directed to the growing pool of
unemployed.
14. Although the picture is differentiated among Member States, various difficulties might
signal a lack of status of the gender-equality objective. As gender-equality strategies
are almost never protected by being an autonomous formally-funded priority of OPs,
they are potentially at risk of being overcome by other more pressing priorities or of
being weakened by administrative difficulties in managing large programmes with many
objectives. In this respect much could be gained by exploiting the full potential of the
mechanisms devised to ensure attention to and preserve the gender-equality
objective in the supervision of the programmes, monitoring systems and evaluation
activities. This route seems to be practicable by all Member States especially
considering the fact that the presence of representatives of the ‘gender-equality
interest’ appears guaranteed in all Monitoring Committees of the ESF OPs, and in most
cases extends also to non-governmental organizations active in the field of gender
equality.
15. Considerable attention to the gender-equality theme is observed in almost all Member
States for evaluation activities. In some Member States, in particular, there are plans
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
11
for ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of the chosen gender-mainstreaming
strategies and tools.
iii) On the main areas in which the ESF is producing or expected to generate European added
value as far as gender equality is concerned
16. Undoubtedly the EU, and in particular the ESF interventions, played a key role in
making most Member States aware of gender equality as a field for active policy
action, creating and preserving a space for gender equality in many national policy
agendas. This role is widely recognized by all actors and stakeholders.
17. The two realms in which ESF added value is mostly acknowledged are support for the
creation of a recognized and autonomous policy space for gender equality and gender-
equality capacity building.
18. However, the space opened mostly by the ESF has not always been later filled
autonomously in all Member States with an equal degree of success and conviction.
For instance, although the adoption of a partnership approach among women’s
organizations and institutions, prompted in the past by the ESF funded EQUAL initiative,
was generally appreciated, it has been largely abandoned now that the approach is no
longer promoted by the EU. The discontinuing of EQUAL is openly regretted by many
stakeholders in many Member States.
19. For some Member States, the ESF contribution has been very important (and still is) also
from a strictly budgetary point of view. The availability of ESF resources has allowed
implementing actions for which funds would otherwise not be available.
20. Overall, there is evidence that most stakeholders judge positively the ESF’s support to
gender equality. This is mostly related to their experience in the previous
programming phase when the ESF contributed to heightening awareness concerning
the relevance of the gender-equality objective. For the current cycle, the analysis
suggests that whilst the ESF is clearly still able to produce added value by persevering
with some objectives and actions already funded in previous cycles, there are also some
signals of diminishing returns or steps backward. In particular, the analysis has shown
that, although in some Member States the ESF is complementing and innovating
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
12
strategies and types of actions, thus broadening the spectrum of objectives and
favouring learning, in most Member States and OPs the ESF is reinforcing national or
regional gender-equality strategies which are already funded at the national or
regional level. Many crucial aspects and causes of gender inequality are, however, not
sufficiently addressed by current ESF OPs, and the actions devised still appear overly
geared to the supply side and less targeted on the socio-economic context and group
interactions. It is therefore important to reflect on the fact that, at least to some extent,
the ESF may be losing part of its innovative drive.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
13
Recommendations
In this section recommendations are provided with reference to the findings and
conclusions discussed in the previous one. To enhance clarity of the exposition a table
presenting the correspondence between findings and conclusions, on one hand, and
recommendations, on the other hand, is also presented.
I. As for suggestions to improve or reinforce implementation of gender equality
strategies, the following recommendations have been formulated.
To Member states:
a. When this has not been done yet, organizing permanent structures, or
explicitly endorsing existing offices with a function to lead on gender-equality
issues in OP activities, is recommended. Whereas this structure does not need
to be very large, it is important that OPs can count on a focus point, also in
order to maximise the use of inputs that might be coming from other, external,
sources of expertise and advice, and to offer a stable one-stop shop for
questions that might arise from different divisions of the organization in charge
of managing or executing parts of the OPs (a frequent occurrence in financially
large OPs). [linked to findings and conclusions presented in par. 3]
b. In addition, as the main source of impact and added value is expected to be
conveyed by an effective application of the gender mainstreaming principle,
general self-assessment exercises, evaluation studies or at least some form of
structured reflection focussed on the application of the gender mainstreaming
principle are recommended. These are more useful in giving practical and direct
insights than a general requirement to address the horizontal gender-equality
priority in all evaluation activities. [linked to findings and conclusions presented
in par. 14 and 15]
c. A close watch on how monitoring systems and data collection are working in
practice, to provide a clear representation of how the OPs are proceeding with
respect to the gender-equality objective, is also recommended, both on
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
14
transparency grounds and as a necessary premise for useful evaluation
activities. [linked to findings and conclusions presented in par.12, 13, 14 and 15]
d. Actions should be taken to encourage participation in projects by suitable
applicants equipped with gender skills. Organizing open public events for such
potential applicants in occasion of call for projects, in order to enhance the
communication of opportunities and clarify requirements and expectations, is
particularly recommended. [linked to findings and conclusions presented in par.
5]
To the European Commission:
e. The European Commission could reinforce attention to the effective application
of gender mainstreaming (from which the most European Added Value is
expected in this programming cycle) by considering the option of requesting i) a
specific focus on how gender mainstreaming has been implemented for the
next round of national strategic reports due by the end of 2012 from all
Member States; ii) an evaluation exercise entirely focussed on how Member
States have implemented and are implementing the gender mainstreaming
principle in this programming cycle. [linked to findings and conclusions
presented in par. 2]
II. As suggestions for the future, the following recommendations have been formulated.
To the European Commission:
f. In order to assess more precisely the extent to which Member States are
programming and implementing gender-equality specific actions, a rethinking
of the categories of expenditure should be considered in the ESF Regulations,
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
15
as it appears that the current EU categorization of expenditures has not always
been interpreted univocally. For the future it would be advisable to have one
main category of expenditure entirely dedicated to capture all types of
gender-equality specific actions. In order to get more detailed information on
funding, the option of allowing for additional thematic sub-categories (to
better qualify the content of the main gender-equality encompassing one) could
also be considered. [linked to findings and conclusions presented in par. 1and 2]
g. Some space dedicated to policy innovation and experimentation should be
formally defined and protected by the ESF Regulations. [linked to findings and
conclusions presented in par. 7,11,18 and 20]
To the European Commission and Member States
h. Some rebalancing in the direction of efforts within the dual approach (i.e.
what are the primary purposes of gender-equality specific actions and what
are the primary aims of applying gender mainstreaming) should be considered
and discussed between the Commission and the Member States in order to
make the most of the ‘dual approach’ strategy to gender equality. Core ESF
objectives, as employability, should be mainly considered as objects of gender
mainstreaming. Gender-equality specific actions should primarily be directed
to other (than employability) gender-equality dimensions (such as tackling
gender stereotypes; vertical and horizontal work segregation; women’s
empowerment in public life) that are not explicitly addressed by other
initiatives and cannot be easily dealt with by gender mainstreaming practices.
[linked to findings and conclusions presented in par. 6,7 and 8]
i. Gender-equality specific actions should not be intended only as actions
specifically targeting women, but should be considered in a wider perspective,
for instance as actions that target also men, key economic and social actors,
decision makers and the general public. [linked to findings and conclusions
presented in par. 6,9 and 11]
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
16
j. Gender mainstreaming, in its turn, should be characterized with more
pragmatism either in Regulations or in Guidelines. In other words, the
application of gender mainstreaming could be fostered by making its
implications more explicit at both the strategic and implementation levels. This
could be done by suggesting that the application of gender mainstreaming (to
the whole or part of a programme) implies that a positive contribution to
gender equality must be explicitly specified and actually provided. This
contribution could be ensured through more pertinent and more detailed
characterization of objectives and instruments (strategic level) and/or by
defining appropriate project requirements, that should be declined differently
according to the types of actions involved (implementation level). [linked to
findings and conclusions presented in par. 4]
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
17
Rec
om
men
dat
ion
s
Ref
ere
nce
to
fin
din
gs a
nd
co
ncl
usi
on
s an
d r
esp
ecti
ve e
valu
atio
n q
ues
tio
n
N.
Fin
din
g an
d/o
r co
ncl
usi
on
N
. Ev
alua
tio
n q
ues
tio
n
I.
Sugg
esti
on
s to
imp
rove
or
rein
forc
e im
ple
me
nta
tio
n o
f ge
nd
er e
qual
ity
stra
tegi
es
a)
To M
Ss.
Wh
en
this
h
as
no
t b
een
do
ne
yet,
org
aniz
e p
erm
anen
t st
ruct
ure
s,
or
exp
licit
ly e
nd
ors
e ex
isti
ng
offi
ces
wit
h a
fun
ctio
n
to
lead
o
n ge
nd
er-
equ
alit
y
issu
es in
OP
act
ivit
ies.
3.
A
com
mon
fea
ture
is
th
e al
mos
t u
nive
rsal
aw
aren
ess
that
gen
de
r eq
ual
ity
is
a fa
r-re
ach
ing
ob
ject
ive,
an
d p
urs
uin
g it
req
uir
es d
edic
ated
an
d s
pec
ializ
ed e
xper
tise
. N
ot
in a
ll M
emb
er S
tate
s
and
not
fo
r al
l M
anag
ing
Au
tho
riti
es,
how
ever
, ha
s th
is e
xper
tise
als
o b
een
secu
red
th
rou
gh t
he
esta
blis
hm
ent
of
a p
erm
anen
t ge
nd
er-
equ
alit
y in
fras
tru
ctu
re t
hat
can
pla
y th
e n
eces
sary
ro
le o
f
foca
l poi
nt f
or
kno
wle
dge
po
olin
g, m
atch
ing
need
s to
res
ourc
es, a
nd
pra
ctic
e d
isse
min
atio
n.
i)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
gen
de
r eq
ual
ity
was
tak
en i
nto
con
sid
erat
ion
in
the
ESF
pro
gram
min
g in
Mem
ber
Stat
es,
and
in
p
arti
cula
r th
e
app
licat
ion
of
the
reco
mm
ende
d
‘du
al a
pp
roac
h’.
b)
To M
Ss.
Gen
eral
se
lf-a
sses
smen
t ex
erci
ses,
eval
uat
ion
stu
die
s o
r at
lea
st s
om
e fo
rm
of
stru
ctu
red
ref
lect
ion
fo
cuss
ed o
n t
he
app
licat
ion
of
the
gen
de
r m
ain
stre
amin
g
pri
nci
ple
sh
oul
d b
e co
ndu
cted
.
14.
Alt
hou
gh t
he
pic
ture
is d
iffe
ren
tiat
ed a
mo
ng
Mem
ber
Stat
es, v
ario
us
dif
ficu
ltie
s m
igh
t si
gnal
a la
ck
of
stat
us o
f th
e ge
nde
r -eq
ual
ity
ob
ject
ive.
In
thi
s re
spec
t m
uch
co
uld
be
gain
ed b
y ex
plo
itin
g th
e
full
pote
nti
al o
f th
e m
ech
anis
ms
devi
sed
to
ensu
re a
tten
tio
n t
o an
d p
rese
rve
the
gen
de
r-eq
ual
ity
ob
ject
ive
in t
he
sup
ervi
sion
of
the
pro
gram
mes
, mo
nit
ori
ng s
yste
ms
and
eva
luat
ion
act
ivit
ies.
Thi
s
rou
te s
eem
s to
be
pra
ctic
able
by
all M
emb
er S
tate
s.
ii)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
a ge
nder
-eq
ual
ity
ob
ject
ive
has
b
een
tr
ansl
ated
into
OP
s’ i
niti
al i
mp
lem
enta
tio
n
and
is
emb
odie
d i
n O
Ps’
gen
eral
mo
nit
ori
ng
org
aniz
atio
n,
mo
nit
ori
ng
syst
ems
and
eval
uat
ion
act
ivit
ies
15.
Co
nsi
der
able
att
enti
on
to t
he g
ende
r-eq
ual
ity
them
e is
ob
serv
ed f
or
eval
uat
ion
act
ivit
ies.
In
so
me
Mem
ber
Sta
tes,
th
ere
are
pla
ns f
or
ong
oin
g ev
alu
atio
n o
f th
e ef
fect
iven
ess
of t
he
cho
sen
ge
nder
-
mai
nst
ream
ing
stra
tegi
es a
nd t
oo
ls.
c)
To M
Ss.
A
clos
e w
atch
o
n
ho
w
mo
nit
ori
ng
syst
ems
and
dat
a co
llect
ion
are
wo
rkin
g
in p
ract
ice ,
sh
oul
d b
e ke
pt
to p
rovi
de
a
clea
r re
pre
sen
tati
on o
f h
ow
th
e O
Ps a
re
pro
ceed
ing
wit
h r
espe
ct t
o t
he
gen
der-
equ
alit
y o
bje
ctiv
e.
12.
In t
he
maj
ori
ty o
f M
embe
r St
ates
im
ple
men
tati
on
had
sta
rted
mo
re s
low
ly f
or
gen
de
r-eq
ual
ity
spec
ific
act
ion
s th
an f
or
oth
er p
arts
of
the
ESF
OPs
.
ii)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
a ge
nder
-eq
ual
ity
ob
ject
ive
has
b
een
tr
ansl
ated
into
OP
s’ i
niti
al i
mp
lem
enta
tio
n
and
is
emb
odie
d i
n O
Ps’
gen
eral
mo
nit
ori
ng
org
aniz
atio
n,
mo
nit
ori
ng
syst
ems
and
eval
uat
ion
act
ivit
ies
13.
For
a lim
ited
nu
mbe
r o
f M
embe
r St
ates
, as
a
con
seq
uen
ce o
f th
e ec
on
om
ic
cris
is,
grea
ter
dif
ficu
ltie
s h
ave
emer
ged
in t
he
impl
emen
tati
on
of E
SF g
ende
r-eq
ualit
y st
rate
gy.
14.
Alt
hou
gh t
he
pic
ture
is d
iffe
ren
tiat
ed a
mo
ng
Mem
ber
Stat
es, v
ario
us
dif
ficu
ltie
s m
igh
t si
gnal
a la
ck
of
stat
us o
f th
e ge
nde
r -eq
ual
ity
ob
ject
ive.
In
thi
s re
spec
t m
uch
co
uld
be
gain
ed b
y ex
plo
itin
g th
e
full
pote
nti
al o
f th
e m
ech
anis
ms
devi
sed
to
ensu
re a
tten
tio
n t
o an
d p
rese
rve
the
gen
de
r-eq
ual
ity
ob
ject
ive
in t
he
sup
ervi
sion
of
the
pro
gram
mes
, mo
nit
ori
ng s
yste
ms
and
eva
luat
ion
act
ivit
ies.
Thi
s
rou
te s
eem
s to
be
pra
ctic
able
by
all M
emb
er S
tate
s.
15.
Co
nsi
der
able
att
enti
on
to t
he g
ende
r-eq
ual
ity
them
e is
ob
serv
ed f
or
eval
uat
ion
act
ivit
ies.
In
so
me
Mem
ber
Sta
tes,
th
ere
are
pla
ns f
or
ong
oin
g ev
alu
atio
n o
f th
e ef
fect
iven
ess
of t
he
cho
sen
ge
nder
-
mai
nst
ream
ing
stra
tegi
es a
nd t
oo
ls.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
18
Rec
om
men
dat
ion
s
Ref
ere
nce
to
fin
din
gs a
nd
co
ncl
usi
on
s an
d r
esp
ecti
ve e
valu
atio
n q
ues
tio
n
N.
Fin
din
g an
d/o
r co
ncl
usi
on
N
. Ev
alua
tio
n q
ues
tio
n
d)
To M
Ss.
Act
ion
s sh
ould
b
e ta
ken
to
en
cou
rage
par
tici
pat
ion
in
p
roje
cts
by
suit
able
app
lican
ts e
qui
ppe
d w
ith
ge
nde
r sk
il ls.
5.
Som
e in
tere
stin
g su
ppo
rtin
g p
ract
ices
are
in
pla
ce i
n s
ever
al M
emb
er S
tate
s. T
hes
e p
ract
ices
are
no
t lim
ited
to
o
ffer
ing
wri
tten
gu
idel
ines
fo
r ap
plic
ants
o
r im
po
sin
g fo
rmal
ge
nd
er-
sen
siti
ve
req
uir
emen
ts,
but
exte
nd
to
off
erin
g sp
ecia
lized
sup
po
rt a
nd/o
r o
rgan
izin
g p
ublic
eve
nts
in
ord
er
to a
ttra
ct t
he
mo
st s
uit
able
ap
plic
ants
.
i)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
gen
de
r eq
ual
ity
was
tak
en i
nto
con
sid
erat
ion
in
the
ESF
pro
gram
min
g in
Mem
ber
Stat
es,
and
in
p
arti
cula
r th
e
app
licat
ion
of
the
reco
mm
ende
d
‘du
al a
pp
roac
h’.
e)
To t
he E
C.
Att
enti
on
co
uld
be
re
info
rced
to
th
e
effe
ctiv
e ap
plic
atio
n
of
gend
er
mai
nst
ream
ing,
by
req
ues
tin
g:
a
spec
ific
fo
cus
on
h
ow
ge
nd
er
mai
nst
ream
ing
has
bee
n i
mp
lem
ente
d
for
the
nex
t ro
un
d o
f n
atio
nal
str
ateg
ic
rep
ort
s du
e b
y th
e en
d of
201
2 fr
om
all M
emb
er S
tate
s;
an
ev
alu
atio
n
exer
cise
en
tire
ly
focu
ssed
on
ho
w M
emb
er S
tate
s h
ave
imp
lem
ente
d
and
ar
e im
plem
enti
ng
the
gend
er m
ain
stre
amin
g p
rin
cipl
e in
this
pro
gram
min
g cy
cle.
2.
The
cont
rib
uti
on
of
the
ESF
to g
ende
r eq
ual
ity
in t
he
curr
ent
cycl
e w
ill b
e cr
uci
ally
dep
end
ent
on
ho
w t
he r
elat
ivel
y m
ore
lim
ited
res
ourc
es f
or
gen
der -
equ
alit
y sp
ecif
ic a
ctio
ns
are
focu
ssed
on
crit
ical
iss
ues
, an
d e
spec
ially
on
th
e ex
ten
t to
wh
ich
the
ge
nder
mai
nst
ream
ing
pri
nci
ple
is w
idel
y
un
der
sto
od a
nd
su
cces
sful
ly a
ppl
ied
.
i)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
gen
de
r eq
ual
ity
was
tak
en i
nto
con
sid
erat
ion
in
the
ESF
pro
gram
min
g in
Mem
ber
Stat
es,
and
in
p
arti
cula
r th
e
app
licat
ion
of
the
reco
mm
ende
d
‘du
al a
pp
roac
h’.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
19
Rec
om
men
dat
ion
s
Ref
ere
nce
to
fin
din
gs a
nd
co
ncl
usi
on
s an
d r
esp
ecti
ve e
valu
atio
n q
ues
tio
n
N.
Fin
din
g an
d/o
r co
ncl
usi
on
N
. Ev
alua
tio
n q
ues
tio
n
II.
Sugg
esti
on
s fo
r th
e fu
ture
f)
To t
he E
C.
A
reth
inki
ng
of
the
cate
gori
es
of
exp
endi
ture
sh
oul
d b
e co
nsid
ered
in
the
ESF
Reg
ula
tion
s; it
wou
ld b
e ad
visa
ble
to
hav
e o
ne m
ain
cat
ego
ry o
f ex
pen
dit
ure
enti
rely
ded
icat
ed t
o c
aptu
re a
ll ty
pes
of
gen
der -
equ
alit
y sp
ecif
ic a
ctio
ns
and
th
e
op
tio
n o
f al
low
ing
for
addi
tio
nal
th
emat
ic
sub
-cat
ego
ries
.
1.
Ove
rall,
ava
ilabl
e in
form
atio
n s
ugg
ests
th
at t
he
ado
ptio
n o
f th
e ‘d
ual
ap
pro
ach
’ fo
r ge
nde
r eq
ual
ity
has
led
to
a d
ecre
ase
of
sup
po
rt f
or
gend
er-s
pec
ific
act
ion
s, a
nd
grea
ter
wei
ght
assi
gned
to
ge
nde
r
mai
nst
ream
ing.
Alt
ho
ugh
gen
der-
equ
alit
y sp
ecif
ic a
ctio
ns c
an in
the
ory
be
imp
lem
ente
d a
lso
un
de
r
oth
er c
ateg
ori
es o
f ex
pen
dit
ure
, th
is i
s n
ot t
he
mai
n e
xpla
nat
ion
beh
ind
the
decl
ine
in s
pec
ific
fun
din
g. C
ou
ntry
-lev
el a
nal
ysis
has
in
fac
t sh
ow
n th
at M
em
ber
Sta
tes
are
on
aver
age
rel
yin
g o
n
gen
der
mai
nst
ream
ing
muc
h m
ore
th
an in
th
e p
ast,
an
d t
hat
a f
ew M
emb
er S
tate
s ar
e co
nsid
erin
g
gen
der
equ
alit
y o
nly
as a
ho
rizo
ntal
pri
ori
ty.
i)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
gen
de
r eq
ual
ity
was
tak
en i
nto
con
sid
erat
ion
in
the
ESF
pro
gram
min
g in
Mem
ber
Stat
es.
2.
The
cont
rib
uti
on
of
the
ESF
to g
ende
r eq
ual
ity
in t
he
curr
ent
cycl
e w
ill b
e cr
uci
ally
dep
end
ent
on
ho
w t
he r
elat
ivel
y m
ore
lim
ited
res
ourc
es f
or
gen
der -
equ
alit
y sp
ecif
ic a
ctio
ns
are
focu
ssed
on
crit
ical
iss
ues
, an
d e
spec
ially
on
th
e ex
ten
t to
wh
ich
the
ge
nder
mai
nst
ream
ing
pri
nci
ple
is w
idel
y
un
der
sto
od a
nd
su
cces
sful
ly a
ppl
ied
.
g)
To t
he E
C.
Som
e sp
ace
ded
icat
ed
to
po
licy
inn
ova
tion
an
d e
xper
imen
tati
on s
ho
uld
be
form
ally
def
ined
an
d p
rote
cted
by
the
ESF
Reg
ulat
ions
20.
Ove
rall,
th
ere
is e
vide
nce
th
at m
ost
sta
keh
old
ers
judg
e p
osi
tive
ly t
he
ESF’
s su
pp
ort
to
gen
de
r
equ
alit
y. T
his
is m
ost
ly r
elat
ed t
o th
eir
exp
erie
nce
, in
th
e p
revi
ous
pro
gram
min
g p
has
e.
For
the
curr
ent
cycl
e th
ere
are
also
so
me
sign
als
of
dim
inis
hin
g re
turn
s o
r st
eps
bac
kwar
d. I
n m
ost
Mem
ber
Sta
tes
and
OP
s th
e ES
F is
rei
nfo
rcin
g n
atio
nal
or
regi
onal
ge
nde
r -eq
ual
ity
stra
tegi
es w
hich
are
alre
ady
fun
ded
at
the
nat
ion
al o
r re
gio
nal
lev
el.
Man
y cr
uci
al a
spec
ts a
nd c
ause
s o
f ge
nd
er
ineq
ual
ity
are,
how
ever
, no
t su
ffic
ien
tly
add
ress
ed b
y cu
rren
t ES
F O
Ps.
iii)
The
mai
n a
reas
in
wh
ich
the
ESF
is
pro
du
cin
g o
r ex
pec
ted
to
gen
erat
e Eu
rope
an a
dde
d v
alue
as
far
as
gend
er
equ
alit
y is
con
cern
ed
18.
The
spac
e op
ened
mos
tly
by
the
ESF
has
no
t al
way
s be
en
late
r fi
lled
aut
on
omo
usl
y in
all
Mem
ber
Stat
es w
ith
an e
qu
al d
egre
e o
f su
cces
s an
d co
nvi
ctio
n.
7.
The
sou
rces
of
ge
nde
r in
equ
alit
y lie
in
m
ore
p
rofo
und
an
d n
ot
fully
ac
kno
wle
dge
d
fact
ors
.
Ad
dre
ssin
g th
ese
fact
ors
is t
her
efo
re c
riti
cal t
o s
ust
ain
ge
nder
eq
ualit
y ev
en if
a p
rivi
lege
d f
ocu
s o
n
wo
men
’s la
bou
r -m
arke
t o
utco
mes
is k
ept
as c
entr
al in
th
e ES
F p
ersp
ecti
ve.
i)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
gen
de
r eq
ual
ity
was
tak
en i
nto
con
sid
erat
ion
in
the
ESF
pro
gram
min
g in
Mem
ber
Stat
es,
and
in
p
arti
cula
r th
e
app
licat
ion
of
the
reco
mm
ende
d
‘du
al a
pp
roac
h’.
11.
The
exte
nt
to w
hich
ESF
in
itia
tive
s fo
r ge
nd
er
equ
alit
y ar
e co
ndu
cted
in
co
nju
nct
ion
wit
h o
ther
acti
ons
and
po
licie
s to
rei
nfo
rce
po
ten
tial
im
pac
ts i
s m
ore
dif
ficu
lt t
o a
sses
s. H
ow
ever
, a
mo
re
focu
sed
inve
stig
atio
n s
ho
uld
be
carr
ied
ou
t, b
ecau
se i
nteg
rate
d in
terv
enti
on
s ar
e a
valu
able
ass
et
for
gend
er e
qu
alit
y.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
20
Rec
om
men
dat
ion
s
Ref
ere
nce
to
fin
din
gs a
nd
co
ncl
usi
on
s an
d r
esp
ecti
ve e
valu
atio
n q
ues
tio
n
N.
Fin
din
g an
d/o
r co
ncl
usi
on
N
. Ev
alua
tio
n q
ues
tio
n
h)
To t
he E
C a
nd
MSs
.
Som
e re
bal
anci
ng
in
the
dire
ctio
n
of
effo
rts
wit
hin
th
e d
ual
ap
pro
ach
(i
.e.
wh
at
are
the
pri
mar
y p
urp
ose
s o
f
gen
der -
equ
alit
y sp
ecif
ic a
ctio
ns
and
wh
at
are
the
pri
mar
y ai
ms
of
app
lyin
g ge
nder
mai
nst
ream
ing)
sh
ou
ld
be
con
sid
ered
and
dis
cuss
ed b
etw
een
th
e C
om
mis
sio
n
and
th
e M
emb
er
Stat
es.
Co
re
ESF
ob
ject
ives
, as
em
plo
yab
ility
, sh
oul
d
be
mai
nly
co
nsi
der
ed a
s o
bje
cts
of
gend
er
mai
nst
ream
ing.
Gen
der
-eq
ual
ity
spec
ific
acti
ons
sho
uld
pri
mar
ily b
e d
irec
ted
to
oth
er
gen
de
r -eq
ual
ity
dim
ensi
on
s th
at
are
not
ex
plic
itly
ad
dre
ssed
b
y o
ther
init
iati
ves
and
can
no
t b
e ea
sily
dea
lt w
ith
by
gen
der
mai
nst
ream
ing
pra
ctic
es.
6.
As
for
spec
ific
act
ions
, the
mai
n o
bje
ctiv
e p
urs
ued
by
mos
t M
embe
r St
ates
rem
ains
the
incr
ease
in
wo
men
’s a
ctiv
e an
d p
rod
uct
ive
par
tici
pat
ion
in
th
e la
bo
ur
mar
ket.
Hel
pin
g in
divi
dual
s to
acc
ess
job
s h
as b
een
lon
g in
dee
d t
he c
ore
int
eres
t of
the
ESF
, h
ow
ever
so
me
refl
ecti
on i
s ne
eded
at
the
EU l
evel
on
whe
ther
an
d t
o w
hat
ext
ent
the
ESF
is a
nd
will
be
able
to
su
stai
n a
bro
ader
gen
de
r-
equ
alit
y po
licy
that
mig
ht
in t
he lo
ng r
un
als
o a
ffec
t th
e w
ay in
whi
ch jo
bs (
wh
ich
typ
es a
nd
wh
ere)
are
crea
ted
and
wo
rk o
rgan
izat
ion
is s
hap
ed.
i)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
gen
de
r eq
ual
ity
was
tak
en i
nto
con
sid
erat
ion
in
the
ESF
pro
gram
min
g in
Mem
ber
Stat
es,
and
in
p
arti
cula
r th
e
app
licat
ion
of
the
reco
mm
ende
d
‘du
al a
pp
roac
h’.
7.
The
sou
rces
of
ge
nde
r in
equ
alit
y lie
in
m
ore
p
rofo
und
an
d n
ot
fully
ac
kno
wle
dge
d
fact
ors
.
Ad
dre
ssin
g th
ese
fact
ors
is t
her
efo
re c
riti
cal t
o s
ust
ain
ge
nder
eq
ualit
y ev
en if
a p
rivi
lege
d f
ocu
s o
n
wo
men
’s la
bou
r -m
arke
t o
utco
mes
is k
ept
as c
entr
al in
th
e ES
F p
ersp
ecti
ve.
8.
In m
any
Mem
ber
Stat
es t
he
stu
dy
has
reve
aled
dif
ficu
ltie
s in
the
an
alys
is o
f th
e m
ain
cau
ses
of
gen
der
ineq
ual
ity.
In
gen
eral
, ap
pro
pri
ate
mea
sure
men
ts o
f ge
nd
er i
neq
ualit
ies
in t
hei
r d
iffe
ren
t
dim
ensi
ons
are
lack
ing
and
far
to
o m
uch
rel
ian
ce i
s pl
aced
on
ge
nera
l in
dica
tors
wh
ich
are
insu
ffic
ien
t to
pro
vide
dir
ecti
ons
for
chan
ge.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
21
Rec
om
men
dat
ion
s
Ref
ere
nce
to
fin
din
gs a
nd
co
ncl
usi
on
s an
d r
esp
ecti
ve e
valu
atio
n q
ues
tio
n
N.
Fin
din
g an
d/o
r co
ncl
usi
on
N
. Ev
alua
tio
n q
ues
tio
n
i)
To t
he E
C a
nd
MSs
.
Gen
der-
equ
alit
y sp
ecif
ic
acti
on
s sh
oul
d
no
t b
e in
ten
ded
o
nly
as
ac
tion
s
spec
ific
ally
ta
rge
tin
g w
om
en,
but
al
so
men
, ke
y ec
on
om
ic
and
so
cial
ac
tors
,
dec
isio
n m
aker
s an
d t
he
gen
eral
pu
blic
.
6.
As
for
spec
ific
act
ions
, the
mai
n o
bje
ctiv
e p
urs
ued
by
mos
t M
embe
r St
ates
rem
ains
the
incr
ease
in
wo
men
’s a
ctiv
e an
d p
rod
uct
ive
par
tici
pat
ion
in
th
e la
bo
ur
mar
ket.
Hel
pin
g in
divi
dual
s to
acc
ess
job
s h
as b
een
lon
g in
dee
d t
he c
ore
int
eres
t o
f th
e ES
F, h
ow
ever
so
me
refl
ecti
on i
s ne
eded
at
the
EU l
evel
on
whe
ther
an
d t
o w
hat
ext
ent
the
ESF
is a
nd
will
be
able
to
su
stai
n a
bro
ader
gen
de
r-
equ
alit
y po
licy
that
mig
ht
in t
he lo
ng r
un
als
o a
ffec
t th
e w
ay in
whi
ch jo
bs (
wh
ich
typ
es a
nd
wh
ere)
are
crea
ted
and
wo
rk o
rgan
izat
ion
is s
hap
ed.
i)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
gen
de
r eq
ual
ity
was
tak
en i
nto
con
sid
erat
ion
in
the
ESF
pro
gram
min
g in
Mem
ber
Stat
es,
and
in
p
arti
cula
r th
e
app
licat
ion
of
the
reco
mm
ende
d
‘du
al a
pp
roac
h’.
9.
Inst
rum
enta
l str
ateg
ies
still
pri
vile
ge a
su
pp
ly-s
ide
app
roac
h —
add
ress
ing
‘ w
om
en’s
cap
acit
ies
to
com
pet
e in
th
e la
bo
ur
mar
ket’
— m
uch
mo
re t
han
try
ing
to a
ffec
t th
e so
cio
-cul
tura
l en
viro
nm
ent
that
bo
th s
hap
e th
e b
ehav
iou
r o
f cr
itic
al d
ecis
ion
-mak
ers
and
det
erm
ine
the
ran
ge o
f o
pp
ort
uni
ties
for
wo
men
. A
lth
oug
h a
su
pp
ly-s
ide
app
roac
h s
till
pre
vails
, so
me
Mem
ber
Sta
tes
hav
e d
evis
ed
stra
tegi
es t
hat
co
mb
ine
acti
ons
wo
rkin
g o
n w
om
en’s
cap
acit
ies
wit
h so
me
acti
ons
, m
ore
cle
arly
dir
ecte
d a
t re
info
rcin
g th
e se
nsi
tivi
ty a
nd
pro
-act
iven
ess
tow
ards
ge
nder
eq
ual
ity
of t
he s
oci
al,
eco
no
mic
an
d in
stit
utio
nal e
nvi
ron
men
t.
11.
The
exte
nt
to w
hich
ESF
in
itia
tive
s fo
r ge
nd
er
equ
alit
y ar
e co
ndu
cted
in
co
nju
nct
ion
wit
h o
ther
acti
ons
and
po
licie
s to
rei
nfo
rce
po
ten
tial
im
pac
ts i
s m
ore
dif
ficu
lt t
o a
sses
s. H
ow
ever
, a
mo
re
focu
sed
inve
stig
atio
n s
ho
uld
be
carr
ied
ou
t, b
ecau
se i
nteg
rate
d in
terv
enti
on
s ar
e a
valu
able
ass
et
for
gend
er e
qu
alit
y.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
22
Rec
om
men
dat
ion
s
Ref
ere
nce
to
fin
din
gs a
nd
co
ncl
usi
on
s an
d r
esp
ecti
ve e
valu
atio
n q
ues
tio
n
N.
Fin
din
g an
d/o
r co
ncl
usi
on
N
. Ev
alua
tio
n q
ues
tio
n
j)
To t
he E
C a
nd
MSs
.
Gen
der
mai
nst
ream
ing,
in it
s tu
rn, s
ho
uld
be
char
acte
rize
d w
ith
mo
re p
ragm
atis
m
eith
er i
n R
egu
lati
ons
or
in G
uid
elin
es;
a
po
siti
ve c
ont
rib
utio
n t
o g
end
er e
qu
alit
y
mu
st b
e ex
plic
itly
sp
ecif
ied
an
d a
ctu
ally
pro
vide
d
thro
ugh
m
ore
p
erti
nen
t an
d
mo
re
det
aile
d
char
acte
riza
tio
n
of
ob
ject
ives
an
d
inst
rum
ents
(s
trat
egic
leve
l)
and/
or
by
def
inin
g ap
pro
pri
ate
pro
ject
re
qui
rem
ents
, th
at
shou
ld
be
dec
lined
d
iffe
ren
tly
acco
rdin
g to
th
e
typ
es
of
acti
ons
in
volv
ed
(im
plem
enta
tion
leve
l).
4.
The
imp
ort
ance
of
gen
de
r m
ain
stre
amin
g is
wid
ely
reco
gniz
ed a
nd
gen
uin
e ef
fort
s h
ave
been
un
der
take
n in
alm
ost
all
Mem
ber
Sta
tes.
Ho
wev
er, t
her
e is
no
t ye
t a
com
mon
cle
ar u
nd
erst
andi
ng
of
its
theo
reti
cal
un
der
pin
nin
gs a
nd
op
erat
ion
al i
mpl
icat
ion
s. H
ence
mos
t M
emb
er S
tate
s h
ave
in
actu
al f
act
cho
sen
to
put
th
e ge
nder
mai
nstr
eam
ing
pri
nci
ple
int
o o
pera
tio
n a
lmo
st e
xclu
sive
ly i
n
the
OP
s’
impl
emen
tati
on
ph
ase,
d
uri
ng
wh
ich
a
spec
ific
su
bjec
t o
f co
nce
rn
is
the
gen
de
r
sen
siti
ven
ess
of p
roje
ct p
rom
ote
rs a
nd
ap
plic
ants
, al
ong
wit
h th
e lo
gic
of p
roje
ct-s
elec
tio
n cr
iter
ia
and
th
e sc
reen
ing
abili
ty o
f p
roje
ct-s
elec
tio
n as
sess
ors
.
i)
The
exte
nt
to
wh
ich
th
e
pro
mo
tio
n
of
gen
de
r eq
ual
ity
was
tak
en i
nto
con
sid
erat
ion
in
the
ESF
pro
gram
min
g in
Mem
ber
Stat
es,
and
in
p
arti
cula
r th
e
app
licat
ion
of
the
reco
mm
ende
d
‘du
al a
pp
roac
h’.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
23
RÉSUMÉ ANALYTIQUE
L´objectif général de cette étude consiste à évaluer le soutien du Fonds Social Européen à
l´égalité des genres pour le cycle de programmation actuel du FSE (qui s´étend de 2007 à
2013) se fondant sur les données disponibles sur le processus de programmation et la mise
en œuvre initiale.
Trois questions d´évaluation furent examinées:
i) Le niveau de considération de la promotion de l´égalité des genres dans la
programmation du FSE dans les États membres, et particulièrement, l´application
de la recommandée "double approche", consistant à combiner des actions
explicitement financées avec des pratiques d´intégration de la dimension du genre;
ii) Le niveau de transformation de la promotion d´un objectif d´égalité en la mise en
œuvre des Programmes Opérationnels (PO), et le niveau auquel cet objectif est
reflété dans l´organisation du contrôle général, systèmes de suivi et activités
d´évaluation des PO;
iii) Les principaux domaines d´activité du FSE dans lesquels est créée où espérée une
valeur ajoutée européenne relative à l´égalité des genres.
Le Rapport de Synthèse résume les réponses à ces questions d´évaluation en soulignant
les similarités et différences dans les approches et stratégies des États membres
concernant (i) l´importance et la caractérisation spécifique de l´objectif de l´égalité des
genres dans les PO; (ii) quelques données préliminaires sur le niveau de mise en œuvre des
stratégies d´égalité des genres et le niveau de sensibilisation de l´organisation de
surveillance et d´évaluation, et (iii) les principaux moyens avec lesquels l´intervention du FSE
génère ou peut générer une valeur ajoutée relative à l´égalité des genres.
Le Rapport s´appuie principalement sur le contenu des 27 Rapports Nationaux et 6 Rapports
Thématiques préparés selon une méthodologie expressément conçue pour l´objectif de
cette étude, ainsi que des données directement recueillies en remettant un questionnaire
aux Organismes de gestion du FSE. L´étude d´évaluation a été entreprise au printemps 2010
et en conséquence, les données recueillies reflètent la situation de l´époque.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
24
Principaux Résultats et Conclusions
(i) Le niveau de considération de la promotion de l´égalité des genres dans la programmation du FSE dans les États membres, et particulièrement, l´application de la recommandée "double approche", consistant à combiner des actions explicitement financées avec les pratiques d´intégration de la dimension du genre.
Il existe encore des différences concernant la situation globale de l´égalité des genres parmi
les États membres de l´Union Européenne; on ne peut cependant considérer en aucun cas
que la visibilité, la responsabilisation et la participation des deux sexes aux différents
domaines de la vie publique et privée aient été pleinement accomplies (selon l´indice
d´égalité des genres, GEI en anglais). Tous les États membres ont en effet pris en
considération le problème de l´égalité des genres dans leurs programmes opérationnels
du FSE. Toutefois, l´importance attribuée à l´objectif de l´égalité des genres diffère entre
les États membres, en partie en réaction à leurs positions concernant les résultats dans ce
domaine et leurs capacités budgétaires externes aux contributions de l´UE.
Considérant le financement du FSE pour les initiatives destinées à renforcer l´égalité entre
hommes et femmes (tels qu´estimés par la catégorie considérée comme la plus évidente par
les Réglementation) dans la phase de programmation, les résultats varient selon une
fourchette allant de 0 à 18 % des contributions totales du FSE disponibles à l´échelle
national. L´importance de l´objectif de l´égalité des genres — en moyenne estimée assez
élevée par les Organismes de gestion du ESF – est, dans une certaine mesure, plus élevée
dans les États membres où l´indice de l´égalité des genres est inférieur et en conséquence
les nécessités plus importantes.
1. En général, les données disponibles indiquent que l´adoption de la «double approche»
pour l´égalité des genres a conduit à une diminution du soutien des initiatives axées
sur cette question, et à une augmentation de l´importance apportée à l´intégration de
la dimension du genre («gender mainstreaming»). Le financement total du FSE
programmé pour la catégorie la plus importante des dépenses relatives à l´égalité des
genres a diminué de plus d´un milliard d´euros entre le cycle de programmation du FSE
précédant (2000 - 2006) et le cycle actuel (2007 - 2013). Bien que on puisse
théoriquement mettre en œuvre les initiatives destinées à l´égalité des genres dans
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
25
d´autres catégories de dépenses, ce n´est pas la principale raison de la diminution de
ce financement spécifique. Les analyses au niveau national ont montré que les États
membres, en moyenne, comptent plus sur l´intégration de la dimension du genre, et
que certains États membres considèrent seulement l´égalité entre hommes et femmes
comme une priorité horizontale.
2. La contribution du FSE à l´égalité des genres dans le présent cycle dépendra
énormément de quelle manière les ressources plus limitées destinées à l´égalité des
genres seront axées sur des questions de premier ordre, notamment le degré de
compréhension et d´application du principe d´intégration de la dimension du genre.
En ce qui concerne les actions spécifiques et l´application du principe d´intégration de
la dimension du genre, l´image qui se dégage de cette étude a de multiples facettes,
avec des résultats tout aussi positifs que négatifs.
3. Une caractéristique générale, qui devrait être jugée positive, est la prise de conscience
universelle de la portée de cet objectif, et afin de poursuivre ce but, des compétences
spécialisées son requises. Toutefois, l´établissement d´infrastructures permanentes
promouvant l´égalité des genres n´a pas été garanti dans tous les États membres et
Organismes de gestion, même si cet établissement peut jouer un rôle nécessaire pour
mettre en commun les connaissances, assurer une adéquation entre les ressources et
les besoins et instaurer des pratiques de diffusion. La formation du personnel en
matière d´égalité des genres varie aussi considérablement entre les États membres, et
un nombre important d´entre eux n´investit pas encore suffisamment pour augmenter
leur capacités internes.
4. L ´importance de l´intégration de la dimension du genre est largement reconnue, et la
plupart des États membres ont fait de réels efforts. Cependant, un engagement
commun et clair de ces fondements théoriques et des implications opérationnelles n´a
pas été encore assumé. Théoriquement, l´intégration de la dimension du genre pourrait
être appliquée dans les deux phases des PO: dans la préparation d´une stratégie et dans
sa mise en œuvre. En ce qui concerne la fixation des stratégies, les États membres,
hormis les objectifs et initiatives axés vers l´égalité des genres, visent beaucoup de
précieux objectifs dans les interventions du FSE. Ce facteur, toutefois, est exprimé d´une
manière générale et neutre du point de vue du sexe. Par conséquent, la plupart des
États membres ont choisi d´appliquer le principe d´intégration de la dimension du
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
26
genre presque exclusivement dans la phase de mise en œuvre des PO, en utilisant un
engagement pour garantir que l´égalité des genres est pris en compte lorsqu´il s´agit de
décider quels projets reçoivent le financement du FSE. Les mécanismes conçus pour
assurer que les projets respectent le principe d´égalité des genres son très différents, et
ils ne semblent pas tous efficaces. À cet égard, la sensibilisation des promoteurs des
projets et des candidats sur cette question représente un sujet de préoccupation, ainsi
que la logique des critères de sélection et la capacité de contrôle des évaluateurs des
projets.
5. De nombreux États membres ont mis en place des pratiques de soutien intéressantes
afin d´adopter une approche plus active pour renforcer l´intégration entre les femmes
et les hommes au niveau du projet. Ces pratiques ne se limitent pas à offrir des
indications écrites pour les candidats ou à imposer des exigences formelles sur la
sensibilisation de l´égalité des genres. Elles aussi essaient d´offrir un soutien
spécialisé et/ou d´organiser des événements publics afin d´attirer les candidats les
plus qualifiés.
6. En ce qui concerne les actions spécifiques, le but principal visé par la plupart des États
membres continue à être l´accroissement de la participation active et productive des
femmes sur le marché du travail. Ce but souvent se poursuit en promouvant
l´entreprenariat féminin; cela peut être concentré sur les groups de femmes
particulièrement vulnérables (à cause de la race, parentalité, zones marginalisées, etc.)
La conciliation entre travail et vie familiale est souvent considérée comme un objectif
spécifique, mais une analyse plus précise montre qu´en fait, dans de nombreux cas, ce
facteur est envisagé comme un instrument supplémentaire destiné à encourager la
participation au marché du travail. Nettement moins répandus, et souvent pris en
considération pour leur mise en œuvre par des projets pilotes ou à petite échelle, sont
les objectifs qui visent à éliminer la ségrégation en matière d´éducation, les stéréotypes
culturels et sociaux, la violence familiale et criminelle, la pauvreté des femmes; à les
aider avec leurs responsabilités envers leurs familles et à développer l´autonomie des
femmes. L´intérêt fondamental du FSE a été pendant longtemps d´aider les individus
dans l´accès à l´emploi. Toutefois, il faudrait également développer une réflexion à
l´échelle de l´UE sur le fait que le FSE est et sera, et dans quelle mesure, capable de
soutenir une politique d´égalité des genres plus large qui puisse affecter sur long-
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
27
terme la création de l´emploi (quel type et où) et à la caractérisation de l´organisation
du travail.
7. Les causes de l´inégalité entre hommes et femmes, même quand elles se manifestent
de manière plus évidente sur la marche du travail pour les femmes, résident dans des
facteurs plus profonds non pleinement reconnus. Elles sont déterminées par des
normes culturelles et sociales régissant non seulement les opportunités individuelles,
mais aussi les interactions entre groupes et actions collectives affectant encore
inégalement les rôles des deux sexes même au sein de l´UE. Régler ces facteurs est
donc primordial afin de maintenir l´égalité des genres, bien que le centre d’attention
principal aux yeux du FSE reste le marché du travail des femmes.
8. L´étude a mis en lumière d´autres difficultés existant dans l´analyse de la principale
cause de l´inégalité des genres dans de nombreux États membres. Des telles difficultés
se produisent aussi en rapport à l´analyse de l´objectif "amélioration de l´emploi des
femmes". En général, les mesures appropriées pour combattre l´inégalité des genres
dans ses différentes dimensions font défaut, et une confiance bien trop certaine est
placée dans des indicateurs d´ordre général bien insuffisants pas pour fournir des
orientations efficaces.
9. Les stratégies opérantes penchent encore plus sur une approche axée sur la demande
– visant les capacités des femmes pour être compétitives sur le marché du travail –
que d´une approche cherchant à essayer de changer l´environnement culturel, qui
tout deux forment le caractère des décideurs politiques et détermine l´éventail des
possibilités des femmes. Cette politique peut cacher de mauvaises perceptions sur les
causes de l´inégalité des genres ou les difficultés rencontrées en rapport à l´élaboration
de nouvelles actions, autres que celles visant le renforcement de capital humain.
Toutefois, l´image diffère d´un État membre à l´autre, et il y a des signes de
changement. Bien que l´approche axée sur la demande prévale, quelques États
membres ont élaboré des stratégies combinant des actions travaillant sur les
capacités des femmes, pas seulement avec les traditionnelles «actions de demande»
surgissant de la volonté des entreprises, mais aussi quelques actions (comme des
mesures de conseil, formation et activités en réseau), clairement destinées à renforcer
la sensibilisation et le caractère proactif dans le domaine d´égalité des genres dans
l´environnement social, économique et institutionnel.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
28
10. Quelques États membres travaillent directement pour changer la conception
d´élaboration des politiques, et ont inclus la capacité d´intégration de la dimension du
genre comme un objectif en soi, avec des actions destinées à promouvoir la sensibilité
des membres des organes officiels et des décideurs politiques à travers le Conseil et
hors de la portée traditionnelle du FSE.
11. L´étendue d´application des démarches initiatives du FSE pour l´égalité des genres
réalisées conjointement avec d´autres actions et les politiques renforçant les impacts
potentiels est plus difficile à évaluer. Bien qu´on ait trouvé des signes dans le cas de
services de soins pour les enfants, dans lesquelles les actions du FSE apparaissent
quelquefois combinées avec d´autres types d´actions financées par le FEDER mais
également par d´autres sources régionales et nationales. Toutefois, une enquête plus
exhaustive devrait être opérée, étant donné que les interventions intégrées (dans
lesquelles des actions destinées aux individus, comme celles proposées par le FSE, sont
combinées avec d´autres types d´actions structurelles) sont un atout précieux pour
l´égalité des genres.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
29
ii) Le niveau auquel l´objectif de la promotion de l´égalité des genres a été transformé en
une mise en œuvre initiale des PO et celui auquel cet objectif est reflété dans
l´organisation du contrôle général, systèmes de suivi et activités d´évaluation des PO.
Dans la plupart des PO du FSE, la phase de mise en œuvre n´a commencé qu´à mi-2008, et
dans certains cas, plus tard encore. Par conséquent, seules des observations préliminaires
sont envisageables sur le degré de prise en compte de l´égalité des genres dans la phase de
mise en œuvre.
12. D´après les informations disponibles, il est possible de souligner que dans la plupart de
mises en œuvre des États membres, les actions destinées à l´égalité des genres ont
commencé plus lentement que d´autres parties des PO du FSE, ou bien qu´on
rencontre certains obstacles dans la mise en œuvre de ces actions.
13. Un nombre limité des États membres a eut plus de difficultés dans la mise en œuvre
de la stratégie d´égalité des genres du FSE à la suite de la crise économique. Cela a
détourné l´attention des ressources de l´objectif d´égalité des genres en faveur de
politiques du marché du travail plus actives destinées au nombre toujours plus
croissant des chômeurs.
