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The new National Strategy for Gender Equality is a continuation of the National Action Plan 2019-2023. It has been formulated taking into account what has been achieved so far in the Republic of Cyprus, as well as the global challenges and crises that affect the daily lives of citizens, women and men in Cyprus. The National Strategy is the main policy document for equality between women and men and is the guideline for all stakeholders, as well as for the policies of the state.
It is the result of cooperation and consultation with all Ministries, Deputy Ministries, the National Mechanism for Women's Rights, civil society, employers' organisations, trade unions and academic institutions.
It is the result of cooperation and consultation with all Ministries, Deputy Ministries, the National Mechanism for Women's Rights, civil society, employers' organisations, trade unions and academic institutions. It was formulated on the basis of national and European laws and policies, as well as international conventions and guidance documents, with the Beijing Platform for Action and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as our compass.
The new National Strategy for Gender Equality came into immediate effect from January 2024. Following a decision of the Council of Ministers, its coordination, monitoring and evaluation has been entrusted to the Commissioner for Gender Equality. On the basis of this proposal, close cooperation with all Ministries and Deputy Ministries has been strengthened.
For its successful implementation, Gender Equality Officers have been appointed in all Ministries and Deputy Ministries, with whom we coordinate and cooperate to implement targeted policies, measures and actions.
Bearing in mind the important role of civil society in the implementation of the Strategy, there is continuous and two-way information, input and exchange of ideas with the National Mechanism for Women's Rights.
The National Strategy includes 13 themes and 66 actions.
The 13 themes are. [*]Gender and Work: equal access to employment, promoting a balanced representation of women and men, reducing the pay and pension gap. [*]Gender and Social Policy: Strengthening an effective welfare state based on a gender perspective. [*]Gender and Health: Equal access to health, based on the different needs of women and men. [*]Gender and Justice: Creating a gender culture in the judiciary and equal access to justice. [*]Gender and Foreign Policy: Gendered approaches to foreign policy. [*]Gender and Education and Culture: Shaping a gendered educational and cultural culture. [*]Gender and Sport: Empowerment and equal recognition of women's sport and deconstruction of gender stereotypes in sport. [*]Gender and Rural Development, Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Transport: Enhancing the visibility of rural and rural women. Shaping gender-responsive transport systems. Recognition of the gender impact of the climate and energy crisis.
10. Research, Innovation and Digital Transformation: empowering men and women and making equal use of digital opportunities.
11. Gender and Defence: Shaping a more gender-sensitive environment.
12. Gender and Decision-Making: promoting balanced representation of women and men for fair and representative representation in decision-making
13. Gender and the media: active contribution to shaping gender norms, eliminating stereotypes and prejudices.
Of the 66 actions, there is not one that is a priority. The strategy is structured in such a way that most of the actions are interlinked and their implementation is holistic, and we have already started rolling out actions in different areas.
For the purposes of today's conference, let me mention the following actions as an indication:
- Implementation of gender budgeting. This action can bring several solutions and accelerate the achievement of substantive equality between women and men. More specifically, gender budgeting means that the budgeting process will be based on statistics, with gender and age as a key factor, combined with statistics on the labour force, unemployed and underemployed people, low-paid and under-retired people and people living on the poverty line. This means including a gender perspective at all levels of budgeting, but also assessing the gender impact of the budget, integrating the principle of equality at all stages of its preparation.
This is a technical tool and for its implementation we have applied to the European Union (EU) for technical support and we are awaiting a response, which I hope will be positive. Let me underline that it is not an easy process, but a process that needs time to be fully implemented.
- Creating digital education programmes for rural women, so that entrepreneurs, rural women and men, can use their smart devices to promote their products, or can more easily handle online services and applications that serve their daily lives. The above action is expected to be implemented in cooperation with the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry, the Cyprus Youth Organization and the Office of the Environment Commissioner.
- Recognising the importance of education, training programmes for teachers of Counselling and Vocational Education and other teachers are promoted in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, with the aim of deconstructing gender stereotypes and gender equality.
