Increase the budget allocated to the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme in the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027
The End FGM European Network and its Members are advocating for ensuring adequate funding for gender equality and combating gender-based violence, including FGM, within the EU within the overall EU budget for the next 7 years.
The European Commission has unfortunately proposed within the COVID-19 recovery plan a possible reduction by 20% of this funding.
This will have a monumental impact on activities funded by the EU on gender equality and gender-based violence in Europe. This funding is essential to the work we and our Members do and directly impacts future potential funding opportunities for everyone and, thus, the fight to end FGM in Europe. This was particularly disappointing as, in the recent Gender Equality Strategy, the European Commission politically prioritised gender equality and tackling gender-based violence over the next years. But, without adequate budget allocation, this cannot be achieved.
This political mistake can still be rectified. Together with the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network (IPPF EN), we wrote letters to Member States and Members of the European Parliament to overturn this decision, and have also put pressure to the European Commission to ensure money is put where political priorities are.
We also took part in a Twitter action, see here.
Read our letter to the President of the European Commission and the Commissioner for Equality