14. Bien que l´image diverge parmi les États membres, de nombreuses difficultés
pourraient indiquer que cet objectif n´est pas reconnu. Même si les stratégies
d´égalité de genre ne sont presque jamais protégées comme une priorité formellement
financée par les PO, elles sont potentiellement en risque d´être submergées par des
autres priorités plus pressantes ou d`être affaiblies par les difficultés administratives
dans la gestion de largues programmes avec plusieurs objectifs. À cet égard, il pourrait
être très profitable d´exploiter le potentiel des mécanismes garantissant l´attention
et préservant l´objectif d´égalité des genres dans la surveillance des programmes,
systèmes de contrôle général et activités d´évaluation. Ceci est applicable à tous les
États membres, spécialement si l´on considère que la présence des représentants de
l´intérêt de l´égalité des genres est garantie dans tous les Comités de Suivi des PO du
FSE, et dans la plupart de cas, également aux organisations non gouvernementales
actives dans le domaine d´égalité des genres.
15. Dans la plupart des États membres, l égalité des genres est un thème qui a attiré une
grande attention. Dans certains États membres notamment, des plans seront élaborés
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
30
afin de développer une évaluation permanente sur l´effectivité des stratégies et outils
choisis pour aborder ce sujet.
(iii) Les principaux domaines d´activité du FSE dans lesquels est créée où espérée une
valeur ajoutée européenne relative à l´égalité des genres.
16. Sans aucun doute, l´UE et notamment les interventions du FSE ont joué un rôle clé en
sensibilisant les États membres au domaine de l´égalité des genres et en créant et
préservant un espace pour l´égalité dans leurs programmes de politique nationale.
Ce rôle est reconnu par tous les acteurs et parties prenantes.
17. Les deux sphères dans lesquelles la valeur ajoutée du FSE est plus connue sont
soutenues par la création d´un cadre politique autonome et consacré au
renforcement des capacités de l´égalité des genres.
18. Toutefois, les États membres n´ont pas développé ce cadre politique ouvert surtout
par le FSE d´une manière autonome avec le même succès et la même conviction. Par
exemple, même si l´adoption d´une approche de partenariat parmi les organisations et
institutions des femmes, provoquée par l´initiative communautaire EQUAL et financée
par le FSE, a été généralement apprécié, désormais cette approche a été abandonnée
car l´UE ne le soutien plus. Beaucoup de parties prenantes des États membres
regrettent la cessation d´EQUAL.
19. Pour certains États membres, la contribution du FSE a été (et l´est encore) très
importante aussi d´un point du vue strictement budgétaire. La disponibilité des
ressources du FSE a permis de mettre en œuvre des actions pour lesquelles le
financement n´aurait autrement pas été disponible.
20. En général, il apparaît que la plupart des parties prenantes jugent d´une manière
positive le soutien que le FSE donne à l´égalité des genres. Cela tient essentiellement
à leur expérience dans la phase de programmation précédente, où le FSE a contribué
pour intensifier la sensibilisation sur ce domaine. Dans le cycle en cours, l´analyse
indique que même si le FSE peut encore produire une valeur ajoutée en persévérant
dans la mise en œuvre des actions et objectifs déjà financés dans des cycles
précédents, il y a aussi des signes des rendements décroissants et des retours en
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
31
arrière. Notamment, l´analyse a montré que, bien que le FSE complète et innove des
stratégies et types d´actions dans certaines États membres, élargissant ainsi les
objectifs et favorisant l´apprentissage, dans la plupart des États membres et des PO, le
FSE renforce les stratégies d´égalité des genres au niveau national et régional déjà
financées dans un niveau local ou régional. Des nombreux aspects et causes
essentiels ne sont, toutefois, pas suffisamment pris en compte par les présents PO du
FSE, et des actions concrètes paraissent s´adresser excessivement à ce qui concerne la
demande, et pas à ce qui concerne le contexte socio-économique et les interactions
entre les groupes. Par conséquent, il est important de réfléchir au fait que, du moins
dans une certaine mesure, le FSE pourrait perdre son fil innovateur.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
32
Recommandations
Dans cette section, sont établies les recommandations faisant référence aux résultats et
conclusions discutées dans la précédente. Afin de clarifier l´exposition, un tableau ci-après
présente d´un côte la correspondance entre les constatations et conclusions, et d´un autre,
les recommandations.
I. Comme suggestions visant à améliorer ou à renforcer les stratégies d´égalité des
genres, les recommandations suivantes ont été formulées.
Aux États membres :
a. Dans les cas où cela n´a pas encore été fait, l´organisation des structures
permanentes ou la dotation de bureaux existants avec pour fonctions les
thèmes de l´égalité des genres dans les activités des PO sont recommandées.
Tandis que cette structure ne se doit d´être trop grande, il est important que les
PO puissent compter sur un point central, afin de maximiser l´usage des
investissements provenant des financements extérieures et des autres sources
d´expertise et de conseils, mais aussi, offrir un «guichet unique» pour les
questions posées par les sections de l´organisation chargée de gérer ou exécuter
des parts (ce qui arrive souvent dans les PO largement financés). [En relation
avec les constatations et conclusions présentées dans le par.3]
b. De surcroît, étant donné que la principale source d´impact et de valeur ajoutée
devrait être acheminée par une application effective du principe d´intégration
de la dimension du genre, on recommande des autoévaluations, études
d´évaluation ou au moins, quelques réflexions visant l´application de ce
principe. Ces évaluations sont plus utiles car elles donnent des suggestions et
des indications pratiques plutôt qu´une exigence générale visant une priorité
horizontale dans toutes les activités d´évaluation. [En relation avec les
constatations et conclusions présentées dans les par. 14 et 15]
c. On recommande également une surveillance étroite pour examiner le
fonctionnement des systèmes de contrôle général et la collecte de données,
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
33
afin de garantir une représentation claire de la procédure des PO à l´égard de
l´objectif d´égalité des genres, pour des raisons de transparence et comme une
prémisse nécessaire pour les activités d´évaluation. [En relation avec les
constatations et conclusions présentées dans les par. 12, 13, 14 et 15]
d. Des actions devraient être mises en œuvre pour encourager la participation
des candidats dotés de compétences en matière de genre dans des projets. Un
point particulièrement recommandé est l´organisation des événements publics
pour ces candidats potentiels à l´occasion d´appel aux projets, afin de renforcer
la communication des opportunités et clarifier les exigences et attentes. [En
relation avec les constatations et conclusions présentées dans le par. 5]
Á la Commission européenne:
e. La Commission européenne pourrait renforcer l´attention sur l´application
effective de l´intégration de la dimension du genre (la plupart de Valeur Ajoutée
Européenne est prévue dans ce cycle de programmation) en considérant la
possibilité de demander i) une attention particulière sur la manière dans
laquelle l´intégration de la dimension de genre a été mise en œuvre pour le
prochain cycle des rapports stratégiques nationaux des tous les États membres
dû pour la fin de l´année 2012 ; ii) un exercice évaluatif entièrement concentré
sur la manière dans laquelle les États membres mettent et ont mis en œuvre le
principe de l´intégration de la dimension du genre dans le cycle de
programmation. [En relation avec les constatations et conclusions présentées
dans le par. 2]
II. Comme suggestions pour l´avenir, les recommandations suivantes ont été formulées.
Á la Commission européenne:
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
34
f. Afin d´évaluer d´une manière plus exacte le niveau de programmation et de
mise en œuvre des actions axées sur l´égalité des genres, il faudrait
reconsidérer les catégories de dépenses dans la Réglementation du FSE, car il
semble que l´actuel classement des dépenses de l´UE n´a pas toujours été
interprété sans quelque ambigüité. Pour l´avenir, il conviendrait d´avoir une
catégorie principale de dépenses entièrement consacrée à organiser tous les
types d´initiatives destinées à l´égalité des genres. Pour obtenir des
informations plus détaillées sur le financement, on pourrait aussi considérer la
possibilité d´autoriser des sous-catégories thématiques supplémentaires (pour
une meilleure appréciation du contenu de la catégorie principale). [En relation
avec les constatations et conclusions présentées dans les par. 1 et 2]
g. Il faudrait définir et protéger formellement un espace dédié à la politique de
l´innovation et de l´expérimentation par la Réglementation du FSE. [En relation
avec les constatations et conclusions présentées dans les par. 7, 11, 18 et 20]
Á la Commission européenne et aux États membres
h. Un rééquilibrage de la direction des efforts dans la double approche (à savoir,
quels sont les buts principaux des initiatives destinées à l´égalité des genres et
les objectifs principaux de l´application de l’intégration de la dimension du
genre) devrait être considéré et discuté entre la Commission et les États
membres afin de tirer le plus grand bénéfice de la stratégie de la double
approche d´égalité des genres. Les objectifs clés du FSE, comme
l´employabilité, devraient être considérés comme des buts de l´intégration de
la dimension du genre. Les initiatives destinées a l´égalité des genres
devraient être appliquées aux autres (mise à part l´employabilité) dimensions
d´égalité entre hommes et femmes (comme les stéréotypes sexistes;
ségrégation verticale et horizontal du marché de travail; participation des
femmes dans la vie publique) qui ne sont pas considérées par d´autres
initiatives et qui ne peuvent pas être facilement abordées par les pratiques de
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
35
l´intégration de la dimension du genre. [En relation avec les constatations et
conclusions présentées dans les par. 6, 7 et 8]
i. Les initiatives destinées vers l´égalité des genres ne devraient pas seulement
être destinées aux femmes, mais devraient être considérés avec une
perspective plus large, par exemple en considérant aussi les hommes, les
facteurs économiques, les acteurs sociaux, les politiques et le grand public. [En
relation avec les constatations et conclusions présentées dans les par 6, 9 et 11]
j. L´intégration de la dimension du genre devrait être caractérisée par un plus
grand pragmatisme dans les Régulations comme dans les Directives. En
d´autres termes, l´application de l´intégration de cette dimension pourrait être
encouragée par des implications plus précises au niveau stratégique ainsi qu´au
niveau de mise en œuvre. Ceci peut se faire en suggérant que l´application de
l´intégration du genre (dans tout ou partie du programme), implique qu´une
contribution positive à l´égalité des genres doit être expressément précisée et
effectivement mise en œuvre. Cette contribution pourrait être garantie au
moyen d´une caractérisation plus pertinente et plus détaillée des objectifs et
des instruments (niveau stratégique) et/ou en expliquant les exigences
appropriées du projet, qui devraient être déclinées en fonction des types
d´initiatives concernées (niveau de la mise en œuvre). [En relation avec les
constatations et conclusions présentées dans le par. 4]
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
36
Rec
om
men
dat
ion
s
Co
nce
rnan
t au
x ré
sult
ats
et c
on
clu
sio
ns
et le
s q
ues
tio
ns
d´é
valu
atio
n r
esp
ecti
ves
N.
Rés
ult
at e
t/o
u c
on
clu
sio
n
N.
Qu
esti
on
d´é
valu
atio
n
I.
Sugg
esti
on
s vi
san
t à
amé
liore
r o
u à
ren
forc
er la
mis
e en
œu
vre
des
stra
tégi
es d
´éga
lité
des
gen
res.
a)
Au
x Ét
ats
Mem
bre
s,
Dan
s le
s ca
s o
ù c
ela
n´a
pas
en
core
été
fait
, l’o
rgan
isat
ion
d
es
stru
ctu
res
per
man
ente
s, o
u la
do
tati
on d
e b
ure
aux
exis
tan
ts a
vec
pou
r fo
nct
ion
s le
s th
èmes
de
l´ég
alit
é de
s ge
nre
s d
ans
les
acti
vité
s
des
PO
.
3.
Un
e ca
ract
éris
tiq
ue
gén
éral
e po
siti
ve e
st l
a p
rise
de
cons
cien
ce u
niv
erse
lle d
e la
po
rtée
de
cet
ob
ject
if.
Afi
n
de
po
urs
uiv
re
ce
but
, d
es
com
péte
nce
s sp
écia
lisée
s so
nt
req
uis
es.
Tout
efo
is,
l´ét
ablis
sem
ent
d´in
fras
tru
ctu
res
per
man
ente
s p
rom
ou
van
t l´é
galit
é d
es g
enre
s n´
a p
as é
té g
aran
ti
dan
s to
us l
es É
tats
mem
bre
s et
Org
anis
mes
de
gest
ion
, m
ême
si c
et é
tabl
isse
men
t p
eut
jou
er u
n
rôle
néc
essa
ire
afin
de
met
tre
en c
om
mun
les
con
nai
ssan
ces,
ass
ure
r u
ne a
déq
uat
ion
en
tre
les
ress
ou
rces
et
les
bes
oin
s et
inst
aure
r d
es p
rati
que
s d
e di
ffu
sio
n.
i)
Le n
ivea
u d
e co
nsid
érat
ion
de
la
pro
mo
tio
n d
e l´
égal
ité
des
ge
nre
s
dan
s la
p
rogr
amm
atio
n
du
FS
E
des
Ét
ats
mem
bre
s,
et
par
ticu
lière
men
t, l
´ap
plic
atio
n d
e
la
reco
mm
and
ée
‘dou
ble
app
roch
e’.
b)
Au
x Ét
ats
Mem
bre
s,
Au
toév
alu
atio
ns
gén
éral
es,
étu
des
d´é
valu
atio
n
et
mo
ins
qu
elq
ues
réfl
exio
n s s
tru
ctu
rée
visa
nt
l´ap
plic
atio
n
de
ce p
rin
cip
e.
14.
Bie
n q
ue l´
imag
e di
verg
e p
arm
i le
s Ét
ats
mem
bre
s, d
e n
om
bre
use
s di
ffic
ult
és p
ou
rrai
ent
ind
iqu
er
qu
e c
et o
bje
ctif
n´e
st p
as r
eco
nnu
. À
cet
éga
rd,
il p
ourr
ait
être
trè
s p
rofi
tab
le d
´exp
loit
er l
e
po
ten
tiel
des
méc
anis
mes
qu
i pe
rmet
ten
t ga
rant
ir l
´att
enti
on
et
pré
serv
er l
´ob
ject
if d
´éga
lité
des
gen
res
dan
s la
su
rvei
llan
ce
des
p
rogr
amm
es,
syst
èmes
d
e co
ntr
ôle
gé
néra
l et
ac
tivi
tés
d´é
valu
atio
n. C
eci e
st a
pplic
able
à t
ous
les
État
s M
emb
res.
ii)
Le n
ivea
u d
e tr
ansf
orm
atio
n d
e la
pro
mo
tio
n d
´un
ob
ject
if d
´éga
lité
en
la
mis
e en
œ
uvr
e d
es
Pro
gram
mes
Op
érat
ionn
els
(PO
),
et l
e ni
veau
au
qu
el c
et o
bje
ctif
est
refl
été
dan
s l´
org
anis
atio
n d
u
con
trôl
e gé
nér
al,
syst
èmes
d
e
suiv
i et
act
ivit
és d
´éva
luat
ion
des
PO
.
15.
Un
e gr
and
e at
ten
tio
n a
u s
uje
t de
l´é
galit
é d
es g
enre
s es
t o
bse
rvée
dan
s le
s ac
tivi
tés
d´é
valu
atio
n.
Dan
s ce
rtai
ns
État
s m
emb
res
no
tam
men
t, d
es p
lan
s se
ront
éla
bo
rés
afin
de
dév
elop
pe
r un
e
éval
uat
ion
per
man
ente
su
r l´
effe
ctiv
ité
des
stra
tégi
es e
t o
uti
ls c
hois
is p
ou
r ab
ord
er c
e su
jet.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
37
c)
Au
x Ét
ats
Mem
bre
s,
Un
e su
rvei
llan
ce é
tro
ite
pou
r ex
amin
er le
fon
ctio
nn
em
ent
des
syst
èmes
d
e
con
trôl
e gé
néra
l et
la
co
llect
e d
e
do
nn
ées
dev
rait
êtr
e m
ain
ten
ue
afin
de
gara
nti
r un
e re
pré
sen
tati
on
cla
ire
de
la
pro
cédu
re d
es P
O à
l´é
gard
de
l´o
bje
ctif
d´é
galit
é de
s ge
nre
s.
12.
Dan
s la
plu
part
de
mis
es e
n œ
uvr
e d
es É
tats
mem
bre
s, le
s ac
tio
ns d
esti
née
s à
l´ég
alit
é d
es g
enre
s
on
t co
mm
encé
plu
s le
nte
men
t qu
e d
´aut
res
par
ties
des
PO
du
FSE.
ii)
Le n
ivea
u d
e tr
ansf
orm
atio
n d
e la
pro
mo
tio
n d
´un
ob
ject
if d
´éga
lité
en
la
mis
e en
œ
uvr
e d
es
Pro
gram
mes
Op
érat
ionn
els
(PO
),
et l
e ni
veau
au
qu
el c
et o
bje
ctif
est
refl
été
dan
s l´
org
anis
atio
n d
u
con
trôl
e gé
nér
al,
syst
èmes
d
e
suiv
i et
act
ivit
és d
´éva
luat
ion
des
PO
;
13.
Un
no
mb
re li
mit
é d
es É
tats
mem
bre
s a
eut
plu
s de
dif
ficu
ltés
dan
s la
mis
e en
œu
vre
de la
str
atég
ie
d´é
galit
é de
s ge
nre
s d
u FS
E à
la s
uit
e d
e la
cri
se é
cono
miq
ue.
14.
Bie
n q
ue
l´im
age
div
erge
par
mi
les
État
s m
emb
res,
de
no
mb
reu
ses
diff
icu
ltés
po
urr
aien
t in
diq
ue
r
qu
e c
et o
bje
ctif
n´e
st p
as r
eco
nnu
. À
cet
éga
rd,
il p
ourr
ait
être
trè
s p
rofi
tab
le d
´exp
loit
er l
e
po
ten
tiel
des
méc
anis
mes
qu
i pe
rmet
ten
t ga
rant
ir l
´att
enti
on
et
pré
serv
er l
´ob
ject
if d
´éga
lité
des
gen
res
dan
s la
su
rvei
llan
ce
des
p
rogr
amm
es,
syst
èmes
d
e co
ntr
ôle
gé
néra
l et
ac
tivi
tés
d´é
valu
atio
n. C
ela
est
app
licab
le à
tou
s le
s Ét
ats
Mem
bre
s.
15.
Un
e gr
and
e at
ten
tio
n
au s
uje
t d
´éga
lité
des
gen
res
est
obse
rvée
dan
s le
s ac
tivi
tés
d´é
valu
atio
n.
Dan
s ce
rtai
ns
État
s m
emb
res
no
tam
men
t, d
es p
lan
s se
ront
éla
bo
rés
afin
de
dév
elop
pe
r un
e
éval
uat
ion
per
man
ente
su
r l´
effe
ctiv
ité
des
stra
tégi
es e
t o
uti
ls c
hois
is p
ou
r ab
ord
er c
e su
jet.
d)
Au
x Ét
ats
Mem
bre
s,
Des
ac
tio
ns
dev
raie
nt
être
m
ises
en
œu
vre
pou
r en
cou
rage
r la
par
tici
pat
ion
dan
s de
s p
roje
ts
des
ca
ndid
ats
app
rop
riés
d
otés
d
e co
mpé
ten
ces
en
mat
ière
de
gen
re.
5.
Cer
tain
s Ét
ats
mem
bre
s m
ènen
t de
s p
rati
qu
es d
e so
utie
n t
rès
inté
ress
ante
s. C
es p
rati
qu
es n
e se
limit
ent
pas
à o
ffri
r d
es in
stru
ctio
ns
écri
tes
pou
r le
s ca
ndi
dat
s o
u à
imp
oser
des
exi
gen
ces
form
elle
s
sur
la s
ensi
bili
sati
on d
e l´é
galit
é d
es g
en
res.
Elle
s au
ssi
essa
ien
t d
´off
rir
un
sou
tien
sp
écia
lisé
et/o
u
d´o
rgan
iser
des
évé
nem
ents
pub
lics
afin
d´a
ttir
er le
s ca
nd
idat
s pl
us q
ualif
iés.
i)
Le n
ivea
u d
e co
nsid
érat
ion
de
la
pro
mo
tio
n
de
l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res
dan
s la
pro
gram
mat
ion
du
FSE
des
Ét
ats
mem
bre
s,
et
par
ticu
lière
men
t, l
´ap
plic
atio
n d
e
la
reco
mm
and
ée
‘dou
ble
app
roch
e’.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
38
e)
À la
CE
,
On
p
ourr
ait
ren
forc
er
l´at
ten
tio
n
sur
l´ap
plic
atio
n e
ffec
tive
de
l´in
tégr
atio
n d
e
la d
imen
sion
du
ge
nre
en
dem
and
ant
:
Un
e at
ten
tio
n p
arti
culiè
re s
ur
la m
ise
en
ou
vre
de
l´in
tégr
atio
n
de
la
dim
ensi
on d
u g
enre
po
ur
le p
roch
ain
cycl
e d
es
rap
po
rts
stra
tégi
que
s
nat
ion
aux
de
tou
s le
s Ét
ats
Mem
bre
s
dû
po
ur
la f
in d
e l´
anné
e 20
12;
Un
exe
rcic
e d
´éva
luat
ion
su
r la
mis
e en
ou
vre
pas
sée
et a
ctue
lle d
u p
rin
cip
e
d´i
nté
grat
ion
de
la d
imen
sio
n d
u ge
nre
dan
s le
cyc
le a
ctue
l.
2.
La c
on
trib
utio
n d
u F
SE à
l´ég
alit
é de
s ge
nre
s d
ans
le p
rése
nt
cycl
e d
épen
dra
én
orm
émen
t de
que
lle
man
ière
les
ress
ou
rces
plu
s lim
itée
s de
stin
ées
à l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res
sero
nt a
xées
su
r d
es q
ues
tion
s
de
pre
mie
r o
rdre
, no
tam
men
t le
deg
ré d
e co
mp
réh
ensi
on
et
appl
icat
ion
du
pri
nci
pe
d´
inté
grat
ion
de
la d
imen
sion
du
ge
nre
.
i)
Le n
ivea
u d
e co
nsid
érat
ion
de
la
pro
mo
tio
n d
e l´
égal
ité
des
ge
nre
s
dan
s la
p
rogr
amm
atio
n
du
FS
E
des
Ét
ats
mem
bre
s,
et
par
ticu
lière
men
t, l
´ap
plic
atio
n d
e
la
reco
mm
and
ée
‘dou
ble
app
roch
e’.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
39
II.
Sugg
esti
on
s p
ou
r l´
aven
ir
f)
À la
CE
,
Il fa
ud
rait
rec
ons
idér
er le
s ca
tégo
ries
des
dép
ense
s d
ans
la
Rég
lem
enta
tio
n
du
FSE
; il
con
vien
dra
it d
´avo
ir u
ne c
atég
ori
e
pri
nci
pal
e d
e d
épen
ses
enti
èrem
ent
con
sacr
ée
à o
rgan
iser
to
us
les
type
s
d´i
nit
iati
ves
des
tiné
es
à l´é
galit
é de
s
gen
res
et l
a p
ossi
bili
té
d´a
uto
rise
r de
s
sou
s-ca
tégo
ries
th
émat
ique
s
sup
plé
men
tair
es.
1.
En g
éné
ral,
les
do
nnée
s di
spon
ible
s in
diq
ue
nt q
ue
l´a
dop
tio
n d
e la
«d
oub
le a
pp
roch
e» p
ou
r
l´ég
alit
é d
es g
enre
s a
cond
uit
à u
ne
dim
inu
tio
n d
u s
ou
tien
des
init
iati
ves
axée
s su
r ce
tte
que
stio
n,
et à
une
au
gmen
tati
on
de
l´im
po
rtan
ce a
pp
ort
ée à
l´in
tégr
atio
n de
la d
imen
sio
n d
u ge
nre
(«g
ende
r
mai
nst
ream
ing»
). B
ien
que
on
pu
isse
th
éori
que
men
t m
ettr
e en
œu
vre
les
in
itia
tive
s d
esti
nées
à
l´ég
alit
é d
es g
en
res
dan
s d
´aut
res
caté
gori
es d
e d
épen
ses,
cel
a n
´est
pas
la
pri
nci
pal
e ra
iso
n d
e la
dim
inu
tio
n d
e ce
fin
ance
men
t sp
écif
ique
. Le
s an
alys
es a
u n
ivea
u n
atio
nal
on
t m
ontr
é q
ue le
s Ét
ats
mem
bre
s, e
n m
oye
nn
e, c
om
pten
t p
lus
sur
l´in
tégr
atio
n d
e la
dim
ensi
on
du
ge
nre
, et
que
cer
tain
s
État
s m
emb
res
con
sid
èren
t se
ule
men
t l´
égal
ité
entr
e h
om
mes
et
fem
mes
co
mm
e u
ne p
rio
rité
ho
rizo
nta
le.
i)
Le n
ivea
u d
e co
nsid
érat
ion
de
la
pro
mo
tio
n d
e l´
égal
ité
des
ge
nre
s
dan
s la
p
rogr
amm
atio
n
du
FS
E
de s
Éta
ts m
emb
res.
2.
La c
on
trib
utio
n d
u F
SE à
l´ég
alit
é de
s ge
nre
s d
ans
le p
rése
nt
cycl
e d
épen
dra
én
orm
émen
t de
que
lle
man
ière
les
ress
ou
rces
plu
s lim
itée
s de
stin
ées
à l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res
sero
nt a
xées
su
r d
es q
ues
tion
s
cru
cial
es,
nota
mm
ent
le d
egré
de
com
pré
hen
sion
et
app
licat
ion
du
pri
nci
pe
d´
inté
grat
ion
de
la
dim
ensi
on d
u g
en
re.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
40
g)
À la
CE.
Il fa
ud
rait
d
éfin
ir
et
pro
tége
r
form
elle
men
t un
es
pac
e d
édié
à
la
po
litiq
ue
de
l´in
no
vati
on
et
d
e
l´ex
pér
imen
tati
on
par
la
Rég
lem
enta
tio
n
du
FSE
.
20.
En g
éné
ral,
il ap
par
aît
que
la p
lup
art
des
par
ties
pre
nan
tes
juge
nt
d´u
ne
man
ière
po
siti
ve le
so
uti
en
qu
e le
FSE
do
nn
e à
l´ég
alit
é de
s ge
nre
s. C
ela
tien
t es
sen
tiel
lem
ent
à le
ur
exp
érie
nce
dan
s la
ph
ase
de
pro
gram
mat
ion
pré
céd
ente
. D
ans
le c
ycle
en
co
urs
, il
y a
auss
i qu
elq
ues
sig
nes
des
ren
dem
ents
déc
rois
sant
s et
des
ret
ou
rs e
n a
rriè
re. D
ans
la p
lup
art
des
État
s m
emb
res
et d
es P
O, l
e FS
E re
nfo
rce
les
stra
tégi
es d
´éga
lité
des
gen
res
au n
ivea
u n
atio
nal
et
régi
on
al d
éjà
fin
ancé
es a
u n
ivea
u lo
cal
ou
régi
onal
. D
e n
om
bre
ux
asp
ects
et
caus
es e
ssen
tiel
s n
e so
nt,
tout
efo
is,
pas
su
ffis
amm
ent
pri
s en
com
pte
par
les
pré
sen
ts P
O d
u FS
E.
iii)
Les
pri
ncip
aux
do
mai
nes
d´a
ctiv
ité
du
FSE
dan
s le
squ
els
est
créé
e o
u e
spér
ée u
ne
vale
ur
ajo
uté
e.
18.
Tout
efo
is,
les
État
s m
emb
res
n´o
nt
pas
dév
elo
pp
é ce
cad
re p
olit
ique
ou
vert
su
rtou
t pa
r le
FSE
d´u
ne
man
ière
aut
on
om
e av
ec le
mêm
e su
ccès
et
la m
ême
con
vict
ion
.
7.
Les
cau
ses
de
l´in
égal
ité
des
gen
res
rési
den
t d
ans
des
fact
eurs
plu
s p
rofo
nd
s n
on p
lein
emen
t
reco
nnu
s. R
égle
r ce
s fa
cte
urs
est
do
nc
pri
mo
rdia
l afi
n d
e m
aint
enir
l´ég
alit
é d
es g
enre
s, b
ien
qu
e le
cen
tre
d´a
tten
tio
n p
rin
cip
ale
aux
yeu
x d
u FS
E re
ste
le m
arch
é d
u tr
avai
l des
fem
mes
.
i)
Le n
ivea
u d
e co
nsid
érat
ion
de
la
pro
mo
tio
n
de
l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res
dan
s la
pro
gram
mat
ion
du
FSE
des
Ét
ats
mem
bre
s,
et
par
ticu
lière
men
t, l
´ap
plic
atio
n d
e
la
reco
mm
and
ée
"dou
ble
app
roch
e".
11.
L’ét
end
ue
d´a
pplic
atio
n d
es d
émar
ches
init
iati
ves
du
FSE
po
ur
les
égal
ités
du
gen
re e
n r
elat
ion
ave
c
d´a
utr
es a
ctio
ns r
éalis
ées
con
join
tem
ent
avec
les
po
litiq
ues
ren
forç
ant
les
imp
acts
po
ten
tiel
s es
t
plu
s di
ffic
ile à
éva
luer
. To
utef
ois
, u
ne
en
quêt
e p
lus
exh
aust
ive
devr
ait
être
réa
lisée
, ét
ant
don
né
qu
e le
s in
terv
enti
ons
inté
grée
s o
nt u
ne
gran
de
vale
ur
pou
r l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
41
h)
À la
CE
et a
ux
État
s M
emb
res,
Un
ré
équi
libra
ge
de
la
dir
ecti
on
de
s
effo
rts
dan
s la
do
ubl
e ap
pro
che
(à s
avo
ir,
qu
els
so
nt
les
but
s p
rin
cip
aux
des
init
iati
ves
des
tiné
es à
l´ég
alit
é de
s ge
nre
s
et le
s o
bje
ctif
s p
rin
cipa
ux
de
l´ap
plic
atio
n
de
l’in
tégr
atio
n
de
la
dim
ensi
on
d
u
gen
re)
dev
rait
êtr
e co
nsi
dér
é et
dis
cuté
entr
e la
C
om
mis
sio
n
et
les
État
s
mem
bre
s af
in
de
tire
r le
pl
us
gran
d
bén
éfic
e d
e la
st
raté
gie
de
la
do
ub
le
app
roch
e d
´éga
lité
des
gen
res.
Le
s
ob
ject
ifs
clés
, co
mm
e l´
empl
oya
bilit
é,
dev
raie
nt
être
co
nsi
dér
és
com
me
des
bu
ts d
e l´i
nté
grat
ion
de
la d
imen
sion
du
gen
re.
Les
init
iati
ves
des
tin
ées
à l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res
dev
raie
nt
être
ap
pliq
uées
au
x
autr
es
dim
ensi
ons
d
´éga
lité
entr
e
ho
mm
es
et
fem
mes
qu
i n
e so
nt
pas
con
sid
érée
s p
ar d
es a
utr
es i
niti
ativ
es e
t
qu
i n
e pe
uve
nt
pas
êt
re
faci
lem
ent
abo
rdée
s p
ar
les
pra
tiq
ues
de
l´in
tégr
atio
n d
e la
dim
ensi
on
du
gen
re.
6.
En c
e qu
i co
nce
rne
les
acti
on
s sp
écif
ique
s, l
e bu
t p
rin
cip
al v
isé
par
la p
lup
art
des
Éta
ts m
emb
res
con
tin
ue
à êt
re l
´acc
rois
sem
ent
de
la p
arti
cip
atio
n a
ctiv
e et
pro
duct
ive
des
fem
mes
su
r le
mar
ché
du
tra
vail.
L´i
ntér
êt f
ond
amen
tal d
u F
SE a
été
pen
dan
t lo
ngt
emps
aid
er le
s in
div
idus
dan
s l´
accè
s à
l´em
plo
i. To
ute
fois
, il f
aud
rait
éga
lem
ent
déve
lop
per
une
réf
lexi
on à
l´éc
helle
de
l´U
E su
r le
fai
t qu
e
le F
SE e
st e
t se
ra,
et d
ans
quel
le m
esu
re,
cap
able
de
sou
ten
ir u
ne
polit
iqu
e d
´éga
lité
des
gen
res
plu
s la
rge
qui
pu
isse
aff
ecte
r su
r le
lon
g-te
rme
à la
cré
atio
n d
e l
´em
plo
i (q
uel
typ
e et
où
) et
à l
a
cara
ctér
isat
ion
de
l´org
anis
atio
n d
u tr
avai
l.
i)
Le n
ivea
u d
e co
nsid
érat
ion
de
la
pro
mo
tio
n
de
l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res
dan
s la
pro
gram
mat
ion
du
FSE
des
Ét
ats
mem
bre
s,
et
par
ticu
lière
men
t, l
´ap
plic
atio
n d
e
la
reco
mm
and
ée
"dou
ble
app
roch
e".
7.
Les
cau
ses
de
l´in
égal
ité
entr
e ho
mm
es e
t fe
mm
es r
ésid
ent
dan
s d
es f
acte
urs
plu
s p
rofo
nd
s n
on
ple
inem
ent
reco
nn
us.
Rég
ler
ces
fact
eurs
est
don
c p
rim
ord
ial a
fin
de
mai
nte
nir
l´ég
alit
é d
es g
enre
s,
bie
n q
ue le
cen
tre
d´a
tten
tio
n p
rinc
ipal
au
x ye
ux
du
FSE
rest
e le
mar
ché
du
tra
vail
des
fem
mes
.
8.
L ´é
tud
e a
mis
en
lu
miè
re d
es a
utr
es d
iffi
cult
és e
xist
ant
dan
s l´
anal
yse
de
la p
rin
cip
ale
cau
se d
e
l´in
égal
ité
des
gen
res
dan
s d
e n
om
bre
ux
État
s m
emb
res.
En
gén
éral
, les
mes
ure
s ap
pro
pri
ées
pou
r
com
bat
tre
l´in
égal
ité
des
gen
res
dan
s se
s d
iffé
ren
tes
dim
ensi
on
s fo
nt
défa
ut,
et
une
co
nfia
nce
bie
n
tro
p c
ert a
ine
est
pla
cée
dan
s d
es i
ndi
cate
urs
d´o
rdre
gé
néra
l b
ien
in
suff
isan
ts
po
ur
fou
rnir
des
ori
enta
tio
ns
effi
cace
s.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
42
i)
À la
CE
et a
ux
État
s M
emb
res,
Les
init
iati
ves
des
tin
ées
vers
l´ég
alit
é de
s
gen
res
ne d
evra
ien
t p
as s
eule
men
t êt
re
des
tin
ées
aux
fem
mes
, m
ais
auss
i au
x
ho
mm
es,
aux
fact
eurs
éco
nom
iqu
es,
aux
acte
urs
so
ciau
x, p
olit
iqu
es e
t au
gra
nd
pu
blic
.
6.
En c
e qu
i co
nce
rne
les
acti
on
s sp
écif
ique
s, l
e bu
t p
rin
cip
al v
isé
par
la p
lup
art
des
Éta
ts m
emb
res
con
tin
ue
à êt
re l
´acc
rois
sem
ent
de
la p
arti
cip
atio
n a
ctiv
e et
pro
duct
ive
des
fem
mes
su
r le
mar
ché
du
tra
vail.
L´i
ntér
êt f
ond
amen
tal d
u F
SE a
été
pen
dan
t lo
ngt
emps
aid
er le
s in
div
idus
dan
s l´
accè
s à
l´em
plo
i. To
utef
ois
, il f
aud
rait
éga
lem
ent
un
e ré
flex
ion
à l´
éch
elle
de
l´U
E su
r le
fai
t q
ue le
FSE
est
et s
era ,
et
dan
s q
uelle
mes
ure
, cap
able
de
sou
ten
ir u
ne
po
litiq
ue d
´éga
lité
des
gen
res
plu
s la
rge
qu
i
pu
isse
aff
ecte
r su
r le
lon
g-te
rme
la c
réat
ion
de
l´em
plo
i (q
uel
typ
e et
où)
et
à la
car
acté
risa
tio
n d
e
l´o
rgan
isat
ion
du t
rava
il.
i)
Le n
ivea
u d
e co
nsid
érat
ion
de
la
pro
mo
tio
n
de
l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res
dan
s la
pro
gram
mat
ion
du
FSE
des
Ét
ats
mem
bre
s,
et
par
ticu
lière
men
t,
l´
appl
icat
ion
de
la
reco
mm
andé
e "d
oub
le
app
roch
e".
9.
Les
stra
tégi
es o
pér
ante
s p
ench
ent
enco
re p
lus
sur
une
app
roch
e ax
ée s
ur
la d
eman
de –
vis
ant
les
cap
acit
és d
es f
emm
es p
ou
r êt
re c
om
pét
itiv
es s
ur
le m
arch
é du
tra
vail
– qu
´une
app
roch
e ch
erch
ant
à ch
ange
r l´e
nvi
ron
nem
ent
cult
ure
l qu
i to
ut d
eux
form
ent
le c
arac
tère
des
déc
ideu
rs p
olit
iqu
es e
t
dét
erm
ine
l´év
enta
il d
es p
oss
ibili
tés
des
fem
mes
. B
ien
qu
e l´a
pp
roch
e ax
ée s
ur
la d
eman
de
pré
vale
, q
uelq
ues
Éta
ts m
emb
res
on
t él
abo
ré d
es s
trat
égie
s co
mb
inan
t d
es a
ctio
ns t
rava
illan
t su
r
les
cap
acit
és
des
fe
mm
es,
mai
s au
ssi
qu
elq
ues
ac
tio
ns
clai
rem
ent
des
tin
ées
à re
nfo
rcer
la
sen
sib
ilisa
tio
n e
t le
car
actè
re p
roac
tif
dan
s le
do
mai
ne
d´é
galit
é de
s ge
nre
s d
ans
un
envi
ron
nem
ent
soci
al, é
con
om
iqu
e et
inst
itu
tio
nne
l .
11.
L´ét
end
ue
d´a
ppl
icat
ion
des
dém
arch
es i
niti
ativ
es d
u F
SE p
our
les
égal
ités
des
gen
res
en r
elat
ion
avec
d´a
utr
es a
ctio
ns
réal
isée
s av
ec d
´au
tres
act
ion
s et
po
litiq
ues
ren
forç
ant
les
imp
acts
po
ten
tiel
s
est
plu
s d
iffi
cile
à é
valu
er. T
out
efo
is, u
ne
enq
uêt
e p
lus
exh
aust
ive
dev
rait
êtr
e o
pér
ée, é
tan
t d
on
né
qu
e le
s in
terv
enti
ons
inté
grée
s so
nt
un
atou
t p
réci
eux
pou
r l´é
galit
é de
s ge
nre
s.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
43
j)
À la
CE
et a
ux
État
s M
emb
res,
L´in
tégr
atio
n d
e la
dim
ensi
on d
u g
enre
dev
rait
êt
re
cara
ctér
isée
p
ar
un
p
lus
gran
d
pra
gmat
ism
e d
ans
la
Rég
ulat
ion
com
me
dan
s le
s D
irec
tive
s;
une
con
trib
uti
on
po
siti
ve
à l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res
doi
t êt
re e
xpre
ssém
ent
pré
cisé
e
et
effe
ctiv
emen
t m
ise
en
œu
vre
et
gara
nti
e au
mo
yen
d´u
ne c
arac
téri
sati
on
plu
s p
erti
nen
te
et
plu
s d
étai
llée
des
ob
ject
ifs
et
inst
rum
ents
(n
ivea
u
stra
tégi
qu
e)
et/o
u
en
exp
liqu
ant
les
exig
enc
es
app
rop
riée
s d
u p
roje
t,
qu
i
dev
raie
nt
être
déc
linée
s en
fon
ctio
n d
es
typ
es d
´init
iati
ves
con
cern
ées
(niv
eau
de
la m
ise
en œ
uvr
e).
4.
L ´i
mpo
rtan
ce d
e l´
inté
grat
ion
de
la d
imen
sion
du
gen
re e
st la
rgem
ent
reco
nnu
e, e
t la
plu
par
t d
es
Éta t
s m
emb
res
ont
fai
t d
e ré
els
effo
rts.
Cep
end
ant,
un
en
gage
men
t co
mm
un e
t cl
air
de c
es
fon
dem
ents
th
éori
que
s et
des
im
plic
atio
ns o
pér
atio
nn
elle
s n
´a p
as é
té e
nco
re a
ssu
mé.
P
ar
con
séq
uen
t, l
a p
lup
art
des
État
s m
emb
res
on
t ch
oisi
d´a
ppl
iqu
er l
e p
rin
cip
e d
´inté
grat
ion
de
la
dim
ensi
on d
es g
enre
s p
resq
ue e
xclu
sive
men
t d
ans
la p
has
e de
mis
e en
œu
vre
des
PO
, d
ans
laq
uel
le
la
sen
sibi
lisat
ion
des
p
rom
ote
urs
d
es
pro
jets
et
d
es
can
did
ats
sur
cett
e q
uest
ion
rep
rése
nte
un
su
jet
de
pré
occ
up
atio
n, a
insi
que
la lo
giq
ue
des
cri
tère
s d
e sé
lect
ion
et
la c
apac
ité
de
con
trôl
e d
es é
valu
ateu
rs d
es p
roje
ts.
i)
Le n
ivea
u d
e co
nsid
érat
ion
de
la
pro
mo
tio
n
de
l´
égal
ité
des
gen
res
dan
s la
pro
gram
mat
ion
du
FSE
des
Ét
ats
mem
bre
s,
et
par
ticu
lière
men
t,
l´
appl
icat
ion
de
la
reco
mm
andé
e "d
oub
le
app
roch
e".
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
44
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
Ziel der Untersuchung war die Bewertung der EFS Maßnahmen zur Förderung der
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter für die Förderperiode 2007-2013 auf der Basis verfügbarer
Nachweise über die Implementierung und die bisherigen Fortschritte des Programms.
Die Bewertung erfolgte im Hinblick auf die folgenden drei Aspekte:
i) der Umfang, in dem die Mitgliedsstaaten die Förderung der Gleichstellung der
Geschlechter bei der ESF-Programmplanung berücksichtigen, insbesondere die
Umsetzung des „dualen Ansatzes“, bei dem konkrete Fördermaßnahmen mit
Gender Mainstreaming Praktiken kombiniert werden;
ii) der Umfang, in dem die Förderung des Gleichstellungsziels bei der
Implementierung des Operativen Programms (OP) und bei der allgemeinen
Durchführung der Kontrolle des OPs, dem Kontrollsystem und den
Bewertungsmaßnahmen berücksichtigt worden ist;
iii) die Hauptbereiche, für die der ESF auf europäischer Ebene eine Verbesserung der
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter bewirkt oder in Zukunft bewirken sollte.
Der zusammenfassende Bericht der Untersuchung fasst Antworten auf diese
Bewertungsfragen zusammen, indem Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede in den Ansätzen
und Strategien der Mitgliedsstaaten beurteilt werden. Diese betreffen (i) die Bedeutung
und spezifische Charakterisierung des Gleichstellungsziels innerhalb der jeweiligen
Operativen Programme, (ii) vorläufige Nachweise hinsichtlich der bisherigen Umsetzung von
Strategien zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter und die geschlechtsspezifische Sensibilität bei
der Kontrolle, Bewertung und Organisation der Programme, und (iii) die wesentlichen
Aspekte, wie die ESF-Maßnahmen Verbesserungen im Hinblick auf die Gleichstellung der
Geschlechter bewirken oder in Zukunft bewirken sollen.
Der Bericht basiert im wesentliche auf dem Inhalt von 27 Länderberichten und 6
Themenberichten, die entsprechend einer speziell für die Untersuchung entwickelten
Methode erstellt wurden, sowie auf Informationen, die mit Hilfe eines an alle ESF-
Umsetzungsbehörden der Mitgliedsländer verteilten Fragebogens gesammelt wurden. Die
Bewertung erfolgte im Frühjahr 2010; die gesammelten Daten spiegeln daher die Situation
zum damaligen Zeitpunkt wieder.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
45
Wesentliche Ergebnisse und Schlussfolgerungen
i) Umfang, in dem die Förderung der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in der ESF-Programmplanung der Mitgliedsstaaten berücksichtigt wurde, insbesondere der empfohlene “duale Ansatz”, spezifische Fördermaßnahmen mit Gender Mainstreaming Praktiken zu
kombinieren
Zwischen den EU-Mitgliedsstaaten bestehen weiterhin große Unterschiede im Hinblick auf
die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter. Doch für keines der Länder kann das Ziel, dass die
Geschlechter in allen Bereichen des öffentlichen und privaten Lebens (gemessen nach dem
Gleichstellungsindex GEI) gleichermaßen vertreten, berechtigt und beteiligt sind, als
vollständig erreicht betrachtet werden. Alle Mitgliedsstaaten haben die Gleichstellung der
Geschlechter in ihren ESF OPs berücksichtigt. Die Gewichtung unterscheidet sich jedoch
zwischen den einzelnen Mitgliedsstaaten, zum Teil aufgrund ihrer unterschiedlichen
Ausgangslage bei der bereits verwirklichten Gleichstellung der Geschlechter und aufgrund
der über die EU-Zuschüsse hinausgehenden eigenen finanziellen Möglichkeiten.
Betrachtet man die ESF-Förderung spezifischer Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter (näherungsweise für die wichtigste Ausgabenkategorie, die
von den Vorschriften betroffen ist), standen den Ländern bis zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt der
Förderperiode weitere Eigenmittel in Höhe von 0 bis 18 Prozent der jeweiligen EFS-
Zuschüsse der EU zur Verfügung. Die Bedeutung der Gleichstellungsziele wird von nahezu
allen ESF-Behörden als relativ hoch eingestuft, jedoch mit einer etwas größeren Gewichtung
in den Mitgliedsstaaten, in denen der Gleichstellungsindex (GE) niedriger und somit der
Handlungsbedarf größer ist.
1. Insgesamt deuten die verfügbaren Daten darauf hin, dass die Umsetzung des “dualen
Ansatzes” bei der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter zu einer Abnahme der
geschlechtsspezifischen Fördermaßnahmen und einer größeren Gewichtung des
Gender Mainstreaming geführt hat. Die Gesamtsumme der ESF-Förderungsmittel für
die wichtigste Ausgabenkategorie zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter ist zwischen der
vorhergehenden (2000-2006) und der laufenden Förderperiode (2007-2013) um über
eine Milliarde Euro zurückgegangen. Obgleich geschlechterspezifische Maßnahmen
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
46
theoretisch auch anderen Ausgabenkategorien zugeschrieben werden können, ist das
nicht der Hauptgrund für den Rückgang der spezifischen Förderung. Untersuchungen
auf Länderebene haben bestätigt, dass die Mitgliedsstaaten im Durchschnitt sehr viel
mehr als in der Vergangenheit auf Gender Mainstreaming setzen, und dass für einige
Mitgliedsstaaten die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter nur eine langfristige Priorität ist.
2. Der Beitrag des ESF zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in der laufenden
Förderperiode hängt wesentlich davon ab, wie die vergleichsweise geringeren Mittel
für Maßnahmen zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter für kritische Themen eingesetzt
werden, und wie das Prinzip des Gender Mainstreaming allgemein verstanden und
erfolgreich umgesetzt wird. Sowohl in Bezug auf spezifische Maßnahmen als auch auf
die Umsetzung des Prinzips des Gender Mainstreaming ergibt sich aus der Studie ein
vielseitiges Bild mit positiven und besorgniserregenden Erkenntnissen.
3. Positiv zu werten ist das nahezu überall vorhandene Bewusstsein, dass die
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter ein weitreichendes Ziel ist, dessen Verfolgung
dedizierte und spezialisierte Fachkenntnisse erfordert. Nicht in allen Mitgliedsstaaten
und bei allen zuständigen Behörden konnten diese Fachkenntnisse dauerhaft
sichergestellt werden, und eine Infrastruktur, die über hinreichendes Wissen zur
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter verfügt und Bedarf und Mittel aufeinander
abstimmen und deren Verteilung übernehmen kann, ist nicht vorhanden. Auch die
Mitarbeiterschulung zu Themen der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter scheint sich in den
einzelnen Mitgliedsstaaten stark zu unterscheiden und viele investieren noch immer
nicht ausreichend in die Steigerung ihrer internen Kapazität.
4. Die Bedeutung des Gender Mainstreaming wird weitgehend anerkannt und in fast
allen Mitgliedsstaaten wurden echte Anstrengungen unternommen. Dennoch besteht
noch kein klares Verständnis der theoretischen Grundlagen und operativen
Implikationen. Theoretisch ließe sich Gender Mainstreaming in beiden Hauptphasen
des OPs anwenden: bei der Erarbeitung der Strategie und bei deren Umsetzung. Was die
strategische Ausrichtung anbelangt, verfolgen die Mitgliedsstaaten neben spezifischen
Zielen und Maßnahmen zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in Folge der ESF-
Interventionen zahlreiche wertvolle Ziele. Diese werden jedoch im Wesentlichen eher
generell und geschlechtsneutral ausgedrückt. Daher haben sich die meisten
Mitgliedsstaaten in der Praxis entschlossen, in der Umsetzungsphase des OPs nahezu
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
47
ausschließlich das Prinzip des Gender Mainstreamings zu verfolgen, indem sie
gewährleisten, dass bei der Entscheidung, welche Projekte ESF-Mittel erhalten, auf die
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter geachtet wird. Die Mechanismen, die sicherstellen
sollen, dass Projekte das Prinzip der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter beachten, sind sehr
unterschiedlich, und nicht alle scheinen wirksam zu sein. In dieser Hinsicht ist das
unterschiedliche Verständnis der Geschlechtersensibilität von denjenigen, die die
Projekte fördern, und denjenigen, die sie beantragen, ein besonderer Grund zur
Besorgnis, ebenso wie die Logik der Projekt-Auswahlkriterien und die Fähigkeit der für
die Projektauswahl Zuständigen, Anträge gründlich zu prüfen.
5. Einige Mitgliedsstaaten wenden interessante Unterstützungspraktiken mit einem eher
proaktiven Ansatz zur Verbesserung des Gender Mainstreaming auf Projektebene an.
Diese Praktiken beschränken sich nicht darauf, schriftliche Richtlinien für Antragsteller
bereitzustellen oder formelle geschlechtersensible Anforderungen festzulegen,
sondern gehen so weit, spezielle Hilfestellungen anzubieten und/oder öffentliche
Veranstaltungen zu organisieren, um die am besten geeigneten Antragsteller zu
gewinnen.
