First report on monitoring ERA action implementation at national level

Gender equality has been one of ERA’s priorities for more than a decade. In 2021 most Member States and Associated Countries renewed and reinforced their commitment to gender equality by endorsing the Ljubljana Declaration. With the Ljubljana Declaration, the main stakeholder in R&I (EC, MS/AC) agreed on the directions of further development: to address gender-based violence, to move from a gender oriented to an intersectional approach to gender equality and to focus on GEPs as the most significant instrument to achieve sustainable progress towards gender equality in R&I.
The commitment to ERA Action 5 has been expressed by a written statement from MS/AC. Compared to the previous ERA period (2015-2020), there is now a more detailed description provided by the European Commission of what is expected from Member States which are committed to pursue gender equality and inclusiveness. However, as there is no requirement to formulate a national action plan as in the previous ERA period, there is only limited information available regarding MS/AC priorities, objectives and planned or implemented measures. The situation resulting from the comprehensive gender equality goal formulated in ERA Action 5 and the lack of comparable data is highly complex and calls for an accompanying monitoring and continued development of a common gender equality discourse. On the one hand, it is important to know more about the gender equality objectives and policies formulated at national level as well as how concepts are used (e.g. gender, intersectionality). On the other hand, it is necessary to have moredetailed information about policies implemented at national level as well as related outcomes. A policy discourse based on this information may support the development of a common understanding of gender equality concepts and objectives. Furthermore, a monitoring of policy implementation allows to identify good practices at national level which supports exchange of experiences and mutual learning. GENDERACTIONplus proposes qualitative indicators for a monitoring of ERA Action 5 implementation focusing on the following dimensions: Commitment to gender equality and inclusiveness; formulation of gender equality objectives; gender equality measures planned and implemented; availability of a monitoring of policy implementation.