End FGM EU contribution to the consultation on GAP IV (EU Gender Action Plan)
The upcoming EU Gender Action Plan IV will shape how the EU advances gender equality and combats gender based violence worldwide. It is a key opportunity to strengthen impact, accountability, and support to those driving change on the ground. This is why End FGM EU contributed to the open consultation on the design of the next action plan.
The EU Gender Action Plan is the European Union’s main framework for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in its external action. It defines priorities and objectives, and guides how the EU allocates funding, builds partnerships, and engages politically with partner countries. It also aims to ensure that gender equality is integrated across all areas of external action, including development cooperation, humanitarian aid, and diplomacy.
Addressing female genital mutilation requires long term, survivor centred, community owned, intersectional, and gender transformative approaches that tackle the structural drivers of inequality. As a form of gender based violence rooted in unequal power relations and harmful gender norms, it must be addressed through sustained, coordinated, and inclusive efforts that place affected communities at the centre. The GAP IV offers a critical opportunity for the EU to move from ambition to transformative and accountable external action. By strengthening these approaches, supporting local actors, building bridges across borders, addressing transnational dynamics, and improving funding and accountability, the EU can and must play a decisive role in ensuring that women and girls live free from violence and discrimination, within the Union and abroad.
For this reason, End FGM EU took part in the open consultation on the design of the next action plan, and calls for:
- Increased support and funding to civil society and community-owned initiatives, including building bridges between FGM-affected communities in Europe with those in other world regions
- Enhanced accountability, including through adequate performance tracking, programming and specialised EU delegation staff, particularly Gender Focal Points
- Operationalisation of intersectionality
- Promotion of minimum high standards for gender equality and gender-based violence prevention, in fully aligning internal and external policies