6. Die meisten Mitgliedsstaaten fördern mit spezifischen Maßnahmen nach wie
hauptsächlich die vermehrte aktive und produktive Teilnahme von Frauen am
Arbeitsmarkt. Häufig erfolgt dies über die Förderung weiblichen Unternehmertums;
unter Umständen richtet sich diese Förderung gezielt an Gruppen besonders
benachteiligter Frauen (aufgrund ihrer ethnischen Herkunft, als Alleinerziehende oder
als Bewohner unterprivilegierter Wohngegenden etc.). Die Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und
Familie ist oft ein konkretes Ziel. Bei genauerer Prüfung wird jedoch deutlich, dass es
sich oft um einen zusätzlichen Anreiz zur Teilnahme am Arbeitsmarkt handelt. Sehr viel
weniger verbreitet und häufig nur bei der Umsetzung in Pilot- oder Kleinprojekten
beachtet werden Ziele im Hinblick auf Diskriminierung bei der Ausbildung, kulturelle
und soziale Stereotypen, häusliche und kriminelle Gewalt, Gelichberechtigung der
Frauen und weibliche Armut. Einzelnen Personen den Zugang zum Arbeitsmarkt zu
ermöglichen, war lange Zeit ein Kerninteresse des ESF, jedoch sollte auf EU-Ebene
darüber nachgedacht werden, ob und in welchem Maß der ESF in der Lage ist bzw.
sein wird, eine breiter angelegte Politik der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter zu fördern
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
48
und langfristig auch die Art und Weise zu beeinflussen, wie Arbeitsplätze entstehen
(Art und Ort) und wie Arbeit organisiert wird.
7. Die Ursachen für die mangelnde Gleichberechtigung der Geschlechter, die oft nur als
unbefriedigende Arbeitsmarktsituation der Frauen wahrgenommen wird, liegen tiefer
und beruhen auf nicht überall anerkannten Faktoren. Sie hängen mit sozialen und
kulturellen Normen zusammen, die nicht nur die Chancen des Einzelnen beeinflussen,
sondern selbst innerhalb der EU noch für die Interaktion zwischen gesellschaftlichen
Gruppen und für kollektive Maßnahmen gelten und die Rollen der Geschlechter ungleich
beeinflussen. Diese Faktoren sind deshalb von kritischer Bedeutung für die nachhaltige
Förderung der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter, selbst wenn sich der ESF weiterhin auf
die Arbeitsmarktsituation der Frauen konzentriert.
8. In vielen Mitgliedsstaaten deckte die Studie Schwierigkeiten bei der Analyse der
Hauptursachen für die Ungleichbehandlung der Geschlechter auf. Solche
Schwierigkeiten treten im Zusammenhang mit der Analyse des Ziels „bessere
Beschäftigungsmöglichkeiten für Frauen“ auf. In der Regel fehlen geeignete
Messgrößen für die Ungleichbehandlung der Geschlechter und Indikatoren, die nur
unzureichende Richtlinien für Veränderungen sein können, kommt eine viel zu große
Bedeutung zu.
9. Wichtige Strategien gehen nach wie vor vom Angebot aus und richten sich an die
„Fähigkeit von Frauen, auf dem Arbeitsmarkt wettbewerbsfähig zu sein“, statt zu
versuchen, das sozio-kulturelle Umfeld zu verändern, das sowohl das Verhalten
wichtiger Entscheidungsträger als auch die Beschäftigungsmöglichkeiten für Frauen
bestimmt. Diese Politik kann zur Folge haben, dass die Ursachen für die
Ungleichbehandlung der Geschlechter oder Schwierigkeiten bei der Erarbeitung neuer,
nicht auf die Stärkung des Humankapitals ausgerichteter Maßnahmen, nicht
wahrgenommen werden. Dennoch bietet sich in den einzelnen Mitgliedsstaaten ein
sehr unterschiedliches Bild und es gibt Anzeichen für Veränderungen. Obgleich der
angebotsorientierte Ansatz weiterhin vorherrscht, haben einige Mitgliedsstaaten
Strategien entwickelt, die Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Fähigkeiten von Frauen
nicht nur mit traditionellen Maßnahmen auf “Nachfrageseite” kombinieren, indem
Unternehmen aufgefordert werden, Frauen einzustellen, sondern auch mit einzelnen
Maßnahmen (zum Beispiel Coaching, Schulung oder Networking), die klarer auf die
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
49
Stärkung der Sensibilität und Proaktivität zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter im
sozialen, wirtschaftlichen und institutionellen Umfeld ausgerichtet sind.
10. Einige Mitgliedsstaaten arbeiten an einer direkten Veränderung ihres
Politikverständnisses und haben die „Fähigkeit zum Gender Mainstreaming“ als Ziel per
se festgesetzt, wobei Maßnahmen vorgesehen sind, mit denen die Sensibilität von
öffentlichem Dienst und Politik gegenüber der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter
flächendeckend und über die traditionelle Reichweite des ESF hinaus erhöht werden
soll.
11. Das Ausmaß, in dem ESF-Initiativen zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter gemeinsam
mit anderen Maßnahmen und Richtlinien zur Stärkung potenzieller Auswirkungen
erfolgen, ist schwerer zu beurteilen, auch wenn es Fälle von
Kinderbetreuungsleistungen gibt, bei denen ESF-Maßnahmen in Kombination mit
anderen, nicht nur vom ERDF, sondern auch von anderen nationalen/regionalen Quellen
geförderten Maßnahmen erfolgen. Dennoch sollte dies genauer untersucht werden, da
integrierte Maßnahmen (bei denen nichtmaterielle Maßnahmen für den Einzelnen wie
zum Beispiel vom ESF mit anderen strukturellen Maßnahmen kombiniert werden) einen
wertvollen Beitrag zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter leisten.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
50
ii) Umfang, in dem die Förderung des Gleichstellungsziels bei der Implementierung des
Operativen Programms (OP) umgesetzt wurde und bei der allgemeinen Durchführung der
Kontrolle des OPs, dem Kontrollsystem und den Bewertungsmaßnahmen berücksichtigt
wurde
Bei den meisten OPs des ESF begann die Umsetzungsphase erst Mitte 2008, in einigen Fällen
sogar noch später. Daher können zur Frage, in welchem Maß die Gleichstellung der
Geschlechter in der Umsetzungsphase berücksichtigt wird, nur vorläufige Aussagen gemacht
werden.
12. Die zur Verfügung stehenden Daten ergeben, dass die Umsetzung der Maßnahmen zur
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in der Mehrheit der Mitgliedsstaaten langsamer
angelaufen ist als bei anderen OPs des ESF, oder dass bei der Umsetzung der
Maßnahmen zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter Hindernisse auftraten.
13. In einer begrenzten Anzahl von Mitgliedsstaaten sind in Folge der Wirtschaftskrise
größere Probleme bei der Umsetzung der ESF-Strategie zur Gleichstellung der
Geschlechter aufgetreten. Gewichtung und Ressourcen verschoben sich vom Ziel der
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in Richtung auf eher allgemeine, aktive
arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahmen, die auf die größer werdende Zahl der Arbeitslosen
ausgerichtet sind.
14. Wenngleich sich in den verschiedenen Mitgliedsstaaten ein unterschiedliches Bild
ergibt, könnten einige Schwierigkeiten darauf hindeuten, dass dem Ziel der
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter nicht der gebührende Stellenwert beigemessen wird.
Strategien zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter werden praktisch nie als autonome,
formell geförderte Prioritäten der OPs geschützt und sind potenziell dem Risiko
ausgesetzt, von dringenderen Prioritäten überholt oder geschwächt zu werden, weil die
Verwaltung Probleme bei der Bearbeitung großer Programme mit vielen Zielen hat. In
dieser Hinsicht könnte viel erreicht werden, wenn das volle Potenzial der
Mechanismen ausgeschöpft wird, die zur nachhaltigen Wahrnehmung und Umsetzung
der Gleichstellungsziele entwickelt wurden, um Ziele für die Kontrolle der Programme,
das Kontrollsystem und die die Bewertungsmaßnahmen zu gewährleisten. Dieser Weg
scheint für alle Mitgliedsstaaten praktikabel, vor allem in Anbetracht der Tatsache,
dass Beauftragte zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in allen Kontrollkomitees der OPs
des ESF vorgeschrieben sind, und sich dies in den meisten Fällen auch auf
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
51
Nichtregierungsorganisationen erstreckt, die im Bereich der Gleichstellung der
Geschlechter tätig sind.
15. Im Bereich der Bewertungsmaßnahmen konnte in nahezu allen Mitgliedsstaaten ein
großes Interesse für das Thema Gleichstellung der Geschlechter festgestellt werden. In
einigen Mitgliedsstaaten bestehen insbesondere Pläne für die fortlaufende
Effektivitätsbewertung der gewählten Strategien und Instrumente zum Gender
Mainstreaming.
iii) Hauptbereiche, für die der ESF auf europäischer Ebene eine Verbesserung im Hinblick
auf die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter bewirkt oder in Zukunft bewirken sollte
16. Zweifelsohne spielte die EU, und insbesondere die ESF-Maßnahmen, eine
Schlüsselrolle dabei, dass in den meisten Mitgliedsstaaten das Bewusstsein für die
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter ein aktiver Bestandteil der Politik geworden ist, und
dass die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in vielen Ländern nachhaltig thematisiert
wurde. Diese Rolle wird von allen Akteuren und Beteiligten weitgehend anerkannt.
17. Die zwei Bereiche, für die der ESF weitgehend anerkannte Verbesserungen gebracht
hat, sind die Förderung der anerkannten und autonomen politischen Thematisierung
der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter und die Schaffung diesbezüglicher Kapazitäten.
18. Die von der ESF geschaffene Kapazität wurde jedoch nicht in allen Mitgliedsstaaten
gleichermaßen erfolgreich und überzeugend gefüllt. Zum Beispiel wurde der
partnerschaftliche Ansatz zwischen Frauenorganisationen und –Institutionen, der in der
Vergangenheit durch die vom ESF finanzierte EQUAL-Initiative gefördert wurde,
allgemein begrüßt, aber seit er von der EU nicht mehr gefördert wird, weitestgehend
aufgegeben. Das Ende von EQUAL wird von vielen Beteiligten in zahlreichen
Mitgliedsstaaten sehr bedauert.
19. Für einige Mitgliedsstaaten waren die ESF-Mittel auch unter reinen Budget-
Gesichtspunkten sehr wichtig (und sind es noch immer). Die Verfügbarkeit von ESF-
Mitteln hat die Umsetzung von Maßnahmen, für die sonst keine finanziellen Mittel zur
Verfügung standen, ermöglicht.
20. Insgesamt bewerten die meisten Beteiligten die Unterstützung des ESF für die
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter positiv. Dies hat meist mit ihrer Erfahrung aus der
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
52
vorangegangenen Förderperiode zu tun, als der ESF dazu beitrug, die Erwartungen an
die Bedeutung der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter zu erhöhen. Für die laufende
Förderperiode ergibt die Analyse, dass es trotz der anhaltenden Kapazität des ESF,
Verbesserungen durch die Fortsetzung einiger bereits in früheren Förderperioden
finanzierter Ziele und Maßnahmen zu bewirken, auch einige Anzeichen für
nachlassende Ergebnisse oder Rückschläge gibt. Die Analyse zeigt insbesondere, dass
obwohl der EFS in einigen Mitgliedsstaaten Strategien und Maßnahmen ergänzt und
verändert, um das Spektrum der Ziele zu erweitern und Lernen zu begünstigen, der EFS
in den meisten Mitgliedsstaaten und OPs lediglich nationale oder regionale Strategien
zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter stärkt, die bereits auf nationaler oder regionaler
Ebene finanziert werden. Viele wesentliche Aspekte und Ursachen der
Ungleichbehandlung der Geschlechter werden in den derzeitigen EFS-OPs jedoch nicht
ausreichend berücksichtigt, und die durchgeführten Maßnahmen scheinen nach wie vor
zu sehr auf die Angebotsseite ausgerichtet zu sein und sich weniger an dem sozio-
ökonomischen Kontext und Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Gruppen zu orientieren. Es
ist daher wichtig, auf die Tatsache hinzuweisen, dass der ESF einen gewissen Teil seiner
Innovationskraft verliert.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
53
Empfehlungen
In diesem Abschnitt werden Empfehlungen mit Bezug auf die im vorausgehenden Abschnitt
diskutierten Erkenntnisse und Schlussfolgerungen gegeben. Zur besseren Darstellung ist
auch eine Tabelle enthalten, in welcher der Zusammenhang zwischen den Erkenntnissen
und den Schlussfolgerungen einerseits und den Empfehlungen andererseits aufgezeigt wird.
I. Nachstehende Empfehlungen sind Vorschläge zur Verbesserung oder Stärkung der
Umsetzung der Strategien zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter.
Für die Mitgliedsstaaten:
a. Sofern noch nicht erfolgt, wird für OP-Aktivitäten die Schaffung dauerhafter
Strukturen oder die explizite Übertragung der Zuständigkeit für Fragen der
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter an bestehende Einrichtungen empfohlen.
Diese Kapazitäten brauchen nicht sehr groß zu sein, wichtig ist vor allem, dass
die OPs sich auf einen Bezugspunkt verlassen können, auch um etwaigen Input
aus anderen, externen Fach- und Beratungsquellen bestmöglich zu nutzen, und
um einen ständig verfügbaren Ansprechpartner für Fragen zu haben, die sich
aus den verschiedenen Organisationsbereichen ergeben können, die mit der
Leitung oder Ausführung der OPs befasst sind (ein häufiger Fall bei finanziell
großen OPs). [In Zusammenhang mit Erkenntnissen und Schlussfolgerungen aus
Teil 3].
b. Da der wichtigste Einfluss und Verbesserungen vermutlich von der wirksamen
Umsetzung des Gender Mainstreaming-Prinzips ausgehen, werden außerdem
allgemeine Selbstevaluierungen, Evaluierungsstudien oder zumindest eine
strukturierte Beurteilung der Anwendung des Gender Mainstreaming-Prinzips
empfohlen. Diese sind für eine praktische und direkte Beurteilung nützlicher als
generelle Forderungen, bei allen Bewertungsaktivitäten eine langfristige
Priorität für die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter zu berücksichtigen. [In
Zusammenhang mit Erkenntnissen und Schlussfolgerungen aus Teil 14 und 15]
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
54
c. Ebenfalls empfohlen wird eine genaue Beobachtung der Funktionsweise von
Kontrollsystemen und Datenbeschaffung in der Praxis, um eine klare
Darstellung der Vorgehensweise der OPs bezüglich der Gleichstellung der
Geschlechter zu erhalten, und zwar sowohl aus Gründen der Transparenz als
auch als erforderliche Voraussetzung für nutzbringenden Bewertungen. [In
Zusammenhang mit Erkenntnissen und Schlussfolgerungen aus Teil 12, 13, 14
und 15]
d. Es sollten Maßnahmen ergriffen werden, um die Projektbeteiligung geeigneter
Antragsteller zu fördern, die über Fachkenntnisse im Bereich Gleichstellung
der Geschlechter verfügen. Die Organisation öffentlicher Veranstaltungen für
solche potenziellen Projekt-Antragsteller zur klaren Kommunikation über
Möglichkeiten, Anforderungen und Erwartungen wird besonders empfohlen. [In
Zusammenhang mit Erkenntnissen und Schlussfolgerungen aus Teil 5]
Für die Europäische Kommission:
e. Die Europäische Kommission könnte mehr Aufmerksamkeit für die wirksame
Anwendung des Gender Mainstreaming (von der in dieser Planungsperiode die
größten Verbesserungen in Europa zu erwarten sind) fördern, indem sie
überlegt, i) dass alle Mitgliedsstaaten sich in den nächsten, Ende 2012
vorzulegenden Strategieberichten insbesondere darauf konzentrieren, wie
Gender Mainstreaming umgesetzt wurde, (ii) eine völlig auf die in dieser
Förderperiode bereits umgesetzte und noch laufende Umsetzung des Gender
Mainstreaming-Prinzips konzentrierte Bewertung zu fordern. [In
Zusammenhang mit Erkenntnissen und Schlussfolgerungen aus Teil 2]
II. Nachfolgende Empfehlungen sind Vorschläge für die Zukunft.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
55
Für die Europäische Kommission:
f. Zur genaueren Bewertung des Umfangs, in dem die Mitgliedsstaaten
Maßnahmen zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter entwickeln und umsetzen, ist
eine neue Beurteilung der Ausgabenkategorien in den ESF-Richtlinien
notwendig, da die derzeit von der EU vorgenommene Einstufung der
Ausgabenkategorien scheinbar nicht immer einstimmig ausgelegt wird. Für die
Zukunft wird empfohlen, eine Haupt-Ausgabenkategorie für alle Arten von
Maßnahmen im Bereich der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter vorzusehen. Um
nähere Informationen zur Förderung zu erhalten, können zusätzliche
thematische Unterkategorien eingerichtet werden (zur besseren qualifizierten
Beurteilung hinsichtlich der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter). [Link zu
Erkenntnissen und Schlussfolgerungen aus Abs. 1 und 2]
g. Die ESF-Richtlinien sollten einen formellen Spielraum für Innovation und
Experimente vorsehen. [In Zusammenhang mit Erkenntnissen und
Schlussfolgerungen aus Teil 7, 11, 18 und 20]
Für die Europäische Kommission und die Mitgliedsstaaten
h. Eine gewisse Neuausrichtung der Bemühungen im dualen Ansatz (zum Beispiel
in Bezug auf das Hauptziel der Maßnahmen zur Gleichstellung der
Geschlechter und Identifikation der vorrangigen Ziele der Anwendung des
Gender Mainstreaming) sollte in Betracht gezogen und von der Kommission
und den Mitgliedsstaaten diskutiert werden, um die Strategie des dualen
Ansatzes bei der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter optimal zu nutzen. Die
Kernziele des ESF wie Arbeitsfähigkeit sollten im Wesentlichen als Ziele des
Gender Mainstreaming betrachtet werden. Besondere Maßnahmen des
Gender Mainstreaming sollten vorrangig auf andere Aspekte der
Gleichstellung der Geschlechter (als die Arbeitsfähigkeit) ausgerichtet sein (wie
z. B. geschlechtsspezifische Stereotypen; vertikale und horizontale
Arbeitstrennung; Gleichberechtigung von Frauen im öffentlichen Leben), die
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
56
nicht explizit von anderen Initiativen behandelt und nicht durch Praktiken des
Gender Mainstreaming gefördert werden. [In Zusammenhang mit
Erkenntnissen und Schlussfolgerungen aus Teil 6, 7 und 8]
i. Besondere Maßnahmen zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter sollten nicht nur
als speziell auf Frauen ausgerichtete Maßnahmen geplant werden, sondern
aus einer breiteren Perspektive betrachtet werden, so beispielsweise aus Sicht
von Männern, Schlüsselfiguren aus Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft,
Entscheidungsträgern und der allgemeinen Öffentlichkeit. [In Zusammenhang
mit Erkenntnissen und Schlussfolgerungen aus Teil 6, 9 und 11]
j. Gender Mainstreaming seinerseits sollte in den Vorschriften oder Richtlinien
pragmatischer verfolgt werden. In anderen Worten: Die Anwendung des
Gender Mainstreaming könnte gefördert werden, indem seine Auswirkungen
sowohl auf strategischer als auch auf Umsetzungs-Ebene deutlicher gemacht
werden. Dies könnte über den Vorschlag erfolgen, dass bei der Anwendung des
Gender Mainstreaming (ganz oder als Teil eines Programms) ein positiver
Beitrag zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter explizit angegeben und auch
tatsächlich erbracht werden muss. Dieser Beitrag könnte über angemessene
und detaillierte Merkmale der Ziele und Instrumente (strategische Ebene)
und/oder geeignete Projektanforderungen definiert werden, die entsprechend
der damit in Zusammenhang stehenden Maßnahmen zu unterscheiden sind
(Umsetzungsebene). [In Zusammenhang mit zu Erkenntnissen und
Schlussfolgerungen aus Teil 4]
Evalu
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n,
Eval
uier
ungs
stu
die
n o
der
zum
ind
est
ein
e
Form
der
str
ukt
uri
erte
n B
eurt
eilu
ng
der
An
wen
du
ng
des
Gen
de
r M
ains
trea
min
g-
Pri
nzi
ps
14.
Wen
ngl
eich
sic
h i
n d
en v
ersc
hie
den
en M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
ein
un
ters
chie
dlic
hes
Bild
erg
ibt,
kö
nnt
en
ein
ige
Sch
wie
rigk
eite
n d
arau
f h
ind
eut
en,
das
s d
em Z
iel
der
Gle
ich
stel
lun
g d
er G
esch
lech
ter
nic
ht
der
geb
üh
ren
de S
telle
nw
ert
bei
gem
esse
n w
ird.
In
die
ser
Hin
sich
t kö
nnte
vie
l er
reic
ht w
erd
en
,
wen
n
das
vo
lle
Pote
nzi
al
der
M
ech
anis
men
au
sges
chö
pft
w
ürd
e,
die
zu
r n
achh
alti
gen
Wah
rneh
mun
g u
nd
Um
setz
ung
der
Gle
ichs
tellu
ngs
ziel
e en
twic
kelt
wu
rden
, u
m d
ie Z
iele
fü
r d
ie
Ko
ntr
olle
der
Pro
gram
me,
das
Ko
ntro
llsys
tem
un
d d
ie B
ewer
tung
smaß
nah
men
zu
gew
äh
rlei
sten
.
Die
ser
Weg
sch
eint
fü
r al
le M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
pra
ktik
abel
. ii)
Um
fan
g,
in
dem
d
ie
Förd
eru
ng
des
G
leic
hst
ellu
ngsz
iels
b
ei
der
Imp
lem
enti
eru
ng
des
Op
erat
iven
Pro
gram
ms
(OP
) u
mge
setz
t
wu
rde
un
d b
ei d
er a
llge
mei
nen
Du
rch
füh
rung
de
r Ko
ntr
olle
d
es
OP
s,
dem
K
ontr
olls
yste
m
und
den
B
ewer
tung
smaß
nah
men
ber
ück
sich
tigt
wu
rde.
15.
Im
Ber
eich
d
er
Bew
ertu
ngs
maß
nah
men
ko
nnt
e in
n
ahez
u
alle
n
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
ein
groß
es
Inte
ress
e fü
r d
as
Them
a G
leic
hste
llun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r fe
stge
stel
lt
wer
den
. In
ei
nige
n
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en b
este
hen
ins
bes
ond
ere
Plä
ne
für
die
fort
lauf
end
e E
ffek
tivi
täts
bew
ertu
ng
der
gew
ählt
en S
trat
egie
n u
nd
Inst
rum
ente
zu
m G
end
er M
ains
trea
min
g.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
58
c)
Für
die
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en.
Eine
ge
nau
e B
eob
ach
tun
g d
er
Fun
ktio
nsw
eise
vo
n
Ko
ntro
llsys
tem
en
un
d D
aten
besc
haf
fung
in
der
Pra
xis,
um
ein
e kl
are
Dar
stel
lun
g d
er
Vo
rgeh
ensw
eise
d
er
Ope
rati
ven
Pro
gram
me
zur
Gle
ich
stel
lun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r zu
erh
alte
n.
12.
Die
Um
setz
ung
der
Maß
nah
men
zu
r G
leic
hst
ellu
ng
der
Ges
chle
chte
r is
t in
der
Meh
rhei
t d
er
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en la
ngs
amer
an
gela
ufen
als
bei
and
eren
Tei
len
der
OP
s d
es E
SF,
ii)
Um
fan
g,
in
dem
d
ie
Förd
eru
ng
des
G
leic
hst
ellu
ngsz
iels
b
ei
der
Imp
lem
enti
eru
ng
des
Op
erat
iven
Pro
gram
ms
(OP
) u
mge
setz
t
wu
rde
un
d b
ei d
er a
llge
mei
nen
Du
rch
füh
rung
de
r Ko
ntr
olle
d
es
OP
s,
de
m
Kon
trol
lsys
tem
un
d
den
B
ewer
tung
smaß
nah
men
ber
ück
sich
tigt
wu
rde.
13.
In e
iner
beg
ren
zten
Anz
ahl
von
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
sin
d
in F
olg
e d
er W
irts
chaf
tskr
ise
grö
ßere
Pro
ble
me
bei
der
Um
setz
ung
der
ESF
-Str
ateg
ie z
ur
Gle
ichs
tellu
ng
der
Ges
chle
chte
r au
fget
rete
n.
14.
Wen
ngl
eich
sic
h i
n d
en v
ersc
hied
enen
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en e
in u
nte
rsch
ied
lich
es B
ild e
rgib
t, k
ön
nten
ein
ige
Sch
wie
rigk
eite
n d
arau
f h
ind
eut
en,
das
s d
em Z
iel
der
Gle
ich
stel
lun
g d
er G
esch
lech
ter
nic
ht
der
geb
üh
ren
de S
telle
nw
ert
bei
gem
esse
n w
ird.
In
die
ser
Hin
sich
t kö
nnte
vie
l er
reic
ht w
erd
en,
wen
n
das
vo
lle
Pote
nzi
al
der
M
ech
anis
men
au
sges
chö
pft
w
ürd
e,
die
zu
r n
achh
alti
gen
Wah
rneh
mun
g un
d U
mse
tzu
ng
der
Gle
ichs
tellu
ngs
ziel
e en
twic
kelt
wu
rden
, u
m d
ie Z
iele
fü
r di
e
Ko
ntr
olle
der
Pro
gram
me,
das
Ko
ntro
llsys
tem
un
d d
ie B
ewer
tung
smaß
nah
men
zu
gew
ährl
eist
en.
Die
ser
Weg
sch
eint
fü
r al
le M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
pra
ktik
abel
.
15.
Im
Ber
eich
d
er
Bew
ertu
ngs
maß
nah
men
ko
nnt
e in
n
ahez
u
alle
n
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
ein
groß
es
Inte
ress
e fü
r d
as
Them
a G
leic
hste
llun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r fe
stge
stel
lt
wer
den
. In
ei
nige
n
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en b
este
hen
ins
bes
ond
ere
Plä
ne
für
die
fort
lauf
end
e E
ffek
tivi
täts
bew
ertu
ng
der
gew
ählt
en S
trat
egie
n u
nd
Inst
rum
ente
zu
m G
end
er M
ains
trea
min
g.
d)
Für
die
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en.
Es s
ollt
en M
aßn
ahm
en e
rgri
ffen
wer
den
,
um
d
ie
Pro
jekt
bete
iligu
ng
geei
gnet
er
An
trag
stel
ler
zu
förd
ern
, d
ie
über
Fach
ken
ntn
isse
im B
erei
ch G
leic
hste
llun
g
der
Ges
chle
chte
r ve
rfüg
en
.
5.
Eini
ge M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
wen
den
in
tere
ssan
te U
nte
rstü
tzu
ngs
pra
ktik
en m
it e
inem
eh
er p
roak
tive
n
An
satz
zu
r V
erb
esse
run
g d
es
Gen
de
r M
ain
stre
amin
g au
f P
roje
kteb
ene
an.
Die
se
Pra
ktik
en
bes
chrä
nke
n
sich
ni
cht
dar
auf,
sc
hri
ftlic
he
Ric
htlin
ien
fü
r A
ntra
gste
ller
bere
itzu
stel
len
od
er
form
elle
ge
sch
lech
ters
ensi
ble
A
nfo
rder
un
gen
fe
stzu
lege
n,
son
de
rn
gehe
n
sow
eit,
sp
ezie
lle
Hilf
este
llun
gen
an
zub
iete
n u
nd
/ode
r ö
ffen
tlic
he V
eran
stal
tun
gen
zu
org
anis
iere
n,
um
die
am
bes
ten
gee
ign
eten
Ant
rags
telle
r zu
gew
inn
en.
i)
Um
fan
g,
in
dem
d
ie
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
die
Förd
eru
ng
der
G
leic
hste
llun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r be
i d
er
ESF-
Pro
gram
mp
lanu
ng
ber
ück
sich
tige
n,
insb
eso
nde
re
die
Um
setz
ung
des
em
pfo
hlen
en
„du
alen
An
satz
es“.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
59
e)
Für
die
EU
.
Die
A
ufm
erks
amke
it
für
die
w
irks
ame
An
wen
du
ng
des
Gen
der
Mai
nst
ream
ing
kön
nte
ge f
örd
ert
wer
den
, ind
em :
al
le M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
sic
h in
den
näc
hst
en,
End
e
2012
vorz
ule
gend
en
Stra
tegi
eber
icht
en
insb
eson
de
re
dar
auf
kon
zen
trie
ren
m
üss
en,
wie
Gen
der
Mai
nstr
eam
ing
um
gese
tzt
wu
rde
ei
ne
Bew
ertu
ngs
maß
nah
me
du
rch
gefü
hrt
wir
d,
in d
er d
ie
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en s
ich
vö
llig
auf
die
in
d
iese
r Fö
rder
per
iode
ber
eits
um
gese
tzte
u
nd
n
och
lau
fen
de
Um
setz
ung
d
es
Gen
der
Mai
nst
ream
ing-
Pri
nzi
ps
konz
entr
iere
n .
2.
Der
Bei
trag
des
ESF
zu
r G
leic
hst
ellu
ng d
er G
esch
lech
ter
in d
er l
aufe
nd
en F
örd
erpe
rio
de h
ängt
wes
entl
ich
dav
on
ab
, wie
die
ver
glei
chsw
eise
ger
inge
ren
Mit
tel f
ür M
aßn
ahm
en z
ur
Gle
ich
stel
lun
g
der
G
esch
lech
ter
für
krit
isch
e Th
emen
ei
nge
setz
t w
erde
n,
und
w
ie
das
P
rin
zip
de
s G
ende
r
Mai
nst
ream
ing
allg
em
ein
vers
tan
den
un
d e
rfo
lgre
ich
um
gese
tzt
wir
d.
i)
Um
fan
g,
in
dem
d
ie
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
die
Förd
eru
ng
der
G
leic
hste
llun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r be
i d
er
ESF-
Pro
gram
mp
lanu
ng
ber
ück
sich
tige
n,
insb
eso
nde
re
die
Um
setz
ung
des
em
pfo
hlen
en
„du
alen
An
satz
es“.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
60
I.
Vo
rsch
läge
fü
r d
ie Z
uku
nft
f)
Für
die
EU
.
Eine
n
eue
Beu
rtei
lun
g d
er
Au
sgab
enka
tego
rien
in
d
en
ESF-
Ric
htlin
ien
ist
no
twen
dig.
Ein
e sp
ezie
lle
Hau
ptau
sgab
en-K
ateg
ori
e fü
r al
le A
rten
von
M
aßn
ahm
en
im
Ber
eich
d
er
Gle
ich
stel
lung
de
r G
esch
lech
ter
ist
rats
am
sow
ie
die
Mög
lich
keit
fü
r
zusä
tzlic
he
them
atis
che
Un
terk
ateg
ori
en
1.
Insg
esa
mt
deu
ten
die
ver
fügb
aren
Dat
en d
arau
f h
in,
das
s di
e U
mse
tzu
ng
des
“d
ual
en A
nsa
tzes
”
bei
d
er
Gle
ich
stel
lung
d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r zu
ei
ner
Ab
nah
me
der
ge
sch
lech
tssp
ezif
isch
en
Förd
erm
aßn
ahm
en u
nd
ein
er g
röße
ren
Gew
icht
ung
de
s G
ende
r M
ains
trea
min
g ge
füh
rt h
at.
Ob
glei
ch
gesc
hlec
hter
spez
ifis
che
Maß
nah
men
th
eore
tisc
h
auch
an
dere
n
Au
sgab
enka
tego
rien
zuge
sch
rieb
en w
erde
n k
önn
en,
ist
das
nic
ht
der
Hau
ptg
rund
fü
r d
en R
ück
gan
g de
r sp
ezif
isch
en
Förd
eru
ng.
U
nte
rsu
chu
nge
n
auf
Länd
ereb
ene
hab
en
best
ätig
t,
das
s di
e M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
im
Du
rch
schn
itt
seh
r vi
el m
ehr
als
in d
er V
erga
nge
nhe
it a
uf
Gen
der
Mai
nst
ream
ing
setz
en,
un
d d
ass
für
eini
ge M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
die
Gle
ich
stel
lung
der
Ges
chle
chte
r n
ur
ein
e la
ngfr
isti
ge P
rio
ritä
t is
t.
i)
Um
fan
g,
in
dem
d
ie
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
die
Förd
eru
ng
der
G
leic
hste
llun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r be
i d
er
ESF-
Pro
gram
mp
lanu
ng
ber
ück
sich
tige
n.
2.
Der
Bei
trag
des
ESF
zu
r G
leic
hst
ellu
ng d
er G
esch
lech
ter
in d
er l
aufe
nd
en F
örd
erpe
rio
de h
ängt
wes
entl
ich
dav
on
ab
, wie
die
ver
glei
chsw
eise
ger
inge
ren
Mit
tel f
ür M
aßn
ahm
en z
ur
Gle
ich
stel
lun
g
der
G
esch
lech
ter
für
krit
isch
e Th
emen
ei
nge
setz
t w
erde
n,
und
w
ie
das
P
rin
zip
de
s G
ende
r
Mai
nst
ream
ing
allg
em
ein
vers
tan
den
un
d e
rfo
lgre
ich
um
gese
tzt
wir
d.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
61
g)
Für
die
EU
.
Die
ES
F-R
icht
linie
n
sollt
en
eine
n
form
elle
n
Rau
m
für
Inno
vati
on
un
d
Exp
erim
ente
sch
affe
n u
nd
gew
ährl
eist
en.
20.
Insg
esam
t be
wer
ten
die
mei
sten
Bet
eilig
ten
die
Un
ters
tütz
un
g de
s ES
F fü
r d
ie G
leic
hst
ellu
ng
der
Ges
chle
chte
r p
osit
iv. D
ies
hat
mei
st m
it ih
rer
Erfa
hru
ng
aus
der
vor
ange
gan
gen
en F
örd
erpe
riod
e zu
tun.
Fü
r di
e la
ufen
de
Förd
erp
erio
de
gib
t es
au
ch e
inig
e A
nze
ich
en f
ür
nac
hla
ssen
de
Erge
bnis
se
od
er R
ück
sch
läge
. In
den
mei
sten
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en u
nd
OP
s u
nte
rstü
tzt
der
ESF
n
atio
nal
e o
der
regi
onal
e St
rate
gien
zu
r G
leic
hst
ellu
ng d
er G
esch
lech
ter,
die
ber
eits
auf
nat
ion
aler
ode
r re
gio
nal
er
Eben
e fi
nan
zier
t w
erd
en.
Vie
le w
esen
tlic
he A
spek
te u
nd
Urs
ache
n d
er U
ngl
eich
beh
andl
ung
der
Ges
chle
chte
r w
erd
en in
den
der
zeit
igen
EFS
-OP
s je
doch
nic
ht
ausr
eich
end
ber
ück
sich
tigt
,
iii)
Hau
ptb
erei
che,
fü
r d
ie
der
ES
F
auf
euro
päi
sch
er
Eben
e ei
ne
Ver
bess
eru
ng i
m H
inbl
ick
auf
die
Gle
ich
stel
lung
d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r
bew
irkt
od
er in
Zu
kunf
t be
wir
ken
sollt
e
18.
Die
vo
n
der
ES
F ge
sch
affe
ne
Kap
azit
ät
wu
rde
nic
ht
in
alle
n M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
gl
eich
erm
aßen
erfo
lgre
ich
un
d ü
berz
euge
nd
ge
nutz
t.
7.
Die
Urs
ach
en f
ür
die
man
geln
de G
leic
hber
ech
tigu
ng d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r lie
gen
tie
fer
un
d w
erd
en
nic
ht
über
all
aner
kan
nt.
Die
se
Fakt
ore
n
sin
d vo
n kr
itis
cher
B
edeu
tun
g fü
r di
e n
ach
halt
ige
Förd
eru
ng
der
G
leic
hst
ellu
ng
der
G
esch
lech
ter,
se
lbst
w
enn
d
ie
ESF
sich
w
eite
rhin
au
f di
e
Arb
eits
mar
ktsi
tuat
ion
der
Frau
en k
onze
ntr
iert
. i)
Um
fan
g,
in
dem
d
ie
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
die
Förd
eru
ng
der
G
leic
hste
llun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r be
i d
er
ESF-
Pro
gram
mp
lanu
ng
ber
ück
sich
tige
n,
insb
eso
nde
re
die
Um
setz
ung
des
em
pfo
hlen
en
„du
alen
An
satz
es“.
11.
Das
Au
smaß
, in
dem
ESF
-In
itia
tive
n z
ur
Gle
ichs
tellu
ng
der
Ges
chle
chte
r ge
mei
nsam
mit
and
eren
Maß
nah
men
un
d R
ich
tlin
ien
zu
r St
ärku
ng
der
po
ten
ziel
len
Au
swir
kun
gen
erf
olg
en, i
st s
chw
erer
zu
beu
rtei
len
. D
enn
och
sol
lte
die
s ge
nau
er u
nte
rsu
cht
wer
den
, d
a in
tegr
iert
e M
aßna
hm
en e
inen
wer
tvol
len
Bei
trag
zu
r G
leic
hst
ellu
ng d
er G
esch
lech
ter
dar
stel
len
.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
62
h)
Für
die
EU
un
d d
ie M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
.
Eine
ge
wis
se
Neu
ausr
ich
tun
g d
er
Bem
ühu
nge
n
im
du
alen
A
nsa
tz
(zu
m
Bei
spie
l in
Bez
ug
auf
das
Hau
ptz
iel
der
Maß
nah
men
zu
r G
leic
hst
ellu
ng
der
Ges
chle
chte
r u
nd
Iden
tifi
kati
on
d
er
vorr
angi
gen
Zi
ele
der
A
nwen
dun
g de
s
Gen
der
Mai
nst
ream
ing)
so
llte
in B
etra
cht
gezo
gen
u
nd
vo
n de
r Ko
mm
issi
on
und
den
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en d
isku
tier
t w
erd
en.
Die
Ker
nzi
ele
des
ESF
wie
Arb
eits
fähi
gkei
t
sollt
en
im
Wes
entl
ich
en
als
Ziel
e de
s
Gen
der
Mai
nst
ream
ing
bet
rach
tet
wer
den
. B
eso
nde
re
Maß
nah
men
de
s
Gen
der
Mai
nstr
eam
ing
sollt
en v
orr
angi
g
auf
ande
re
Asp
ekte
de
r G
leic
hste
llun
g
der
Ges
chle
chte
r au
sger
icht
et s
ein
, d
ie
von
an
der
en
Init
iati
ven
ni
cht
expl
izit
beh
and
elt
und
nic
ht
durc
h P
rakt
iken
des
Gen
der
Mai
nst
ream
ing
gefö
rder
t
wer
den
.
6.
Mit
sp
ezif
isch
en M
aßn
ahm
en v
erfo
lgen
die
mei
sten
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en n
ach
wie
vo
r al
s H
aupt
ziel
die
ver
meh
rte
akti
ve u
nd
pro
du
ktiv
e Te
ilnah
me
von
Fra
uen
am
Arb
eits
mar
kt.
Einz
eln
en P
erso
nen
den
Zug
ang
zum
Arb
eits
mar
kt z
u e
rmö
glic
hen
, w
ar l
ange
Zei
t ei
n K
ern
inte
ress
e d
es E
SF,
jed
och
sollt
e au
f EU
-Eb
ene
dar
üb
er
nac
hge
dac
ht w
erde
n, o
b u
nd
in w
elch
em M
aße
der
ESF
in d
er L
age
ist
bzw
. se
in w
ird
, ei
ne
bre
iter
an
gele
gte
Polit
ik d
er G
leic
hst
ellu
ng d
er G
esch
lech
ter
zu f
örd
ern
un
d
lan
gfri
stig
auc
h d
ie A
rt u
nd
Wei
se
zu b
eein
flus
sen
, wie
Arb
eits
plä
tze
ents
teh
en (
Art
un
d O
rt)
un
d
wie
Arb
eit
org
anis
iert
wir
d.
i)
Um
fan
g,
in
dem
d
ie
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
die
Förd
eru
ng
der
G
leic
hste
llun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r be
i d
er
ESF-
Pro
gram
mp
lanu
ng
ber
ück
sich
tige
n,
insb
eso
nde
re
die
Um
setz
ung
des
em
pfo
hlen
en
„du
alen
An
satz
es“.
7.
Die
Urs
ach
en f
ür
die
man
geln
de G
leic
hber
ech
tigu
ng d
er G
esch
lech
ter
liege
n t
iefe
r u
nd
wer
den
nic
ht
über
all
aner
kan
nt.
Die
se
Fakt
ore
n
sin
d vo
n kr
itis
cher
B
edeu
tun
g fü
r di
e n
ach
halt
ige
Förd
eru
ng
der
G
leic
hst
ellu
ng
der
G
esch
lech
ter,
se
lbst
w
enn
d
ie
ESF
sich
w
eite
rhin
au
f di
e
Arb
eits
mar
ktsi
tuat
ion
der
Frau
en k
onze
ntri
ert.
8.
In v
iele
n M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
dec
kte
die
Stu
die
Sch
wie
rigk
eite
n b
ei d
er A
nal
yse
der
Hau
ptu
rsac
hen
fü
r
die
Un
glei
chb
ehan
dlu
ng d
er G
esch
lech
ter
auf.
In
der
Reg
el f
ehle
n g
eei
gnet
e M
essg
röße
n f
ür
die
Un
glei
chbe
han
dlu
ng
der
Ges
chle
chte
r u
nd
In
dika
tore
n,
die
nur
un
zure
ich
end
e R
ich
tlin
ien
fü
r
Ver
änd
erun
gen
sei
n kö
nnen
, ko
mm
t ei
ne
viel
zu
gro
ße B
edeu
tun
g zu
.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
63
i)
Für
die
EU
un
d d
ie M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
.
Bes
on
der
e M
aßn
ahm
en
zur
Gle
ich
stel
lung
d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r so
llten
nic
ht
nu
r al
s M
aßn
ahm
en
spez
iell
für
Frau
en
gep
lan
t w
erde
n,
son
dern
au
ch
auf
Män
ner
n,
Sch
lüss
elfi
gure
n
aus
Wir
tsch
aft
und
G
esel
lsch
aft,
Ents
chei
dun
gstr
äger
un
d d
ie a
llge
mei
nen
Öff
entl
ich
keit
au
sger
icht
et w
erd
en.
6.
Mit
spe
zifi
sche
n M
aßn
ahm
en v
erfo
lgen
die
mei
sten
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en n
ach
wie
vo
r al
s H
aup
tzie
l die
verm
ehrt
e ak
tive
un
d p
rod
ukt
ive
Teiln
ahm
e vo
n F
rau
en a
m A
rbei
tsm
arkt
. Ei
nze
lnen
Per
son
en d
en
Zuga
ng z
um
Arb
eits
mar
kt z
u e
rmö
glic
hen
, w
ar l
ange
Zei
t ei
n K
ern
inte
ress
e de
s ES
F, j
edo
ch s
ollt
e
auf
EU-E
ben
e d
arü
ber
nac
hge
dac
ht
wer
den
, ob
un
d in
wel
chem
Maß
e d
er E
SF in
der
Lag
e is
t b
zw.
sein
wir
d,
ein
e b
reit
er
ange
legt
e P
olit
ik
der
Gle
ichs
tellu
ng
der
G
esch
lech
ter
zu f
örd
ern
u
nd
lan
gfri
stig
au
ch d
ie A
rt u
nd
Wei
se
zu b
eein
flu
ssen
, w
ie A
rbei
tsp
lätz
e en
tste
hen
(A
rt u
nd
Ort
) u
nd
wie
Arb
eit
org
anis
iert
wir
d.
i)
Um
fan
g,
in
dem
d
ie
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
die
Förd
eru
ng
der
G
leic
hste
llun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r be
i d
er
ESF-
Pro
gram
mp
lanu
ng
ber
ück
sich
tige
n,
insb
eso
nde
re
die
Um
setz
ung
des
em
pfo
hlen
en
„du
alen
An
satz
es“.
9.
Wic
htig
e S
trat
egie
n g
ehe
n n
ach
wie
vo
r vo
m A
nge
bo
t au
s u
nd
ric
hte
n s
ich
an
die
„Fä
hig
keit
vo
n
Frau
en,
auf
dem
Arb
eits
mar
kt w
ettb
ewer
bsf
ähig
zu
sei
n“,
sta
tt z
u v
ersu
chen
, d
as s
ozi
o-k
ultu
relle
Um
feld
zu
ve
rän
de
rn,
das
so
wo
hl
das
V
erh
alte
n
wic
htig
er
Ents
chei
dun
gstr
äger
al
s au
ch
die
Bes
chäf
tigu
ngs
mö
glic
hke
iten
fü
r Fr
auen
be
stim
mt.
O
bgl
eich
d
er
ange
bo
tso
rien
tier
te
An
satz
wei
terh
in v
orh
errs
cht,
hab
en e
inig
e M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
Str
ateg
ien
en
twic
kelt
, d
ie M
aßn
ahm
en z
ur
Ver
bess
eru
ng d
er A
rbei
tsfä
higk
eit
von
Fra
uen
mit
Maß
nah
men
ko
mb
inie
ren
, d
ie k
lare
r au
f d
ie
Stär
kun
g d
er
Sen
sibi
lität
u
nd
Pro
akti
vitä
t zu
r G
leic
hst
ellu
ng
der
G
esch
lech
ter
im
sozi
alen
,
wir
tsch
aftl
ich
en u
nd
inst
itut
ion
ell e
n U
mfe
ld a
usge
rich
tet
sin
d.
11.
Das
Au
smaß
, in
dem
ESF
-In
itia
tive
n z
ur
Gle
ichs
tellu
ng
der
Ges
chle
chte
r ge
mei
nsam
mit
and
eren
Maß
nah
men
un
d R
ich
tlin
ien
zu
r St
ärku
ng
der
po
ten
ziel
len
Au
swir
kun
gen
erf
olg
en, i
st s
chw
erer
zu
beu
rtei
len
. D
enn
och
sol
lte
die
s ge
nau
er u
nte
rsu
cht
wer
den
, d
a in
tegr
iert
e M
aßna
hm
en e
inen
wer
tvol
len
Bei
trag
zu
r G
leic
hst
ellu
ng d
er G
esch
lech
ter
dar
stel
len
.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Gen
der
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
64
j)
Für
die
EU
un
d d
ie M
itgl
ied
ssta
aten
.
Gen
der
Mai
nst
ream
ing
sein
erse
its
sollt
e
in
den
V
ors
chri
ften
o
der
R
icht
linie
n
pra
gmat
isch
er
verf
olg
t w
erde
n.
Ein
po
siti
ver
Bei
trag
zu
r G
leic
hst
ellu
ng
der
Ges
chle
chte
r m
uss
ex
pliz
it
ange
gebe
n
un
d m
it H
ilfe
von
an
gem
esse
nen
u
nd
det
ailli
erte
n
Mer
kmal
en
der
Zi
ele
und
Inst
rum
ente
an
gest
reb
t w
erde
n
(str
ateg
isch
e Eb
ene)
un
d/o
der
geei
gnet
e
Pro
jekt
anfo
rder
unge
n
müs
sen
de
fin
iert
wer
den
, di
e en
tsp
rech
end
d
er
anvi
sier
ten
M
aßn
ahm
en
zu
un
ters
chei
den
sin
d (
Um
setz
ungs
eben
e).
4.
Die
B
edeu
tun
g de
s G
ende
r M
ains
trea
min
g w
ird
w
eitg
ehen
d an
erka
nnt
u
nd
in
fast
al
len
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en w
urd
en e
chte
Ans
tren
gun
gen
unt
ern
omm
en.
Den
no
ch b
este
ht
noch
kei
n k
lare
s
Ver
stän
dnis
der
the
ore
tisc
hen
Gru
ndla
gen
un
d o
pera
tive
n I
mp
likat
ione
n.
Dah
er h
aben
sic
h d
ie
mei
sten
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en i
n d
er P
raxi
s d
azu
en
tsch
loss
en,
das
Pri
nzi
p d
es G
end
er
Mai
nstr
eam
ings
nah
ezu
auss
chlie
ßlic
h i
n d
er U
mse
tzun
gsp
has
e de
s O
Ps
in A
ngri
ff z
u n
ehm
en.
Dab
ei i
st d
as
un
ters
chie
dlic
he V
erst
änd
nis
der
Ges
chle
chte
rsen
sib
ilitä
t vo
n d
enje
nig
en, d
ie d
ie P
roje
kt e
fö
rder
n
un
d d
enje
nig
en, d
ie s
ie b
ean
trag
en, e
in b
eso
nder
er G
run
d z
ur
Bes
org
nis
, eb
enso
wie
die
Log
ik d
er
Pro
jekt
-Au
swah
lkri
teri
en
un
d
die
Fähi
gkei
t d
er
für
die
Pro
jekt
ausw
ahl
Zust
änd
igen
, A
ntr
äge
grü
nd
lich
zu p
rüfe
n.
i)
Um
fan
g,
in
dem
d
ie
Mit
glie
dss
taat
en
die
Förd
eru
ng
der
G
leic
hste
llun
g d
er
Ges
chle
chte
r be
i d
er
ESF-
Pro
gram
mp
lanu
ng
ber
ück
sich
tige
n,
insb
eso
nde
re
die
Um
setz
ung
des
em
pfo
hlen
en
„du
alen
An
satz
es“.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
65
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. The general aim of the study
The purpose of this evaluation is to provide a first assessment of the European Social
Fund's support to gender equality, on the basis of available evidence related to the
programming process and to the first stages of implementation of ESF funded
interventions in Member States in the 2007-2013 programming period. The objectives of
the evaluation are threefold:
a) To assess the extent to which the objective of gender equality was taken into consideration
in real terms during the programming process and to identify any formal or informal
strategy/plan put in place to pursue it. This has entailed a reconstruction of the ESF
intervention logics in relation to gender-equality objectives in each Member State, also
taking into account their broader socio-economic context and policy framework.
b) To assess the extent to which the objective of gender equality is being integrated into the
organization of the implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities of the current
programming cycle for the ESF Operational Programmes (OP).
c) To assess the characteristics of ESF programming, organisation of implementation and
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities which are (or are likely to) generating European
Added Value in terms of support to gender equality.