- Promoting actions in neighbouring countries in the context of development cooperation with them is among the actions related to our foreign policy and already promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The aim is to use the geographical position of the Republic of Cyprus and its status as an EU member state to strengthen bilateral relations with neighbouring countries and to further highlight the gender dimension in foreign policy. In the broader context of gender mainstreaming and using the issue of gender equality as a diplomatic vehicle with a positive impact and substance, an event entitled 'Eliminating violence against women and girls through alleviating poverty: the importance gender mainstreaming in policymaking and in financing' is being organised again this year in the context of the annual meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York. The event will feature speeches from the UN, the Council of Europe, Jordan, Portugal and other countries. The event will be organised by the Republic of Cyprus next March.
- A new theme is Equality and Justice and we are starting with the establishment of an Equality Committee between women and men in the Fire Service and the Prisons Department, with the aim of planning and implementing actions to promote equality and deconstruct gender stereotypes and prejudices. This action will be carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, the Fire Service and the Prisons Department.
I would also like to stress that for the first time and as part of our horizontal action, specific themes for women and sport and culture are included.
An important element of the strategy is evaluation, accountability and transparency.
An important element of the strategy is evaluation, accountability and transparency. Through arrangements for recording progress in the implementation of the actions promoted under the Strategy, continuous feedback and evaluation of the extent to which the programme objectives of the Strategy have been achieved is sought. As part of evaluation, accountability and transparency, our Office will undertake a regular informal evaluation of the implementation of the Strategy on an annual basis, in collaboration with the inter-ministerial committee, i.e. the Gender Equality Officers. In particular, the relevant bodies will be invited to submit progress reports, including quantitative and qualitative data broken down by gender and other useful information on progress in implementing the actions of the Strategy that fall within their area of responsibility. By studying the evaluation of progress in the implementation of the Strategy, the Office of the Gender Equality Commissioner and all stakeholders have the possibility to intervene with recommendations where it is found that additional actions, changes and revisions to actions and/or policies promoted under the Strategy are needed.
Using technology, monitoring and evaluation data will be published, updated regularly and made available and accessible to all stakeholders. The National Strategy is already posted on our Office's website.
In parallel, for the purpose of evaluating and monitoring the implementation of the Strategy, the "Civil Society Platform" is established, which will be composed of various institutions and organizations that contributed to the formulation of the Strategy and will proceed to the structured mid-term informal evaluation (in mid-2025) of the Strategy.
In addition to the above, upon completion of the National Strategy, a holistic evaluation of its implementation is foreseen, recording findings and conclusions, based on both the relevant qualitative and quantitative indicators included in the Strategy and the collection of data, reports and conclusions of the evaluations by the Office of the Equality Commissioner, the Inter-ministerial Committee and the Civil Society Platform.
The final evaluation is expected to present recommendations in relation to the preparation and formulation of the next three-year Strategy. On the basis of the above, the Office of the Commissioner for Gender Equality, in cooperation with the inter-ministerial committee, will prepare a final report to inform the Council of Ministers.
Finally, as recorded as a requirement in the Strategy, the Ministries and Deputy Ministries will create their own action plans for the promotion of gender equality, in cooperation with the officials responsible for gender equality. These plans will include actions mentioned in the strategy as well as additional actions to be implemented by the Ministries and Deputy Ministries concerning gender equality. The Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth and the State Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy have already done so. The Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance has already prepared a draft and we will also work with the other Ministries and Deputy Ministries in this direction.
Before I close, I would like to thank all the Ministers/Deputy Ministers for their cooperation and of course the Equality Officers of each Ministry, without whom today's comprehensive text would not exist.
Finally, let me reiterate that we continue to build on what has been achieved so far, using the tool of horizontal gender mainstreaming in state policies. We continue to build and strengthen strategic partnerships with wider civil society through outreach and targeted actions. The goal is one and only one, the foundation of a culture of gender equality.
(NZ/GC)
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