Since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995, gender equality has been recognised as a global priority guiding international efforts to advance women’s rights and address structural inequalities. Within the European Union, this commitment is reflected as a core value and a key horizontal priority.
Despite stronger policy frameworks and increased political attention, significant challenges remain in translating established principles into effective and measurable practices. Gaps in both implementation and evaluation persist across several key areas, including research and innovation (R&I), care and economic empowerment, health, and gender-based violence. Across these domains, gender and intersectional mainstreaming are not yet applied in a consistent or systematic way, limiting their overall impact.
In response, CEPS is establishing a Gender Policy Task Force that will bring together key stakeholders to identify practical solutions to these implementation gaps and strengthen the integration of gender and intersectional perspectives across different EU policy areas. Through a series of four structured hybrid meetings, the Task Force will address key thematic research priorities aligned with current EU policy developments, while supporting the development of actionable recommendations, promoting the exchange of good practices, and contributing to more coherent and accountable approaches to gender mainstreaming.
Timeline and thematic sessions
The Task Force runs from May to November 2026, and will be conducted around four thematic sessions:
- Session 1: Mainstreaming intersectionality in practice across different programmes
- Session 2: Women’s health
- Session 3: Economic empowerment of women: reinforcing the care economy
- Session 4: Shedding light on emerging forms of gender-based violence
Participants
Each meeting will feature the participation of academics, representatives from the private sector and civil society organisations, as well as external observers from the EU institutions and international organisations, from different backgrounds and levels of seniority, working on gender equality.
Task Force Rapporteurs:
- Marta Dell’Aquila – [email protected]
- Rukudzo Irene Nyoka – [email protected]
For more information about the objectives and functioning of the Task Force, please refer to the prospectus.