With specific reference to question b), this study will also make a tentative assessment, on the basis
of the first monitoring and evaluation evidence, of the extent to which the objective of gender
equality appears to be integrated in the ESF OPs first implementation phase. It is understood that
this will entail an appraisal of: i) whether gender mainstreaming and specific actions are taking place
as foreseen, looking at the progress of implementation of planned activities, and, if viable, at the
immediate results of these activities; ii) whether any interesting practices, also as it concerns
organisational aspects, can be identified; and iii) which (if any) are the main areas in which
improvements should be foreseen.
In exploring these three questions, the evaluators have maintained a reference to the Commission’s
‘dual approach’ of gender mainstreaming and specific actions to integrate the gender perspective in
the policy making process.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
66
1.2. The evaluation methodology
The methodology followed for the drafting of the synthesis report is centred on the cross-analysis of
the information contained in the 27 Country Reports (see Annex I) and the six Thematic Reports (see
Annex II) that constitute the interim output of this evaluation. The research work undertaken in the
previous evaluation stages in order to prepare the Country and the Thematic Reports proceeded
through two main steps: i) Documentation review; and ii) Fieldwork in Member States.
1.2.1. Documentation review
In each Member State, country-level information was collected by experts who analysed and
reviewed data and documentation covering ESF programming, implementation and
monitoring/evaluation on the current, and when relevant, on the previous programming period,
including information available on gender mainstreaming and specific actions. Documentation review
and analysis was further divided into two main levels of analysis.
General analysis of ESF OPs
The goal of the first level of analysis was to achieve a general overview of the gender sensitivity of
ESF programming in each country and for each OP – in the light of the more general country context.
To this purpose, background information on each country was collected focusing on relevant gender
issues (labour-market, decision–making, education, division of care labour, legislative framework and
gender infrastructure) and by referring to documentation produced at the EU and country-level. The
information was analysed in order to understand the general degree of awareness concerning
gender issues in each country. An analysis of ESF OPs was also conducted by:
assessing to what extent the specific context analysis (qualitative and quantitative) in every
OP takes account of gender inequalities;
assessing whether indicators adopted in the OPs are gender-disaggregated;
assessing if there are specific references to gender-sensitive indicators within the set of
programme indicators linked to objectives and actions of the OP;
identifying the relative weight of gender actions in relation to the country’s total ESF
resources; and
identifying references to the participation of specified gender bodies in the design,
implementation, surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of the OP.
In countries with multiple OPs, the above analysis covered all OPs and enabled the selection of a
smaller number of OPs, upon which the more in-depth analysis (see below) was carried out.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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In-depth analysis of ESF OPs
In-depth analysis of OPs was carried out on a set of ESF programming and implementation
documents to highlight the existence of (or relative lack of) a gender-equality strategy at
programming level. This focused on topics such as: the accuracy of the socio-economic
analysis within the OP with regard to the gender perspective; and whether gender-equality
issues had been taken into consideration in the definition of the OP’s priorities and
objectives. The details of this analysis were as follows:
an assessment of the accuracy of the socio-economic analysis presented in ESF
documentation as far as gender issues are concerned;
an assessment of whether gender-equality issues have been embedded in the definition of
priorities and objectives, either through a mainstream approach or as a specific objective;
an assessment of whether funds, chosen actions and institutional arrangements were
adequate in terms of the implementation of gender-equality objectives;
the identification of gender related objectives and actions within the OP and whether they
were intended to be pursued within the ESF intervention only, or as part of a more general
policy action implemented at the country/regional level; and what role the ESF plays in
relation to the more general policy context;
an assessment of the weight of gender-equality actions in the first stage of the ESF’s
implementation.
1.2.2. Fieldwork in the Member States
Consultations were a crucial source of information for the evaluation, since existing programming
data and information collected through the documentary review was, on its own, insufficient in most
Member States to describe the full range of the ESF’s strategies to support gender equality.
Consultations involved three main groups of stakeholders:
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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i) key administrators and officials responsible for ESF at strategic level;
ii) administrators and officials involved in the actual implementation of ESF (such as key
figures from the Managing Authority office); and
iii) institutional and non institutional actors working in the field of equal opportunities
(such as officials from gender-equality departments; social partners sitting on
monitoring committees; independent bodies involved in consultations or
surveillance; advocacy groups, etc.).
Furthermore, in order to ensure that the information gathered was both informative and
representative of the points of view of all stakeholders in Member States, consultations
followed a two-fold approach:
• interviews, organised in a semi-structured way and aimed at collecting the view of
interviewees in a detailed manner; and
• a survey: in all countries, information obtained through interviews was
complemented by a questionnaire submitted to all ESF Managing Authorities.
The information thus collected was used to complete the 27 Country reports. A key element for the
preparation of the Country reports was the Intervention Logic Template that helped to (re)construct
the ESF Intervention Logic in each country (from a gender perspective), thereby identifying the
country’s approach to the use of ESF funds for gender-equality policy and, in this, the role and added
value of ESF1.
1.2.3. Thematic reports
In addition to addressing the gender sensitivity of ESF programmes at Country-level, the evaluation
was also required to conduct a more in-depth analysis of some of the most prominent gender-
equality themes mentioned in the ESF regulations. Thematic reports covered the following six
themes:
1 Further details on the structure of Country reports are presented in Annex I.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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(i) Enhancing women’s access to employment;
(ii) Vertical segregation;
(iii) Horizontal segregation;
(iv) Work-life reconciliation;
(v) Participation of women in enterprise creation and growth; and
(vi) Education and training.
As part of the Documentation Review and the Consultations with Member States, information was
collected for the preparation of Thematic Reports (on the basis of a grid outlining the information to
be collected for each country) which have been drafted according to a common structure2.
1.3. The Synthesis Report: structure
The Synthesis Report is divided into six chapters.
Chapter 1 introduces the main aim of the evaluation study (including the key evaluation questions),
and the methodological steps undertaken to prepare the Country and Thematic Reports which
provide the basis for this synthesis report.
Chapter 2 discusses the importance and the characterization of the gender-equality objective in the
ESF 2007-2013 OPs of Member States by:
assessing the extent to which the promotion of gender equality was taken into consideration
in the programming process;
assessing whether the promotion of gender equality is in line with needs at country-level and
how this was translated into operational strategies in each Member State; and
bench-marking the assessment in each country against the overall gender-equality situation
of the Member States, measured according to the Gender Equality Index.
Chapter 3 analyses initial implementation and the organisation of the monitoring committees,
monitoring systems, and evaluation activities in relation to the gender-equality objective.
2 Further details on the structure of Thematic Reports are presented in Annex II.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
70
Chapter 4 focuses on European Added Value.
Chapter 5 summarises the main conclusions of the study and formulates recommendations.
Chapter 6 lists the main reference and data sources.
Annexes
Annex I – Country reports
Annex II –Thematic reports
Annex III – Gender Equality Index
Annex IV – Questionnaire for ESF Managing Authorities
Annex V – Country clustering: indicators and procedure
Annex VI – Standardised objectives and instruments
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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2. THE GENDER EQUALITY OBJECTIVE IN ESF OPERATIONAL
PROGRAMMES
This chapter provides key information (gathered in the course of the study) in order to assess the
extent to which the promotion of gender equality was taken into consideration during the ESF 2007-
2013 programming process in each EU Member State, and discusses whether this is in line with the
identified needs and how it was translated into operational strategies. This latter aspect includes an
assessment of the way EU Member States have followed the recommended ‘dual approach’ —
combining actions specifically devised to address gender inequalities (henceforth referred to as
gender specific actions) with a more horizontal approach intended at mainstreaming gender equality
across all activities (henceforth referred to as gender mainstreaming) — to address the gender-
equality objective. Strategies for gender equality have been analyzed in two different ways. On the
one hand the analysis has been directed at uncovering which are the most important objectives and
instruments that Member States have chosen to adopt. On the other hand, the analysis has moved
from a set of themes that are judged important in the general debate of gender-equality policy,
assuming that the consideration given to some specific issues could shed light on the interpretation
of the gender-equality objective followed by Member States.
The assessment carried out is benchmarked against the overall gender-equality situation in the
Member States, measured according to the EU Gender Equality Index.
2.1. Gender Equality in EU Member States: the Gender equality Index (GEI)
At the European Union level, a comprehensive framework for gender-equality policy has been
developed since 19573, including the definition of key concepts and issues, policy tools, legislation
and case law.
In order to assess the impact of the policy, the contextual conditions in respect of gender equality
need to be described. To this aim a synthetic index, that can highlight strengths and weaknesses of
Member States in relation to the different dimensions of gender equality and can facilitate inter and
cross Member State comparison, has been used. Among the available indices, the Gender Equality
3 Gender equality that is ‘equality between women and men’ constitutes a fundamental value and principle that was enshrined already in the Treaty of Rome in 1957, see CEC(2002a).
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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Index (GEI) elaborated by Plantenga et al. (2009),4 has been selected as it was elaborated specifically
for assessing and monitoring gender-equality conditions in the EU context. The GEI is constructed to
assume only positive values, achieving its highest value (equal to 1) only in case of perfect gender
equality. The GEI is a composite index based on a common set of indicators that reflect four
dimensions covering relevant aspects of women’s and men’s lives as individuals and as members of
society. These dimensions are:
1. Equal sharing of paid work,
2. Equal sharing of money,
3. Equal sharing of decision-making power,
4. Equal sharing of time.
The selection of these dimensions is based on a broad and normative approach to gender equality
(Fraser, 1997)5 , according to which: ‘Equal sharing of paid work’ is the fundamental condition to
achieve economic independence that should be easy to access for both women and men; ‘Equal
sharing of money’ refers to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, which in an ideal world
should result in equivalent earnings for men and women; ‘Equal sharing of decision-making power’,
is an important means to achieve optimal levels of representativeness, as needs and interests of both
women and men have equal probability to be taken into consideration; and ‘Equal sharing of time’
mirrors the opportunity for both women and men to participate in all spheres of life, as the first
dimension (equal sharing of paid work) focuses on equal participation in working life (paid time),
while this fourth dimension concerns unpaid time.
For each of these dimensions two sub-dimensions were chosen (for a total of eight sub-dimensions),
each corresponding to a specific indicator. Dimensions, sub-dimensions and corresponding Indicators
are presented in Table 2. 1.
4See Plantenga, J., Remery, C., Figueiredo, H. and Smith M. (2009). 5 Fraser, N. (1997).
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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Table 2.1: Gender Equality Index: dimensions, sub-dimensions and indicators.
Gender Equality
Dimension
Gender Equality Sub-dimension Indicators
1. Equal sharing of
paid work
1a. Labour-force participation Gender employment gap
1.b Unemployment Gender unemployment gap
2. Equal sharing of
money
2a. Pay Gender pay gap
2b. Income Gender poverty gap among single headed
households
3. Equal sharing of
decision-making
power
3a. Political power Gender gap in parliament
3b. Socio-economic power Gender gap in ISCO 16
4. Equal sharing of
time
4a. Caring time Gender gap in caring time for children
4b. Leisure time Gender gap in leisure time
The original Gender Equality Index, as developed by Plantenga, Remery, Figueiredo and Smith,
covered the EU 25 Countries. For the present evaluation it has been computed for all EU 27
countries, applying the original methodology in full (the update therefore includes Bulgaria and
Romania, which were not included in the original publication)7.
The values here discussed of the Gender Equality Index (GEI) refer to the year 2006. This choice,
especially for employment and unemployment data, is more sound than using further updated
statistics as the latter might be affected by the long recession phase and may not reflect structural
attainments in gender gaps.
This chapter examines both the overall values of the Gender Equality Index, as well as those of its
four components (‘Equal sharing of paid work’; ‘Equal sharing of money’; ‘Equal sharing of decision-
making power’; ‘Equal sharing of time’). The data collected for the eight indicators refer to the year
2006, with some exceptions: ‘Equal sharing of money’ as the data on the gender poverty gap for
6 The International Standardized Classification of Occupations (ISCO) elaborated by the International Labour Office is a tool for organizing jobs into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the job. ISCO aims at ensuring cross-country comparability of occupations. For further details see Annex III. 7 We thank Plantenga J., Remery, C., Figueiredo, H. and Smith, M. who have discussed with us both the methodological aspects and the results of our updating of the GEI. Their suggestions have been precious for the present study.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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single households are for 2005 or 2006 (depending on the data availability by country); and ‘Equal
sharing of time’ for which available data refer to 2000 or to 1998-2001 (Time Use Survey data).
To construct the GEI, standardised scores were computed for all the indicators and these were then
combined to give one score for each dimension, and one score for the overall GEI (see Annex III). The
method used to standardise the scores is the 'min-max' method, as used by the UNDP to compute
the GDI (Gender Development Index) and the GEM (Gender Empowerment Measure) indexes. In
contrast with them the GEI:
includes only indicators that are able to differentiate Member States which would generate
very similar scores for the GDI or the GEM (for instance, the GDI measures literacy and the
GEM focuses only on empowerment);
aims at measuring gender equality per se rather than a combination of gender equality and
levels of other achievement (scores for the GDI or the GEM s are strongly related to the GDP
per capita); and
is not influenced by the variability of its indicators8.
The distribution of the 27 European Member States according to the updated GEI is shown in Figure
2.1.
8 For more details see Annex III.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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Figure 2.1: Gender Equality Index in the EU-27 Member States
Sw
ed
en
0,7
25
Fin
lan
d 0
,715
Den
mark
0,6
84
Neth
erl
an
ds 0
,638
Belg
ium
0,6
18
Germ
an
y 0
,607
Lit
hu
an
ia 0
,599
Un
ited
Kin
gd
om
0,5
88
Fra
nce 0
,565
Latv
ia 0
,562
Po
rtu
gal
0,5
41
Lu
xem
bo
urg
0,5
40
Slo
ven
ia 0
,533
Bu
lgari
a 0
,531
Hu
ng
ary
0,5
26
Esto
nia
0,5
26
Au
str
ia 0
,515
Po
lan
d 0
,514
Ro
man
ia 0
,502
Irela
nd
0,5
00
Czech
Rep
ub
lic 0
,499
Slo
vakia
0,4
98
Malt
a 0
,458
Italy
0,4
40
Sp
ain
0,3
82
Cyp
rus 0
,339
Gre
ece 0
,331
0,000
0,100
0,200
0,300
0,400
0,500
0,600
0,700
Gender equality index
As already mentioned, the maximum value that the GEI may reach is 1, which represents the
situation of perfect Gender Equality. The EU average is 0.54, with only 10 Member States obtaining
values above this figure. Considering the scores of the Member States, the best performing ones are
those of Sweden and Finland, which are the only two countries with a value above 0.7. The high level
of female employment achieved in both countries contributes to this result; and so do the best score
on the share of women in decision-making positions for Sweden and the high score in the equal
sharing of unpaid time for Finland. These two countries are followed by Denmark, the Netherlands
and Belgium. Denmark and the Netherlands are well positioned with regard to equal sharing of
unpaid time, Belgium scores well for equal sharing of money and decision-making power of women.
Germany, Lithuania, United Kingdom, France and Latvia complete the list of countries above the EU
27 average. Lithuania and Latvia score highly with respect to equal sharing of paid work and share of
women in decision-making positions, France is well placed for equal sharing of income and Germany
and United Kingdom for equal sharing of unpaid time. Following them closely are Portugal,
Luxembourg, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Austria, Poland, Romania, Ireland and Czech
Republic, with scores in the range of 0.54-0.50. The six countries that score the lowest are Slovakia,
Malta, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Greece. Slovakia, Malta and Greece have very high gender gaps in
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
76
employment and share of women in decision-making positions, while Spain and Italy have significant
gaps in share of unpaid time between men and women. Cyprus scores the least with regard to
sharing of income.
These results are clearer when broken up into the corresponding dimensions and sub-dimensions of
the Gender Equality Index (see Figure 2.2).
Figure 2.2: Components of the GEI in the EU-27 Member States
Sw
ed
en
Fin
lan
d
Den
mark
Neth
erl
an
ds
Belg
ium
Germ
an
y
Lit
hu
an
ia
Un
ited
Kin
gd
om
Fra
nce
Latv
ia
Po
rtu
gal
Lu
xem
bo
urg
Slo
ven
ia
Bu
lgari
a
Hu
ng
ary
Esto
nia
Au
str
ia
Po
lan
d
Ro
man
ia
Irela
nd
Czech
Rep
ub
lic
Slo
vakia
Malt
a
Italy
Sp
ain
Cyp
rus
Gre
ece
0,000
0,100
0,200
0,300
0,400
0,500
0,600
0,700
equality in TIME
equality in DECISION POWER
equality in MONEY
equality in PAID WORK
2.1.1. Equal sharing of paid work
Paid work is an important precondition of economic independence, and as such, it is an essential
dimension in any gender equality index. The dimension is broken down into the two sub -dimensions
of labour-force participation and unemployment9.
Labour-force participation is measured by the difference (in percentage points) in employment rates
between men and women. The average gender employment gap10 in the EU 27 in 2006 was 14.0 p.p.
9 Data are available in CEC (2008a), data source Labour Force Survey (LFS), annual averages. For the Gender Gap in employment rates , provisional values: EU-27, DE and FR. For the Gender Gap in unemployment rates, provisional values: EU-27, DE and FR. For further information see also CEC (2008b).
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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While Finland had the smallest gender gap in employment at 4.1 p.p., Malta had the highest at 39.6
p.p. Hence, none of the EU 27 countries had a greater labour market participation of women than
men and the difference between the highest and the lowest gender gap among the 27 countries
shows great disparities among the respective countries.
The second sub-dimension refers to unemployment rate. The absence of a gender gap in
unemployment suggests equal access to labour-markets. The gender gap in unemployment rate in
p.p. is measured by calculating the difference in unemployment rates between women and men. A
negative gap implies that the unemployment rate of men is higher than the unemployment rate of
women. Only seven member states had an unemployment rate higher for men than for women in
2006. They were, namely, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland and Romania.
Sweden (0.3 p.p.) and Lithuania (-0.4 p.p.) were the only two countries that came closest to having
no gender gap in access to labour markets. The average gender gap in unemployment rate was 1.4
p.p. Greece had the highest gender discrepancy in unemployment with a gap of 8 p.p., followed by
Spain at 5.3 p.p. This clearly indicates that gender gaps in unemployment rates persisted, even if
some of the aforementioned Member States were increasingly closing the gap.
Summing up,the overall scores on the dimension of equal sharing of paid work, we can see that
Sweden, Lithuania, Finland and Estonia performed the best, while at the other end, Greece and
Malta had the lowest scores. It should be pointed that 5 out of the 10 highest scoring countries in
this dimension are ‘new’ Member States of the EU.
2.1.2. Equal sharing of money
The second dimension is the equal sharing of money, which is important considering that an equal
society should be based on the principle of equal pay for equal work, resulting in similar earnings for
men and women. In addition, a society that promotes equality should assume measures to prevent
10 Positive gaps indicate higher employment rates for men in comparison with women, see also (CEC 2008a: p.24).
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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high poverty rates both among women and among men. This dimension is broken down into two
sub-dimensions of pay and income11.
The gender pay gap is the difference between men’s and women’s average gross hourly earnings as a
percentage of men’s earnings. In 2006 it was high throughout all the EU Member States and there
was not a single country that had not (or was close to eliminate) the gender pay gap. The average
gap in 2006 in the EU 27 was 15 %. The lowest gender pay gap was in Malta, which at 3% was well
below the EU 27 average. Estonia recorded the highest gender gap in income at a rate of 25%.
Following Estonia were Cyprus (24%), Germany and Slovakia (22%), United Kingdom (21%) and
Austria (20%), which had the highest gender pay gaps in EU 27.
The gender poverty gap is used as a measurement of the income sub-dimension. It is well-known
that single households are a vulnerable group, especially female-headed single families. Hence, the
Member States have been ranked on the absolute gender gap in poverty for single households,
calculated as the difference between the proportion of female headed single households under the
low-income threshold and the proportion of such male households. A negative gap implies that the
poverty rate is lower among female-headed single families. From the data available, it can be seen
that the gender poverty gap among single households in 2006 varied from -16 p.p. in Poland, to 24
p.p. in Cyprus. The average poverty gap in EU 27 countries was 5.1 p.p. Sweden and Finland were the
only two countries which had no gender poverty gap. Luxembourg, Denmark (both at -1 p.p.),
Germany (-2p.p.), and Malta (1 p.p.) appeared next to close the gap. On the overall dimension, Malta
performed best. At the lower end were Cyprus and Spain.
2.1.3. Equal sharing of decision-making power
A goal of the EU is to achieve a balanced participation of men and women in the decision-making
process. The two sub-dimensions of this dimension are political power and socio-economic power.
The first refers to the gender gap in the national parliament (lower house), calculated as the
11 All sources are provided by national surveys through EUROSTAT. For the Gender Pay Gap, see: CEC (2008a). Note that all sources are national surveys with the exception of Luxembourg (Administrative Data), Malta and France (Labour Force Survey). * Provisional results of EU-SILC are used for Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom.* Data for EU-27, Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France and Slovenia are provisional. Exception to the reference year: Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherland, Portugal, United Kingdom. NB: EU-27 estimates are population weighted averages of the latest available values. CZ: calculations based on the median earnings. For the Gender Poverty Gap, see: EU-SILC data (EUROSTAT, 2008a), data are available for Portugal are provisional; data for Bulgaria and UK refer to 2006; data for Ireland refer to 2005-2006 (EUROSTAT, 2008b).
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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difference in the proportions of women and men in the national parliament12. No EU Member State
in 2006 had an equal or a higher share of women in the parliament. Sweden fared better than the
other Member States with a difference of -5.4 p.p. and only other seven Member States presented a
gender gap in parliament that was smaller than 50 p.p. namely, Spain (-28.0 p.p.), Finland (-24.0
p.p.), Belgium (-30.6 p.p.), the Netherlands (-26.6 p.p.), Austria (-35.6 p.p.), Denmark (-26.2 p.p.)and
Germany (-36.8 p.p.). The highest gap was in the parliament of Malta, at -81.6 p.p.
With regard to the socio-economic power, the Member States were scaled on the gender gap among
senior officials and managers (as covered by the ISCO category 1, in organisations such as trade
unions, charitable organisations and corporate and general managers)13. It is calculated as the
difference in the share of women and men in ISCO category 1 and the share of men in ISCO category
1. In this sub-dimension also, the gender gap in 2006 was very high in all countries. Latvia and
Lithuania had the smallest gender gap with -17.6 p.p. and -19 p.p., respectively. The highest gender
gap was found in Cyprus at -66 p.p. Three of the EU Member States, Cyprus, Malta and Denmark, had
more than 50 p.p. of gender gap at the high ranking level of officials.
2.1.4. Equal sharing of unpaid time
This dimension is based on the assumption that a society is truly equal when every citizen can
participate in a balanced manner in all spheres of life, including work, care and leisure. Since time
spent on paid labour has already been covered in the first dimension, here we refer to equal sharing
of unpaid time with regard to the two sub-dimensions of the time men and women spend on
domestic activities, including care work, and their leisure time14.
The first sub-dimension of gender gap in care is calculated as the difference between the average
number of hours per week spent on providing care for children by men and women aged 20-49, as a
percentage of the average number of hours spent on providing care for children by men aged
between 20-49 years. According to available data closest to 200615 the average gender gap in care
was 303% in the 27 EU countries and the gender gap was below average in only three countries,
Denmark (71 %), Finland (80 %) and the Netherlands (204 %). Greece had the largest gap of 531%
12 Data on the Gender Gap in Parliament 2006 are from Inter-Parliamentary Union website, for the internet address see the References. 13 Data for Gender Gap in ISCO1 are from the Labour Force Survey. They are available in the ILO-SEGREGAT database on-line: http://laborsta.ilo.org/ . For more details see Annex III. 14 Data are available in Plantenga et al. (2009), further information can be obtained in EUROSTAT (2009). See also Aliaga (2006). 15 Data available refer to 2000.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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which suggests that men should increase time in care activity by more than five times in order to be
equal to women.
The second sub-dimension of gender gap in leisure time is calculated as the difference between the
average time per day spent on leisure activities by men and women, as a percentage of the average
time per day spent on leisure by men aged between 20-49 years. Accordingly, the largest gap in
leisure16 was found in Lithuania (23.6%), Slovenia (20.4%), Hungary (20.1%) and Italy (19.8%). The
smallest gap in leisure time was found in the Netherlands (5.4%), Germany and the United Kingdom
(both at 7.4%).
2.2. Importance and interpretation of the gender equality objective in ESF Programming
As a preliminary remark and caveat, it is important to state at the outset that — despite a
comprehensive framework available at the EU level on key gender-equality concepts and main issues
— there is not a full common understanding of the content of the gender-equality objective among
different policy actors within the EU Member States. In this respect, although this study will often
make reference to an overarching gender-equality objective (and this expression has been used in
the interactions between experts and policy actors and informants during the study) a certain degree
of variability in its meaning according to different actors is to be taken into account. To some extent,
a similar remark applies to the instrumental concepts of gender specific actions and, especially,
gender mainstreaming, for which operational interpretations largely differ among the Member
States.
The way in which the gender-equality objective was considered in ESF operational programmes (OPs)
varies greatly. For most Member States, this is interpreted both as a guiding general notion to
announce and commit to some relevant ‘gender-equality specific objectives’ and corresponding
‘gender-equality enhancing specific actions’ and as a ‘horizontal’ priority, which implies a
commitment to gender equality or to ensure that the gender-equality notion is embedded in all OP’s
activities through a practice of ‘gender-equality mainstreaming’. At least formally, the majority of
Member States have hence adopted the recommended so-called ‘dual approach’. However, there
are a few noticeable exceptions.
16 Data available closest to 2006 refer to 1998-2001.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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In SE, DK, LV, HU and AT, gender-equality specific actions have not been considered as central17 and
the gender-equality objective is mainly considered as a ‘horizontal’ priority only. The way in which
this horizontal approach is put into practice however differs among these Countries.
2.2.1. Scale and size of ESF funding for the Gender Equality Objective in 2007-2013
When trying to assess the importance of a specific theme or objective in programming, it is essential
to examine the amount of financial resources available for the theme of interest.
As far as explicit commitments to budget activities towards gender equality in ESF OPs, only PT has
included a Gender Equality strategic Priority (i.e. a Gender axis with formal financial commitments in
the OP financial plan). However, almost all Member States have more or less explicitly made a
commitment to accomplish specific gender-equality objectives (expressed in various manners in the
OPs) within other named strategic priorities, although in such cases the nature of OPs’ financial plans
does not permit identification of the related extent of the financial effort involved. Nevertheless,
almost all Member States have announced preliminary figures regarding financial support to gender
specific actions (which mainly relate to supporting women in their labour market participation and
career progression) in the context of reporting an indicative breakdown by category of expenditure
of the OPs’ resources, according to the requirements of Structural Funds’ general regulations18.
Although the nature of this information is not strictly comparable with what would be contained in a
formal financial plan, it is a useful starting point to discuss the degree of importance attributed to the
gender-equality objective, especially as it allows some comparisons with the previous 2000-2006
programming cycle19.
Extracting relevant information on programming decisions and their potential effects, from financial
data, is a delicate exercise and one to be performed with caution, as European Union (EU) Member
States differ greatly in terms of the amounts of contributions they receive from the EU budget,
17 As it is shown subsequently, SE and DK did not earmark resources for the main category of expenditure related to gender equality, while LV, HU and AT earmarked ESF resources for less than half of a percentage point of total ESF contributions available for their OPs. 18 The ESF is operating within the general framework set for all EU Structural Funds whose General Council Regulation 1083/2006 -see CEC (2006a), requires to report within OPs the indicative contribution (EU only) to a set of categories of expenditure described in a dedicated annex –Annex IV of Regulation 1083/2006, CEC (2006a). Among these categories of expenditure, category 69 is specifically related to actions directed at reinforcing women’s position (see afterwards for details). 19 References to 2000-2006 programming period also cover the ESF programming period in the 10 new Member States where the ESF was implemented during 2004-2006 only.
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reflecting in the first place their different development levels20 (Figure 2.3).
Figure 2.3 – The contribution of EU Structural Funds, per capita, per Fund, 2007-2013, EU Member States (EUR)
0
300
600
900
1.200
1.500
1.800
2.100
2.400
CZ EE HU SK MT SI LT PT LV GR PL RO BG CY ES IT FI DE FR BE IE SE AT UK LU NL DK
ESF 2007-2013 per capita, euro
Total Structural Funds 2007-2013 (ESF+ERDF - Obj CONV and RCE) per capita, euro
Total Cohesion Policy Funds 2007-2013 (all Obj, all Funds) per capita, euro
Source: elaboration on European Commission data
Hence, it is important to recognise that what Member States can and decide to do with ESF resources
is in the first place constrained by the size of the ESF contributions they are receiving, which
influences the extent and the way identified needs can be tackled. Moreover, most of the “old 15”
Member States are affluent countries whose policy decisions and interventions are taken in a context
in which EU contributions are relatively marginal in their budgets, while most “new” Member States
are relatively more reliant upon EU contributions as determinants of what they can do in many policy
areas.
20 EU contributions for structural policies are first allocated among the Objectives of Cohesion Policy (in 2007-2013 81.54% for the Convergence objective (CONV) –lagging behind regions, sustained by the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund; 15.95% for Regional Competitiveness and Employment (RCE) – all other regions, sustained by ERDF and ESF, and 2.52% for European Territorial Cooperation sustained by the ERDF). Subsequently, resources are allocated to Member States on the basis of several indicators related to their relative wealth, internal regional disparity in development and population. Member States decide over the specific OP allocations within each Objective and on the relative weights of Funds for Objectives sustained by more than one EU Fund (ERDF and ESF).
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In what follows, financial data on ESF OP allocations to specific gender equality enhancing actions (as
proxied by the relevant category of expenditure21, which is the only comparable information
available) are considered in order to state some stylized facts on decisions taken at the programming
stage in 2007-2013 and extract signals useful for the analysis.
In very general terms, data on financial decisions taken at the programming stage show that much
fewer ESF resources have been allocated to specific gender-equality actions in the 2007-2013
programming cycle, than was done in the previous (2000-2006) cycle. Data referring both to shares
(Fig. 2.4) and to levels (see after Figs. 2.5 and 2.6) of ESF contributions point unequivocally to a
reduction in the magnitude of specific actions22.
21 In what follows, gender equality actions in 2000-2006 refer to funds allocated to policy field (e) - Specific
measures to improve women's access to and participation in the labour market, including their career
development, their access to new job opportunities and to starting up of businesses, and to reduce vertical and
horizontal segregation on the basis of sex in the labour market. According to 2000-2006 Regulations, measures should have been classified according to the common "areas of interventions" as described in Annex IV of EC Regulation 438/2001 (see CEC, 2001a). Hence financial data on programmed resources for gender equality actions in 2000-2006 are derived from programming complement documents where resources assigned to measures are reported and measures are characterized according to field of intervention numerical codes (FOI). The relevant FOI for gender equality actions is 25. Gender equality actions in 2007-2013 refer to funds allocated to the priority theme ‘Improving equal access to employment’ from OPs’ earmarking tables referring to Code 69 for the priority theme dimension - Measures to improve access to employment and increase
sustainable participation and progress of women in employment, to reduce gender-based segregation in the
labour market, and to reconcile work and private life, such as facilitating access to childcare and care for
dependent persons. In the 2007-2013 cycle there are no obligations to state formally financial commitments with respect to categories of expenditures, however art. 36 (d) of the Regulation 1083/2006 (CEC, 2006a) requests for information purpose an indicative breakdown by category of expenditure –as coded in Annex IV of Council Regulation 1083/2006 (CEC, 2006a), of the programmed use of the contribution from the Funds. Hence financial data on programmed resources for gender equality actions in 2007-2013 are derived from the relevant category of expenditure 69. 22 In order to make a reasonable comparison between the two programming cycles, only Member States leaded programmes regarding main EU objectives (Obj. 1, 2 and 3 for 2000-2006 and Obj. CONV and RCE for 2007-2013) are considered; in other words Special EU programmes like EQUAL are not considered.
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Figure 2.4 – Shares (%) of ESF contributions allocated to gender-equality-specific actions: 2000-2006 and 2007-2013
0,00
1,00
2,00
3,00
4,00
5,00
6,00
7,00
8,00
9,00
10,00
11,00
12,00
13,00
14,00
15,00
16,00
17,00
18,00
19,00
AT BE BG CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK UK EU*
2000-2006: share of FOI 25 2007-2013: share of category 69
Note: EU* refers to all Member States of the European Union (25 Countries for 2000-2006; 27 Countries for 2007-2013)
Source: elaboration on European Commission provided data
At the EU level as a whole, while ESF resources (EU contribution only) have overall increased by
almost 17%, programmed resources specifically dedicated to gender-equality actions have decreased
by 34%. This decline in the absolute level of financial resources granted to specific actions is
registered among the 15 old Member States, but it has not been compensated for by allocations made
by new Member States, which in 2007-2013 overall received a much larger (than in 2000-2006)
fraction of ESF resources23
. On average, in fact, countries which received more ESF resources (new
EU Member States) allocated them less than proportionally to gender specific actions, while countries
which received less in terms of ESF contributions (most old EU Member States) decreased resources
specifically dedicated to gender actions more than proportionally (Figure 2.5).
23 The distribution of EU contributions for the 2000-2006 cycle involved only marginally the ten Countries which entered the EU in 2004. They participated to the 2000-2006 cycle only since 2004 and received a modest share of ESF resources (5,5 %). In the 2007-2013 cycle, all the 27 EU Member States are participating from the start (for Romania and Bulgaria the current 2007-2013 cycle is the first one that sees their participation). In the 2007-2013 cycle the ESF share available to all the new 12 Member States has hence increased to 34,8 % (of which 28,4 % to the ten Countries which became full EU Members from 2004).
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Figure 2.5 – Changes (%) in levels of ESF (EU cont) total resources and in ESF (EU cont) allocations to
gender-equality specific actions between 2000-2006 and 2007-2013
-100,0
-50,0
0,0
50,0
100,0
150,0
200,0
250,0
300,0
350,0
400,0
450,0
500,0
550,0
600,0
650,0
700,0
750,0
800,0
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900,0
950,0
1000,0
AT
BE
BG
CY
CZ
DE
DK
EE
ES FI
FR
GR
HU IE IT LT
LU
LV
MT
NL
PL
PT
RO
SE SI
SK
UK
EU
*
EU
old
15
EU
new
10
EU
25
ESF total (% change 2007-2013 vs 2000-2006)
ESF for gender equality actions (% change 2007-2013 vs 2000-2006)
Note: The figure shows the percentage change in levels of total available ESF resources and ESF resources granted to gender-equality actions (as identified through the relevant code of expenditure) between the 2000-2006 cycle and the 2007-2013 one. Underlying data refer to EU contributions only. EU* refers to EU25 Countries for 2000-2006 data and EU27 Countries for 2007-2013 data; EUold15 refers to the group of the 15 old Member States both for 2000-2006 and 2007-20013 data; EUnew10 refers to the group of the 10 new Member States from 2004 both for 2000-2006 and 2007-20013 data; EU25 refers to the group of the 25 Member States up to 2006 for 2000-2006 and 2007-20013 data.
Source: elaboration on European Commission data
Considering groups of Member States in relation to when they entered the EU, a reduction in levels of
ESF contributions programmed for specific gender-equality actions is, hence, more clearly measurable
for the old 15 Member States, which, besides, still receive the largest share of ESF from the EU
budget (65,2%). There are, however, some differences.
Among old Member States, Ireland and the UK increased their shares (as a proportion of total ESF
contributions) of gender-equality actions and, in levels, decreased the amounts programmed for such
activities less than their reduction in ESF contributions. Portugal and the Netherlands increased in
absolute levels the amount of ESF resources explicitly dedicated to gender actions. However, the
situation in these two countries is much different. Portugal, although reducing its share of ESF
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resources for gender specific actions, opted for a larger amount of ESF among Structural Funds 24 and
its total budget for specific actions is somewhat higher than in 2000-2006. Apparently the
Netherlands offset its major decrease in ESF appropriations by choosing to dedicate a much larger
(than in 2000-2006) amount of ESF resources to sustain explicit gender actions. However in this
specific case comparing financial data over time might be misleading, as the structure of
programming is very different between the two cycles25.
Overall, however, available data suggest a relevant decline in resources for gender-equality specific
actions in the old Member States.
In many of the new EU Member States substantial increases (especially in levels) emerge from the
data analysis, even though in this case comparisons between the two programming cycles are not
significant. In fact, it seems that apparently large increases in ESF resources for gender-equality
actions simply reflect that participation in the previous cycle was limited in time (only 2004-2006),
finance and scope. Hence, also resources to intervene in the field of gender equality were
compressed26. However, considering the absolute level of ESF contributions now available, very few
new Member States have dedicated comparably significant resources to gender equality enhancing
specific actions.
The overall picture does not change if we consider an estimate of total funding (i.e. including both EU
and matching national contributions) rather than EU contributions only27. Gender-equality specific
actions received less funding in absolute terms in the 2007-2013 period than in the earlier one (Figure
2.6).
24 PT is the only old Member State whose share on total ESF appropriation has increased between 2000-2006 and 2007-2013. 25 In the specific case of NL, as the 2007-2013 OP total budget is less than 40% of the 2000-2006 budget (and despite the 18% of resources indicatively earmarked for code 69, comparatively higher within EU, but probably not to be interpreted as a real budgeting commitment), gender equality cannot be a main objective of the OP according to the Managing Authority. 26 In the previous cycle, however, an important role was played by the EQUAL initiative and many new Member States have through EQUAL experienced innovative programming practices in the field of gender equality. For LV and SI, gender equality actions in the 2004-2006 were implemented only through EQUAL. 27 In order to estimate total costs, average co-financing rate were calculated on the basis of available official information for each Country. In this case, the total amount of resources dedicated to ESF programmes leaded by Member States declines from about 119,3 billion euros in 2000-2006 (EU25) to about 117,5 billion euros in 2007-2013 (EU27). The total increase in the EU ESF contributions occurred in 2007-2013 is, in fact, partially offset by an average reduction in the amount of co-financing resources. This outcome is due to the much lower co-financing rate of the new EU Member States and to a slight decrease of the average co-financing rate of the old EU Member States. Only few old Member States increased their co-financing rates.
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Figure 2.6 – ESF allocations (total contributions, EUR) to gender-equality specific actions in 2000-2006 and 2007-2013 by groups of EU Member States.
0
1.000.000.000
2.000.000.000
3.000.000.000
4.000.000.000
5.000.000.000
6.000.000.000
7.000.000.000
EUold15 EUnew10 EU25 EU27
ESF (EU+Nat cont), 2000-2006: FOI 25 ESF (EU+Nat cont) 2007-2013: caregory 69
Note: EUold15 refers to the group of the 15 old Member States; EUnew10 refers to the group of the 10 new Member States from 2004; EU25 refers to the group of the 25 Member States up to 2006; EU27 refers to the group of all the 27 Member States.
Source: elaboration of European Commission data
As this decline is proportionally much larger than that in total (including matching funds) ESF OPs’
available resources28, it seems likely that a role in determining this diminished space for gender-
equality actions has been played by the change in Regulations’ content. In the 2007-2013 framework
the objective of gender equality is of course still present, but it is no longer a main field of
intervention for the ESF, as much more emphasis has been given to the so called ‘mainstreaming
principle’ in implementing gender policies.
This is formally a step forward as gender mainstreaming implies an attention to gender issues in all
policies at all levels. However, gender mainstreaming cannot always replace specific policies aiming to
redress situations resulting from gender inequality and hence a ‘dual approach’ to reach the goal of
gender equality has been recommended to Member States by the Commission. The proportion of
total funding which should be allocated to specific actions targeted at gender equality, together with
28 It is important to remind also that total ESF EU contributions (not considering matching national funding) have, instead, increased. See Fig. 2.5 for total EU.
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the dimension of efforts requested for a successful application of gender mainstreaming is, of course,
necessarily not clearly defined. However, data seem to suggest (and ESF Managing Authorities have
often confirmed) that gender mainstreaming has sometimes been considered as a replacement for
specific actions, rather than a complement.
2.2.2. Importance of the gender-equality objective in 2007-2013: the point of view of
Managing Authorities
Commenting the amount of financial resources dedicated to specific gender-equality actions in ESF
2007-2013 programmes, a few stakeholders in some Member States, stated that the amount
presented in the OPs for the relevant category of expenditure (code 69 in annex IV of Council
Regulation 1083/200629) do not necessarily represent the importance given to the Gender Equality
Objective. This might be related to the fact that OPs might also finance de facto specific gender
actions under other categories30 as well as to the greater significance they attribute to gender
mainstreaming. In other few cases where the programmed allocations for Code 69 expenditures have
been high, some actors have pointed out that those values were probably optimistic. Moreover,
when directly asked about the importance of the Gender-equality objective within the OP for which
they have responsibilities31, Managing Authorities (MA) have given answers which do not always
mirror the ESF share dedicated to specific gender-equality actions. Often Managing Authorities
appear to rate the Gender-equality objective independently from the relative amount of funding
dedicated to specific actions; this happens up to the point that there are cases in which the Gender-
equality objective is rated at the top of the scale even if the OP does not earmark any funding to the
relevant expenditure code (Figure 2.7).
29 See CEC (2006a). 30 It is not easy to assess the relevance of this claim as cases in which MA have provided (during country-level analysis) even only informal data to back this claim are very rare. What is, instead, true is that the list of EU categories of expenditure –provided in Annex IV of Council Regulation 1083/2006, see CEC (2006a), is internally extremely not homogenous (as some categories refer to aims of actions, while other refer to the material content of the actions) and interpretations might differ to some (unknown) extent. 31 Managing Authorities (MA) were asked to state the importance of the gender equality objective within 2007-2013 ESF OPs on a scale ranging from a maximum of 6 to a minimum of 1. In order to obtain relatively comparable answers, the question about the importance of the gender equality objective is not posed directly, but is the last of a three step question in which MA were first asked to state the two or three most relevant explicit objectives for their OP; second to rate them on the scale between 1 and 6; third to rate the status of the gender equality objective for the OP according to the same scale.
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Figure 2.7 – Share of ESF for gender-equality specific actions in OPs versus Importance assigned to the gender-equality objective by Managing Authorities.
AT
BE
BE
BG
BG
CY C
ZC
ZC
ZD
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
KE
EE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SE
SF
IF
IF
RG
RG
RG
R HU
HU
IEIT
IT ITIT IT
ITIT IT IT IT IT IT
IT ITIT IT
LT
LU
LV
MT
NL
PL
PT
PT
PTR
OR
OS
ES
IS
IS
KS
KS
KU
KU
KU
KU
K
0,0
3,0
6,0
9,0
12,0
15,0
18,0
21,0
24,0
27,0
AT
BE
BE
BG
BG
CY
CZ
CZ
CZ
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DK
EE
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES FI
FI
FR
GR
GR
GR
HU
HU IE IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT LT
LU
LV
MT
NL
PL
PT
PT
PT
RO
RO
SE SI
SI
SK
SK
SK
UK
UK
UK
UK
0,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
4,0
5,0
6,0
Share (%) of gender equality actions in ESF OP (EU funding)
Importance of the Gender Equality Objective (scale 1 to 6)
Source: elaboration on EC data and Study Questionnaire submitted to ESF Managing Authorities.
Hence, taking weighted averages of Managing Authorities’ responses, about the importance accorded
to gender equality, provides a much more optimistic picture (Figure 2.8) than considering the share of
ESF funding dedicated to gender specific actions. Even in the case of Member States (like SE and AT)
that in the current cycle have significantly reduced their ESF financial commitment to gender specific
actions, this has not prevented Managing Authorities from rating the gender equality as very
important. More interesting is the fact that there appears to be a negative, although tenuous,
correlation between the importance given to the gender-equality objective by the Managing
Authorities and the Gender Equality Index (see again Figure 2.8). If we exclude Sweden and Finland,
which rank highly on the gender equality index but have a long term stance of gender-equality
support that might influence responses of the Managing Authority independently from what
objectively happens within ESF intervention32, this negative correlation increases significantly. This
32 It is worth mentioning that despite the fact that the general (outside of the ESF) policy environment is both for SE and FI to be considered robust as gender equality is concerned, SE’s current programming ESF cycle is not particularly centred on gender equality (see Country Report for Sweden) and it is a fact that no financial resources are earmarked for gender specific actions under the relevant category of expenditure in this country, whereas for FI the situation appears different as also the current ESF programming cycle appears extremely attentive to gender issues (see Country Report for Finland).
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signals that the ESF, at least in the intention of its programmers, has been given a greater role in
supporting gender equality where needs are indeed greater.
Figure 2.8 – Importance of the gender-equality objective according to Managing Authorities versus the gender equality index (GEI).
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
3,0
3,5
4,0
4,5
5,0
5,5
6,0
SE FI DK NL BE DE LT UK FR LV PT LU SI BG HU EE AT PL RO IE CZ SK MT IT ES CY GR
0,300
0,350
0,400
0,450
0,500
0,550
0,600
0,650
0,700
0,750
GE_Obj_importance GEI Linear (GE_Obj_importance) Linear (GEI)
Note: The GE obj importance is shown on the 1-6 first vertical axis. Answers were collected at the OP level. In Member States with multiple OPs, MAs’ answers are aggregated on the basis of the financial weight of the OP for which are giving answers. For MAs not able to rate the importance of the gender equality objective for their OP (few cases) a score of 0,5 was imposed. EE and CZ have been excluded in reporting the GE_Obj_importance variable as relevant MAs’ answers were not available. The GEI is shown on the 0,30-0,75 second vertical axis..
Source: elaboration on GEI and Study Questionnaire submitted to ESF Managing Authorities.
However, as the decline in financing specific actions with respect to the previous cycle deserves
attention and on average the ESF share dedicated to the relevant category of expenditure for gender
equality is not high (around 3%), an in depth understanding of how gender mainstreaming has been
interpreted and implemented in all Member States is due.
2.2.3. The application of the gender mainstreaming principle
In the case of ‘gender equality specific actions’, involved actors are generally aware of their meaning
and of what they are expected achieve. Specific actions are usually implemented either directly by
public bodies, or by other project promoters in response to dedicated calls for projects that, more or
less explicitly, announce the general content and types of action that should be provided with open
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reference to a specific gender equality objective adopted by the OP33. Although even in this case
issues of quality and capacity of both project promoters and assessors are relevant – and hence good
performance is not to be taken for granted – the operational concept of specific actions is sufficiently
clear-cut. Things are much different for the concept of gender mainstreaming, which is much more
ambiguous in practice34. In fact, the analysis has shown that the mainstreaming principle has been
interpreted operationally in different ways.
In theory, gender mainstreaming could be applied to both the two main phases of the OP: the
preparation of the strategy and its implementation35.
From the country-level research, it has emerged that most Member States have considered the
relevance of the gender mainstreaming principle almost exclusively in the implementation phase of
the OPs36. In other words, gender mainstreaming is mainly put into practice through a commitment to
ensure that gender equality is taken into account when deciding which projects should receive ESF
funding. Not all Member States that especially count on an appropriate application of mainstreaming
at the project level have, however, developed an explicit and robust operational strategy to ensure
that this will be the case. In addition, strategies to ensure that projects respect the gender equality
principle are very different. They range from a requirement for project promoters to commit to
respect the gender equality principle, to the requirement for a detailed analysis (as part of the project
proposal) on how the project will contribute to gender equality. For actions that include the provision
of services to target groups, some Member States have used the (not particularly promising)
requirement that projects should ensure that there is an equal number of male and female
beneficiaries. In some other cases, projects that are assessed positively in relation to gender issues
gain priority in the selection procedures. Austria and Germany have explicitly adopted a sort of
gender budgeting target implying that 50% of resources should be granted to gender sensitive
projects, although it is less clear whether gender sensitivity can be really assessed in a comparable
33 For instance: obtaining better employability for women, contrasting stereotypes in education and similar. 34 In order to work on a common conceptual basis, in the questionnaire which was submitted to all the Managing Authorities the following definition was suggested: ‘By application of the Gender mainstreaming principle we mean the intentional consideration of effects on gender in i) the choice of objectives and actions to finance at the programming level; ii) the procedures through which projects are selected and iii) the way the actions are managed and monitored, in order to maximise positive effects on gender equality’. Even this definition, however, is not immediately operational. 35 Conventionally we sometimes refer to monitoring and evaluation as additional phases. In actual facts, monitoring and evaluations are supporting activities, not separate phases of the OP. Monitoring typically happens during implementation and evaluation activities can be done over the entire cycle of the OP and even later, in order to assess results obtained both for learning and for accountability reasons. 36 Much less common in ESF programmes appears the idea that gender mainstreaming could be explicitly practiced at the strategic level, i.e. in the overall choice of specific objectives and types of actions according also (not necessarily exclusively) to a diagnosis of the causes of the main gender inequalities or the main less established achievements in gender equality.
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manner and the target set seems to have a purposely (though not invaluable) symbolic role. Poland is
reported to have adopted a particularly demanding mainstreaming strategy for all ESF projects37; this
is worth mentioning since it is appreciated by non-governmental stakeholders on the grounds that
requiring some form of gender attention by all ESF projects has a strong promotional role for gender
equality issues.
However, many of these practices do not seem to be effective in ensuring substantial effort by
project promoters, as country-level analysis has revealed that concerns are many. Some
preoccupations relate to the fact that relying on standard requirements to assess the fulfilment of the
general gender equality principle may result only in a formal exercise by project promoters. In many
instances country-level analysis has also signalled that it is not only a matter of will, as gender
equality awareness and capacity are seriously lacking among project promoters (a circumstance
which might also undermine the effectiveness of the planned gender specific actions). In addition, in
some cases it has been found that also project assessors lack sufficient awareness and understanding
of gender equality issues.
Hence more needs to be done to ensure that the benefits of the gender mainstreaming approach are
actually translated into practice. In this respect, some Member States show promising practices of
offering not only general written guidelines (which many Member States do), but also events and
technical support on gender issues for projects promoters and standardised training for project
assessors. These practices are worthy of more detailed examination, with a view to considering the
potential benefits of their more extensive adoption.
Overall, Managing Authorities appeared less optimistic about the application of the gender
mainstreaming principle. In some cases, the same respondent who rated quite highly the importance
of the Gender Objective in the overall programming strategy, reported that the actual application of
gender mainstreaming was not yet satisfactory38. There are only a few instances in which Managing
Authorities reported that there was a large application of the gender mainstreaming principle
throughout the OP. The overall picture which emerges is one in which the application of gender
mainstreaming to all OPs’ activities cannot yet be considered as a common achievement (Figure 2.9).
37In PL ESF project proposals are always assessed also with respect of a closed list of six elements which signal whether and to what extent gender equality issues have been considered in the analysis backing the project proposals, in expected results and project management. The application is excluded from consideration for funding when it fails to achieve a minimum of two out of the six stated “minimum standards”, but there are plans to increase the minimum requirement to meeting the full list of standards. 38 See for instances the cases of CY, IE, HU and LV ( in Figure 2.9.) where Managing Authorities are reporting a still small application of the gender mainstreaming principle to the OPs, while they were ranking the status of the Gender Objective within their OPs quite high.
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Figure 2.9 – Application of the gender mainstreaming principle and Importance of the gender-equality objective: views of the ESF Managing Authorities.
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
80,0
90,0
AT DK PL RO SE UK BE DE ES BG GR LT LU MT FI IT SI SK CZ PT CY EE FR HU IE LV NL
1,0
2,0
3,0
4,0
5,0
6,0
gender mainstreaming application importance of the gender equality objective
MAs answer that there is large (over 70%) application of the GM principle
MAs answer that there is intermediate (30 - 70%) application of the GM principle
MAs answer that there is small
(15-30%) or low (below 15%)
application of the GM principle
Note: Answers were collected at the OP level. In Member States with multiple OPs, MAs’ answers are aggregated on the basis of the financial weight of the OP for which MAs are giving answers. Gender mainstreaming application is presented on the 0-90 first axis. Importance of the gender equality objective is presented on the 1-6 second axis.
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
Hence, difficulties in gender mainstreaming application are acknowledged by Managing Authorities.
Many Member States perceive the requested extensive application of gender mainstreaming as both
necessary and problematical (within and outside the ESF interventions).
A signal of the importance assigned to gender mainstreaming, but also of the difficulties perceived in
its actual practice, is that in some Member States (namely ES, IE, PT, GR and FI) gender
mainstreaming is not only considered a form of policy instrument, but a policy objective per se.
Hence their OPs express the need to construct a dedicated strategy to raise or maintain the
awareness and the competences of the key actors as far as gender issues are concerned.
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2.2.4. Gender-equality infrastructure
A somewhat more objective measure of the importance given to the Gender equality objective and to
the principle of mainstreaming can be found in the investment that Member States have made in
setting up a ‘gender equality institutional infrastructure’39.
As far as the programming phase was concerned, almost all Member States relied on some sort of
dedicated and/or specialised support for taking into account the gender equality issue. Usually,
Governmental bodies with responsibilities for gender equality (which represent the main reference
point at the institutional level), where established, had been at least consulted, even if they might
have not be granted a subsequent active role within the actual management of the OPs40. Their
capacity to positively influence ESF programming was, however, constrained by their status, staffing
and available resources, which used to vary and still varies between the Member States.
In Member States where the ESF OPs are large in scope and financial dimension, and, even more, in
the case of Member States with many regional OPs, a key role is played by the OP-specific gender
infrastructure, organised to assist the MA in the various phases of the policy cycle (from shaping the
programme’s content to implementation, and for monitoring and evaluation activities).
During the programming phase, the input of some form of OP specific gender-equality infrastructure
was reported in almost all Member States. To better assess potential, information has been collected
about the shape assumed by these gender institutional infrastructures in place at the OP level,
considering the following tools41:
the presence of a dedicated officer with supporting staff (i.e. a full staffed permanent unit
with a specific mandate on gender equality);
the presence of a dedicated officer only (i.e. an officer with a specific mandate on gender
equality, but not supported by additional staff);
the existence of specific and ad hoc gender-equality Committees (in charge of giving advice);
the reference for advice from already existent ‘gender networks’;
the reliance on external experts (recruited to help with or give advice on the OP’s content).
In many cases more than one tool was used to ensure that gender-equality issues were
considered when shaping the OPs (Figure 2.10).
39 Positive results of the projects in term of gender equality imply the establishment of a basic equality infrastructure. The latter refers usually to an equality structure or team with certain resources, dedicated to the guidance and support of the organisation responsible for programming and implementing the ESF programme actions in order to maximise positive effects in term of gender equality. 40 An exception appears to be the case of RO, for which the Country Report signals that the existing relevant National bodies were not involved in the shaping of the OPs. 41 These tools were defined considering those that are known to be more often used.
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Figure 2.10 – Average number of tools that shape the gender-equality infrastructure supporting the ESF programming phase in Member States.
AT FI
DE
ESCY DK EE GR HU MT PL
BG
ITCZ PT
SKUK
BE FR IE LT LU LV RO SE
NL* SI *0,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
4,0
5,0
6,0
AT FI DE ES CY DK EE GR HU MT PL BG IT CZ PT SK UK BE FR IE LT LU LV RO SE NL* SI *
Note: Answers were collected at the OP level. Number of different tools used at each OP level to shape the gender equality infrastructure could range up to six tools as in the relevant question submitted to MAs they were asked to indicate which ones of the five suggested tools were used and could also mention an additional non specified tool. For those Member States with multiple OPs, answers are aggregated on the basis of the financial weight of each OP. Hence, the distribution of values by Member State represents the (weighted) average number of tools shaping the gender-equality infrastructures put in place at the OP level. For NL and SI answers to this question are not available.
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
The combination of different tools should be considered valuable in itself, especially at the
programming stage when a strong forward-looking effort is necessary and the main programme
theory has to be constructed. Hence, the recruitment of many different energies and specialist points
of view can definitely be considered as adding value to the programme’s content.
More interesting is, however, the distribution and internal composition of the tools used (Figure 2.11).
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Figure 2.11 – Composition of the gender-equality infrastructure supporting the programming level in Member States.
0
1
2
3
AT BE BG CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT NL
(*)
PL PT RO SE SI
(*)
SK UK
Other Tools
GE Experts
GE Networks
GE Committees
Officer without staff
Officer with staff
Note: The Figure represents all the different tools that in each Member State were used to shape the gender-equality infrastructure at the OP level, not necessarily all present in all OPs for Member States with multiple OPs. Hence for each Member State, the height of its corresponding column (up to a value of 3) represents the average number of tools used (as in Fig. 2.10), while the internal composition of the column represents the different tools used. In all cases in which any specific tool has a height less than one, it means that the tool was used only in some OPs of the Member State. For NL and SI answers to this question are not available.
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
In particular, it is worth noting that there is in only one third of the Member States there appears to
be (at least to some extent) what we could refer to as a long-term organisational investment in
setting up a gender infrastructure in the form of a permanent office (i.e. a dedicated officer with
additional staff). The presence of a dedicated permanent structure is, however, important. In fact, it
allows capitalising and internalising in a more robust way the many issues and concepts that might
arise during the shaping of the programme, including requests made by non-institutional partners in
the course of the consultation activities (even if not all of them are actually accepted and transposed
in the wording of the programme), allowing for a better consideration of gender-equality issues also
in the subsequent phases of the programme.
Those situations in which no full structure (or at least a permanent dedicated figure) is involved can
be judged as weaker, although of course not incapable of giving good inputs for the shaping of the
OP. In fact, if no internal dedicated structure with a clear mandate on gender equality is present,
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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most valuable contributions, ideas and concepts provided by other entities may be neglected, once
the programme enters the more demanding implementation phase.
Gender-equality competences among officers in charge of managing the programmes are also crucial
and their necessity is often underestimated. In the delicate field of gender-equality policy, unwanted
mistakes leading to choices that exacerbate gender disparities or segregation (instead of diminishing
them) can easily be made. This can happen also in apparently ordinary activities, such as drafting calls
for projects, preparing selection criteria, writing terms of reference or organising project selection
committees. Even when these tasks are performed with the support of external — to the OP
organisation— expertise, there is need of some at least basic internal gender competences to
appreciate the value of the received advice and transpose it into administrative practice.
The importance of strengthening internal (to the programme’s management) gender skills has often
come about during country-level analysis. The use of ‘gender mainstreaming’ as a strategic tool,
implies a corresponding and extensive presence of gender expertise within the organisation.
Although training activities are always a heavy burden in the short-term for organisations and should
be carried out with consideration to their cost-benefit implications, it is important to state that in the
case of gender-equality policy they are especially significant. In this respect, however, the effort
towards upgrading internal competences and skills appears to vary greatly among Member States and
a significant number of them are still not investing sufficiently to increase their internal capacity in
terms of gender equality (Figure 2.12).
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Figure 2.12 – Proportions of officers in charge of ESF OPs’ management having received training in the field of gender quality in Member States.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AT
BE
BG
CZ
DE
DK
EE
ES FI
FR
GR
HU IE IT LT
LU
LV
MT
NL
PL
PT
RO
SE SI
SK
UK
No one received training%
Only a few received training %
Most or all received training %
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
To sum up, it is possible to describe a picture in which awareness of the importance of a well
functioning gender-equality infrastructure has increased over time (this is also proved by the fact that
in those cases in which for lack of resources some gender infrastructure, once in place, has been
partially discontinued, as in Ireland, actors perceive this as a problem). However, the degree and
functionality of efforts in this direction are still not to be considered satisfactory and there are
evident disparities among Member States.
2.2.5. Grouping Member States: ESF policy effort toward gender equality and the GEI
An index for assessing policy efforts towards gender equality within ESF interventions - As shown in
the previous sections, Member States have considered the gender-equality objective within their ESF
OPs with different degrees of importance and in different ways. The role credited to gender-equality
specific actions varies greatly, but almost all Member States recognise the increasing importance of
gender mainstreaming practices.
At this relatively early stage of implementation, it is not possible to judge fully the effectiveness of
Member States’ choices, but it is worth trying to assess the potential of Member States’ frameworks
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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for the implementation of the ‘dual approach’. This has been done during country-level analysis by
considering the following:
i) The share of ESF resources dedicated to the relevant category of expenditure for intervening in the field of gender equality,
as a proxy of the importance attributed to gender equality enhancing specific actions.
And,
ii) the clarity of the gender mainstreaming operational strategy and the robustness of the institutional set up for its implementation,
iii) the extension to which a partnership approach has been taken into consideration in the organization for supervising and directing the OPs from the point of view of gender equality,
iv) the sensitivity to gender-equality aspects of monitoring systems and data collection practices,
v) the sensitivity to gender-equality aspects of the organisation of evaluation activities,
as proxies for the degree of adherence to the gender mainstreaming principle.
In order to consider these aspects together, a composite index has been devised. The index (ESF
policy effort - for gender equality - indicator, ESFPEI) summarises the scores assigned to Member
States for these five dimensions42 (Fig. 2.13).
42 The index has been built to capture the overall effort that each Member State is devoting in following the ‘dual approach’ to gender equality within ESF interventions. It is built assigning scores to the different considered dimensions and then combining them. More specifically, a sub index a is constructed considering the relative (to the EU average) amount of ESF resources dedicated to specific actions and a sub index b is constructed evaluating the various aspects considered key for preparing, implementing, assessing and readjusting a gender mainstreaming strategy. The overall index is constructed to have a maximum value of 100. It combines the two sub indexes (both constructed to reach a maximum value of 100) with a weight of 30% to sub-index a and a weight of 70% to sub-index b (which combines several aspects). See Annex V for further details on the construction of the index. A more detailed account of models chosen by Member States for considering the gender equality objective in supervising OPs’ implementation, in monitoring and evaluation is presented in Chapter 3.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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Figure 2.13 – ESF policy effort towards gender equality - synthetic indicator (ESFPEI).
Fin
lan
d
Malt
a
Ge
rma
ny
Lu
xem
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Un
ite
d K
ing
do
m
Po
rtu
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Po
lan
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Slo
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Cy
pru
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Slo
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Es
ton
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La
tvia
0
10
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30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Fin
lan
d
Malt
a
Ge
rma
ny
Lu
xem
bo
urg
Un
ite
d K
ing
do
m
Po
rtu
ga
l
Sp
ain
Po
lan
d
Slo
ve
nia
Gre
ec
e
Cy
pru
s
Slo
va
kia
Au
str
ia
Be
lgiu
m
Bu
lga
ria
Ita
ly
Ne
the
rla
nd
s
Sw
ed
en
Lit
hu
an
ia
Hu
ng
ary
Cze
ch
Re
pu
bli
c
Ire
lan
d
Fra
nc
e
Ro
ma
nia
De
nm
ark
Es
ton
ia
La
tvia
Overall organization for mainstreaming and partnership,monitoring and evaluation of the GE objective (maxscore=70)Share ESF GE actions relative to EU avergae (maxscore=30)
Note: See Annex V for details regarding the construction of the ESFPEI.
Source: elaboration on European Commission provided data and Country Report information.
The emerging picture is, once again, varied. Although all Member States have made some effort in
considering the gender-equality objective, and hence the index has been constructed to vary from a
degree of modest (but not absent) endeavour to high, there is indeed an appreciable variability.
It is important to point out that even if this indicator produces a ranking43 and represents the
assessment made at the time country-level analysis has been conducted, it should by no means be
interpreted as a concluding judgment. Rather, it should be considered as a tool to review efforts
undertaken in the various critical dimensions, and as a way to appreciate (even at the single OP level)
its separate underlying components.
First, the indicator has the scope to recall that under the term ‘dual approach’ there are many issues
that demand consideration together and none is, per se, sufficient. Moreover, the emphasis that the
indicator puts on organisational features is motivated by the fact that the ‘dual approach’ does not
43 As figure 2.13 shows, Member States are ordered descending according to the values assumed by the ESFPEI as constructed on the basis of a comparative appraisal of information collected during country-level analysis and presented in Country Reports (see Annex I, Country Reports. In particular in each report, see Section 3: ESF
funding for gender equality actions and Intervention logic table- blocks 7, 8, 9 and 10 dedicated to the description of the gender equality sensitivity of the overall organizational set up of ESF OPs).
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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characterise only the programming phase, but it is inherently a dynamic concept. Choices made at
the programming stage, in funding and organisation, are to be followed by actions. They can be
improved, but can also deteriorate.
Clusters of countries according to gender-equality attainments and policy efforts toward more
gender equality in ESF OPs - If we consider the computed ESFPEI in conjunction with the GEI, it is
however possible to see that while the importance assigned to the gender-equality objective was – at
least to some extent –inversely related to attainments in gender equality44, overall policy efforts
within ESF interventions are not. Looking at Member States we find that the ESFPEI is not always
inversely related to the GEI and we have countries showing higher or lower policy efforts towards
gender equality at all levels of the GEI.
In order to better discuss a picture that, once again, is far from being homogeneous, Member States
have been divided into six groups (Fig. 2.14) according to their relative positions on the GEI (HIGHER,
INTERMEDIATE and LOWER45) and on the ESFPEI (Above or Below the EU median46). The grouping is
not done for the sake of ranking Member States alone, but with a view to exploring the existence of
common factors that can help in understanding what is behind choices which appear more or less
favourable to promoting and sustaining gender equality within ESF interventions.
44 See before paragraph 2.2.2 45 The three groups for the GEI correspond to Member States whose GEI is: above 0,6 (HIGHER GEI); up to 0,6 and above 0,5 (INTERMEDIATE GEI); up to 0,5 (LOWER GEI). 46 The two groups for the ESFPEI correspond to Member States whose ESFPEI is above the EU27 median of 60 (ABOVE EU MEDIAN ESFPEI) or below this value (BELOW EU MEDIAN ESFPEI).
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Figure 2.14 Clusters of Member States according to GEI/ESFPEI: 6 groups
FI
SE DK NL BE
UK PT LU SI AT
LT FR LV HU EE
SK MT ES CY GR
RO IE CZ IT
PL
DE
BG
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
FI DE SE DK NL BE UK PT LU SI AT PL LT FR LV BG HU EE SK MT ES CY GR RO IE CZ IT
Higher GEI and Above EU median
ESFPEI (group H-A)
Higher GEI and Below EU median
ESFPEI (group H-B)
Intermediate GEI and Above EU
median ESFPEI (group I-A)
Intermediate GEI and
Below EU median
ESFPEI (group I-B)
Lower GEI and Above
EU median ESFPEI
(group L-A)
Lower GEI and
Below EU median
ESFPEI (group L-B)
Note: The six groups are given by the intersections of the grouping in three classes according to the GEI (above
0,6; HIGHER GEI; up to 0,6 and above 0,5: INTERMEDIATE GEI; up to 0,5: LOWER GEI) and the grouping in two
classes according to the ESFPEI (Above or Below the EU27 median of 60). Within each of the six groups (H-A; H-
B; I-A; I-B; L-A; L-B), Member States are ordered descending according to their GEI values.
Source: elaboration on the GEI and the ESFPEI indexes.
In most Member States with higher scores on the GEI, total ESF available resources are extremely
limited (as these countries are mainly affluent, older Member States and hence in receipt of smaller
ESF contributions) and gender-equality issues are perceived as a less pressing priority for their ESF
OPs. This, together with an often well-established national framework for gender equality (as is the
case of SE, DK and NL), might have prevented greater efforts within the ESF as impact expectations
cannot be high47.
These considerations do not however always apply, and even at higher levels of the GEI and national
wealth, there are two cases (FI and DE, the only two in the group H-A) of significant policy effort
towards gender equality also within ESF interventions. In both these Member States, however, ESF
available resources are greater than in the other countries with higher GEI, and hence scope for
action (and returns from mainstreaming practices) is objectively wider.
47 However, SE has made much clearer efforts than DK and NL to sustain gender mainstreaming, with a dedicated supporting project (see Chapter 3).
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A somewhat different situation is that of BE (which appears in the group H-B) for which the
marginally below average level of effort appears as resulting from of a sort of divide between
formally stated intentions and actual capacity to ensure the necessary focus. This latter aspect is
worth mentioning as it is not uncommon48, suggesting wider difficulties in ensuring a full and
continuous lead on gender-equality issues within OPs that often pursue many different objectives.
Most (12 out of 27) Member States are grouped in an intermediate absolute level of the GEI and
hence, given that this level is far from being satisfactory, they all should have potentially good
reasons to consider gender equality as a relevant policy issue. Moreover, with some exceptions (LU,
UK, AT and FR), in these countries the amount of ESF available resources is very significant in
absolute levels. Still, there appear to be important differences in the consideration of gender-
equality issues within their ESF OPs. It is, however, not easy to find common factors that can explain
these differences in attitudes and only some tentative explanations can be put forward.
Half of the Member States with an intermediate level of GEI show an above EU average policy effort
towards gender equality (group I-A). This group (UK, PT, LU, SI, AT and PL) is geographically
heterogeneous, though mainly clustered at the inferior tail of the intermediate GEI group49. Although
coming from very different administrative traditions, these Member States have clearly taken in
consideration the theoretical requirements for sustaining gender equality and have, however,
operationally interpreted them according to their own points of strength and specific needs.
In the (I-B) group, we mostly find Member States (FR, LT, LV, HU and EE) that have both dedicated
relative low shares of ESF finance to specific actions and that mostly have not greatly compensated
this choice by reinforcing the effectiveness of mainstreaming by investing on the organizational side
(this is particularly the case for EE and LV). What most of these Member States have in common is a
relatively better history of absolute employment rates for women and/or less severe gender
employment gaps, which have likely affected their perceptions on the urgency of gender issues50.
Moreover, in some of these countries, recent economic developments following the general
downturn have probably focussed attention away from structural gender issues. This aspect also, in
turn, is not uncommon (and it is visible even outside this specific group of Member States) suggesting
that, in some cases, attention to gender issues is considered as a ‘luxury’ that can be taken into full
48 This divide, between a formal set up that declares gender equality as a key issue and actual practices that do not fully succeed in taking it into consideration, is not observed only for those member States for which the ESFPEI is lower than the critical value (median) chosen for representation purposes. Only very few Member States, in fact, present completely convincing levels of adherence to gender equality principles in the organization of all ESF OPs’ activities. 49 A significant exception is UK with a GEI close to 0,6. 50 Somewhat different is yet the case of HU (where labour market outcomes for women are far from being satisfactory). Nevertheless, in HU male employment rate is the lowest within the EU and this might have had some role in lowering the focus on gender issues and women’s conditions.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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consideration only when there are no more pressing items on the agenda. BG is in a different
position; it is also present in this group (I-B) despite the high ESF share dedicated to specific actions,
as its organisational set-up seems still to suffer from lack of established capacities.
In the lower partition of the GEI ranking, there are nine Member States (RO, IE, CZ, SK, MT, IT, ES, CY
and GR) in which gender gaps are present with various degrees of severity. For almost all of them,
the ESF is a critical resource for intervening in social policy (and this is particularly the case for areas
in the CONV objective). While the importance of attaining more gender equality is generally openly
acknowledged and the potential role in this of ESF is recognised, not all of them have yet reached a
satisfactory level of consideration of gender issues across their OPs. In the group that appears as
performing better in this respect (L-A), there are some new small Member States (MT, CY, SK) that,
although still facing capacity problems, appear to have seriously considered the chance to use their
recent entry into the EU to strengthen their institutional set-up for gender equality. For ES and GR,
old Member States, the ESF set-up seems, instead, to be benefiting from (and structured so as to
further) a much more robust (than in the past) nationally developed framework, in which gender
equality has become more prominent over time.
In the last group (L-B) we find Member States (RO, IE, CZ and IT) whose not particularly high level of
the ESFPEI appears to be stemming from different motivations, but mostly compound a picture in
which efforts, more than too modest, are partial. In particular, RO, CZ and IT, seem to be lacking a
convincing mainstreaming strategy and an adequate set-up for ensuring gender equality in OPs’
implementation outside of specific actions. The case of IE is different as the value of its ESFPEI is
affected by some steps back (with respect to the past) in the gender sensitiveness of the ESF content
and organisation, which occurred for financial reasons and the need to focus ESF efforts on other
(than gender equality) concerns, due to the economic crisis. Despite this, however, awareness of
gender issues remains high within ESF management.
2.2.6. Main specific objectives for gender equality in ESF Operational programmes
Primarily, but not solely, as a premise to finance gender-equality enhancing projects, OPs usually both
declare some specific gender-equality objectives and specify the types of actions that will be
financed. The way in which this is done is, however, variable in terms of precision and clear
distinction between objectives and instruments (as can be inferred from the Intervention Logic tables
and diagrams appended to the Country Reports). In some cases, relevant main objectives and actions
have been better clarified through direct interactions (interviews) with Managing Authorities and
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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other ESF stakeholders involved in the programming phase. In certain instances specific objectives are
indeed very narrowly-defined and precise; in others they appear more generally worded51.
In order to discuss the main relevant objectives that ESF OPs are aiming at in a comparable manner,
the information gathered during the country-level research has been reconsidered with a view to
adopt more comparable categories, although probably at the cost of losing some details at the
Member State level52.
The categorisation adopted considers critical aspects within the general gender-equality objective.
These critical aspects have been identified for categorising differently worded specific objectives
adopted by OPs as they can be considered as final, ultimate aims of the policy action. Hence
objectives contained in the OPs have been reconsidered to identify which critical aspects of gender
equality they were actually aiming at reinforcing (or which critical aspects of gender inequality they
were intending to address).
Relevant ESF OPs’ objectives have, therefore, been grouped into the following eight categories:
1. Promoting Women's employment and participation in the labour market (quantity and/or
quality objectives) – henceforth shortened as EMPLOYMENT,
2. Promoting women's entrepreneurship, not only to increase their employment, but also as a
means of social advancement and recognition – henceforth shortened as
ENTREPRENEURSHIP,
3. Easing women's caring duties – henceforth shortened as CARE,
4. Counteracting cultural and social gender stereotypes – henceforth shortened as STEREOTYPE,
5. Promoting women's access to private and public decision making roles – henceforth
shortened as EMPOWERMENT,
6. Preventing educational gender segregation – henceforth shortened as EDUCATION,
7. Reducing women's poverty and favouring vulnerable groups – henceforth shortened as
POVERTY,
8. Combating violence against women – henceforth shortened as VIOLENCE.
51 These differences can be appreciated by looking at the Country reports, and more specifically at the Intervention Logic tables and diagrams. See Annex I. 52 See Annex VI for details.
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The conversion into these common categories of the objectives identified in the Member States’
strategies is not merely mechanic, but results from an appraisal of all the relevant information
gathered in country-level analysis53.
Within this group of critical objectives, merely intermediate instrumental objectives and institutional
capacity building objectives — although important — are not included. When appropriate,
instrumental objectives (such as, for instance, augmenting the share of women in training activities
typically enrolling men) have been considered among the set of instruments/actions54.
In this last respect, it is, however, worth stressing (again) that some Member States have considered
‘gender mainstreaming across the policy board’ as an important institutional objective per se,
towards which they have allocated resources and efforts, providing gender equality training and
other forms of gender-sensitiveness enhancing both to decision makers at the political and
administrative level, to officers and, in some cases, to project promoters.
As far as the content of objectives is concerned, the first most striking –though not unexpected—
finding is the importance that the majority of Member States assigns to the EMPLOYMENT objective
(Table 2.2). In several cases this is the only final objective of relevance for gender equality which is
taken into consideration by the OPs strategy55.
53 For instance, in many cases Member States’ strategies present the theme of reconciliation of work and family life as an objective. Only when it is clear (in the light of all elements gathered at the country-level analysis) that this implies actions to favour equal sharing of responsibilities within households or that there are concerns that excessive caring burdens constrain women’s choices, this is translated into a ‘care easing’ category. If, instead, as it happens in a number of cases, work family reconciliation is mainly seen as a way to promote greater or more intense participation to the labour market and plays substantially the role of an instrument towards a final employability objective, the objective is considered under the ‘employment’ category. 54 It is worth clarifying that intermediate instrumental objectives are indeed useful in the construction of an operational strategy as they have the function to focus efforts. What is important, however, is that the chosen strategy also clarifies the underlying reasons for the adoption of intermediate instrumental objectives, i.e. of which final objectives (impacts) they constitute an intermediate operational step. 55 In this context, it should however be clarified that an unwanted limitation of the analysis is that weight variables are not available. In fact the OPs do not always contain information on financial amounts dedicated to the various specific objectives considered and hence which objectives are the most important has been inferred in country-level analysis examining mainly qualitative information (contained in programming documents) and in interactions (through face to face interviews) with ESF officers who hold programming and implementation responsibilities in Member States.
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Table 2.2 – Main gender-equality specific objectives pursued by ESF OPs’ strategies in Member
States
Country
EMPLOYMENT -
Promoting
Women's
employment and
participation to
the labour
market (quantity
and/or quality
objectives)
ENTREPRENEURSHIP -
Promoting women's
entrepreneurship as a
mean of social
advancement
CARE -
Easing
women's
caring
duties
STEREOTYPE -
Counteracting
cultural and
social gender
stereotypes
EMPOWERMENT -
Promoting
women's access to
private and public
decision making
roles
EDUCATION -
Preventing
educational
and training
gender
segregation
POVERTY -
Reducing
women's
poverty and
favouring
vulnerable
groups
VIOLENCE -
Combating
Violence
against
women
Austria X X X
Belgium X
Bulgaria X
Cyprus X
Czech Republic X X
Germany X X X X
Denmark X X
Estonia X X
Spain X X X
Finland X X
France X X X
Greece X X
Hungary X
Ireland X X
Italy X X
Lithuania X X X
Luxemburg X X
Latvia X
Malta X X
Netherlands X
Poland X
Portugal X X X
Romania X X X
Sweden X
Slovenia X X
Slovakia X X
United Kingdom X
Note: The Table reports ‘main’ specific objectives of relevance for gender equality present in Member States ESF OPs’ strategies. It is worth noting that is possible that in any specific Member State some small scale single projects which consider other objectives, not reported in this table among the main objectives of relevance for that Member State, are financed.
Source: elaboration on Study Country Reports’ information.
Of course, there are interesting differences in the way Member States interpret the EMPLOYMENT
objective, which is no longer considered as a merely quantitative target in all instances. In many
Member States the EMPLOYMENT objective is qualified, at least in the adopted wording, by reference
to more narrowly and precisely defined emergent concerns, such as the excessive rate of part-timers
among women (an issue perceived as crucial, particularly in AT, NL and UK) , or, more frequently, but
even more vaguely, the persistent sector and hierarchic segregation. Also, very common —and even
as additional characterisation of a merely quantitative increase in women’s employment— is the
intended targeting of particular weak groups of women (sometimes explicitly identified, such as
migrant women, lone parents, women resident in economically marginalised urban or rural areas),
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some other times referred to through less precise terminology, such as reference to vulnerable
women (Table 2.3). However, the notion that it is important to address double discrimination
(because of gender and because of other vulnerability characteristics), although often acknowledged,
is not always fully considered in the description of the OP strategy. Hence, much is left to the OPs’
implementation phase.
Table 2.3 – Characterisation of the enhancing effective and productive participation to the labour market objective for women
COUNTRY
Quantity of
employed
women Excessive PART TIME
Other qualitative labour
market aspects
(horizontal, vertical
segregation, pay gap)
Emphasis on labour market position
of explicitly named women's weak
groups (e.g.migrants, lone parents,
marginalized urban areas'residents,
unemployed without benefits, women
with extreme care responsibilities,
rural areas' residents) or more
general reference to vulnerable
women.
Austria X X X
Belgium X X
Bulgaria X X
Cyprus X X
Czech Republic X X
Germany X X
Denmark X
Estonia X
Spain X
Finland X X
France X
Greece X
Hungary X
Ireland X X
Italy X X
Lithuania X X
Luxemburg X
Latvia X
Malta X X
Netherlands X X X X
Poland X
Portugal X
Romania X X X
Sweden X X
Slovenia X
Slovakia X X X
United Kingdom X X X
Note: The table summarizes main characterizations of the EMPLOYMENT objective as they can be inferred by the content of OPs and from information collected in interviews (reported in Country Reports). In a few cases (FI, FR , DK and SE) attention to qualitative aspects of the position of women in labour market are presented in the table although these Countries do not adopt a main EMPLOYMENT objective, but consider aspects of career progression and access to better professional status within other main objectives (such as EMPOWERMENT or ENTREPRENEURSHIP). In the case of LV the EMPLOYMENT objective does not specifically target women, but weak groups in general.
Source: elaboration on Study Country Reports’ information.
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Even when other aspects are considered and other objectives are included, most ESF strategies
concentrate directly on the position of women in the labour market. This fact, coupled with the
predominance of ‘supply side actions’ —gender specific actions tend to address ‘ women’s capacities’
much more than addressing the socio-cultural environment which might well be at the origin of many
unsatisfactory labour market’s outcomes— might hide some misperceptions on the main causes
perpetuating gender inequality.
Relatively few Member States, for instance, have adopted main (in terms of recognised importance)
objectives addressing cultural and social gender stereotypes (STEREOTYPE) or gender educational
segregation (EDUCATION)56. These issues start to be recognised as crucial especially in Member States
that rank higher on the GEI (there are, however, some noticeable exceptions like MT and to a much
lesser extent RO) and where awareness of deeply seated stereotypes as sources of persistent pay
gaps, still excessive unequal share of domestic work and openness to higher decision-making
positions only to extremely gifted women has much increased, but where it is likely that those
problems are comparatively less severe.
A few Member States are addressing the delicate theme of violence and trafficking (VIOLENCE) with
ESF interventions and in open connection with the theme of gender equality. This move is particularly
appreciable as it signals increasing awareness that violence and trafficking are not only particularly
odious crimes (and as such object of repression in all Member States), but also an index of
backwardness as far as general societal organisation with respect to gender relations57.
2.2.7. Intervention logics: types of actions for the main gender-equality objectives
Some progress should be acknowledged in the domain of the design of actions chosen to meet the
objectives. Even if the main emphasis is still on measures directly addressing women’s capacity to
56 Addressing both these aspects (gender stereotypes and educational segregation) should be considered of value per se as they condition the set of choices open to women in a wide range of circumstances. However they might also be among the main causes that adversely affect the position and possibility of career progression of women on the labour market. 57 In table 2.2, the relevant related objective (VIOLENCE) appears present as a main objective in GR and RO. However, although not central in the overall ESF programming, also IT has a long history of funding projects (through the ESF) addressing the theme of violence and trafficking against women. These initiatives, mainly carried out in the past ESF cycles by the national governmental body for equal opportunity, are now mainly financed with national resources. A few other Member States also consider the theme of violence and trafficking through some actions offering opportunities to women victim of these crimes.
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compete (supply side measures)58, there are signals that OPs’ gender-equality instruments have
become more composite (Figure 2.15a).
Figure 2.15 – Types of actions towards the gender-equality objective within ESF OPs.
a) Average EU
b) Composition by Country
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
80,0
90,0
100,0
De
nm
ark
Ne
the
rla
nd
s
Slo
va
kia
Ge
rma
ny
Au
str
ia
Po
lan
d
Cy
pru
s
Malt
a
Lit
hu
an
ia
Be
lgiu
m
Bu
lga
ria
Es
ton
ia
Fra
nc
e
Ire
lan
d
La
tvia
Sp
ain
Ita
ly
Cze
ch
Re
pu
bli
c
Un
ite
d K
ing
do
m
Gre
ec
e
Hu
ng
ary
Fin
lan
d
Ro
ma
nia
Lu
xem
bu
rg
Po
rtu
ga
l
Slo
ve
nia
Sw
ed
en
CONTEXT
DEMAND
SUPPLY
48,1
19,132,8
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
80,0
90,0
100,0
Actions working on women's
capacities (SUPPLY)
Actions working on firms'
demand (DEMAND)
Actions working on the
institutional, service, cultural
and organizational context
(CONTEXT)
Note: The Figure presents the distribution, at the EU level as a whole (part a) and in Member States (part b), of gender-equality specific actions considered in the ESF strategy according to a threefold partition (SUPPLY, DEMAND, CONTEXT), determined analyzing each Member States choices as for as the mechanisms that devised actions are supposed to affect. In this partition actions might either work on women’s own capacity to compete in society (SUPPLY of capacities), on main economic actors, firms, willingness to appreciate women’s capacity (DEMAND), or on the wider multiple mechanisms (from decision making patterns, to work organization, and offer of public goods) that shape the extent to which the socio-economic context deals with gender issues (CONTEXT).
Source: elaboration on Study Country Reports’ information.
Even if it is not possible to say that improvements are equally visible in all Member States, in most
cases actions are gradually extending outside of the realm of ‘women’s training’ which, however, still
58 The importance of supply side measures could probably be even more evident if we could evaluate consistently across the Member States not only the frequency of types of actions (as it has been done), but the amount of financial resources dedicated to each type (an information that it is not however available ex ante, as detailed financial plans are rarely present).
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remains one of the most important and most widespread tools of intervention upon which Member
States rely, even when dealing with objectives such as tackling poverty or fighting stereotypes.
Some Member States (Figure 2.15b), though to different extent, have, however, devised strategies
that combine actions addressing women’s capacities on the supply side (such as professional training;
counselling on labour market individual strategies; financial incentives and guidance to business start-
up) with other types of actions. These are not only more traditionally ‘demand side’ actions
addressing firms (like financial incentives for in-work training or for sustaining flexible employment
forms), but also actions more clearly directed at reinforcing the sensitivity to gender equality of the
general social, economic and institutional environment. In addition to networking activities (which
are however less widespread than expected59) and support for strengthening the gender-equality
capacities of labour market institutions (like the Public Employment Service), a few Member States
have foreseen counselling and training actions not intended to reinforce women’s labour market
capacities, but other actors’ sensitivity to gender issues (as is the case for actions directed at affecting
the way firms think about work organisation) and their capacity to act in a more gender equal way.
A particular attention is due to reinforcing childcare services provision, which is a field of intervention
present in many Member States’ strategies. Although it does not always represent a widening of the
perspective on gender issues –as it is mainly conceived as an instrument for allowing greater female
labour market participation, more than for diminishing gender gaps in time available (and hence
allowing women to better define their priorities in all fields, including education or political
participation)– it is often an arena of promising ‘policy alliances’. In fact, a variety of ESF actions
supporting availability of childcare services is not usually conducted in isolation, but activated in
combination with other structural actions (financed either through the ERDF and/or through national
funds), and for this reason able to produce greater impacts60.
59 Supporting networks among actors active in the field of gender-equality is a means to reinforce impacts and learning through mutual support among stakeholders. Using networks and partnerships among institutions and organizations in order to mobilize different energies and skills towards the agreed objectives has been a key characteristic of projects funded under the ESF EQUAL initiative, active in the 2000-2006 cycle. In this cycle the EQUAL initiative has been discontinued, but with a view to mainstreaming its main methodologies within all ESF OPs. However, the greater reliance on networks and aggregations of interested actors appears (from the analysis undertaken) still not sufficiently utilized. This, however, does not mean that the experience of the EQUAL initiative has not been important in broadening types of actions and project scopes. In fact, it has been often referred to by stakeholders during country-level analysis as a source of learning,, especially in connection to the widening of the types of actions foreseen in this current cycle. 60 The theme is present in many Member State, but it is worth mentioning the case of IT (for the regions within the CONV objective) where the ESF support to increasing childcare availability is embodied in a larger strategy for ensuring greater coverage and higher standards of a set of basic services for life quality. This strategy is not only financed also by the ERDF, but by other national/regional funding and is carried out by many actors working together. While maintaining their specific role and visibility, ESF actions operate in a wider strategic setting for enhancing childcare and elderly services which might enable greater impacts.
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Looking more directly at intervention logics for the different gender-equality objectives at the
Member States’ level, it is possible to appreciate the kind of instruments defined to reach any specific
object in detail. In order to compare types of actions cross country, actions present in Member States’
strategies have been grouped into the following categories:61
i. W_TRAINING - training to women;
ii. W_COUNSELLING - counselling and orientation to women;
iii. W_FINANCE - finance to women (including finance to business start up and self-
employment);
iv. O_TRAINING - training to others62;
v. O_COUNSELLING - counselling and orientation to others (including orientation to companies
and firms);
vi. O_FINANCE - finance to others (including incentives to firms to hire specific groups);
vii. INSTITUTIONAL - institutional capacity enhancement;
viii. CARE_SER - care services availability enhancement (mainly childcare);
ix. PES - public employment services gender equality;
x. NET - networking and gender issues awareness promotion;
xi. GENERAL ALMP - general active labour market policies.
This categorisation of actions coupled with that of specific objectives gives a stylized picture of the
structure of the ESF strategy in support of gender equality and gives an idea of which actions are
adopted by Member States to reach the main gender equality objectives that have been identified.
Figures 2.16 compares actions adopted by the Member States for reaching the critical objectives that
have been chosen as most relevant by any of them. Each of the eight graphical representations (a, b,
c, d, e, f, g and h) corresponds to a main objective (EMPLOYMENT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, CARE,
STEREOTYPE, EMPOWERMENT, EDUCATION, POVERTY and VIOLENCE) as defined in section2.2.6.
61 Hence, as done for specific gender equality objectives, also the information on the types of specific actions reported in the Country Reports and Intervention Logics has been reorganized according to some general categories which synthesize their main content and characteristics. See Annex VI for further details. 62 A critical distinction regarding types of actions is that between actions directed at women or women’s groups (which are obviously important, but also more traditional in gender-equality strategies) and actions directed at
others (than women). Although these latter actions are less traditional, they are extremely important as gender-equality concepts, and behaviors should be enhanced among all people, actors (men, and independently of gender, all people in critical positions - policy makers, decision makers, civil servants, union activists etc.) and organizations (both private, such as firms or companies, and institutions).
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Within each graph Member States that have adopted the objective are ordered descending with
respect to the number of different types of action which are present in their strategy and types of
actions chosen (according to the previously explained categorisation) are also presented63.
63 A less compact representation in long table format is presented in Annex VI.
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Figure 2.16 (a, b, c, d) – Main gender-equality ESF objectives and corresponding actions in Member States.
b) Promoting women's entrepreneurship as a mean of social advancement and recognition
c) Easing women's caring duties
d) Counteracting cultural and social gender stereotypes
a) Promoting women's employment and participation to the labour market (quantity and/or quality objectives)
PT
ROESIT
UK MTLT CZ
SI PL BG
DE BE AT SK HU CY
NL LU IE GR LV
0
1
2
3
4
5
IT ES RO UK PT MT LT CZ SI PL BG DE BE AT SK HU CY NL LU IE GR LV
CARE_SER
GENERAL ALMP
INSTITUTIONAL
NET
O_COUNSELLING
O_FINANCE
O_TRAINING
PES
W_COUNSELLING
W_FINANCE
W_TRAINING
DE PT
DK FR SK
ES SI
0
1
2
3
DE PT DK FR SK ES SI
NET
W_FINANCE
W_COUNSELLING
EEITFRFI
LU
LT
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1
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4
LT LU FR IT EE FI
W_TRAINING
O_TRAINING
O_COUNSELLING
CARE_SER
SE
DE
EE MT PT
RO
0
1
2
SE DE EE MT PT RO
W_TRAINING
W_COUNSELLING
O_TRAINING
O_COUNSELLING
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Figure 2.16 (e, f, g, h) – Main gender-equality ESF objectives and corresponding actions in Member States.
e) Promoting women's access to private and public decision making roles
f) Preventing educational gender segregation
g) Reducing women's poverty and favouring vulnerable groups
h) Combating Violence against women
FI
ES
FR
IE
0
1
2
3
4
FI IE FR ES
W_TRAINING
W_COUNSELLING
O_TRAINING
INSTITUTIONAL
O_COUNSELLING
AT DK
CZ
0
1
AT DK CZ
INSTITUTIONAL
W_TRAINING
LT
AT
DE
0
1
2
3
DE LT AT
CARE_SER
O_TRAINING
W_COUNSELLING
W_TRAINING
GR RO
0
1
GR RO
NET
W_COUNSELLING
Note: In Fig. 2.16 each of the eight graphical representations (a, b, c, d, e, f, g and h) corresponds to a main objective (EMPLOYMENT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, CARE, STEREOTYPE, EMPOWERMENT, EDUCATION, POVERTY and VIOLENCE). Within each graph only Member States that have adopted that objective are represented in descending order with respect to the number of different types of action present in their strategy for that objective. Types of actions foreseen by Member States are also represented. Longer tables conveying similar information are presented in Annex VI.
Source: elaboration on Study Country Reports’ information.
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The most articulated strategies are visible for the EMPLOYMENT objective, adopted in almost all
Member States. Even with differences among countries, strategies in this case tend to be more
complex, considering several aspects. However, only in one third of Member States do we find that
the strategy includes orientation and counselling activities for ‘non women’ (i.e. employers, PES
personnel, public officers). On the other hand, it should be noted that in only a very few Member
States (NL, LU, and IE) the strategy for the EMPLOYMENT objective is mainly limited to activate
women’s training.
For the other objectives, there is overall a greater variety of instruments, but strategies are – from
the theoretical point of view—relatively simple for single Member State. This partially appears at
variance with what was previously said in relation to the greater articulation of the gender strategy in
general, when all kind of actions were considered together. However, this possibly depends upon the
fact that other objectives are included in the OPs as ‘additional’ to the main labour market oriented
objective (and hence less resources are available for these objectives and there are less actions
foreseen). In the Country Reports (annexed to this Report), recommendations to strengthen the
strategies to make them more sophisticated are not infrequent, as well as to reinforce the reflection
about the various aspects that undermine gender equality in different countries.
Moreover, if, to some degree, this strong concentration on the EMPLOYMENT objective is
understandable (though not necessarily to be considered as the best possible solution) for those
Member States (like ES, MT, GR and IT) where women’s labour market participation indicators are the
most critical, it is not for other Member States. In addition, despite the recognised fact that women
have achieved much greater educational attainment (and in many Member States superior to men’s)
and this has only marginally affected gender gaps in many crucial realms as pay and power, supply
side strategies aiming at increasing women’s competences continue to be the main theoretical basis
for intervention in the field of gender equality. To some extent, this is possibly to be reconnected to
the nature, tradition and potential of ESF interventions. They have traditionally privileged the
reinforcement of individuals’ capacities and skills of adaptation to contexts, more than trying to
intervene on social groups’ interactions and collective decisions. However, gender equality has more
to do with social interactions and societal socio-economic organization than with individual
capacities, and the indeed key EU objectives of attaining greater employment levels also by focussing
actions on augmenting and updating individual human skills cannot be thought as substitutes for a
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much needed more articulated gender-equality strategy64.
In this respect it is particularly interesting to underline the potential of some strategic approaches
more clearly adopted in GR and PT for the ESF (but also on a national scale even by MT and CY),
where an ‘objective of gender mainstreaming’ has been explicitly considered and specific forms of
actions are foreseen in order to target change in the way policy is conceived. These actions are
especially directed at the public administrations and at policy makers. This route follows a line of
action already endorsed and long pursued at the national level in some Member States that today
show higher scores on the Gender Equality Index. In these instances, there is, in fact, a clear
understanding that an effective gender-equality strategy should be one that contaminates all policy
realms. As the gender-equality objective is a really challenging one, activities directed at awareness
rising among key decision makers who are not directly involved in ESF actions can be crucial, as they
might represent the occasion to create long term alliances in other policy realms, without the support
of which it is difficult to imagine further progress.
These reflections are particularly important in the context of the limited ESF financial amounts
earmarked for gender specific actions, which in absence of other dedicated programmes are the main
source for introducing or reinforcing more innovation and experimentalism. Some risks of stepping
back from the conceptual progresses made during the ESF funded 2000-2006 EQUAL community
initiative and related to the importance of addressing more complex objectives and mobilizing
cooperation among different actors —risks mentioned by stakeholders in several Member States—
deserve thoughtful consideration. Some signals that gender equality is treated in too simple terms at
the strategic level might, in fact, be due to the difficulties of dealing appropriately with delicate policy
themes (as gender equality) in programmes that are very large in scope and that in some cases (more
evident during country-level analysis in particular for IE, LV and UK) have been put under stress by
more general emergencies due to the recession phase.
64Results in terms of gender equality are largely determined by the values that a society shares and the institutional constructions and social mechanisms it devises and develops. Values, institutions and mechanisms are the outcomes of interactions over time among groups more than among individuals. In the case of women’s position in the labour-market, it is almost impossible to separate their outcomes from their role in family organization and other non-economic settings, due to the necessity of societies to set rules to ensure reproduction and hence fertility. Most of the debate agrees on the fact that the persistence of gender hierarchy within, for instance, ‘employment’ even in advanced (in terms of formally gender-equal legal values) societies, is due to an uneven acceptance of the value of female employment by the various institutions and power groups that govern or determine the societies’ shape, since this acceptance implies a significant redistribution of wealth, power and status among different groups and organizations and a change in their cognitive frame in terms of what constitutes a loss or a gain. A practical policy consequence is that, in the realm of gender equality, actions needed are inherently multidimensional even when a privileged focus is chosen on a particular objective and should be aimed at changing groups’ interactions along with reinforcing individual capabilities and attitudes. (On the interaction between the material and psychological/social dimensions of gender inequality, see Seguino 2007; on the multidimensional approach to the expansion of women’s employment, see Rubery 2005).
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Hence, an issue worth further and more focussed debate is whether the actual degree of
advancement in the degree of theory understanding and choice of objectives, actions and ways to
intervene in the dominion of gender equality can be judged satisfactory in conjunction with the actual
likelihood (and necessity for the EU as a whole) of the ESF programmes to produce impacts on their
own account.
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2.3. The consideration of some key themes for gender equality in the ESF OPs
This section synthesizes the main findings and conclusions of the six thematic reports65 reflecting on
the ESF contribution in the following areas of interventions, considered key in the current gender-
equality debate:
(i) Enhancing women’s access to employment (with specific reference to women belonging to
vulnerable groups),
(ii) Vertical segregation,
(iii) Horizontal segregation,
(iv) Work-life reconciliation,
(v) Participation of women in enterprise creation and growth,
(vi) Education and training.
The six themes were selected for in-depth analysis because they are the focus of the current EU
official policies in relation to gender equality, and are indicated as relevant fields of intervention for
the current ESF programming cycle. Assessing their relevance at Members states’ level allows
exploration of the coherence of Members states’ programming with reference to the EU gender
policy objectives and also to appreciate the approach to gender equality adopted by the Member
States.
By analysing if and how Member States address ‘access to employment of women belonging to
vulnerable groups’ we can understand whether the objective of higher participation of women in the
labour market is pursued with attention to its qualitative rather than merely quantitative aspects. The
same holds for ‘vertical segregation’ and ‘horizontal segregation‘. By analysing how ‘work-life
reconciliation’ measures are conceived, we can understand whether they are designed mainly as
means to increase the participation of all women in all sectors of the labour market, or also as an
objective per se that can open new opportunities for women. As regards the issues of ‘participation
of women in enterprise creation and growth’, thematic analysis tries to explore whether measures
not only promote women’s access to employment in specific sectors and at the lower levels of
entrepreneurial activities, but aim at reducing horizontal and vertical segregation. Measures in
education and training have been analysed by keeping in mind that they improve women’s skills, but
they can and should be a powerful way of counteracting gender stereotypes.
65 Thematic Reports are provided in Annex II.
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Therefore the six thematic studies not only summarize measures and actions devised by Member
States to tackle these issues, but aim at shedding light on the scope of the overall approach adopted
in pursuing gender equality in ESF programming.
2.3.1. Relevance of the themes in ESF programming
The six themes do not have the same importance in ESF programming among Member States and
only in a few cases they appear altogether as fields of active action in any single Member State
(Figure 2.17).66
Figure 2.17 – ESF OPs’ support to specific thematic fields, views of the Managing Authorities
AT BE CY FI FR MT PL PT SERO SK UKSINLES LVLULTHU IE ITGREEDKDECZBG
0,00
1,00
2,00
3,00
4,00
5,00
6,00
AT BE BG CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK UK
Education and training
Enterprise creation
Work-Life reconciliation
Horizontal segregation
Vertical segregation
Women's access toemployment
Note: The figure shows in which Member States each of the six themes of focus are receiving some support from the ESF OPs (at least some actions are funded in that field). Answers were collected at the OP level. For those Member States with multiple OPs, answers are aggregated on the basis of the financial weight of each OP. In these cases, when not all OPs are considering a specific theme, the figure presents the (weighted) proportion of the OPs that are considering the theme for support.
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
It should be highlighted that Enhancing women’s access to employment is the only theme for which
actions funded through the ESF are present in all Member States (Sweden being the only exception).
In Estonia none of the other five themes were indicated by Managing Authorities as receiving
66 This is confirmed also by the information collected among Managing Authorities.
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support. In Hungary and Ireland the only other theme considered is Women’s Entrepreneurship,
while in the Netherlands the only other theme which is mentioned is Horizontal segregation.
Reconciliation between work and family life and Women’s Entrepreneurship are the second most
significant issues considered for support by OPs according to Managing Authorities. Both these issues
have not been found present only in a few Member States. Work- life reconciliation was not
mentioned among fields receiving support by the Managing Authorities of Austria, Denmark, Estonia,
Hungary, Ireland, and the Netherlands, while Women’s Entrepreneurship was not cited in Cyprus,
Estonia, Malta and the Netherlands.
Vertical segregation was not cited by the Managing Authorities in nine Member States (Bulgaria,
Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, The Netherlands and Slovenia). In all other
Member States this issue is mentioned as receiving attention within the OPs.
Horizontal segregation was not regarded as important in the OPs of eleven Member States (Bulgaria,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia). A
similar situation emerged for Education and training (as the theme does not receive active support
by ESF OPs in Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, the
Netherlands, and Slovenia).
Given that the significance of most of the six themes is acknowledged in most Member States OP’s
context analysis, it is rather disappointing to find relatively few measures designed to address
them67.
The lack of emphasis on measures to combat vertical segregation often reflects the fact that gender-
equality initiatives usually aim to improve women’s access to employment, rather than their upward
progression. However, neglect of vertical segregation within the ESF interventions is cause for
concern. Gender segregation in employment – vertical as well as horizontal – is a resilient feature of
labour markets, despite the increased presence of women in the workforce. There has been only a
modest ‘trickle up’ of women into the higher-level positions in economic and political structures,
despite the growing proportion of women who are highly educated and who pursue continuous
employment careers. Hence there seems to be a certain degree of inconsistency between the
acknowledgment of the problem of segregation and the paucity of specific ESF measures envisaged
in this area.
There are not many ESF funded measures addressing the issue of horizontal segregation, and they
are mainly aimed at attracting women into male-dominated professions. Very little attention is given
to correcting the undervaluation of “female” jobs, like those in the care sector, and, in general, not
67 See Table 2.4 below for a general overview.
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many attempts are made to develop a systematic strategy to tackle horizontal segregation. Instead,
most new research68 has recommended that the policy focus should be shifted from individual
gender differences on the supply side to the way organizations work, and, in particular, to persistent
biases in organizational practices for selection, hiring and promotion, skill recognition, structuring of
career trajectories, job and skill evaluation. At the same time, it is clear that stereotypes should be
fought by fostering changes in attitudes, choices and actual competences of men, not only those of
women. However, even in those Member States where desegregation policies appear to be more
developed, they mainly aim to change women’s stereotypes and stereotypes about women,
neglecting those related to the perceptions of men.
With regard to work-life reconciliation policies, the evidence is that the importance of such policies
is well understood. According to the Managing Authorities, work-life reconciliation appears to be one
of the gender-sensitive issues most funded through ESF. However, the understanding of gender-
equality implications in the design of such measures is not uniform across Member States. It is often
presented only as a means to achieve higher participation of women in the labour market and not in
all fields of social and political life. ESF funding has been used to spread childcare services (in line
with Barcelona targets) although there is still space in many countries for improvements, not only in
terms of service availability but also in terms of opening times, quality and costs. The effort to
provide elderly care services, despite the involvement of women as main carers (paid and unpaid), is
less intense. Hence there is space for developing new policies, given the growing importance of this
issue due to the ageing of the European population.
Most key administrators and officials interviewed by the evaluation team see significant room for
gender-sensitive actions, funded through ESF, in the field of promoting female entrepreneurship.
However, in very few countries has this field been prioritised in terms of allocated resources.
With regard to Education and training, OPs seem to pay more attention to attracting women into
vocational training as a way to increase their chances of entering the labour market, rather than
pursuing desegregation in education programmes and tackling gender stereotypes. The majority of
measures tend to improve the qualifications of women, thus improving their access to the labour
market and reducing gender-based segregation. However, the reality shows that a number of
barriers and effects of gender segregation still persist, despite the high levels of qualifications
attained by women in many fields. Not many ESF funded measures pursue a more holistic and
multilateral approach, which among other things means raising awareness on the part of all actors
who may play a role in combating segregation (unions, employers’ organizations, trainers, teachers,
etc.).
68 See for example Bettio, F. and Verashchagina, A. (2008).
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2.3.2. Indicators by theme in the programming documents
A common feature across the OPs for nearly all Member States69 is the limited presence of
quantitative indicators for the six thematic themes (and indeed precise objectives, actions and
targets) which often do not appear neither in the context analysis nor in the definition of objectives.
Using the right indicators is important as it can help to identify situations of inequality which need to
be addressed by specific measures and help in devising appropriate policy choices.
Although most countries acknowledge the relevance of the themes of vertical and horizontal
segregation, entrepreneurship, education and training, very few OPs contain indicators identifying
key issues. In addition, even when included, they appear to be used for descriptive purposes to
acknowledge the extent of the phenomena, rather than as a policy formulation tool to be monitored
or evaluated. The only issue for which OPs provide many indicators is ‘access to employment’. It
should be highlighted however, that even for the priority of enhancing access to employment, very
few countries include indicators that reflect the situation of vulnerability of certain groups and more
specifically of women at risk. A number of countries include within the target groups vulnerable
groups that are highly feminised (for example, part-time workers), but the subsequent approaches
and programmes are not necessarily gender sensitive.
In conclusion, few OPs include specific gender indicators in the six selected themes either to describe
the existing situation or to identify outcomes, results and impacts. This virtually excludes any
possibility of monitoring or evaluating progress in achieving gender equality in these fields, although
in the context of the ESF, as well as more generally, monitoring and evaluation are crucial, both to
allow lessons to be learnt and made sustainable choices ( to ensure they are not hostage of short-
term funding streams).
2.3.3. Programmed actions in the six selected themes
Programmed actions in the six thematic fields can be divided into two groups: a) those that reinforce
existing or well-established policies; b) those that have a clear innovative character.
In the first (a) group we find diverse but already-experimented activities, aimed at enhancing skills
and qualifications of women and improving their employability. Emphasis is also placed on the
interconnections amongst issues, such as access to employment, reconciliation and education and
training (adult training and e-learning; actions aiming at improving the availability of social and
childcare services; fighting gender stereotypes and orienting women towards atypical careers). As
regards the field of reconciliation, most Member States focus on increasing the availability of
69 There are exceptions which are listed in the individual thematic reports. See Annex II
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childcare services, and on projects which are not already covered by national financing (i.e. flexible or
substitute forms of childcare). There is an increasing interest in the provision of vouchers with ESF
co-funding, allowing parents to choose the most suitable type of services. In ESF actions, special
attention is given to vulnerable employees, to the setting-up and upgrading of childcare day-centers
and to the provision of support to companies that introduce or upgrade existing childcare facilities in
the workplace.
Actions to tackle vertical segregation provide training and mentoring to women to allow them to
achieve leadership and management qualifications.
ESF-funded actions to support female entrepreneurship can be translated into three groups of
concrete actions: promotion/awareness raising; higher quality financial and business support
services; and women-friendly business incubators. As regards education and training, the
predominant approach of the measures and actions surveyed tend to favour the labour market
integration of women and the access of women to employment by means of vocational training
and/or continuous training. Measures are aimed at encouraging women's participation in technical
professions via a reduction in gender segregation in vocational training programmes. There are also
measures focusing on women with low levels of qualifications and actions aimed at promoting
lifelong-learning and targeted at university-educated women.
In the second (b) group of programmed actions experimentation prevails. In Finland, the ‘Valtava
project’ develops a programme on gender equality which finances individual ESF projects that
address the reduction of horizontal segregation and other gender issues. The programme provides
on-going training and consultation on gender equality and gender mainstreaming for all
organisations and individuals involved in the design, programming, implementation and evaluation of
ESF projects dealing with gender equality. The novelty of the programme (which is one of the few
ESF programs concerned with horizontal segregation) can be found in its addressing gender equality
as a horizontal theme – thus embedding an equality mainstreaming focus into different measures –
meaning that all projects should take into consideration the gender dimension. In the field of work-
life reconciliation, in some countries ESF funding is also supporting innovative childcare systems and
services such as the creation, adaptation and development of childcare options for employees with
atypical schedules.
As regards the field of entrepreneurship, some actions promote the creation and consolidation of
companies formed by women through personalised support, advice, training and support until the
consolidation of the project. The novelty is that the creation of enterprises is the result of
institutional cooperation and networking (SERVAEM project in Spain).
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Table 2.4 - Programmed actions by ESF OPs in key fields of intervention
1. Access to Employment
2. Vertical segregation
3.Horizontal Segregation
4. Work-Life Reconciliation
5.Entrepreneurship
6.Education and training
Couching and personalised orientation and support/advice
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mentoring and networking
Yes Yes Yes
Training and counselling
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Vouchers and ‘substitutes’
Yes Yes
Checklists for evaluation, incentives and exchange of good practices
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Gender mainstreaming capacity building
Yes Yes
Awareness raising
Yes Yes Yes
Positive actions
Yes
Source: elaboration on Study Thematic Reports’ information.
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3. INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION AND ORGANISATION OF THE MONITORING ARRANGEMENTS, MONITORING SYSTEMS AND EVALUATION IN RELATION TO THE GENDER EQUALITY OBJECTIVE
This chapter summarizes key information on how the initial ESF OPs’ implementation is progressing
in relation to the gender-equality objective and the extent to which the most relevant foreseen
actions are taking place in the EU Member States (by Spring 2010). The way the Member States
organized monitoring arrangements, monitoring systems and evaluation activities in relation to their
attention to gender issues is also discussed.
3.1. The gender-equality objective in the initial implementation phase
At the EU level, the Commission in its first communication on the implementation of 2007-2013
Cohesion policy programmes of March 201070, and referring to the situation in the Autumn 2009,
reported data on the financial volume of the projects selected by the Managing Authorities, broken
down by category of expenditure in all Member States. On the basis of this data, the selection of
projects in the main relevant expenditure category for gender-equality specific actions (category 69,
which is mainly, and in most Member States exclusively, financed by the ESF) could be calculated. In
relation to the earmarked resources, project selection in category 69 appeared only slightly below
the average (26 per cent versus 27 per cent)71.
However, strong differences could be observed among Member States. The average rate of project
selection varies between the Member States, with some Member States proceeding much faster
than others in the selection of projects (Table 3.1).
70
See CEC (2010a) and data provided in Annexes. 71 It should be pointed out that the notion of project selection does not correspond to implementation on the ground as the value of projects that have been (at least) selected for financing by the MAs conveys only a very broad idea of how OPs’ general execution is proceeding. As the Accompanying document to the Communication (CEC 2010b) explains: “The objective in providing information on selected projects is to give an
insight into the “project pipeline” of the OPs. Typically projects go through the following phases – 1) project
preparation 2) selection, 3) contracting (i.e. procurement where relevant) 4) implementation and declaration of
expenditure and 5) completion. Selected projects should not be confused with those projects where expenditure
has been declared or the projects are completed. The common understanding promoted by the Commission of
"selected project" is that they have been selected by the Managing authority (or other delegated bodies)
following a selection process.”
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Table 3.1 – Financial volume of projects selected, by expenditure categories (% of resources indicatively programmed for categories), 2007-2013 Structural Funds programming cycle by Member State (autumn 2009)
Member State
selected over
adopted (all cat,
all funds)
selected over
adopted (cat 66,
mainly ESF)
selected over
adopted (cat 73,
mainly ESF)
selected over
adopted (cat 69,
mainly ESF)
Lithuania 35,4 91,6 8,3 94,8
Estonia 52,3 27,4 74,1 67,3
United Kingdom 35,2 57,5 36,1 51,2
Belgium 61,1 42,8 46,7 43,5
Greece 11,9 0,0 6,8 42,8
Netherlands 55,8 15,7 14,0 41,3
Romania 14,1 8,0 12,4 38,6
Malta 48,7 151,9 84,3 34,5
France 26,0 45,6 45,5 33,0
Portugal 38,0 34,8 51,6 27,7
Bulgaria 20,2 6,4 15,6 27,5
Slovakia 18,5 346,5 7,1 26,2
Czech Republic 21,4 41,6 23,7 21,7
Italy 38,0 37,1 40,1 21,3
Finland 31,7 18,9 34,1 13,4
Germany 19,3 16,6 17,7 11,6
Spain 29,1 18,7 33,6 11,5
Poland 19,4 41,7 19,6 8,4
Ireland 51,8 category not adopted 58,2 7,3
Austria 20,5 25,0 9,8 5,6
Cyprus 42,2 72,1 0,0 0,0
Hungary 45,7 104,4 8,2 0,0
Luxemburg 28,6 0,0 0,0 0,0
Latvia 36,9 96,4 50,3 0,0
Slovenia 42,2 50,0 76,1 0,0
Denmark 30,0 23,7 category not adopted category not adopted
Sweden 48,5 28,4 category not adopted category not adopted
European Union 27,2 32,1 32,9 26,2
Note: the Table shows the financial volume of selected projects as a % share of resources programmed for adopted categories of expenditure (selected over adopted) by Member States. Data are presented for the total of categories and total Structural funds (all cat, all funds) and for some categories of expenditure (66, 73 and 69) almost entirely financed by the ESF only. This selection of categories is presented to allow for more significant comparison as for as the proceeding of project selection within ESF OPs. In particular, the table shows the proportion of financial volume of selected projects for cat. 69-‘Measures to improve access to
employment and increase sustainable participation and progress of women ...’ and those for the two main categories adopted by ESF OPs (66- ‘Implementing active and preventive measures on the labour market‘ and 73 – ‘Measures to increase participation in education and training throughout the life-cycle ...’). These latter two categories of expenditure (66 and 73) alone account for over 32% of total ESF contributions programmed by all ESF OPs. In the Table, Member States are ordered descending with respect to the percentage of projects selected for category 69.
Source: elaboration on European Commission data.
Several Member States (LU, LV, HU, SI, and CY) appeared much further behind despite having
specifically earmarked resources to gender-equality specific actions in the relevant category. They
were not showing any advancement in progressing from planned strategies to project selection (as of
autumn 2009). At least in the case of LU, this delay appeared to be due to a more general delay with
the overall ESF implementation (see again Table 3.1). However, information gathered in the course of
the study during spring 2010 confirmed that several difficulties had in fact emerged in those
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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countries in relation with implementation of gender-equality specific actions. Some catching up has
been achieved in CY, but problems persist in HU72 (where, however, gender mainstreaming is
reported to be widely applied), LU73, SI74 and, especially, LV75.
A not completely comforting picture in relation to the start of implementation of actions of interest
for gender equality is, anyway, reported by the Managing Authorities themselves, as other worrying
cases, in addition to those mentioned above, are emerging (Figure 3.1). Out of the 27 EU Member
States, 15 seem to be encountering various obstacles in implementing gender-equality actions, as
their Managing Authoprities, on average, stated that either a small, or negligible share, or none
relevant action had yet been started to be implemented in the spring 2010.
Among these cases, it is worth mentioning IE (which was not evident from data presented in Table
3.1), where activities have in fact been launched, but on a much smaller scale due to overall budget
cuts and the need, also in this case as in LV, to face the overall deterioration in the labour market
conditions, allocating resources in different direction from the promotion of gender equality.
72 For HU, the Country Report signals that no gender-specific (targeted) actions have yet been launched (April 2010) under the ESF OPs. This is despite the fact that the ESF Monitoring Committee members delegated by women’s interest groups strongly advocated such actions and suggested some ideas. 73 For LU, it is reported that the Managing Authorities are facing serious difficulties in meeting the (comparatively ambitious) 10 per cent target of gender-equality enhancing actions set in the programme. Also, gender mainstreaming is encountering difficulties. 74 For SI, it is reported that no gender-equality actions have been tendered, despite a rather articulated strategy devised. Some gender-equality actions could be launched under an announced open call supporting innovative practices in the field of social inclusion. 75 In the case of LV, country-level analysis has pointed out that, due to shortage in co-financing resources and the need to face more general unemployment emergencies, no specific gender-equality actions are likely to be financed under the current ESF programming period.
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Figure 3.1 – Degree of implementation of foreseen gender equality actions, views of the ESF Managing Authorities
PL
DE
ES AT BE LT
IT
SK PT
GR
CZ
CY EE FR MT NL FI UK RO
BG
DK HU IE LU LV SE SI0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
80,0
90,0
PL DE ES AT BE LT IT SK PT GR CZ CY EE FR MT NL FI UK RO BG DK HU IE LU LV SE SI
Implementation of gender equality enhancing actions (spring 2010)
MAs answer that foreseen GE actions have been started to be implemented to a large extent (over 70%)
MAs answer that foreseen GE actions have been started to be implemented to a medium extent (between 30% and 70%)
MAs answer that foreseen GE actions have been either
marginally (or not yet started to be) implemented
MAs answer that foreseen GE actions have
been started to be implemented to a small
extent (between 15% and 30%)
Note: Answers were collected at the OP level. In Member States with multiple OPs, MA answers are aggregated on the basis of the financial weight of the OP for which they are responding.
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
DK and SE appear as not reporting the start of gender specific actions. However, in these countries
the overall strategy was not focusing on the implementation of gender specific actions, as the
emphasis was placed, throughout the programming stage, on gender mainstreaming at the project
level. In SE, however, at the beginning of 2009 a specific ‘gender mainstreaming project’ was
organized in order to provide training, methods, support and advice to ESF project
applicants/promoters, especially after it had become clear (also as results of evaluations conducted)
that gender-equality skills among project applicants were not as strong as expected. This move is not
surprising given the traditionally high standards that SE shows in relation to gender-equality issues,
but it is particularly worth mentioning as an example of how attentive observation of the difficulties
that OPs might encounter during implementation can suggest practical directions to follow for
obtaining improvements.
As far as the timing and content with respect to what initially planned (i.e. the degree to which
implementation is faithful to initial intentions), Managing Authorities seem more confident in AT, PL,
PT and (for most OPs) also in DE and the UK. However, in many cases either some implementation
delays or difficulties are reported (Figure 3.2).
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Figure 3.2 – Degree to which the implementation of foreseen gender-equality actions is taking place as planned in each ESF OP, views of the ESF Managing Authorities
AT
BE
BE
BG
BG
CY
CZ
CZ
CZ
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DK
EE
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
FI
FI
FR
GR
GR
GR
HU
HU
IEIT IT IT IT IT IT IT
IT IT IT IT IT IT ITIT
ITL
TL
UL
VM
TN
LP
LP
TP
TP
TR
OR
OS
ES
IS
IS
KS
KS
KU
KU
KU
KU
K
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
AT
BE
BE
BG
BG
CY
CZ
CZ
CZ
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DE
DK
EE
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES
ES FI
FI
FR
GR
GR
GR
HU
HU IE IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT IT LT
LU
LV
MT
NL
PL
PT
PT
PT
RO
RO
SE SI
SI
SK
SK
SK
UK
UK
UK
UK
2 = MAs answer that gender equality actions have been
implemented (in time and content) as originally planned
1,5 = MAs answer that gender equality actions have been
implemented with some dealy
1 = MAs answer that gender equality actions have been
encountered difficulties and changes have been made
0,5 = MAs could not answer whether, in time and content, gender
equality actions were implemented as planned
Note: The Figure shows answers given by Managing Authorities of each OP (all MA answers are shown in the figure). As answers are originally qualitative they are represented according to a simple transformation along the vertical axis.
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
The reasons why planned activities are not always progressing to the implementation phase are not
always clear. Some problems may nevertheless come from the lack of status given to the gender-
equality objective. Its importance (though formally stated in all the ESF OPs) can sometimes be
defeated by other emergencies (such as the need to deal with the upsurge of male unemployment
occurred in several countries following the recent economic crisis) or by the general difficulties in
managing the implementation of large programmes with many administrative requirements, in the
absence of enough structures dedicated to the protection of gender-equality objective.
As far as the degree of innovation in actions, in the initial phase, actions of the type already
implemented before (rather than new, innovative types of actions) seem to prevail in the majority
(almost two thirds) of the Member States, according to the Managing Authorities (Figure 3.3). Such
evidence should be treated cautiously, as it might have different interpretations between the
Member States and would need to be considered according to each country’s track record in the
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field of gender equality76. However, if read in conjunction with the high expectations on the capacity
of the ESF to spur innovation in instruments and practices, it might be a signal that such ‘innovation’
role of the ESF is not yet fully implemented at this initial stage of OPs’ implementation. On the other
hand, country-level analysis signalled that at the time of conducting the research (spring 2010)
gender-equality actions included in the OPs had only recently started to be implemented. It is
therefore possible that new innovative types of actions will be widely implemented in the future.
Figure 3.3 – Degree of novelty of the implemented gender-equality enhancing actions, views of the ESF Managing Authorities
0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1
PL BE LT CY EE MT DK SE DE IT GR ES FI BG AT SK PT CZ FR NL UK RO HU IE LU LV SI
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
mainly NEW mainly not NEW GE actions starting implementation (share)
Note: Answers were collected at the OP level. In Member States with multiple OPs, MAs’ answers are aggregated on the basis of the financial weight of their OP.
The degree of novelty in actions is presented on the first axis (0-1) signalling whether implemented actions are mainly NEW or mainly not NEW in typology. In Member States with multiple OPs, the figure presents the proportions of the different answers (whether present). The figure also shows on the second axis (0-90) the share of all gender-equality specific actions reported to have started implementation as in Fig. 3.1
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
76 In the initial phase of implementation it is likely that the actions implemented will consist more in ‘actions already implemented previously’ because launching new types of actions may require more time in terms of constructing ‘new’ terms of references and/or undertaking scouting activities (informal activities to appreciate whether other actions are feasible and to what extent they are requested and supported by stakeholders and potential promoters /implementers). On the other hand, the intention to use the ESF for innovating objectives and actions in the current cycle does not characterize all Member States (see Chapter 4). However, as OPs are relatively flexible in terms of types of actions that can be legitimately implemented to meet the chosen objectives, much – in terms of introducing new types of actions even when they were not originally planned-will depend on the feedbacks, proposals and support that will be obtained by gender-equality stakeholders represented in Monitoring Committees.
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3.2. Organization of the ESF monitoring arrangements, monitoring systems and evaluation in relation to the gender-equality objective
In all the Member States, some representative(s) of the gender-equality interest is/are member(s) of
ESF Monitoring Committees. In all cases, at least one representative of the institutional bodies
responsible for gender equality and non-discrimination (at either the national or regional level) is a
member of the Monitoring Committee. In the majority of Member States, also non-governmental
stakeholders active in the field of gender equality sit on Monitoring Committees. The degree to
which non-governmental stakeholders are active participants varies. Though in a few cases they
claim that the ESF Monitoring Committees do not have enough time and space to really deal with
gender issues among all the other tasks, the presence of non-governmental stakeholders as formal
members of the Monitoring Committees makes them in a position of at least voicing their point of
view and exert pressure. Dedicated gender-equality institutional bodies and non-governmental
stakeholders’ surveillance can potentially play a major role in ensuring that gender issues are taken
into consideration as they possess precious up-to-date information on the context within which the
ESF projects are implemented. Their participation to Monitoring Committees should be considered
crucial to ensure that OPs deliver their plans in the area of gender equality and any problems are not
overlooked. This critical contribution should be ensured and, if possible, reinforced. This contribution
is needed especially as gender-equality bodies are able to collect and appreciate the meaning of
information on important qualitative aspects of implementation that cannot be obtained by
monitoring systems77.
As for monitoring systems and data collection activities, all Member States have committed to collect
information on project participants’ characteristics, among which their gender. However, two issues
are worth pointing out. On the one hand, gender information alone is insufficient to assess whether
intended target groups are actually reached by ESF actions. Information on gender of participants is
useful only if it is accompanied by other characteristics relating to the same person. Although this
form of collecting and storing data is formally acknowledged as necessary, its actual practice always
encountered difficulties in the past. In the best of circumstances, efforts are needed to ‘monitor’ the
functioning of monitoring systems. On the other hand, it is unclear in how many countries
monitoring systems contain both enough detailed data and structure of storage to allow matching
77 In other words, representatives of the gender-equality interest, because of their position and activity, can sometimes complement standardized information provided by monitoring systems (which, in turn, with a few notable exceptions appear still insufficiently equipped to provide timely information on all the various aspects of projects implementation). Moreover, they often possess the expertise with which to understand in better and more timely manner the meaning of the data collected or the reasons why activities may prove successful or unsuccessful. They can accordingly provide useful proposals on how to strengthen or correct implementation.
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the specific types of activities implemented with their participants’ characteristics (which is also a
critical piece of information for assessing what the programme is delivering).78 Moreover, project-
level monitoring seems to be confined to Structural Funds programmes in almost all Member
States79. This prevents useful comparisons with other actions and projects in the field of gender
equality that are financed with national resources at the same time80.
A considerable attention to the gender-equality theme seems to be present in most Member States
as it concerns evaluation (Table 3.2). Of particular interest is the intention that some Member States
(as PL, PT and SE) have shown in conducting, either through their specialized units or external
evaluators, evaluations on the effectiveness of gender mainstreaming in the ESF. This should be
considered as especially welcome and possibly to be extended to other Member States for a number
of reasons.
The main risk of the current intervention framework is that it may be taken for granted that gender
mainstreaming is by itself sufficient to deal with gender inequalities. This attitude may in turn lead to
insufficient attention being paid to two major issues which have emerged in the analysis at the
country-level and confirming what qualified observers have often stressed in regard to the
implications of gender mainstreaming. The first issue concerns the need for solid gender
competences — both in the ESF administration structures and in the pool of project
applicants/promoters — so that the gender mainstreaming principle can be successfully applied.
These competences are typically nurtured by experience of specific actions and consideration of
gender equality theory. Hence there are risks that gender competences may be lost, or not
enhanced, if the space for specific actions is excessively restricted. The second issue concerns the
fact that the principle of gender mainstreaming is often considered merely ‘passively’ in practice
terms (i.e. projects are mostly required to comply with a generic gender-equality principle - which
may often amount to stating that the project is gender-neutral and/or not does not worsen gender
inequalities - and much less to demonstrate how they are actively promoting gender equality). Both
these aspects require careful reflection – which mainly evaluations of concrete experiences can
provide –, in order to suggest viable routes for the effective application of the gender mainstreaming
principle.
78
This issue relates to the architecture of a system to monitor data collection and storage (not only which information is collected, at which level of detail, and with which other information it is related, but also how collected data are stored and can be later utilized for analysis or reporting). For instance, a key issue in appreciating the coverage and relevance of activities implemented (also in order to obtain significant indicators) is the degree of detail in which activities are categorized, together with the extent of the information on participants in each single activity subject to monitoring. However, in-depth comparative analysis of the structures, technical aspects and actual degree of utilization in management and analysis of the monitoring systems was beyond the scope of the present study. 79 See the analysis of this issue within the description of the Intervention Logic of the Country Reports. 80 A matching (to the ESF one) monitoring system for nationally funded policy is however reported for Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and United Kingdom.
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Table 3.2 – Evaluation activities in the field of gender equality and gender mainstreaming implemented or explicitly planned by Member States
Ex ante Evaluation focused on gender issues conducted
Evaluations studies on the impact on gender equality and/or effectiveness of mainstreaming foreseen
Further details on evaluation activities implemented or explicitly planned
Austria X Working group established to look at the impact of gender budgeting and gender mainstreaming.
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus X Plans to undertake an evaluation on the impact of the 2007-2013 programme on gender equality and on equal opportunities for all.
Czech Republic X In the previous programming period a specific evaluation of gender issues under the EQUAL community initiative was undertaken.
Germany X
Denmark
Estonia
Spain X X A strategic evaluation on the theme of equal opportunities undertaken during 2010.
Finland X
France X An evaluation on gender issues is under organization.
Greece X
Evaluation of gender equality has been integrated as a horizontal issue in the specifications of the on-going evaluations of the OPs and a specific evaluation study has been commissioned to improve the implementation in the field of gender equality.
Hungary X
Ireland
Italy X
Some gender equality relevant evaluations are foreseen by some Regions as part of their evaluation plans and by the National ESF evaluation structure.
Lithuania X The evaluation plan foresees evaluation connected to the EU horizontal priorities, including gender equality.
Luxemburg X
Latvia X
Malta X X Gender issues are considered within the general framework of assessing ESF progress in the mid-term evaluations.
The Netherlands
Poland . X An evaluation of the effectiveness of the newly introduced mainstreaming operational strategy has been officially foreseen.
Portugal X X A study aiming to assess the extension of the adoption of gender mainstreaming is foreseen.
Romania X
Sweden X An evaluation of relevance was completed in May 2009. The special project for supporting gender mainstreaming in projects will be evaluated.
Slovenia X A provision that the set objectives in the field of equal opportunities will be evaluated is included in the OPs.
Slovakia X Thematic evaluation on the impact of the OP in increasing the gender equality in the labour market to be launched.
United Kingdom X The MA for the England and Gibraltar OP has recently published an evaluation on Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities within the European Social Fund
81.
Source: elaboration on Study Country Reports’ information
81 McNaughton Nicholls, C., Mitchell, M., Brown, A., Rahim, N., Drever E., Lloyd, C.,(2010).
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4. EUROPEAN ADDED VALUE
The European Added Value (EAV) is defined, for the purposes of this study, as the increased value
resulting from collective European Union action, and the extent to which this EU action adds 'value'
and transforms the actions conducted by the single Member States. The concept is deeply related to
the benefits for European citizens of being part of a Union which supports the attainment of equality
of opportunity and constantly aims at improving social and economic outlook for all, independent of
geographical location and personal characteristics. It concerns the construction of a space where
Member States have the opportunity to elaborate common frameworks of intervention, also
capitalizing on sharing experiences between the Member States. Exchanges between the Member
States can hence be considered as added value per se, while the existence of a common policy space
is a valuable support to find the resources or the legitimacy to pursue progress in policy actions that
could not be reached by Member States acting alone. Eventually, progress and enhancements
achieved by Member States acting collectively feedback into the capacity of the Union as a whole,
allowing for further progress and achievements.
While the general concept of EAV is widely recognized, its actual measurement is complex and a
variety of definitions have been developed over time in order to appreciate its various dimensions,
also reflecting the various form of common EU actions.
In the realm of policies conducted with the support of the EU budget, as those conducted in the
Structural Funds interventions where Member States act following a shared strategic framework and
common rules, a reflection on the EAV emerges as the answer to the following questions:
How does this action contribute to the achievement of the chosen set of relevant European
objectives?
To which extent this action makes a difference with respect to what Member States could achieve
autonomously?
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Within the Cohesion policy,82 the EAV concept has been interpreted as ‘the economic and non-
economic benefits associated with the existence of the policy as a whole and with each of the
corresponding programmes implemented ’.83
The benefits and effects of acting within a common framework –and on the basis of the support of
the common EU budget— have also been sometimes examined according to analytical categories
describing the various channels and causal chains through which EAV manifests84.
Building on these various suggestions and focussing on the ESF contribution in the area of gender
equality, the potential of ESF EAV here might therefore be considered in the following four
dimensions:
1) The possibility of improving the existing policy framework developed in each Member State
through a common framework elaborated at the EU level. In this respect, EAV is manifest by
the extent to which the national general policy framework is improved (with relation to the
importance assigned to the gender equality objective and related institutional capacities) in a
way that would not be attainable without the Member State participation in the EU action.
82
As defined by Ahner (2009:1): ‘The Cohesion Policy is the development policy aiming at improving the conditions for sustainable growth and jobs, well-being, and quality of the environment’ and at ‘strengthening the integration of European economies; in doing so it allows all EU citizens, wherever they live, to contribute to and benefit from the shared political project of a European space with a high degree of development, cohesion and solidarity’. 83 CEC (2002b). 84 For instance, a reflection developed on EAV within the ESF interventions has lead to the following four categories that have been suggested to discuss achievements made by the ESF related to a general concept of 'making a difference': 1. Volume effects: 'adds' to existing action or directly produces beneficial effects that can be expressed in terms of volume; 2. Scope effects: action 'broadens' existing action by addressing groups or policy areas that would not otherwise be addressed; 3. Agenda setting, Innovation and learning (role) effects: action deliberately supports innovations and the transfer of ideas that are subsequently 'rolled out' in different contexts; 4. Process effects: Member States administrations and participating organizations derive benefits from being involved in action. See CEC (2008c), informal document DG EMPL.
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2) The possibility of acting in an environment (the ESF programme) that can generate EAV
operationally, allowing for
a. –innovating,
b. –reinforcing,
c. -complementing
objectives and actions in the Member States in the field of gender equality.
In other words, ESF OPs can contribute to advancements mainly by:
i) reinforcing existing and already established and funded national or regional policies
and initiatives;
ii) complementing substantially, by devising further objectives or instruments, existing
national or regional policy objectives and operational strategies;
iii) allowing for experimentation and innovation, even at small scales, with a view to
learn from these experiences and venture more securely in the future to more
difficult policy fields.
In this respect, EAV manifests to the extent that the EU action dynamically contributes to the
building of a well balanced and appropriately articulated strategy able to produce greater or
diverse impacts, and/or conceptual advancements in each Member State in the field of
gender equality.
3) ‘Cohesion’ added value, such as the reduction in observed disparities (in this case, gender-
equality conditions) across the Member States. In this respect, EAV manifests in the degree
in which the EU action contributes to a narrowing of differences between the Member States
in the critical dimensions of gender equality.
4) Political added value for the EU, i.e. the enhanced visibility of the EU as promoter of social
progress and well-being of all citizens (in this case, in the importance attached to gender
equality). In this respect, EAV manifests not only in a increased coherence of national
frameworks for gender equality, but also in an increased support to further advance in the
definition of common goals and actions to be taken at the EU level.
The present evaluation focuses on the ESF contribution to gender equality by analyzing the way in
which Member States have considered gender equality within their ESF OPs. Hence, the main focus is
on how EAV manifests and is appreciated in each Member State (including sub-national governance
levels). Therefore, the main discussion on the European Added Value relates to its first two
dimensions. The first one analyses the status of the gender-equality objective in Member States by
distinguishing a) how its relevance is fostered in Members States; b) how ESF promotes the gender-
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equality capacity building. The second aspect is the operational European Added Value, analysed by
reviewing how ESF actually innovates, reinforces and complements the existing gender-equality
policies at the Member State level.
4.1. European Added Value at the country level: the status of the gender-equality objective
Fostering the importance of the gender-equality objective in the Member States - In most of the Member
States, the ESF has been, over time, pivotal for promoting gender-equality policies. This is the case
both of “old” Member States like, for instance, Belgium, Spain and France, where ESF as well as the
overall EU gender policy framework has positively contributed to making gender equality a priority at
the national/regional level, or in Portugal, where the ‘European push’ appears to have been
determinant in promoting the relevance of the gender-equality issues in the society. In Belgium, in
particular, the past ESF interventions are reported to have largely contributed to place gender
equality on the policy agenda. However, this is not a structural change, since the national based
gender policy is not institutionalised yet nor a stable gender infrastructure, independent from the
ESF intervention, is in place. The European Union in general and the ESF in particular have also
played an important role in placing gender equality in the public debate and promoting intervention
in most of the “new” Member States.
In Bulgaria, as well as the Czech Republic and Estonia, ESF interventions are the main driving force for
gender equality as they do not mirror similar existing national structures/processes. In Cyprus and
Latvia, the gender-equality policy development and implementation is mostly fuelled and driven by
the EU agenda. In Poland, much of the discussion and actions on gender equality were initiated by
the projects funded within the ESF. In Slovakia, the ESF has been important to support the adoption
of the national legislation especially during the present programming period, which is paving the way
for gender-sensitive policy implementation.
In general (with few exceptions, as for instance, Sweden), the European Social Fund provides
dedicated resources to policy measures that are coherent with the EU policy framework on gender
equality and for which resources would not always be available at the level of each Member State
(even when they are net contributors to the EU budget). In sum, the capacity of ESF is to contribute
to the promotion of gender-equality objective through policy formulation and provision of financial
resources. It is also worth mentioning that through the negotiations with the EU institutions on the
use of Structural Funds (including ESF), for the current programming period, the volume of actions
dedicated to gender equality and gender equality as a horizontal principle grew and became more
and more important.
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For some Member States, ESF contribution has been very important also from a budgetary point of
view. This is the case, for example, of Italy, Finland, Lithuania, Malta and Romania, where the
contribution of ESF in terms of programming and funding of gender sensitive policies is significant. In
general, the use of Structural Funds, including the ESF, is deemed very important to fund the
initiatives in the area of gender equality. In the case of Italy, in particular, the ESF has been crucial in
directing resources to strengthening national gender-equality measures in employment, training
policy and provision of assistance to reinforce the actions of the national gender-equality body. In
Romania, ESF is a critical funding source for gender sensitive policies as national and local authorities
are mainly concerned with the implementation of traditional social welfare policies, embracing only
to a limited extent a gender perspective in their policies.
In other countries, although the ESF support to the promotion of attention to gender equality is
considered relevant, its potential is not fully utilised due to the existing mechanisms of financing and
implementation (as reported by some local stakeholders). This appears to be the case, for example,
of Germany and Hungary. In Germany, the main issue is financing. Access to ESF resources is
negotiated at the local level mainly through a specific formula mechanism adopted to calculate
support through active labour-market policy which appears to be skewed in favour of men by
allocating resources according to women’s participation in the labour market and their
representation among the unemployed. This is seen to underestimate the significant assistance
required by those women forming a “silent reserve” as a result of having been out of the labour
market for a long time and who arguably need greater support to re-enter the labour market. In
Hungary, difficulties lie with the ESF implementation mechanisms. Although ESF could potentially be
the major contributor to the gender-equality agenda, it has been noticed that project promoters’
commitment for gender equality is often no more than formal compliance with a predefined list of
requirements, which are difficult to assess and control.
In a number of Member States (such as Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the
United Kingdom) the contribution of the ESF to the achievement of the gender-equality objectives is
currently of modest importance, especially considering that the ESF contributes a very small portion
of their social policy and welfare budgets85. In addition, in most of these countries86 the gender-
equality policy is already well-established at the national level, with a well-developed gender
infrastructure. As the ESF funded actions are relatively marginal in their importance, gender-equality
considerations in the ESF are not considered key. However, in the Netherlands, for example, the
continuous attention on gender specific action and for gender mainstreaming, required by the
85 In Austria, for instance, the ESF only contributes a total of 5% to the country budget for active labour market policy, and more generally ESF impact can be seen to be supplementary to the national policies. 86 In Denmark the ESF programme 2007-2013 promotes actions to increase employment of migrant women, to combat vertical segregation and to promote women’s entrepreneurship.
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European institutions, helps to keep the issue on the political and policy agenda87. As for
Luxembourg, the contribution of ESF in terms of programming and funding of gender sensitive
policies is expected to be implemented through support to specific actions in the field of gender
equality (10% of the small total budget of the OP)88.
The situation of Sweden is similar to that of Denmark and the Netherlands in terms of the
establishment of gender-equality policy and infrastructure, with a fairly long tradition of working
consistently on gender equality and implementing gender mainstreaming. In Sweden, there is a
broad agreement on gender equality in general and on the need for activities to be informed by a
gender-equality perspective89. In contrast to Denmark and the Netherlands, in Sweden the total ESF
resources are however more significant in the context of national active labour market expenditure,
though not for the gender-equality objective where they are small compared to the national
allocations for gender-equality policies.
The condition of the United Kingdom differs from that of the other countries in this group. There is
an increasing expectation that public bodies will become more gender sensitive in their day-to-day
work with the establishment of the Government Equalities Office (GEO) and the Equality and Human
Rights commission (EHRC). At the same time, several crucial gender sensitive objectives are already
achieved (the UK has met the Lisbon objectives for female participation in employment, Barcelona
targets in childcare provision, and has high rates of female participation in lifelong learning). It is not
clear if national policy initiatives are as yet sufficiently strong to encourage these bodies to take
action to pursue other specific EU gender-equality objectives (reverse the gender pay gap, change
existing patterns of caring responsibilities, and allow more women to rise to the highest positions in
society). ESF could make a greater contribution in this regard, but changes in national priorities may
be required before it can do so.
87 Whereas the limited amounts available for ESF projects are not perceived as sufficient to address the major gender equality challenges in the country. 88 It will be mainly realised by support to labour inclusion of women, through specific training of women returners and women looking for a job. This strand is clearly in line with the policy objectives of increasing the participation of women on the labour market. 89 A gender mainstreaming strategy for achieving gender equality was launched back in 1994 in Sweden. The Government clearly declares that gender equality is a prioritised area and gender-analysis tools should be systematically used in the design and implementation of all policies. This is prescribed in a range of policy documents and action plans.
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Gender-equality Capacity Building - In Greece and Ireland (though in the latter case more in the past
than current programming period90), the major contribution of the ESF to the gender-equality
objective is to the construction and maintenance of the gender sensitive machineries. In other
Member States, the ESF has also largely contributed to the building of a gender-equality
infrastructure, in addition to providing other forms of support.
In Romania, ESF contributes to raising the profile of the gender institutions (the two Managing
Authorities have invited the National Agency as member of the ESF Sectoral Operational Programmes
Monitoring Committees) and provides critical resources needed to fulfil their mandates. In Slovakia,
ESF has contributed to building and maintaining gender sensitive legislation which is at the core for
gender sensitive policy implementation.
In Lithuania, even if the gender machinery within the government is relatively small (a small-scale
Equal Opportunities Ombudsman and one sub-division in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour)
and the contribution of the ESF recent (only since 2004), it has had a relevant impact in sustaining
the activities of women’s non-governmental organisations that are reported to have been very active
in accessing the ESF funding.
In Malta, the ESF has started to contribute to building and maintaining gender sensitive machineries
only very recently (since the start of ESF implementation in 2004) and it is difficult to disentangle the
ESF impacts from other developments. But it is clear that the National Commission for the Promotion
of Equality (NCPE, an autonomous body that was set up in January 2004 and is an active participant
in the ESF interventions) has undoubtedly profited from ESF involvement in terms of institutional
capacity-building.
In the United Kingdom, though the ESF is a small part of the overall social welfare budget, it has been
a very significant source of funds to sustain voluntary and community sector organisations, including
women’s non-governmental organisations.
Gender-equality partnerships building - Overall, the development of partnerships between women’s
organizations and institutions, which in the past has been prompted by EU action, is appreciated by
stakeholders, that consider it the best way to work on complex issues such as gender equality.
Unfortunately, the approach seems to have been often abandoned in the 2007-2013 cycle (this being
signalled especially in France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, and Portugal) now that it is not openly promoted
by the EU – as instead happened with the ESF funded EQUAL initiative of the previous programming
cycle. Partnership-building requires additional commitments and efforts in coordination, so that
90 In Ireland, the National Gender Equality Unit funded by ESF in the previous programming period is not in place anymore and, as a consequence, a fall of attention given to gender issues within ESF OP has been recorded. Nevertheless, under the ESF operational programme, the Equality Authority has now established an Equality Mainstreaming Unit, as well as an Advisory Group for gender specific measures.
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some actors, especially at the institutional level, apparently prefer not to engage in such highly
demanding activities.
4.2. European Added Value at the country-level: Operational Added Value
Operational added value of the ESF in respect of the overall gender-equality objective is largely
evident in all Member States. There are several ways in which the ESF adds value operationally to
policy-making related to gender equality at the national level. It innovates, reinforces or
complements existing policies. Each of such contributions is relevant in view of the achievement of
the overall gender-equality objective:
innovation is important in all Member States and especially in those that are still far from
achieving the EU gender-equality objectives. In these countries, additional efforts in
innovating their policies are requested –for instance through learning, by adapting other
Members States’ good practices to their own contexts or through the adoption at national
level of good practices that have been successful at local level;
reinforcing relates to strengthening the existing policies implemented at country-level that
are proved to be effective for the achievement of EU gender-equality objectives but that do
not receive appropriate support at Country-level.
complementing relates to the formulation of additional specific gender-equality objectives at
country-level than those already explicitly put forward by Member States.
These aspects have been and still are present in ESF OPs across Member States to various degrees. In
the current cycle the aspect of reinforcing national or regional policies seem to be more relevant as
this is reported as a key role played by the ESF in almost all Member States (Fig. 4.1), while the
aspects of complementing and innovating policies are not always reported as central by Managing
Authorities (Fig. 4.2).
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Figure 4.1 – Role of the ESF in reinforcing national or regional policy actions for gender
equality in 2007-2013 OPs, views of the Managing Authorities.
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
80,0
90,0
100,0
AT BE DK FI FR IE LU NL SE UK PT IT DE GR ES CY EE HU LT LV MT PL RO SI SK BG CZ
Mainly reinforcing national/regional strategies Reinforcing national/regional strategies to some extent
Note: Answers were collected at the OP level. In Member States with multiple OPs, MA answers are aggregated on the basis of the financial weight of the OP for which they are responding. The figure show whether and to which degree (mainly, to some extent) the ESF plays the role of reinforcing national or regional existing policies according to Managing Authorities.
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
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Figure 4.2 – Role of the ESF in complementing or innovating national or regional policy actions for gender equality in 2007-2013 OPs, views of the Managing Authorities.
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
80,0
90,0
100,0
AT BE DK FI FR IE LU NL SE UK PT IT DE GR ES CY EE HU LT LV MT PL RO SI SK BG CZ
Complementing national/regional strategies Innovating actions and piloting new projects
Note: Answers were collected at the OP level. In Member States with multiple OPs, MA answers are aggregated on the basis of the financial weight of the OP for which they are responding. The figure show whether the ESF plays the role of complementing and innovating national or regional policies according to Managing Authorities .
Source: elaboration on Study Questionnaire to Managing Authorities.
In what follows these different roles played by the ESF (as far as innovating, reinforcing or
complementing national/regional policies in the field of gender equality), are considered in greater
detail reviewing the experience of Member States.
Innovation - In general, the ESF has been able to promote innovation in the operationalisation of the
gender-equality objective (especially through the experiences of the previous programming cycles).
More specifically, the ESF supports innovation in the operationalisation of the gender-equality
objective in Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy,
Luxembourg, Romania, and Slovenia. A more detailed presentation of innovation for these Member
States is presented in the Box 4.1 below.
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Box 4.1 ESF Innovation in respect of national standards in Member States: setting the gender-
equality objectives
Belgium
The Belgian ESF projects aim to be innovative, and by virtue of the ESF projects, gender policies in Belgium have
received new impetus from innovative projects. Some of them were developed during the previous
programming phase, and are set to continue in the current programming period. An example is provided by the
M/V campaign (Women and men United – Perfect in Balance United Campaign, ESF Flanders), the aim of which
was to change, or even eliminate, deeply engrained gender roles and stereotypes. This project has now been
further developed, with the focus on implementation of the instruments developed in the previous
programming period.
Cyprus
ESF has helped in designing new actions that had not previously been tried out in CY, such as the interventions
designed to address the gender pay gap and the voucher system supporting women who use care facilities.
Czech Republic
Tele-work which is formally enabled by the Czech labour law, if voluntary and provided according to certain
protection standards might be a useful tool for reconciliation. From this perspective it is innovative in this
Member State. However, employers seem reluctant to adopt it and the Czech Republic is promoting its
adoption through ESF funding.
Germany
Some programmes (e.g. programmes helping to break down stereotypes in education and career choices) have
clearly received a strong impetus from the ESF and have delivered actions targeted at gender-equality
objectives which had previously not been significantly prioritised.
Estonia
ESF support in 2004-2006 and 2007-2013 programming periods has led to new and innovative actions (e.g.
actions aimed at fathers to encourage active fathering; to raise employers’ awareness in gender equal
enterprises, etc.), without which gender inequalities and gender stereotypes would have remained
unchallenged.
Finland
ESF has contributed to innovative and experimental actions in the gender-equality policies field but there is a
feeling among some stakeholders that the ‘share’ of experimental actions may be in decline. Some ESF funded
gender-equality activities or working methods may be ‘innovative’ or ‘experimental’ for specific
regions/cities/towns or specific actors; however, they may have already been successfully piloted and
implemented in other regions.
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France
ESF contributes to implementing new innovative day-care systems, which are important ways of achieving
reconciliation. ESF contributes also to tackle the gender pay gap, which is one of the main ESF objectives, and
specific counselling for executive managers is programmed in order to help them to reduce those gaps in their
companies.
Italy
Both in past and new programming, the ESF favours innovative actions, which could not solely rely on national
policy intervention and funding. However, innovative actions face the challenge of ensuring sustainability,
beyond the life of funding and activities itself. On the whole, ESF helps to fill local funding gaps, and creates
scope for developing innovative solutions to local development problems. Institutional involvement is an
important mechanism for stimulating innovation both through the explicit function of supporting pilot
activities, and because projects are subject to innovative policy influences, such as selection criteria designed
to promote horizontal objectives in relation to equal opportunities.
Luxembourg
In the past, ESF has contributed to innovative actions at least in the field of childcare and reconciliation. There
is hope that current studies on stereotypes of professional choices and on obstacles to enterprise creation from
a gender perspective will also allow innovative actions to take place at a later stage of the current ESF
programme.
Romania
ESF supports initiatives in the area of gender equality that are new in the country context, such as training in
gender equality of public administration managers at local/ regional levels, entrepreneurship training and
business start-up support for women and work and family reconciliation programmes in companies,
Slovenia
In Slovenia, ESF fosters innovation by stimulating the adoption of policies to overcome the obstacles against
achieving greater gender equality. New approaches are especially encouraged in the field of social inclusion by
enabling the access to the labour-market of vulnerable groups (for instance, promoting the work re-entry of
long-term unemployed persons, 60% of whom are women), by fostering employment creation (adopting social
and other innovative forms of entrepreneurship to create new jobs and disseminate social and other public
services), and through training provision. The activities supported will be included among the mainstream
actions if they prove to be successful.
In the above mentioned Member States innovation is connected to the gender-equality policy
objectives, while in others it relates more to the way actions are implemented rather than their
content. This is the case in Denmark, Greece, Spain, Latvia, and Poland. Their specific cases are
presented in Box 4.2.
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Box 4.2 ESF innovation in respect of national standards in Member States: implementation of the
gender-equality objectives
Denmark
Only projects which are innovative in their formulation of problems and approach should receive financial
support (however, the relevance and success of this approach must await further evaluation).
Greece
ESF interventions very often support innovation through gender-equality pilot programmes or start-up of
institutional structures which the national government subsequently takes up (for example, the ESF will fund
the creation of a national observatory for gender equality, as well as 14 counselling centres for women victims
of violence).
Spain
The concept of gender mainstreaming is seen as a way of fostering the development of new policies that links
gender equality to other policy areas, such as support to business creation and entrepreneurship, life-long-
learning or local development.
Latvia
The partnership development promoted by the EQUAL initiative –funded through the ESF in the previous
programming period, has promoted highly innovative tools.
Poland
ESF intervention has innovated the existing gender policies, institutions and practices at the country-level. In
particular, the ESF gender mainstreaming strategy recently implemented in Poland is a very innovative step it
involves the adoption of gender-equality standards to be met by all ESF project proposals and in case of
positive evaluation could be successfully implemented in other fields91.
Reinforcing existing policy actions - The operationalisation of the gender-equality objective takes
place by reinforcing existing policies in many Member States. This is the case of Belgium where the
vision behind the ESF interventions is the same as in the federal and regional gender policies. In
Greece, following a recent policy which foresees the extension up to 6 months of maternity leave in
the private sector, the ESF interventions come to reinforce through an initiative which places
unemployed women in SMEs to replace women taking their maternity leave. In Spain, ESF is co-
financing actions that reinforce the national and regional gender oriented-policies, supporting the
authorities in developing a general strategy (presented in the Strategic Plan for Equal Opportunities
2008-2013 and its regional equivalents). In Finland, the ESF is used to fund activities directly related
91 See paragraph 2.3.2 for more details.
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to six out of seven priorities of the national Action Plan for Gender Equality 2008-201192. In Lithuania,
ESF allows, due to the large size of funding available, a much larger implementation of gender
sensitive projects than foreseen in the national programme for equal opportunities for men and
women. In Malta, the analysis of ESF gender sensitive priorities shows that they reinforce the main
gender-equality goals articulated in the relevant national strategies and programmes.
In many cases, the ESF reinforces actions in the area of childcare activities and reconciliation of
work and private life. This is the case in the Czech Republic, where the Ministry of Employment has a
family policy for public early childcare services, supported by the ESF, to increase the quantity and
quality of the service supply. In Germany, there are programmes for childcare facilities and work-life
balance initiatives which were already prioritised as national policies in recent years and for which
the ESF provides additional funding. In Estonia, the present ESF interventions are expected to
reinforce the existing actions started within the previous programming period for the training of
childminders, activities to support mothers’ return to the labour market, and others.
In other Member States, the ESF reinforces the existing gender-equality machineries as in
Luxembourg and Poland (where ESF intervention mainly reinforces existing, but not sufficiently
funded, gender policies, institutions and practices).
Moreover, the ESF is a lever to contribute to the objectives and priorities defined at the EU level
through influencing the spatial distribution of activities, and the nature of activities supported. This is
the case, for example of Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania and Slovenia. A more detailed
description for these cases is presented in Box 4.3.
Box 4.3 Reinforcing existing policies in Member States
Denmark
The ESF programme reinforces existing national gender-equality policies–for instance the utilisation of female
managers’ potential in enterprises and in management boards is present on the political agenda.
Italy
ESF contributes both to strategic projects (especially for capacity building, which has potentially a greater
impact) and to short-term projects, on which national expenditure has somewhat decreased (owing to overall
budget cuts). More specifically, ESF has stimulated and facilitated a better response to labour market needs
and job insertion opportunities. While reinforcing domestic policy priorities or allowing them to be continued,
ESF funding has been, and still is, critical to pursue the objectives defined at the EU level. It has influenced the
92 Gender mainstreaming, Reducing pay differentials, Promoting women’s careers, Increasing gender awareness in schools and reducing gender segregation, Reconciliation of work and family life, and Reinforcing gender equality work. The only priority area, which is not directly relevant to ESF activities funded so far, concerns the reduction of violence against women.
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spatial distribution of planned activities, and the nature of activities supported in many domains, but it has
been especially influential in the case of horizontal priorities, such as gender equality.
Luxembourg
In this country there is a willingness to reinforce gender mainstreaming through the ESF. The existing gender
sensitive machinery and gender expertise are reinforced through systematic training of the staff working on the
ESF OP .
Romania
ESF reinforces actions towards gender-equality objectives explicitly pursued and funded (only for small scale
actions) at the national level, such as the National Strategy for Gender Equality 2010-2012.
Slovenia
The ESF plays an important reinforcement role of national policies in gender equality area. Programmes co-
funded under ESF enable the achievement of national objectives in the area of gender opportunities. In the
implementing programme period 2008 – 2009 ESF provided 46,4 % of all the funds used for the
implementation of programmes for the achievement of gender equality.
Complementing policies -Another role that the ESF may play in operational terms is devising further
objectives or instruments to complement existing policies at the Member State level. The analysis
has shown that in the present programming cycle the ESF seems to play a less significant role in
complementing (compared to reinforcing) national or regional policies.
The formulation of specific additional objectives in relation to gender equality, which are not
explicitly pursued through national/regional policies, has however emerged in some cases,
particularly for Germany, Finland, Ireland and Slovakia (see more details in Box 4.4).
Box 4.4 – Specific, additional objectives in relation to gender equality formulated in the Member States by the ESF
Germany
ESF not only increases funding potential but also supports greater networking and dissemination, for instance
in the action program ‘Power für Gründerinnen’(Power for Women Entrepreneurs), an initiative of the Ministry
of Education and Research (BMBF) that supports 40 sub-projects in the fields of technology-oriented,
knowledge-based methods, training and consulting, with the aim of raising awareness and encouraging women
to start up businesses and improve their conditions.
Finland
ESF is used to fund actions, which seek to complement (rather than duplicate) the broad objectives of the
national strategic frameworks and action plans. For example, there is a policy to encourage employers in
adopting gender-equality working arrangements, ESF funded projects aim at increasing the number of
employers that adopt these arrangements and have established a monitoring system for it.
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Ireland
The National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) is intended to complement the investment priorities of the
NDP, which articulates the national gender policy where gender mainstreaming is seen as ‘continuing priority
for the Irish Government’.
Slovakia
The majority of the ESF funded projects complement the national gender policy issues. Considering some
specificity of the gender problems, programmes and projects although not innovative in nature allow to follow
key goals, adapting them to the Slovak conditions.
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5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter synthesizes the main findings of the evaluation study on the 2007-2013 ESF support to
gender equality. It sets out conclusions and puts forward some general recommendations. The main
conclusions are presented for each of the three evaluation questions addressed by the study.
Recommendations are provided to Managing Authorities (or authorities responsible for the ESF
coordination in the Member States) and to the European Commission, and they are made at two
different levels. The first level is intended to be more practical and related to the current
programming cycle, with a view to improving or strengthening implementation and organization
within the current programming framework. The second level is more strategic and comprises
suggestions for the future, with normative proposals to be considered by the future ESF Regulations
and some strategic indications on how the ‘dual approach’ to gender equality can be made more
effective.
Additional and more detailed recommendations for individual Member States are formulated in the
Country Reports93 (annexed to this Report).
5.1. Conclusions on evaluation question 1 ‘the extent to which the promotion of gender equality was taken into consideration in the ESF programming in Member States, and in particular the application of the so called dual approach of gender mainstreaming and specific actions’
All Member States have considered the issue of gender equality within their ESF OPs. However,
the importance attributed to the gender-equality objective and the way in which it is tackled
within ESF interventions differ among Member States. This is partly due to their relative
positions with regard to gender equality, and partly due to differing budget capabilities net of EU
contributions.
There are still significant differences in the overall extent to which gender equality among EU
Member States has been realized, but in no case can equal visibility, empowerment and
participation of both sexes in all spheres of public and private life be considered fully achieved.
In regard to the amount of ESF contributions committed to gender-equality-enhancing specific
actions (as approximated by the most relevant category of expenditure) at the programming
stage, the results range between 0 and 18 per cent of the total ESF EU contribution available at
the country-level. However, on average, ESF resources for per capita gender-specific actions are
indeed greater in ‘new’ Member States (whose national policy budgets are on average more
93 See Annex I – Country Reports, Sections 8: Conclusions and policy recommendations.
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constrained) than in the ‘old’ 15 Member States (which are, on average, more affluent).
Moreover, although ESF OPs have many formally funded priorities, and although gender equality
rarely appears among them, the importance of the gender-equality objective is on average rated
quite high by the ESF Managing Authorities. This importance is, to some extent, rated higher in
those Member States where the gender equality index (GEI) is lower, and hence where the
needs are greater (along with some Member States with an established policy tradition in the
field of gender equality, and which continue to attribute greater importance to this field).
Overall, the available information suggests that the adoption of the ‘dual approach’ for gender
equality has led to less importance being given to gender-equality specific actions and greater
weight to gender mainstreaming.
The total amount of ESF programmed funding by category of expenditure at the EU level points
to a reduction in the importance of specific actions between the previous (2000-2006) ESF
programming cycle and the current 2007-2013 cycle. In terms of EU ESF contributions, over EUR
one billion more was granted in the 2000-2006 cycle (covering the 25 Member States) to the
most relevant category of expenditure for gender-equality-specific actions compared with the
current 2007-2013 cycle (covering the 27 Member States). Although gender-equality-specific
actions can be implemented in theory also under other categories of expenditure, this is not the
main explanation for the decline in gender-equality-specific funding. Country-level analysis has
in fact shown that Member States are on average now relying on gender mainstreaming much
more than in the past, and that a few Member States are considering gender equality only as a
horizontal priority.
The contribution of the ESF to gender equality in the current cycle will crucially depend on how
the relatively more limited resources for specific actions are focussed on critical issues and,
especially, on the extent to which the gender mainstreaming principle is widely understood and
successfully applied.
As regards both the focus of specific actions and the application of the gender mainstreaming
principle, a multifaceted picture emerges from the study, with both positive findings and
matters of concern.
These are present in a composite way across and within Member States.
Ø A common feature, which should be positively judged, is the almost universal
awareness that gender equality is a far-reaching objective and its pursuit requires
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dedicated and specialised expertise. Evidence in this direction is provided by the fact
that almost all Member States relied on some sort of dedicated and/or specialized
support when addressing the gender-equality issue in the programming phase
(especially in order to define specific gender-equality objectives and devise the
content of specific actions).
Ø Almost all Member States have built some form of ‘gender-equality institutional
infrastructure’ to assist and advise Managing Authorities at the OP level.
Ø Not in all instances, however, has this expertise been secured also through the
establishment of a permanent function (such as a staffed office) able and entitled to
supervise the ESF programme’s entire development and play the necessary role of
acting as a focal point for knowledge pooling, matching needs and practice
dissemination.
Ø Staff training in gender-equality issues also appears to be unevenly spread across
Member States, although it should be considered as an irreplaceable component of
any mainstreaming strategy.
Country-level analysis has shown that there is not yet a common and clear understanding of the
theoretical underpinnings and operational implications of gender mainstreaming, although its
importance is widely recognized and genuine efforts have been undertaken in almost all
Member States.
Ø Whilst the general goal of mainstreaming – to develop diffuse gender sensitivity
across all programme phases and activities in order to sustain gender equality
and/or avoid unwanted practices that may result in greater gender inequality – is
assertively shared, not all Member States have yet developed an explicit and robust
operational strategy to ensure that this will be the case.
Ø A delicate issue is the fact that Member States, outside gender-equality-specific
objectives and actions, target many valuable objectives in the ESF interventions
(such as upgrading human capital for all and fostering workforce capacity to adapt to
ever-changing contexts), which are expressed mainly in rather general and gender-
neutral ways.
Ø Hence, Member States have in actual fact chosen to apply the gender
mainstreaming principle almost exclusively in the OPs’ implementation phase. In
other words, gender mainstreaming is mostly interpreted in practice as a way to
condition how projects are selected.
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Ø In this regard, a matter of concern is the capacity and gender sensitiveness of
project promoters and implementers, along with the logic and soundness of project-
selection criteria and the screening ability of project selection assessors. There is in
fact evidence that, especially in the case of large calls for projects that primarily
target themes different from gender equality, project promoters, designers and
implementers often lack gender-equality skills.
Ø There are widespread concerns among stakeholders that implementing gender
mainstreaming through standard requirements for projects may produce only
formal compliance.
Ø An additional relevant fact is that, in several cases, small specialized women’s
organizations find it difficult to meet the requirements for participation in ESF calls
for projects.
Some interesting supporting practices as regards gender mainstreaming are in place in
several Member States now taking a more proactive approach to enhancing gender
mainstreaming at the project level.
Ø These practices are not limited to offering written guidelines for applicants or
imposing formal gender-sensitive requirements on project proposals; they extend to
offering specialized support and/or organizing public events when calls for projects
are issued, the purpose being to attract the most suitable applicants and to increase
publicity of opportunities offered.
Ø These practices are interesting, and they should be evaluated in the medium term
because the competence in gender issues of project promoters and applicants,
together with a careful project design, remain critical issues for almost all Member
States.
As for specific actions, the main objective pursued by most Member States is still to increase
women’s active and productive participation in the labour market.
Ø This objective is also present in the form of fostering female entrepreneurship, or it
is qualified by focussing on more vulnerable (because of race, parental status,
residence in marginalized areas, etc) women’s groups.
Ø Reconciliation between work and family life is often granted the status of a specific
objective. But on more careful analysis it appears that, in many cases, it is in fact
considered to be an additional instrument with which to foster labour market
participation. In fact, the purpose of the activities foreseen is mainly to enable
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women to work outside their homes, rather than to access higher education or
achieve greater participation in politics and civil society.
Much less pursued are the specific objectives of addressing educational segregation, cultural
and social stereotypes, the easing of caring duties per se, domestic and criminal violence,
women’s empowerment and female poverty.
Ø Such objectives are present in some Member States, but they are often considered
for implementation only by pilot or small-scale projects.
Ø Increasing attention, however, is, paid to ‘violence and trafficking’ which – although
rarely granted the status of a main specific objective – is nevertheless considered by
a number of Member States through actions providing access to employment,
training, and other services for women who have been victims of these crimes.
These initiatives often complement other nationally funded plans.
Such strong focus on the employability dimension may hide an incomplete understanding of
the scope and content of the gender-equality objective, which by its very nature is
necessarily multidimensional.
This conclusion is not meant to confute the importance of the ‘employability objective’,
especially in the case of those Member States that still exhibit very unsatisfactory labour market
participation and employment rates for women. Rather, it is put forward to direct attention to
the argument that gender-equality issues cannot be addressed by looking only, or directly, at the
employment dimension per se. Gender inequality, even when it is more evidently manifest as
unsatisfactory labour market outcomes for women, springs from more profound and not fully
acknowledged factors determined by social and cultural norms which govern not only individual
opportunities but also group interactions and collective actions that still unequally affect gender
roles even within the EU. Helping individuals to access jobs, indeed, has long been the core
interest of the ESF. However, some reflection is needed at the EU level on whether and to what
extent the ESF is (and will be) available to sustain a broader gender-equality policy that might in
the long run affect also the way in which jobs (which types and where) are created and work
organization is shaped.
In the case of many Member States the study has revealed difficulties in the analysis of the
major causes of gender inequality.
Ø Such difficulties also arise in relation to the analysis of the ‘better employment for
women’ objective. For instance, while almost all Member States acknowledge the
importance of the issues of ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ segregation, very few OPs contain
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arguments or indicators to identify, address, monitor and evaluate inequalities in these
fields.
Ø In general, appropriate measurements of gender inequalities in their different
dimensions are lacking, and there is excessive reliance on general indicators (such as
employment and unemployment rates by gender) which are per se insufficient to
provide directions for change.
On average, the actions planned still privilege a ‘supply side approach’ —specific actions mainly
address ‘women’s capacities to compete in the labour market’, and are much less intended to
affect the socio-cultural environment, although this may be at the origin of many unsatisfactory
labour market outcomes.
This may be due either to misperceptions of the main factors that perpetuate gender inequality
or to difficulties in planning new actions different from those targeted on reinforcing the
individual human capital of women. The available evidence – showing that higher education
attainment for women has not substantially modified gender equality in many realms such as
access to better pay or socio-economic power– suggests that complementary actions are indeed
necessary.
The picture, however, greatly differs among Member States, and signs of progress in the
specification of objectives and strategies are also apparent, although a ‘supply side approach’
still prevails.
Ø Some Member States have devised strategies to enhance women’s position not only
with more traditionally ‘demand side’ actions addressing firms’ willingness to hire
women, but also with actions more clearly intended to heighten sensitivity and
proactiveness towards gender equality of the general social, economic and
institutional environment.
Ø In particular, there are cases in which counselling and training actions are foreseen,
not to reinforce women’s ability to compete in the labour market, but to increase
the sensitivity of other actors (such as companies or decisions makers) to gender
issues, and their capacity and willingness to act and decide in a more gender equal
way.
Ø Other interesting actions more directed at influencing the socio-economic context
are networking activities that support more collective efforts, initiatives to increase
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general awareness of gender issues, and support to the gender-equality capacities of
labour market institutions.
Some Member States are taking action in order to directly target change in the way policy
making is conceived, and they have adopted ‘gender mainstreaming ability’ as an objective
per se, with actions intended to raise the gender-equality sensitiveness of public officers and
policy makers across the board.
The extent to which ESF initiatives for gender equality are conducted in conjunction with
other actions and policies, in order to reinforce potential impacts, is more difficult to assess,
although some signals are apparent.
Evidence in this regard has been found in the case of childcare services provision (where ESF
actions are often coordinated with other funding and types of actions). More focussed
investigation should be carried out to determine whether other fields are involved, because
integrated interventions (in which immaterial actions targeted on individuals, such as those
undertaken by the ESF, are combined with more structural and material ones) are valuable
assets for gender equality for several reasons.
Ø Actions intervening in structural development (such as actions promoting firms’
investment or augmenting economic and social infrastructure endowments) always
affect the opportunities of individuals and social groups, also in relation to labour
market outcomes. The effects of these actions in terms of gender-equality vary
according to how actions are designed, the socio-economic context in which they are
implemented, and the sectors and professional profiles that they affect.
Ø Hence, when apparently gender-neutral policy realms, such as, for instance, local
development, research, environment, public services, mobility, are considered in their
actual content, they can either sustain or undermine gender equality. In this regard,
complementary matching actions more sensitive to gender issues, such as those that the
ESF can implement, might help in achieving more gender equality.
Ø Policy alliances (between the ESF and other policy initiatives) may also be useful in
supporting gender mainstreaming at the strategic level, because the ESF support could
be successfully conditioned to pay greater attention to gender equality when objectives
are designed.
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5.2. Conclusions on evaluation question 2 ‘the extent to which the promotion of a gender equality objective has been translated into OPs’ first implementation and is embodied in OPs’
general monitoring organization, monitoring systems and evaluation activities’
On the basis of the available information it is possible to state that in many Member States
implementation had started more slowly with respect to gender-equality specific actions than to
other parts of the ESF OPs. Out of the 27 Countries, 15 seem to be encountering various
obstacles in implementing gender-equality actions.
Greater difficulties have emerged in the case of a limited number of Member States, especially
because of the need to deal with the consequences of the economic crisis, which has shifted
attention and resources away from the gender-equality objective and towards more general
active labour-market policies targeted on the rapidly growing pool of the unemployed.
Although the picture is differentiated among Member States, difficulties in translating planned
strategies into actual actions, as detected in a number of cases, may signal a lack of status of the
gender-equality objective. Because gender-equality strategies are almost never protected by
being an autonomous formally funded priority of OPs, they are potentially at risk of being set
aside for other, more pressing priorities, or of being weakened by administrative difficulties in
managing large programmes with many objectives.
In this regard, much could be gained by exploiting the full potential of the mechanisms devised
(see next bullet points) to ensure that attention and protection is given to the gender-equality
objective in the supervision of the ESF programmes, monitoring systems and evaluation
activities. Although not all Member States provide similar institutional protection for the gender-
equality objective at the OP level, all of them have strengths that may be pivotal in the
implementation. The following two features have emerged as particularly valuable.
The presence of representatives of the ‘gender-equality interest’ appears to be guaranteed in all
Monitoring Committees of the ESF OPs and in most cases extends also to non-governmental
organizations active in the field of gender equality.
This presence does not automatically translate into greater consideration of the gender-equality
objective in all instances, but it is potential leverage for discussion of the relevant issues, it
provides Managing Authorities with additional advice, and it acts as a channel for the
dissemination of important information. Like many other institutional arrangements, Monitoring
Committees may be more or less functional, but they certainly offer a space that can be
successfully used. This is all the more true if there is agreement that, in Monitoring Committees,
representatives of specific valuable interests have entitlements but also responsibilities to exert
their monitoring mandate as efficaciously as possible. Gender equality during implementation
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can thus also be fostered by encouraging all participants in the Monitoring Committees to
perform their roles in full compliance with the partnership principle.
In regard to evaluation activities, considerable attention to the gender-equality theme is present
in almost all Member States. In some Member States, in particular, there are plans to evaluate
ongoing the effectiveness of the chosen gender-mainstreaming strategies and tools.
These evaluations are particularly valuable for a number of reasons.
Ø Firstly, it is not clear at this relatively early stage of implementation how to detect
projects (outside of gender-equality specific actions) that are receiving ESF financing also
on the grounds that they respect, or partially contribute to enhancing, gender-equality
principles. This type of information is unlikely to be provided by the monitoring systems
at later stages as well. Even if a flag indicator (signalling that the project has been
financed because it respects gender-equality principles) is present in the collected data,
this would not be enough to determine whether the chosen gender mainstreaming
strategy is working as intended. Hence evaluation can, at the minimum, furnish a clearer
picture, doing so also through the collection of different types of qualitative information
and different stakeholders’ points of views.
Ø Secondly, country-level analysis has revealed concerns about the extent to which
gender-equality skills are present among project promoters, applicants, implementers
and project selection assessors. Hence, there is scope for investigating whether and to
what extent these concerns are still valid, and whether the mainstreaming strategies
chosen, including those that imply active support for the broad application of gender-
equality principles in project design and implementation, are proving effective.
Ø Thirdly, especially in cases in which the dual approach has been interpreted in a very
restrictive manner, and specific actions have been almost entirely replaced by gender
mainstreaming, these evaluations may shed light on whether, and especially under what
conditions, this can be considered a sound strategy.
5.3. Conclusions on evaluation question 3 ‘the main areas in which the ESF is producing or expected to generate European added value as far as gender equality is concerned’
Undoubtedly, the EU, and in particular the ESF intervention, has in the past played a key role in
making most Member States aware of gender equality as a field for ‘active’ policy action, and
not just as an issue to address through equality legislation (where, however, the EU’s steering
role has also been important). It has often also contributed to creating and maintaining a space
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for gender equality in many national policies’ agendas. This role is widely recognized by
stakeholders in the Member States, and most of them openly declare that without the drive
from the European Union and the financial backing provided by the ESF, gender equality would
not have received sufficient attention.
The two areas in which ESF added value is most acknowledged are the creation of a recognized
and autonomous policy space for gender equality, and gender-equality capacity building.
Ø In most Member States, the ESF has been, over time, pivotal for promoting gender-
equality policies not only in terms of contents but also and, especially, of status. This is
the case of both “old” and ‘’new’’ Member States. It has contributed to the definition of,
and sense of belonging to, a common EU polity space for gender equality which is
theoretical, operational and institutional.
Ø Within the ESF intervention, policy objectives have been identified since a common
framework and policy tools to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate initiatives to
achieve gender equality have been made available.
Ø In many cases, also with the help of ESF funding, national institutions have been set up
or supported to carry out the expected tasks in ways that are becoming similar across
the EU.
Ø Many non-governmental organizations active in the field of gender equality have been
reinforced by the opportunity to participate in ESF funded projects.
Ø The promotion of a partnership approach among women’s organizations and
institutions, prompted in the past by the ESF funded EQUAL initiative, is considered
unique because stakeholders have learnt that partnership is not only an additional asset,
but a key means to work on complex issues such as gender equality.
For some Member States, the ESF contribution has been very important (and still is) from a
strictly budgetary point of view as well. The availability of ESF resources has enabled actions for
which funds would otherwise not have been made available (an occurrence not limited to the
Member States that are net recipients from the EU budget).
Overall, there is evidence that many stakeholders express a positive judgement on the ESF’s
support for gender equality. This is mostly related to their experience in the previous
programming phase (2000-2006, or 2004-2006 for newest Member States) when the ESF
contributed to spreading awareness of the importance of the gender-equality objective. This
positive influence has continued in the current cycle. Specific examples abound and have been
reported in the study94 .
94 See Chapter IV.
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However, whilst on the one hand there is still added value to be expected in this cycle from
persevering with some objectives and actions already funded in previous cycles, on the other
hand, there are also some signs of diminishing returns or steps backwards.
These aspects can be better understood by considering the way in which ESF OPs convey their added
value, which is most visible in what they do in operational terms by
i) reinforcing existing and already established and funded national or regional policies and
initiatives;
ii) substantially complementing, by devising further objectives or instruments, existing national
or regional policy objectives and operational strategies;
iii) allowing for experimentation and innovation, even on a small scale, with a view to learning
from these experiences and venturing more securely in the future into more difficult
policy fields.
The analysis conducted suggests that:
Complementing and innovating strategies and types of actions in the field of gender equality are
still present in the current cycle in many, but not all, Member States. In the main (i.e. in most of
the Member States and OPs) the ESF is reinforcing national or regional strategies already funded
– albeit not sufficiently – at the national or regional level.
Because many crucial aspects and causes of gender inequality are not sufficiently addressed by
current ESF OPs, and because the actions devised appear still excessively geared to the supply
side and less targeted on the socio-economic context and group interactions, it is important to
consider that, at least to some extent, the ESF may be losing part of its innovative drive.
In addition, the adoption of a widespread partnership approach between institutions and
women’s organizations has been often abandoned in this cycle, now that the approach is no
longer directly sustained by EU actions (it is mainly for this reason that the discontinuation of the
ESF funded EQUAL initiative is openly regretted by many stakeholders in many Member States).
This may be partly due to the challenges posed by the intended much larger scale of application
of the gender mainstreaming principle, which
Ø is the one key strategic aspect that all Member States share,
Ø but also where most of them are still in the phase of acquiring the requisite know-how.
For the ESF, the main source of European added value in this cycle will depend on whether
significant progress is made in the realm of gender mainstreaming. This is certainly possible, but
it is important to maintain or reinforce attention to, and achieve full understanding of, gender-
mainstreaming’s strategic and operational implications.
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5.4. Recommendations
For the current programming period: strengthening and improving implementation
To Member States
In cases where it has not yet been done, it is recommended that a permanent structure should
be organized, or an existing office should be endorsed, with the function of taking the lead on
gender-equality issues in OP activities. Because OPs are, by their very nature, evolving
programmes, and because many crucial choices are taken in the implementation phase, the
presence of an established form of ‘gender-equality infrastructure’ within the ESF is crucial,
especially considering the great challenges of mainstreaming practices. Although it is not
necessary that this structure be very large, it is important that OPs should be able to:
Ø count on a focus point, also in order to maximise the use of inputs that might derive
from other, external, sources of expertise and advice;
Ø offer an established one-stop shop for questions that might arise from different divisions
of the organization responsible for managing or executing parts of the OPs (a frequent
occurrence in financially large OPs).
Also recommended are general self-assessment exercises (self-evaluation sessions) involving
different figures of responsibility at various levels, focussed on the application of the gender
mainstreaming principle. These exercises would be useful in encouraging those actors
responsible for the OPs implementation, but who are not gender-equality specialists, to reflect
more systematically on its concepts and practices.
Evaluation studies (internal or external, but conducted by experts) closely focussed on how
gender mainstreaming is actually taking place are recommended as particularly valuable. Asking
for focussed evaluations is more useful for obtaining practical and direct insights than imposing
a general requirement to address the horizontal gender-equality priority in all evaluation
activities.
If self-assessment exercises and focussed evaluation studies are not viable in the short term,
structured reflection on gender mainstreaming should nevertheless be put on the agenda in the
Member States. This can be done in different ways according to the opportunities offered by the
differently shaped support structures in each Member State.
Close watch should be maintained on how monitoring and data collection systems are furnishing
clear representations of how the OPs are proceeding with respect to the gender-equality
objective, both on transparency grounds and as a necessary premise for useful evaluation
activities. A clear picture of what OPs are really doing in their implementation, the financial
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volumes actually devoted to gender-equality-specific actions (across all categories of
expenditures), types of projects implemented and the characteristics of project participants (not
only their sex) is an obvious requirement, but past experience has shown that complete
monitoring data are not always available.
Actions should be taken to encourage participation in project calls by suitable applicants
equipped with gender skills. Organizing open public events for such potential applicants when
calls for projects are issued is particularly recommended. Public events (complementing written
guidelines and standardized project applications formats) are occasions when Managing
Authorities can:
Ø more clearly express their expectations from the projects,
Ø clarify which aspects will be considered valuable in the selection phase,
Ø clarify how some critical requirements (as for instance, gender sensitive data collection)
should be met,
Ø provide potential applicants with more practical explanations on administrative
requirements of the OPs and details on the general functioning of the ESF funding
(aspects that in many circumstances may deter small, but gender-skilled organizations
from participating in the ESF calls).
These events can also yield information on the characteristics of potential applicants, while also
being an inexpensive way to ensure full dissemination of ESF funding opportunities. In order to
avoid discrimination among applicants, such events should be openly advertised on the MA
websites.
To the Commission
The European Commission could increase the attention paid to the effective application of
gender mainstreaming (from which the most EAV is expected in this programming cycle) by:
Ø considering the option of requesting a specific focus on how gender mainstreaming has
been implemented for the next round of national strategic reports due by the end of
2012 from all Member States95.
Ø considering the option of an evaluation exercise entirely focussed on how Member
States have implemented and are implementing the gender mainstreaming principle in
this programming cycle.
For the future: regulation and strategy formulation
To the Commission
95 National strategic reports are prepared by Member States according to Articles 29 and 30 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (CEC, 2006a).
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A rethinking of the categories of expenditure should be considered in the ESF Regulations so that
more precise assessment can be made of the extent to which Member States are programming
and implementing gender-equality specific actions. For the future, it would be advisable to have
one main category of expenditure entirely dedicated to capturing all types of gender-equality-
specific actions. In order to obtain more detailed information on funding, the option of allowing
for additional thematic sub-categories (to better qualify the content of the main gender-
equality-encompassing one) could also be considered.
Ø Under current arrangements, it is not sufficiently clear how many resources OPs are
devoting to gender-equality-specific actions, because the current EU categorization of
expenditures has not always been interpreted uniformly. Because a key task in the OP
programming is preparing a strategy in order to finance projects, the amount of
resources available is crucial for evaluating, and being accountable for, any choices
made.
This rethinking of categories of expenditures could also lead to more precise assessment of the
extent to which Member States are in fact applying the recommended ‘dual approach’, which
they all have formally endorsed.
Space dedicated to policy innovation and experimentation within OPs should be formally
defined and protected by the ESF Regulations.
Gender-equality actions and strategies often encounter difficulties in addressing deeply-rooted
factors that perpetuate existing gender inequalities. Innovation is therefore crucial for devising
effective measures to tackle these causes. Innovation in strategies and actions has long been a
valuable asset in ESF interventions (enabling the existing energies to be mobilized), but it
requires dedicated efforts which should be explicitly encouraged by the Regulations, and which
cannot be expected to be autonomously undertaken by the Member States. This is all the more
crucial in the field of gender-equality policy, which is not yet established to the same extent in all
EU Member States.
To the Commission and Member States
Some rebalancing of efforts within the dual approach (i.e. deciding what are the primary
purposes of gender-equality specific actions and what are the primary aims of applying gender
mainstreaming) should be considered and discussed between the Commission and the Member
States.
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Attention should be paid to developing a unifying framework for both specific actions and gender
mainstreaming; a framework in which, however, the two components can specialize in order to
make the most of the ‘dual approach’ strategy to gender equality. In the current cycle, most
Member States have chosen to dedicate most of the resources for gender-equality-specific actions
to the pursuit of a rather general employability objective for women. However,
Ø The employability objective is at the core of all the ESF interventions and as such should
be the primary, even if not exclusive, object of gender mainstreaming. Encouraging
entrepreneurship and providing training are also fields in which gender mainstreaming
can be used as a prime tool with which to promote gender equality, because what is
required is increasing the gender sensitiveness of all funded initiatives, rather than
adopting positive actions that may result in an unwanted increase in gender segregation.
Ø Especially if the resources available are limited, gender-equality specific actions should
be primarily directed at the more difficult objectives (such as dealing with gender
stereotypes; more focussed effort in addressing vertical and horizontal work segregation
through actions more targeted on work organization and alliances with other policies;
women’s empowerment in public life) that are not explicitly tackled by other initiatives
and cannot be easily dealt with by gender mainstreaming practices alone because they
require specific focus, careful design and dedicated resources.
Ø Gender-equality-specific actions should not be understood as being only actions
specifically targeted on women; rather – especially in regard to counteracting
stereotypes – they should be considered from a wider perspective, for instance as
actions that also target men, key economic and social actors, decision makers and the
general public.
Ø Gender mainstreaming, in its turn, should be characterized by greater pragmatism either
in Regulations or in Guidelines. In other words, the application of gender mainstreaming
could be fostered by making its implications more explicit at both the strategic and
implementation levels. This could be done by suggesting that the application of gender
mainstreaming (to the whole or part of a programme) implies that a positive
contribution to gender equality must be explicitly specified and actually provided. This
contribution could be ensured through more pertinent and more detailed
characterization of the objectives and instruments (strategic level) and/or by defining
appropriate project requirements, which should be declined differently according to the
types of actions involved (implementation level).
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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This rebalancing in the content of the ‘dual approach’ may increase its added value and facilitate
achievement of the objectives set by the EU roadmap to gender equality. For some of these
objectives, there is in fact evidence that appropriate policies and adequate mobilization of relevant
stakeholders are not yet satisfactory across EU Member States96.
96 See CEC (2010c) ‘and CEC (2010d).
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Annex I– Country reports 174
ANNEX I
COUNTRY REPORTS
This Annex refers to the national reports on the situation in the 27 EU Member States as it regards the ESF support to
gender equality. The reports were prepared as part of the study undertaken by GHK and Fondazione G. Brodolini on
behalf of the European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities between September
2009 and September 2010. The national reports were completed in July 2010 and reflect the situation at the time of
carrying Country-level analysis which occurred in spring 2010.
Country reports are available separately.
National reports were prepared using a common methodological approach, which consisted of the following
elements:
Analysis of statistical information in relation to the situation of gender equality in the country, existing both
at the European (EU Gender Equality Index, Eurostat and DG EMPL databases) and national levels;
Analysis of existing qualitative and quantitative assessments of gender equality situation (European
Commission’s reports on Equality between women and men 2007-201097, reports from the EGGE and EGGSI
networks98, other reports on EU conditions in respect of gender-equality99);
Analysis of the key national level gender equality strategies, policies and programmes;
Analysis of the main ESF financial information, both for the current (2007-2013) and previous (2000-2006)
programming period;
Analysis of the ESF Operational Programmes’ documentation (National Strategic Reference Framework, main
OP programming documents, annual implementation reports 2007 and 2008, Commission’s ESF indicator
97 See: CEC (2007a); CEC (2008a); CEC (2009a); CEC (2010d). 98 The network of experts on employment and gender equality issues and the network of experts in gender equality, social inclusion, health and long-term care produce reports that are regularly published on the European Commission website: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=748&langId=en&furtherPubs=yes Further documents from the Network of experts on gender and employment issues are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=748&langId=en&moreDocuments=yes 99 See: Bettio, F. and Plantenga, J. (2004); Prechal, S. and Burri, S. (2009); Holtmaat, R. (2006); Polverari L and Fitzgerald R (2002a; 2002b); Rubery J., Fagan C., Grishaw D., Figueiredo H. and Smith M. (2002). Further references: CEC (2007b); CEC (2006b); CEC (2006c); National Strategy Reports on Social Inclusion and Social Protection 2008-2010, downloadable at the following address: http://ec.europa.eu/social/keyDocuments.jsp?type=3&policyArea=0&subCategory=0&country=0&year=0&advSearchKey=nsr+spsi&mode=advancedSubmit&langId=en European Commission, Summaries of EU legislation: Equality between men and women downloadable at the following address: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/employment_and_social_policy/equality_between_men_and_women/index_en.htm
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex I– Country reports 175
database, other documentation as relevant in the country context, such as working documents, reports,
guidance documents, minutes of meetings);
Analysis of results of fieldwork (consultations with ESF Managing Authorities and other governmental and
non-governmental stakeholders active in the field of gender equality).
The main common analytical tool used in the analysis has been the Intervention Logic template, developed to assess
the overall approach to gender equality within the ESF intervention at the country-level100. It represents a focussed
synthesis of the analyses carried out on documents and other information gathered from key stakeholders with
regards ESF 2007-2013 programming and its policy environment. The analysis reconstructs the main goals and actions
to achieve them which have been chosen at the country-level for the ESF and hence characterise the logic of the
intervention for gender equality. In order to appreciate the robustness and implications of the overall intervention
logic, the key programme theory aspects and the operational environment in which these goals and actions are
inserted, are described. It is structured in ten building blocks for description and appraisal that are listed below:
1) A description of the gender-related objectives which are considered to be the most important, as well as an
appraisal of whether these objectives are only/mainly relevant for the ESF programming or are also pursued by other
national/regional policy initiatives.
2) A description of the main drivers for choosing those objectives and of whether and to what extent these objectives
seem to respond to the country’s most crucial (actual and perceived) needs in terms of gender inequalities; and
whether and to what extent they have been chosen responding to external influences.
3) A description of the main actions envisaged for the objectives which have been considered of relevance along with
an appraisal of whether these actions have already been implemented in the past or they represent an innovation.
4) A description of the quantity of financial resources dedicated to the actions related to the main objectives
(providing available data and terms of comparisons for appraising their significance) with details of whether
described actions receive their main financial support from the ESF or they are also significantly supported by other
national/regional resources above co financing.
5) A description of expected and desired effects (for the relevant objectives and related actions) in terms of output
and results/impacts and an appraisal of whether and to what extent the actions’ expected effects are about creating
a significant impact or change on the existing situation or whether the actions (or part of them) are mainly of a small
scale experimental nature and conducted for learning purposes.
6) A brief description of the main theory underlying the relationship between the chosen action and the main
objectives, i.e. the causal links that programming authorities see as likely to develop [why the ESF intervention should
100 For Methodological details see CEC (2006g).
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Annex I– Country reports 176
work] and an appraisal of which obstacles/difficulties could be envisaged and whether organisational implications for
likely success have been taken into account.
7) A brief description of the overall gender infrastructure (special regulations and procedures, dedicated bodies, etc. )
in place for ensuring gender equality in the overall management of the programmes (in order to ensure the correct
implementation of the programme’s commitments especially in relation to gender mainstreaming), together with an
appraisal of whether this infrastructure has been developed mainly within the ESF and it is dedicated to the OP only
or it is part of a wider institutional system whose actions extends beyond ESF programming
8), 9), 10) A brief descriptions of the set up and functioning of the OP monitoring committees, monitoring systems,
monitoring and evaluation activities, together with a concise appraisal of whether monitoring and evaluation
activities are mainly carried out within the ESF organisational apparatus or whether they can also count on a wider
operational and institutional framework in support of attention to gender issues in policy making.
Country reports are organised following the common structure, providing information and analysis of:
Section 1: Gender disparities in the country,
Section 2: Gender equality in ESF programming,
Section 3: ESF funding for gender sensitive actions,
Section 4: Gender equality in ESF implementation,
Section 5: Attention to gender issues in ESF monitoring and evaluation,
Section 6: Emerging good and promising ESF practices,
Section 7: European added value,
Section 8: Conclusions and policy recommendations.
An analysis of the Intervention Logic behind the ESF interventions to support gender equality at the Member State
level is presented in both tabular and diagrammatic form at the end of each country report.
The list of references and informants closes the country reports.
National reports were prepared by an experienced team of national correspondents that had direct access to the
documentation in the languages of the Member States and carried consultations with stakeholders at the national
and regional (where appropriate) level.
The research team would like to thank all the stakeholders consulted during the study for their valuable time and
important contributions.
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Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex I– Country reports 178
Index:
1.Austria
2.Belgium
3.Bulgaria
4.Cyprus
5.Czech Republic
6.Germany
7.Denmark
8.Estonia
9.Greece
10.Spain
11.Finland
12.France
13.Hungary
14.Ireland
15.Italy
16.Lithuania
17.Luxembourg
18.Latvia
19.Malta
20.The Netherlands
21.Poland
22.Portugal
23.Romania
24.Sweden
25.Slovenia
26.Slovakia
27.United Kingdom
Country Reports are available separately.
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Annex II– Thematic reports 179
ANNEX II
THEMATIC REPORTS
This Annex pertains to the six thematic reports prepared as part of this evaluation study
undertaken by GHK and Fondazione G. Brodolini on behalf of the European Commission DG
Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities between September 2009 and
September 2010. Thematic Reports are provided separately.
The six Thematic reports provide an in-depth analysis of whether, to what extent and how
the following six gender-equality relevant issues and fields of potential policy intervention
are considered in ESF programming in all EU 27 countries, from a comparative cross-
country perspective:
1. Enhancing women’s access to employment,
2. Vertical segregation (under or over representation of women in certain levels of
the professional hierarchy),
3. Horizontal segregation (concentration of women in certain sectors of the
economy),
4. Work and private life reconciliation,
5. Participation of women in enterprise creation and growth,
6. Education and training.
In order to avoid overlaps among the six thematic reports each of them has a specific
focus:
1. The report on ‘Enhancing women’s access to employment’ focuses on the extent
to which and how ESF interventions support the participation of women
belonging to vulnerable groups in the labour market.
2. The report on ‘Vertical segregation’ focuses on ESF support to actions to tackle
gender vertical segregation; gender vertical segregation denotes the under- (or
over-) representation of a specific gender group in ‘desirable’ positions within
occupations (e.g. better income, higher prestige, better job stability etc.).
Although legal barriers or overt restrictive practices have long been outlawed,
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex II– Thematic reports 180
gender vertical segregation persists due to a number of other hidden factors that
hinder access to those desirable positions.
3. The report on ‘Horizontal segregation’ focuses on ESF support to actions to tackle
gender horizontal segregation; gender horizontal segregation refers to the extent
to which men and women are concentrated in different occupations and in
different sectors.
4. The report on ‘Work and private life reconciliation’ focuses on ESF support to the
promotion of a more balanced sharing of paid and unpaid responsibilities
between men and women.
5. The report on ‘Participation of women in enterprise creation and growth’ focuses
on ESF support to the promotion of self-employment and entrepreneurship as a
way to participate in the labour market.
6. The report on ‘Education and training’ focuses on ESF support to actions to tackle
gender segregation and the influence of gender stereotypes in education and
training.
The rationale for selecting the above six themes finds its main source in the EU policy
framework and their relevance in the ESF regulations as highlighted in the following table.
THEMATIC STUDY LINK WITH THE EU POLICY FRAMEWORK RELEVANCE TO ESF REGULATION (1081/2006)101
ENHANCING
WOMEN’S ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT
The theme is taken into account in the Renewed Lisbon Strategy
102 and the New common objectives for the
streamlined Open Method of Coordination on social protection and social inclusion’
103
The issue of access to employment is highly politically relevant for the ESF. ESF contributes to the priorities of the Community of strengthening economic and social cohesion by improving employment opportunities and enhancing human capital (ESF Regulation, article 2.1). The ESF promotes inclusion by targeting vulnerable groups, and by ‘increasing the participation of economically inactive people in the labour market, combating social exclusion – especially that of disadvantaged groups such as people with disabilities – and promoting equality between women and men and non-discrimination’. (ESF Regulation, article 2.2).
101 See CEC (2006f). 102 See CEC (2005a). 103 See CEC (2005b).
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
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THEMATIC STUDY LINK WITH THE EU POLICY FRAMEWORK RELEVANCE TO ESF REGULATION (1081/2006)101
VERTICAL SEGREGATION
In the European Commission Communication ‘Tackling the pay gap between women and men’
104, it is highlighted that
women are still mainly employed as low-skilled or unskilled workers (almost half of the female workforce). At the meantime only a third of managers are women in companies within the EU. In addition, the EU ‘Roadmap for equality between women and men’ indicates the reduction of structural inequalities such as segregation in work sectors as one of the most important objectives to be achieved
105.
The ESF Regulation takes this issue into account, when it promotes more and better jobs for all (article 2.1). Also, priority b) (enhancing access to employment and sustainable inclusion in the labour market) of the ESF intervention within the framework Convergence and Regional and competitiveness and employment Objectives as defined by Art. 3.1 of ESF Regulation, the reduction of gender based segregation in the labour market (article 3.1, b, iii) considers this issue. Furthermore, ESF Regulation aims at reducing ‘gender-based segregation in the labour market’ and at ‘addressing the root causes, direct and indirect, of gender pay gap’ (article 3.1, b, iii).
HORIZONTAL
SEGREGATION
Women are concentrated in a much smaller number of sectors and professions than men. Almost 40% of women work in health, education and public administration, compared to 20% of men. This is one of the main sources of gender inequality in labour-market participation since these sectors are also characterised by low level of wages. The European Union is committed to fighting horizontal segregation and lack of economic independence of women as stressed in the ‘Roadmap for gender equality’
106.
The ESF Regulation takes into account this issue under priority b) (enhancing access to employment and sustainable inclusion in the labour market) of the ESF intervention within both the Convergence and Regional and competitiveness and employment Objectives as defined by Art. 3.1 of ESF Regulation, which aims at reducing ‘gender-based segregation in the labour market’ and at ‘addressing the root causes, direct and indirect, of gender pay gap’ (article 3.1, b, iii).
WORK-LIFE RECONCILIATION
Improving work-life balance is considered to be an important element with regard to fertility and the improvement of child development and care for the elderly. It is also important in order to relax constraints that currently limit women’s and men’s choices in the labour market
107. All these elements deeply affect gender equality
as the ‘Roadmap for gender equality’ also indicates:108
Within the framework Convergence and Regional and competitiveness and employment Objectives as defined by Art. 3.1 of ESF Regulation, ESF Regulation aims at ‘measures to reconcile work and private life, such as facilitating access to childcare and care for dependent persons’ (article 3.1, b, ii).
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN
ENTERPRISE CREATION AND GROWTH
The ‘Roadmap for equality between women and men’109
indicates Women’s entrepreneurship among the key tools to improve women’s economic independence. According to the European Commission, the entrepreneurial potential of women constitutes an underdeveloped source of economic growth and of new jobs.
110 The Commission has launched
the ‘WES - the European network to promote women's entrepreneurship’
111 to share experiences, compare notes
and act as role models to inspire women to become entrepreneurs across the 27 EU Member States.
The ESF Regulation 3.1., within the framework of the Convergence and Regional and competitiveness and employment objectives support actions under priorities: a) (to increase adaptability of workers), in particular by promoting in i) entrepreneurship and business start-ups; b) (enhancing access to employment and the sustainable inclusion in the labour-market of job seekers and inactive people) by promoting in ii) the implementation of active and preventive measures ensuring the early identification of needs with individual action plans and personalised support such as [...] self-employment and business start creation.
104
See CEC (2007c). 105 See CEC (2006d). 106 See CEC (2006d). 107 See CEC (2008d) and CEC (2005c). 108 See CEC (2006d). 109
See CEC (2006d). 110 See CEC (2008e). 111 See the European network to promote women’s entrepreneurship website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/promoting-entrepreneurship/women/wes-network/index_en.htm#h2-the-means-for-wes-to-reach-this-objective
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THEMATIC STUDY LINK WITH THE EU POLICY FRAMEWORK RELEVANCE TO ESF REGULATION (1081/2006)101
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Gender-related stereotypes are ubiquitous and continue to influence expectations and behaviour, although research suggests that the role of stereotypes is less pervasive among younger professional women and men
112.
The Roadmap for gender Equality promotes the elimination of gender stereotypes in education, training and culture. It particularly highlights that the participation of women in all educational sectors can contribute to increasing innovation, quality and competitiveness of scientific and industrial research
113.
According to the publication ‘Gender Equality in the ESF’ ‘among the areas in which gender might be incorporated there is education and training particularly concerning vocational skills, non-traditional education sectors, combating gender stereotypes in professions and providing the exchange of good practices between Member State’
114.
In education and training, particularly concerning vocational skills and qualifications and life-long learning, the ESF within the framework of Convergence and Regional competitiveness and employment objectives encourages ‘reforms in education and training systems in order to develop employability [...] and the continual updating of the skills of training personnel with a view to innovation and a knowledge based economy’ (ESF Regulations, article 3.1, d, i ). In particular, within the framework of the Convergence objective, the ESF supports actions under priority a) (expanding and improving investment in human capital) to promote increased participation in education and training […] through actions aiming to achieve a reduction […] in gender-based segregation of subjects (ESF Regulations, article 3.2, a, ii).
During the study specific information on the six themes have been collected at country-
level and then synthesised in the six thematic cross-country reports. The focus of the
analysis in relation to ESF funded measures and the relevant link to specific ESF priorities
are presented in the next table.
THEMATIC STUDY LINK WITH A SPECIFIC ESF PRIORITY115
THE FOCUS IN RELATION TO ESF FUNDED MEASURES
ENHANCING WOMEN’S ACCESS
TO EMPLOYMENT
In this respect, actions to favour access to employment of women in a situation of social exclusion are explicitly linked to priority c) (reinforcing social inclusion of disadvantaged people) of the ESF intervention for both Convergence and Regional and competitiveness and employment Objectives as defined by Art. 3.1 of the ESF Regulation. This article clearly identifies disadvantaged people, ‘as people experiencing social exclusion, early school leavers, minorities, people with disabilities and people providing care for dependent persons’ (article 3.1, c, i) and combats discrimination in accessing the labour market (article 3.1, c, ii).
The focus is on positive actions and gender mainstreaming in
active inclusion policies - sustained through ESF - aiming to
overcome poverty and exclusion. Among possible actions:
facilities and initiatives for women in a situation of or at risk of
poverty and social exclusion to access public employment
services; improvement of public employment services for
women in a situation of or at risk of poverty and social exclusion;
so-called active inclusion measures or initiatives (such as
specialised counselling, empowerment actions, campaigns to
fight discrimination, etc).
VERTICAL
SEGREGATION
Most actions against vertical segregation are connected to priority b) (enhancing access to employment and sustainable inclusion in the labour market). of the ESF intervention for both Convergence and Regional and competitiveness and employment Objectives, as defined by Art. 3.1 the of ESF Regulation.
The focus is on ESF funded positive actions and gender mainstreaming aiming at promoting vertical desegregation in any sector of the economy or society. Examples of these actions are: guidelines for the promotion of gender equal opportunities in the public sector, compulsory equality plans in state-owned enterprises, monitoring of effective gender parity in private enterprises which receive public funds.
HORIZONTAL SEGREGATION
Most actions against horizontal segregations are connected to priority b) (enhancing access to employment and sustainable inclusion in the labour market) of the ESF intervention for both Convergence and Regional and competitiveness and employment Objectives as defined by Art. 3.1 of ESF Regulation.
The focus is on ESF actions (positive and/or mainstreaming) that support the implementation of policies aiming to address barriers to women’s and men’s full participation in some sectors. Examples of such actions are: job evaluation that can be used to redress the undervaluation of women’s jobs, certification used to fight the poor visibility and undervaluation of ‘female’ skills.
99 See CEC (2006e). 113 See CEC (2006d). 114 See CEC (2006c). 115 See CEC (2006f).
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THEMATIC STUDY LINK WITH A SPECIFIC ESF PRIORITY115
THE FOCUS IN RELATION TO ESF FUNDED MEASURES
WORK-LIFE RECONCILIATION
Most actions with this goal are connected to priority b) (enhancing access to employment and sustainable inclusion in the labour market) within the framework Convergence and Regional and competitiveness and employment Objectives as defined by Art. 3.1 of ESF Regulation.
The focus is on ESF funded positive actions and gender mainstreaming aiming at promoting a more equal division of care labour between women and men. Examples of such actions are: support to parental leave policies, actions to improve the childcare system and elderly care policies, financial assistance to families, actions to improve awareness of conciliation issues among people with policy responsibilities.
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN ENTERPRISE CREATION AND
GROWTH
Actions with this goal are connected to priority a) (to increase adaptability of workers) and b) (enhancing access to employment and the sustainable inclusion in the labour-market of job seekers and inactive people) within the framework Convergence and Regional and competitiveness and employment Objectives as defined by Art. 3.1 of ESF Regulation.
The focus is on ESF-funded positive actions and gender mainstreaming aiming at promoting women’s self-employment. Examples of such actions are: ESF supported training programmes to build entrepreneurial skills; programmes which provide significant resources for women to take the risks associated with setting up a business, mentoring training programmes.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
ESF calls for a more equal gender balance in the field of mathematics, science and technology.
116 In education and
training, particularly concerning vocational skills and qualifications and life-long learning, the ESF encourages ‘reforms in education and training systems in order to develop employability [...] and the continual updating of the skills of training personnel with a view to innovation and a knowledge based economy’ ’ (ESF Regulations, article 3.1, d, i ). In particular, within the framework of the Convergence objective, the ESF supports actions under the priority ‘expanding and improving investment in human capital’ to promote increased participation in education and training […] through actions aiming to achieve a reduction […] in gender-based segregation of subjects (ESF Regulations, article 3.2, a, ii).
The focus is on ESF-funded positive actions and gender mainstreaming aiming at desegregation in education and training. Examples of such actions are: ESF funded measures that promote participation, training policies to combat gender stereotyping, motivational events, media and educational campaigns aimed at children of very young ages (so called early in life measures) .
Thematic reports follow the common structure:
1. Introduction,
2. The situation and policy debate in relation to (the relevant topic) in the EU-27 Member
States,
3. (the relevant topic)in ESF programming,
4. Gender sensitive measures and actions in relation to (the relevant topic) in ESF,
5. Identification of interesting practices with impact potential,
6. Conclusions,
7. References and data sources.
In addition all reports include an assessment table that synthesise the analysis results by
country (provided in an annex to the thematic report).
Thematic reports were prepared by an experienced team of researchers who have
considerable expertise in the relevant themes. They were completed in July 2010 and reflect
the situation at the time of carrying out the gathering of the relevant country-level
102 See CEC (2006e).
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Annex II– Thematic reports 184
information which occurred in spring 2010. For the preparation of thematic reports, relevant
information was collected on the basis of a common grid by national correspondents using
the relevant programming documents as well as interviews with national stakeholders. The
research team would like to thank all the stakeholders consulted during the study for their
valuable time and important contributions.
Index:
1. Enhancing women’s access to employment,
2. Vertical segregation (under or over representation of women in certain levels of the professional
hierarchy),
3. Horizontal segregation (concentration of women in certain sectors of the economy),
4. Work and private life reconciliation,
5. Participation of women in enterprise creation and growth,
6. Education and training.
Thematic reports are available separately.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex III– Gender Equality Index
185
ANNEX III
GENDER EQUALITY INDEX
The Gender equality index (GEI) used in the study to characterize each Member State’s attainments in
the field of gender equality refers to the methodology to evaluate the degree of gender equality
developed by Plantenga, Remery, Figueiredo and Smith in ‘Towards a European Union Gender Equality
Index’ (Journal of European Social Policy, 2009)117.
To calculate the Gender Equality Index the distributions of the following eight Indicators measuring
gender gaps in key realms by the EU27 countries have been calculated starting from the original
distributions of corresponding level indicators by gender provided by EUROSTAT, if available:
1. Gender employment gap118
2. Gender unemployment gap119
3. Gender pay gap120
4. Gender poverty gap among single headed households121
5. Gender gap in parliament122
6. Gender gap in ISCO1123
117 We thank Plantenga J., Remery, C., Figueiredo, H. and Smith, M. who have discussed with us both the methodological aspects and the results of our updating of the GEI. Their suggestions have been precious for the present study. 118 The gender employment gap is calculated as the difference in employment rates between men and women in percentage points. 119 The gender unemployment gap is calculated as the difference in unemployment rates between women and men in percentage points. 120 The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between men’s and women’s average gross hourly earnings as a percentage of men’s average gross hourly earnings (for paid employees). 121 The gender poverty gap is calculated as the difference between the proportion of female-headed single households under the low-income threshold and the proportion of male-headed single households under the low-income threshold. 122 The gender gap in parliament is calculated as the difference in the share of women in parliament and the share of men in parliament. 123 The International Standardized Classification of Occupations elaborated by the International Labour Office is a tool for organizing jobs into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the job. ISCO aims at ensuring cross-country comparability of occupations. For the This subdimension refers to 'top' (supervisory) occupations; included are legislators, senior officials, among others from organizations such as trade unions and charitable organizations, and corporate and general managers.' It provides information on the 'ceiling' at the socio-economic level and as such covers vertical segregation. The gender gap in ISCO1 is calculated as the difference in the share of women in ISCO1 and the share of men in ISCO1. For more details on ISCO see Methodological issues concerning the development, use, maintenance and revision of statistical classification at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/index.htm
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Annex III– Gender Equality Index
186
7. Gender gap in caring time for children124
8. Gender gap in leisure time125
Then values obtained for ach indicator have been standardized so that each indicator will have the same
weight in the final Index. To standardize the indicators the 'min-max' method elaborated by the UNDP to
calculate the GDI and the GEM Index has been applied126, by adopting the following formula:
Standardized value =(|the indicator's original value| - the minimum value the indicator might assume) /
(the maximum value the indicator might assume - the minimum value the indicator might assume)
The actual value refers to the national values for the gender gap calculated for the relevant indicator. It
is considered in absolute value because gender equality is conceptualised as the absence of gender gaps
either positive or negative. The maximum value refers to the optimal case, that is the theoretical value
in the eventuality of full equality and always corresponds to the value 0, indicating the absence of gaps.
The minimum refers to the worst case, that is the situation of highest inequality. As there is no natural
benchmark to refer to, the minimum value is set at a level a little below the actual minimum value
observed within the sample of EU countries. This fixed minimum is treated as a baseline. The
assumption is that the actual value will not go beyond this minimum.
After this procedure is completed, resulting standardized values are scores that can be combined either
in one score for each relevant dimension (equality in work; equality in income; equality in power;
equality in available time) or in the overall score, combining all relevant dimensions, that is the Gender
Equality Index applying the arithmetic mean. Thanks to this methodology the Gender Equality Index is
not influenced by the variability of its components since the denominator of the index is constant (equal
to the linear combination of the denominators of the standardized values127) for all the computed scores
while the numerators only change.
124 The gender gap in childcare is calculated as the difference between the average number of hours per week spent on providing care for children by men and women aged 20-49 as a percentage of the average number of hours per week spent on providing care for children by men aged 20-49. 125 The gender gap in leisure is calculated as the difference between the average time per day spent on leisure by men and women as a percentage of the average time per day spent on leisure by men, age group 20-74. 126 The methodology developed by the UNDP is available at the address: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_20072008_Tech_Note_1.pdf 127 The overall GEI is obtained as an arithmetic mean of eight scores. Each of them was calculated by dividing a numerator which varies by country by a denominator , which on the opposite is always the same for all countries. Therefore, the denominator of the overall GEI does not vary by country being the linear combination of always the same denominators multiplied by eight.
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Annex III– Gender Equality Index
187
As it is not possible to compute the overall Gender Equality Index in case that one value is missing for
any indicator, missing values are substituted inserting the average EU score for the corresponding
indicator with missing values.
The following table presents the scores obtained for the overall Gender Equality Index and for each of its
four sub-dimensions.
Country Gender Equality Index
Equal sharing
of paid work
Equal
sharing of
money
Equal sharing of
decision making power
Equal
sharing of
time
Sweden 0.725 0.92 0.70 0.70 0.57
Finland 0.715 0.91 0.63 0.56 0.76
Denmark 0.684 0.84 0.67 0.48 0.75
The Netherlands
0.638 0.79 0.56 0.51 0.70
Belgium 0.618 0.72 0.69 0.55 0.51
Germany 0.607 0.81 0.56 0.48 0.58
Lithuania 0.599 0.91 0.65 0.58 0.26
United Kingdom
0.588 0.81 0.52 0.44 0.58
France 0.565 0.77 0.72 0.40 0.37
Latvia 0.562 0.83 0.54 0.52 0.35
Portugal 0.541 0.71 0.67 0.44 0.35
Luxembourg 0.540 0.63 0.72 0.35 0.46
Slovenia 0.533 0.76 0.72 0.33 0.32
Bulgaria 0.531 0.86 0.39 0.42 0.46
Hungary 0.526 0.81 0.59 0.37 0.33
Estonia 0.526 0.90 0.39 0.42 0.40
Austria 0.515 0.79 0.44 0.48 0.34
Poland 0.514 0.74 0.48 0.45 0.39
Romania 0.502 0.74 0.63 0.27 0.36
Ireland 0.500 0.74 0.65 0.32 0.29
Czech Republic 0.499 0.62 0.61 0.31 0.46
Slovakia 0.498 0.68 0.52 0.34 0.46
Malta 0.458 0.37 0.93 0.08 0.46
Italia 0.440 0.51 0.57 0.39 0.29
Espania 0.382 0.42 0.35 0.57 0.19
Cyprus 0.339 0.68 0.11 0.11 0.46
Greece 0.331 0.22 0.63 0.24 0.23
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex IV– Questionnaire for ESF Managing Authorities 188
ANNEX IV
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ESF MANAGING AUTHORITIES
A common questionnaire for all ESF Managing authorities has been developed during the study with a
twofold purpose:
to ensure that country-level analysis would be conducted with a focus on some key common
issues and adopting similar terminology;
to use its results in a comparative way in the synthesis of findings and results. For this reason,
the questionnaire was largely dedicated to gain factual information on organizational issues and
broad characteristics of the OPs focus and initial implementation.
In Member States with many ESF OPs, the questionnaire also complemented the information gathered
at the country-level, as not all OPs could be object of in-depth analysis. The questionnaire was hence
submitted to all Managing Authorities. The questionnaire was therefore developed with attention to
keep questions simple and focussed (hence questions proposed are mainly, even if not exclusively,
closed-ended questions in which Managing Authorities are mostly asked to choose among a
predetermined set of options).
The response rate to the submitted questionnaire was satisfactory, with 90 completed questionnaires
covering 85 out of the total of 117 ESF-OPs (in a few cases for some financially large OPs the
corresponding Managing Authority office decided to fill more than one questionnaire in order to give
back a more balanced picture according to the main responsibilities of stakeholders involved). The 85
OPs for which completed questionnaires are available correspond to over 90 per cent of the ESF EU
financial contribution. Completed questionnaires cover all OPs and corresponding ESF resources, for
most Member States, where no all OPs are covered, completed questionnaires usually cover all the most
important (in financial terms) OPs.
Details on the coverage rate by Member State are reported in the table D1. The questionnaire is
presented afterwards.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex IV– Questionnaire for ESF Managing Authorities 189
Table D1 – Number and coverage rates of Managing Authorities completed questionnaires
Country Number of
completed
questionnaires
Number of ESF
OPs covered
by completed
questionnaires
Number
of total
ESF OPs
COVERAGE
OPs (%)
COVERAGE
ESF EU
funds (%)
Austria 1 1 2 50.0 90.1
Belgium 2 2 6 33.3 74.3
Bulgaria 2 2 2 100.0 100.0
Cyprus 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
Czech Republic 3 3 3 100.0 100.0
Germany 13 12 18 66.7 83.0
Denmark 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
Estonia 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
Spain 20 19 22 86.4 92.2
Finland 2 2 2 100.0 100.0
France 1 1 5 20.0 83.3
Greece 3 3 4 75.0 96.4
Hungary 2 2 2 100.0 100.0
Ireland 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
Italy 16 16 24 66.7 54.5
Lithuania 1 1 2 50.0 90.9
Luxembourg 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
Latvia 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
Malta 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
The Netherlands 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
Poland 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
Portugal 3 2 4 50.0 95.9
Romania 2 2 2 100.0 100.0
Sweden 1 1 1 100.0 100.0
Slovenia 2 1 1 100.0 100.0
Slovakia 3 2 2 100.0 100.0
United Kingdom 4 4 6 66.7 92.8
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex IV– Questionnaire for ESF Managing Authorities 190
ESF MANAGING AUTHORITIES questionnaire
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Please indicate which of the main (explicit or implicit) objectives of the ESF Operational Programme for which your authority is responsible is/are the most relevant in terms of both dedicated financial resources and strategic importance for the socio-economic situation?
2. Would you please assign an absolute score to their relevance between 1 (minimum) and 6 (maximum)?
PLEASE STATE THE MOST RELEVANT OBJECTIVE/S (MIN 1, MAX 3) AND INDICATE ITS/THEIR CORRESPONDING SCORE
Objective/s Score
3. And how would you score the relevance of the Gender Equality Objective in the OP between 1 (minimum) and 6 (maximum)?
Gender Equality Objective –score:___
4. How do you value the extent to which the principle of gender mainstreaming has been applied in the ESF Operational Programme under your responsibility?128
Large (more than 70%)___
Adequate (30%-70%) ___
Small (15%-30%) ___
Very small (0-15%) ___
128 By application of the Gender mainstreaming principle we mean the intentional consideration of effects on gender in i) the choice of objectives and actions to finance at the programming level; ii) the procedures through which projects are selected and iii) the way the actions are managed and monitored, in order to maximise positive effects on gender equality.
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Annex IV– Questionnaire for ESF Managing Authorities 191
5. Are there significant changes in the ESF programme (2007-2013) with respect to the previous programmes in terms of Gender sensitive actions (actions that may have some impacts on gender equality)?
Yes ___
No ___
cannot say ___
6. What kind of institutional Gender equality infrastructure129 is in place to support gender equality, at the different stages of the policy cycle of the ESF? (You may choose more than one option for each considered step/phase)
Steps/Phases
Institutional
infrastructure
Programming Implementation Monitoring/Evaluation
Dedicated officer with staff
Dedicated officer without staff
Specific committee/s
Reference to gender network/s
External expert/s
Other
129 Positive results of the projects in term of gender equality imply the establishment of a basic equality infrastructure. The latter refers usually to an equality structure or team with certain resources, dedicated to the guidance and support of the organisation responsible for programming and implementing the ESF programme actions in order to maximise positive effects in term of gender equality (Horelli, 2001).
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex IV– Questionnaire for ESF Managing Authorities 192
7. In your opinion, is the institutional Gender equality infrastructure130 (i.e.: involvement of dedicated bodies and expertise in order to support and protect Gender Equality in programming and implementation choices) during each step/phase of the policy cycle related to the ESF: more than adequate, adequate, partially adequate or not adequate? (You can choose only one option for each step/phase).
Steps/Phases
How adequate
is the infrastructure?
Programming Implementation Monitoring/Evaluation
More than adequate
Adequate
Partially adequate
Not adequate
8. Among the officers in charge of ESF management, how many possess expertise in Gender issues and Gender mainstreaming?
All of them ___
Most of them ___
Only few ___
None ___
9. Have officers in charge of ESF management received specific training in order to grasp basic concepts or upgrade existing competences in Gender issues and Gender mainstreaming?
All of them ___
Most of them ___
Only few ___
None ___
130 See the previous note.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex IV– Questionnaire for ESF Managing Authorities 193
10. How has gender mainstreaming been working in practice in your ESF Operational Programme? (You can choose more than one option).
Gender
Mainstreaming
Tools
Activities
Advice from Gender Equality infrastructure
Direct participation of the Gender Equality infrastructure
External experts’ participation
Other (please specify):
_________________
Drafting the Operational Programme
Approving the Operational Programme
Selecting activities to implement
Drafting call for tenders or Terms of Reference
Project selection
Information and publicity measures
11. Are gender related objectives and actions within the OP meant to be pursued with the ESF intervention only or they are part of a more general policy action conducted at the country/regional level? What role does the ESF play in relation to the more general policy context?
Does ESF reinforce actions towards gender equality objectives that are already explicitly pursued and funded at the national/regional level? [Hence ESF strengthens a pre-existing policy strategy to gain broader (in terms of target population) and/or quicker (in terms of timing) results.]
YES, mainly__ YES, to some extent __ NO__
Does ESF formulate specific objectives towards gender equality, which are not explicitly pursued through national/regional policies with adequate budgetary allocations? [Hence ESF adds to national gender sensitive policies, complementing the country’s gender policy strategy]
YES __ NO __
Does ESF experiment with new initiatives to test whether they are effective and viable for a future, larger- scale implementation? [Hence ESF aims at innovating policy actions through pilot projects]
YES __ NO __
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex IV– Questionnaire for ESF Managing Authorities 194
12. In which of the following thematic fields of intervention are Gender sensitive actions funded through ESF?
a) Enhancing ‘women’s access to employment’, specifically for women belonging to vulnerable groups. [There are much differentiated forms of socioeconomic vulnerability, which are associated with new socioeconomic risks related to: family size and break-down, ethnic minorities, caring responsibilities and violence against women as well as unskilled jobs and low pay or fixed-term employment.]
(cross here if actions are funded for a) ___
b) Combating ‘vertical gender segregation’ in the labour-market, that is the under- or over-representation of a given group (women or men) at the top (or at the bottom) of hierarchies or at the top (or at the bottom) of any other ordering based on desirable attributes (e.g. income, prestige, job stability).
(cross here if actions are funded for b) ___
c) Combating ‘horizontal segregation’ in the labour-market, that is the under- or over-representation of a given group (women or men) in specific sectors of occupations. Please do not refer to measures to combat stereotypes but to measures that combat any structural barriers that hinder women or men from entering a specific sector of occupation.
(cross here if actions are funded for c) ___
d) Promoting ‘work and private life reconciliation’ by adopting measures in the fields of: work organisation, social assistance services available to families, favouring a more equal sharing of work and care responsibilities between women and men. (Relevant actions might be related to childcare and elderly care policies).
(cross here if actions are funded for d) ___
e) Promoting the ‘Participation of women in enterprise creation and growth’ since self-employment is a way to participate in the labour market. Examples of possible actions are related to drawing on entrepreneurial skills, access to resources, networking, and training.
(cross here if actions are funded for e) ___
f) ‘Education and training’ measures aimed at combating gender stereotypes. Since gender-related stereotypes are, indeed, ever-present and continue to influence expectations and behaviour, please refer to actions aimed at combating the influence of existing gender stereotypes in the training choices of women, as well as training offers within the public and private system of professional education.
(cross here if actions are funded for f) ___
13. Please list below the two fields (among those mentioned above) that have the most relevant weight in terms of allocated resources.
1. ______________________
2. ______________________
14. Do actors involved in the programming step/phase of the ESF have a common understanding of the meaning attached to the concepts of Gender equality, Gender mainstreaming and Positive actions?
none ___
some ___
adequate ___
more than adequate___
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex IV– Questionnaire for ESF Managing Authorities 195
15. To what extent have strategies or activities to mobilise key stakeholders for Gender equality been pursued in the programming step/phase?
more than adequate___
adequate___
partially adequate___
not adequate___
16. Overall, in your opinion is the Gender equality objective pursued more through Gender specific actions or through Gender mainstreaming?
Both approaches are equally important___
Both approaches are important but Gender Mainstreaming is more relevant___
Both approaches are important but Specific Actions is more relevant___
Cannot say at this stage ___
17. To what extent have foreseen gender sensitive actions begun to be implemented?
To a large extent (more than 70%)___
To a medium extent (30%-70%)___
To a small extent (15%-30%)___
To a very small extent (0-15%)___
Not yet___
18. If gender sensitive actions have been implemented, are they
new actions not implemented before___
actions already implemented before___
Both of the above, but mainly new___
Both of the above, but mainly already implemented before___
19. If gender sensitive actions have been implemented, please specify if they are:
implemented as originally planned___
implemented with some delay with respect to what planned___
implemented with some difficulties and some changes have been made___
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex V– Country clustering: indicators and procedure 196
ANNEX V
COUNTRY CLUSTERING: INDICATORS AND PROCEDURE
In order to discuss common factors that might affect the way in which Member States consider the
relevance of the gender equality objective within their ESF OPs, Member States have been grouped
in more homogeneous subsets according to:
their relative ranking in accordance to the Gender equality indicator (GEI) scores;
a measure of intensity of policy effort for gender equality in ESF interventions (ESFPEI),
developed for the purpose of this study.
Once this grouping has been made, the Report discusses which factors Member States appearing in
the same group have in common. The clustering of EU 27 Members States is hence based on a two-
step approach.
As a first step Countries which were in similar conditions before the beginning of the current
programming cycle (2007-2013) have been identified according to their positions as far as
the Gender Equality Index (GEI)131. Countries that have achieved a similar level of gender
equality in 2006 were grouped together in three subsets: HIGHER GEI - above GEI 0,6;
INTERMEDIATE GEI - GEI up to 0,6 and above 0,5; LOWER GEI – GEI up to 0,5.
At the second step each of the three groups identified at the first step were further classified
according to the ‘ESF Policy Effort -for gender equality- Indicator’ (ESFPEI), which has been
constructed specifically for this study. The indicator has been elaborated on the basis of
what observed in the EU 27 Member States as far as their ESF programming and initial
implementation phase. Countries are grouped in two classes: ABOVE or BELOW a critical
value of the ESFPEI index, where this critical value refers to the ‘median value’ assumed by
the indicator (which better represents the actual shape of the index distribution). Each of
the three groups identified during the first step of the clustering were then divided into two
sub-groups accordingly.
The final grouping consists of six groups of Member States, namely: HA (Higher GEI and Above
median ESFPEI); HL(Higher GEI and Below median ESFPEI); IA (Intermediate GEI and Above median
ESFPEI); IL (Intermediate GEI and Below median ESFPEI); LA (Lower GEI and Above median ESFPEI);
LB (Lower GEI and Below median ESFPEI).
131 See Annex III.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex V– Country clustering: indicators and procedure 197
The GEI indicator is constructed according to the procedure described in ANNEX III. The ESFPEI (‘ESF
Policy Effort -for gender equality- Indicator’) has been constructed assigning scores to five different
critical dimensions and then combining them by a weighted average. These dimensions reflect the
overall effort that each Member State dedicates in adopting the ‘dual approach’ to gender equality
within ESF interventions. More specifically these dimensions are captured by two sub-indexes.
Sub-Index A refers to the relative position (to the EU average) as far as the share of ESF
resources dedicated to Gender Equality specific actions over total ESF 2007-13. The share of
ESF resources dedicated to specific actions is proxied by the amount of resources
indicatively programmed for the most relevant category of expenditure for gender equality
considered by the Regulations (category 69132 as described in annex IV of Council Regulation
1083/2006133);
Sub-Index B refers to the Gender equality institutional organization for the ESF 2007-13,
constructed by evaluating various aspects, considered critical, for preparing, implementing,
assessing and readjusting a gender mainstreaming strategy.
The two Sub-Indexes have been calculated according to the following procedures:
Sub-Index A has been obtained by calculating at the Member state level the share ESF funds
allocated to the category of expenditure 69 and normalising the results through scores up to
a maximum of 100 according to whether the country is above (score=100), on or around
(score=70), or below the EU average (score=40). Hence Sub-index A has a maximum value of
100.
Sub-Index B has been obtained by assigning scores (High=100, Intermediate=70, Low=40) to
each of the following four dimensions analysed at country-level (and reported in details in
the Intervention Logic Template- specific relevant building-blocks appended to Country
Reports)134:
1. the clarity of the gender mainstreaming operational strategy and the robustness of
the institutional set up for its implementation (Intervention Logic -BLOCK 7);
2. the extension to which a partnership approach has been taken into consideration in
the organization for supervising and directing the OPs from the point of view of
gender equality (Intervention Logic -BLOCK 8);
132 Measures to improve access to employment and increase sustainable participation and progress of women in employment, to reduce gender-based segregation in the labour market, and to reconcile work and private life, such as facilitating access to childcare and care for dependent persons. 133 See CEC (2006a). 134 For more details see Annex I.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex V– Country clustering: indicators and procedure 198
3. the sensitivity to gender equality aspects of monitoring systems and data collection
practices (Intervention Logic-BLOCK 9);
4. the sensitivity to gender equality aspects of the organisation of evaluation activities
(Intervention Logic -BLOCK 10).
These four scores have been combined for each country in a weighted average constructed
to be up to a maximum total of 100.
The ESFPEI as a weighted average of the two Sub-Indexes (A and B) has been calculated as follows.
Weights have been assigned to each Sub-Index in line with the fact that in the current programming
period there is strong emphasis on gender mainstreaming -which relies on the quality of the gender
infrastructure in place- but also considering that a dual approach (gender mainstreaming and gender
equality specific actions) is strongly advised. Therefore, the ESFPEI is obtained by assigning 30 per
cent of weight to Sub-Index A (proxying specific actions) and 70 per cent of the weight to Sub-Index
B (proxying mainstreaming). The heavier weight assigned to Sub- Index B is justified by the crucial
importance assigned to the gender mainstreaming principle in the current programming period
(2007-2013).
Therefore the ESFPEI – being a weighted average of the two Sub-Indexes [according to the weights
0.3 for the Sub-Index a) and 0.7 for the Sub-Index b)] - reaches a maximum value of 100 .
In the following table, an example in calculating the ESFPEI for a hypothetical high performing policy
effort country is provided. In this case the maximum value is reached. This hypothetical country
scores the maximum (100) for both the Sub-Index A (Share ESF to Gender Actions over total ESF
2007—13) and for Sub-Index B (Gender-equality institutional organization for ESF 2007-13).
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
– C
ountr
y c
luste
ring: in
dic
ato
rs a
nd p
rocedure
19
9
Ind
ica
tor
by C
ou
ntr
yE
SF
PO
LIC
Y E
FF
OR
TW
EIG
HT
0,3
a)
SC
OR
E f
or
SG
A -
Sh
are
ES
F t
o G
en
de
r A
cti
on
s o
ve
r to
tal E
SF
20
07
-13
SC
OR
E
SG
A_
we
ll a
bo
ve
EU
av
era
ge
10
0
SG
A_
on
o
r a
rou
nd
EU
av
era
ge
70
SG
A_
be
low
EU
av
era
ge
40
WE
IGH
T0
,7b
) S
CO
RE
fo
r G
en
de
r e
qu
ality
in
sit
itu
tio
na
l o
rga
niz
ati
on
fo
r E
SF
2
00
7-1
3
We
igh
ted
SU
M o
f s
co
res
fo
r
blo
ck
s 7
,8,9
,10
of
the
rec
on
str
uc
ted
In
terv
en
tio
n L
og
ic
HIG
H
SC
OR
E
INT
ER
ME
DIA
TE
SC
OR
E
LO
W
SC
OR
EW
EIG
HT
SC
OR
E IL
_B
LO
CK
71
00
70
40
0,5
SC
OR
E IL
_B
LO
CK
81
00
70
40
0,2
SC
OR
E IL
_B
LO
CK
91
00
70
40
0,1
5
SC
OR
E IL
_B
LO
CK
10
10
07
04
00
,15
Ex
am
ple
Co
un
try X
a)
Sco
re S
GA
20
07
-13
10
0
SC
OR
E I
L_B
LO
CK
71
00
0,5
50
SC
OR
E I
L_B
LO
CK
81
00
0,2
20
SC
OR
E I
L_B
LO
CK
91
00
0,1
51
5
SC
OR
E I
L_B
LO
CK
10
10
00
,15
15
b)
Sco
re G
end
er
eq
uality
insititutio
nal o
rganiz
atio
n f
or
ES
F 2
00
7-1
31
00
ES
F P
olic
y e
ffo
rt
ind
ica
tor
10
0
Gen
der
iss
ues
in
stit
uti
on
al p
rote
ctio
n m
ach
iner
y in
OP
m
anag
emen
t (w
ith
fo
cus
on
ho
w m
ain
stre
amin
g
is s
up
po
sed
to
wo
rk)
Par
tner
s su
rvei
llan
ce a
nd
gen
der
iss
ues
Att
enti
on
to
gen
der
iss
ues
in
Mo
nit
ori
ng
sys
tem
s (c
on
ten
t an
d o
rgan
izat
ion
) A
tten
tio
n t
o g
end
er i
ssu
es i
n E
valu
atio
n (
org
aniz
atio
n a
nd
ac
tivi
ties
, fo
rese
en a
nd
im
ple
men
ted
)
(Countr
y X
has b
een a
ssig
ned t
he m
axim
un s
core
for
Blo
ck 1
0 w
hic
h h
as a
weig
ht
of 15%
)
Co
un
try X
ge
ts t
he
maxim
um
sco
re a
s r
esu
ltin
g f
rom
(
0,3
*SC
OR
E f
or
Ind
icato
r a +
0,7
*SC
OR
E
Ind
icato
r b
)
(Co
un
try X
is w
ell
ab
ove
th
e E
U27 a
ve
rag
e a
nd
he
nce
ha
s b
ee
n a
ssig
ne
d t
he
ma
xim
um
va
lue
of
100 f
or
Su
b
Ind
ica
tor
a)
(Countr
y X
has b
een a
ssig
ned t
he m
axim
un s
core
for
Blo
ck 7
whic
h h
as a
weig
ht
of
50%
)
(Countr
y X
has b
een a
ssig
ned t
he m
axim
un s
core
for
Blo
ck 8
whic
h h
as a
weig
ht
of
20%
)
(Countr
y X
has b
een a
ssig
ned t
he m
axim
un s
core
for
Blo
ck 9
whic
h h
as a
weig
ht
of
15%
)
(Co
un
try X
ha
s b
ee
n a
ssig
ne
d t
he
ma
xim
un
sco
re f
or
ind
ica
tor
b a
s r
esu
ltin
g f
oro
m t
he
we
igh
ted
su
m o
f
sco
res a
ssig
ne
d t
o e
ach
of
the
co
nsid
ere
d I
L B
locks)
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex VI– Standardised objectives and instruments 200
ANNEX VI
STANDARDISED OBJECTIVES AND INSTRUMENTS
In Chapter 2 the content of ESF strategies for gender equality is analyzed by presenting the main
relevant gender-equality specific objectives and the instruments adopted by Member States to
achieve those objectives.
Objectives and instruments have been classified adopting comparable categories since there is a
high variability in the way in which they are presented in the OPs, even when they do not differ
much in their substance. This categorization was elaborated starting from the main gender-equality
specific objectives and related actions identified in the OPs during country-level analysis. These
categories are defined at the same level of abstraction so that their comparability is ensured. Within
this group of categories, instrumental intermediate objectives are not considered, as they are
reflected in the categorization of instruments. The resulting categories in which the identified ESF
OPs main specific gender-equality objectives have been reorganized are the following:
1. Promoting Women's employment and participation in the labour market (quantity and/or
quality objectives) –shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the Report as
EMPLOYMENT,
2. Promoting women's entrepreneurship, not only to increase their employment, but also as a
means of social advancement and recognition – shortened in tables and/or figures
presented in the Report as ENTREPRENEURSHIP,
3. Easing women's caring duties – shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the Report as
CARE,
4. Counteracting cultural and social gender stereotypes – shortened in tables and/or figures
presented in the Report as STEREOTYPE,
5. Promoting women's access to private and public decision making roles – shortened in tables
and/or figures presented in the Report as EMPOWERMENT,
6. Preventing educational gender segregation – shortened in tables and/or figures presented in
the Report as EDUCATION,
7. Reducing women's poverty and favouring vulnerable groups – shortened in tables and/or
figures presented in the Report as POVERTY,
8. Combating violence against women – shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the
Report as VIOLENCE.
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Synthesis Report
Annex VI– Standardised objectives and instruments 201
As regards the types of instruments designed to support gender equality that are presented in the
ESF OPs, the relevant information contained in Country Reports (Intervention Logic tables and
diagrams) has been analysed in a similar manner in order to obtain comparable categories. The
identified categories provide a synthesis of the main contents and characteristics of the instruments.
The identified categories for instruments are the following:
1. Training to women – shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the Report as
W_TRAINING;
2. Counselling and orientation to women – shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the
Report as W_COUNSELLING;
3. Finance to women (including finance to business start up and self-employment) – shortened
in tables and/or figures presented in the Report as W_FINANCE;
4. Training to others – shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the Report as
O_TRAINING;
5. Counselling and orientation to others (including orientation to companies and firms) –
shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the Report as O_COUNSELLING;
6. Finance to others (including incentives to firms to hire specific groups) – shortened in tables
and/or figures presented in the Report as O_FINANCE;
7. Institutional capacity enhancement – shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the
Report as INSTITUTIONAL;
8. Care services availability enhancement – shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the
Report as CARE_SER;
9. Public employment services gender equality – shortened in tables and/or figures presented
in the Report as PES ;
10. Networking and gender issues awareness promotion – shortened in tables and/or figures
presented in the Report as NET;
11. General active labour market policies – shortened in tables and/or figures presented in the
Report as GENERAL ALMP
Applying these two categorizations of objectives and instruments (summarized in table F1), the main
gender-equality strategies in the Member States are hence presented and discussed in the Report in
a comparative way.
The following tables detail how gender-equality objectives and instruments are adopted in Member
States.
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
20
2
Tab
le F
1: C
ate
gori
zati
on
s o
f G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y O
bje
ctiv
es a
nd
Gen
der
-eq
ual
ity
Inst
rum
ents
CO
MM
ON
C
ATE
GO
RIZ
ATI
ON
OF
GEN
DER
-EQ
UA
LITY
O
BJE
CTI
VES
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER E
QU
ALI
TY IN
STR
UM
ENTS
W_T
RA
IN-
ING
W
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
W_F
I-N
AN
CE
O_T
RA
IN-
ING
O
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
O_F
I-N
AN
CE
INST
ITU
-TI
ON
AL
CA
RE_
SER
P
ES
NET
G
ENER
AL
ALM
P
EMP
LOY
MEN
T
EN
TREP
REN
EUR
SHIP
CA
RE
ST
EREO
TYP
E
EMP
OW
ERM
ENT
ED
UC
ATI
ON
PO
VER
TY
V
IOLE
NC
E
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
20
3
Tab
le F
2: G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y O
bje
ctiv
es in
Mem
ber
s St
ate
s
MEM
BER
STA
TE
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER-E
QU
ALI
TY O
BJE
CTI
VES
EMP
LOY
MEN
T
ENTR
EPR
ENEU
RSH
IP
CA
RE
STER
EOTY
PE
EMP
OW
ERM
ENT
EDU
CA
TIO
N
PO
VER
TY
VIO
LEN
CE
Au
stri
a
X
X
X
B
elgi
um
X
Bu
lgar
ia
X
C
ypru
s X
Cze
ch R
epu
blic
X
X
G
erm
any
X
X
X
X
Den
mar
k
X
X
Esto
nia
X
X
Sp
ain
X
X
X
Fin
lan
d
X
X
Fran
ce
X
X
X
G
reec
e X
X
H
un
gary
X
Ire
lan
d
X
X
Ital
y X
X
Li
thu
ania
X
X
X
Luxe
mb
ou
rg
X
X
Latv
ia
X
M
alta
X
X
Th
e N
eth
erla
nd
s X
Po
lan
d
X
P
ort
uga
l X
X
X
Ro
man
ia
X
X
X
Sw
eden
X
Slo
ven
ia
X
X
Slo
vaki
a X
X
U
nit
ed K
ingd
om
X
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
20
4
Tab
le F
3: G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y in
stru
men
ts a
do
pte
d b
y co
un
try:
ob
ject
ive
‘Pro
mo
tin
g W
om
en's
em
plo
ymen
t an
d p
arti
cip
atio
n in
th
e la
bo
ur
mar
ket
(
qu
anti
ty a
nd
/or
qu
alit
y o
bje
ctiv
es)’
MEM
BER
STA
TE
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER-E
QU
ALI
TY IN
STR
UM
ENTS
W_T
RA
IN-
ING
W
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
W_F
I-N
AN
CE
O_T
RA
IN-
ING
O
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
O_F
I-N
AN
CE
INST
ITU
-TI
ON
AL
CA
RE_
SER
P
ES
NET
G
ENER
AL
ALM
P
Au
stri
a
X
X
B
elgi
um
X
X
Bu
lgar
ia
X
X
X
Cyp
rus
X
X
C
zech
Rep
ub
lic
X
X
X
X
G
erm
any
X
X
D
enm
ark
Esto
nia
Spai
n
X
X
X
X
X
Fin
lan
d
Fr
ance
Gre
ece
X
Hu
nga
ry
X
X
Ir
ela
nd
X
It
aly
X
X
X
X
X
Lith
uan
ia
X
X
X
X
Lu
xem
bo
urg
X
La
tvia
X
M
alta
X
X
X
X
The
Net
her
lan
ds
X
Po
lan
d
X
X
X
Po
rtu
gal
X
X
X
X
R
om
ania
X
X
X
X
X
Sw
eden
Slo
ven
ia
X
X
X
Slo
vaki
a X
X
X
U
nit
ed K
ingd
om
X
X
X
X
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
20
5
Tab
le F
4: G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y in
stru
men
ts a
do
pte
d b
y co
un
try:
ob
ject
ive
‘Pro
mo
tin
g w
om
en's
en
trep
ren
eurs
hip
no
t o
nly
to
in
crea
se t
hei
r em
plo
ymen
t b
ut
also
as
a m
ean
of
soci
al a
dva
nce
men
t an
d r
eco
gnit
ion
’
MEM
BER
STA
TE
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER-E
QU
ALI
TY IN
STR
UM
ENTS
W_T
RA
IN-
ING
W
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
W_F
I-N
AN
CE
O_T
RA
IN-
ING
O
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
O_F
I-N
AN
CE
INST
ITU
-TI
ON
AL
CA
RE_
SER
P
ES
NET
G
ENER
AL
ALM
P
Au
stri
a
B
elgi
um
Bu
lgar
ia
C
ypru
s
Cze
ch R
epu
blic
Ger
man
y
X
X
X
D
enm
ark
X
X
Esto
nia
Spai
n
X
Fin
lan
d
Fr
ance
X
X
Gre
ece
H
un
gary
Ire
lan
d
It
aly
Li
thu
ania
Luxe
mb
ou
rg
La
tvia
Mal
ta
Th
e N
eth
erla
nd
s
Po
lan
d
P
ort
uga
l
X
X
X
R
om
ania
Swed
en
Sl
ove
nia
X
Sl
ova
kia
X
X
U
nit
ed K
ingd
om
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
20
6
Tab
le F
5: G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y in
stru
men
ts a
do
pte
d b
y co
un
try:
ob
ject
ive
‘Eas
ing
wo
men
's c
arin
g d
uti
es’
MEM
BER
STA
TE
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER-E
QU
ALI
TY IN
STR
UM
ENTS
W_T
RA
IN-
ING
W
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
W_F
I-N
AN
CE
O_T
RA
IN-
ING
O
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
O_F
I-N
AN
CE
INST
ITU
-TI
ON
AL
CA
RE_
SER
P
ES
NET
G
ENER
AL
ALM
P
Au
stri
a
B
elgi
um
Bu
lgar
ia
C
ypru
s
Cze
ch R
epu
blic
Ger
man
y
Den
mar
k
Es
ton
ia
X
Spai
n
Fi
nla
nd
X
Fr
ance
X
G
reec
e
Hu
nga
ry
Ir
ela
nd
Ital
y
X
Li
thu
ania
X
X
X
X
Luxe
mb
ou
rg
X
X
La
tvia
Mal
ta
Th
e N
eth
erla
nd
s
Po
lan
d
P
ort
uga
l
Ro
man
ia
Sw
eden
Slo
ven
ia
Sl
ova
kia
U
nit
ed K
ingd
om
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
20
7
Tab
le F
6: G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y in
stru
men
ts a
do
pte
d b
y co
un
try:
ob
ject
ive
‘Co
ou
nte
ract
ing
cult
ura
l an
d s
oci
al g
end
er s
tere
oty
pes
’
MEM
BER
STA
TE
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER-E
QU
ALI
TY IN
STR
UM
ENTS
W_T
RA
IN-
ING
W
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
W_F
I-N
AN
CE
O_T
RA
IN-
ING
O
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
O_F
I-N
AN
CE
INST
ITU
-TI
ON
AL
CA
RE_
SER
P
ES
NET
G
ENER
AL
ALM
P
Au
stri
a
B
elgi
um
Bu
lgar
ia
C
ypru
s
Cze
ch R
epu
blic
Ger
man
y X
X
Den
mar
k
Es
ton
ia
X
Spai
n
Fi
nla
nd
Fran
ce
G
reec
e
Hu
nga
ry
Ir
ela
nd
Ital
y
Lith
uan
ia
Lu
xem
bo
urg
Latv
ia
M
alta
X
Th
e N
eth
erla
nd
s
Po
lan
d
P
ort
uga
l
X
R
om
ania
X
Sw
eden
X
X
Slo
ven
ia
Sl
ova
kia
U
nit
ed K
ingd
om
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
20
8
Tab
le F
7: G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y in
stru
men
ts a
do
pte
d b
y co
un
try:
ob
ject
ive
‘Pro
mo
tin
g w
om
en's
acc
ess
to p
riva
te a
nd
pu
blic
dec
isio
n m
akin
g ro
les’
MEM
BER
STA
TE
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER-E
QU
ALI
TY IN
STR
UM
ENTS
W_T
RA
IN-
ING
W
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
W_F
I-N
AN
CE
O_T
RA
IN-
ING
O
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
O_F
I-N
AN
CE
INST
ITU
-TI
ON
AL
CA
RE_
SER
P
ES
NET
G
ENER
AL
ALM
P
Au
stri
a
B
elgi
um
Bu
lgar
ia
C
ypru
s
Cze
ch R
epu
blic
Ger
man
y
Den
mar
k
Es
ton
ia
Sp
ain
X
Fi
nla
nd
X
X
X
X
Fran
ce
X
Gre
ece
H
un
gary
Ire
lan
d
X
X
X
Ital
y
Lith
uan
ia
Lu
xem
bo
urg
Latv
ia
M
alta
The
Net
her
lan
ds
P
ola
nd
Po
rtu
gal
R
om
ania
Swed
en
Sl
ove
nia
Slo
vaki
a
Un
ited
Kin
gdo
m
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
20
9
Tab
le F
8: G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y in
stru
men
ts a
do
pte
d b
y co
un
try:
ob
ject
ive
‘Pre
ven
tin
g ed
uca
tio
nal
gen
der
seg
rega
tio
n’
MEM
BER
STA
TE
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER-E
QU
ALI
TY IN
STR
UM
ENTS
W_T
RA
IN-
ING
W
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
W_F
I-N
AN
CE
O_T
RA
IN-
ING
O
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
O_F
I-N
AN
CE
INST
ITU
-TI
ON
AL
CA
RE_
SER
P
ES
NET
G
ENER
AL
ALM
P
Au
stri
a
X
Bel
giu
m
B
ulg
aria
Cyp
rus
C
zech
Rep
ub
lic
X
Ger
man
y
Den
mar
k
X
Esto
nia
Spai
n
Fi
nla
nd
Fran
ce
G
reec
e
Hu
nga
ry
Ir
ela
nd
Ital
y
Lith
uan
ia
Lu
xem
bo
urg
Latv
ia
M
alta
The
Net
her
lan
ds
P
ola
nd
Po
rtu
gal
R
om
ania
Swed
en
Sl
ove
nia
Slo
vaki
a
Un
ited
Kin
gdo
m
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
21
0
Tab
le F
9: G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y in
stru
men
ts a
do
pte
d b
y co
un
try:
ob
ject
ive
‘Red
uci
ng
wo
men
's p
ove
rty
and
fav
ou
rin
g vu
lner
able
gro
up
s’
MEM
BER
STA
TE
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER-E
QU
ALI
TY IN
STR
UM
ENTS
W_T
RA
IN-
ING
W
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
W_F
I-N
AN
CE
O_T
RA
IN-
ING
O
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
O_F
I-N
AN
CE
INST
ITU
-TI
ON
AL
CA
RE_
SER
P
ES
NET
G
ENER
AL
ALM
P
Au
stri
a
X
Bel
giu
m
B
ulg
aria
Cyp
rus
C
zech
Rep
ub
lic
G
erm
any
X
X
X
Den
mar
k
Es
ton
ia
Sp
ain
Fin
lan
d
Fr
ance
Gre
ece
H
un
gary
Ire
lan
d
It
aly
Li
thu
ania
X
X
X
Lu
xem
bo
urg
Latv
ia
M
alta
The
Net
her
lan
ds
P
ola
nd
Po
rtu
gal
R
om
ania
Swed
en
Sl
ove
nia
Slo
vaki
a
Un
ited
Kin
gdo
m
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
21
1
Tab
le F
10: G
end
er-e
qu
alit
y in
stru
men
ts a
do
pte
d b
y co
un
try:
ob
ject
ive
‘Co
mb
atin
g vi
ole
nce
aga
inst
wo
men
’
MEM
BER
STA
TE
CO
MM
ON
CA
TEG
OR
IZA
TIO
N O
F G
END
ER-E
QU
ALI
TY IN
STR
UM
ENTS
W_T
RA
IN-
ING
W
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
W_F
I-N
AN
CE
O_T
RA
IN-
ING
O
_CO
UN
SELL
-IN
G
O_F
I-N
AN
CE
INST
ITU
-TI
ON
AL
CA
RE_
SER
P
ES
NET
G
ENER
AL
ALM
P
Au
stri
a
B
elgi
um
Bu
lgar
ia
C
ypru
s
Cze
ch R
epu
blic
Ger
man
y
Den
mar
k
Es
ton
ia
Sp
ain
Fin
lan
d
Fr
ance
Gre
ece
X
Hu
nga
ry
Ir
ela
nd
Ital
y
Lith
uan
ia
Lu
xem
bo
urg
Latv
ia
M
alta
The
Net
her
lan
ds
P
ola
nd
Po
rtu
gal
R
om
ania
X
Sw
eden
Slo
ven
ia
Sl
ova
kia
U
nit
ed K
ingd
om
Evalu
ati
on
of
the E
uro
pean
So
cia
l F
un
d’s
Su
pp
ort
to
Ge
nd
er
Eq
uality
: S
yn
thesis
Rep
ort
Annex V
I– S
tandard
ised o
bje
ctives a
nd instr
um
ents
21
2
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Annex I – Country reports
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s support to Gender Equality
European Commission, Directorate-General Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
Synthesis Report
FINAL
Annex I – Country reports
4 January 2011
submitted by GHK and Fondazione G. Brodolini
Under the Multiple Framework Contract ‘Provision of evaluation and evaluation related services to DG
EMPL, including support for Impact Assessment Activities’ (Lot N° 3, VT/2009/057, Identification N° 003)
30 St Paul’s Square, Birmingham, B3 1QZ, UK
Tel: + 44 121 233 8900
www.ghkint.com
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Annex I – Country reports
This Annex refers to the national reports on the situation in the 27 EU Member States as it regards
the ESF support to gender equality. The reports were prepared as part of the study undertaken by
GHK and Fondazione G. Brodolini on behalf of the European Commission DG Employment, Social
Affairs and Equal Opportunities between September 2009 and September 2010. The national reports
were completed in July 2010 and reflect the situation at the time of carrying Country-level analysis
which occurred in spring 2010.
Country reports are available separately, for the following Member States:
1.Austria
2.Belgium
3.Bulgaria
4.Cyprus
5.Czech Republic
6.Germany
7.Denmark
8.Estonia
9.Greece
10.Spain
11.Finland
12.France
13.Hungary
14.Ireland
15.Italy
16.Lithuania
17.Luxembourg
18.Latvia
19.Malta
20.The Netherlands
21.Poland
22.Portugal
23.Romania
24.Sweden
25.Slovenia
26.Slovakia
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s Support to Gender Equality: Annex I – Country reports
27.United Kingdom