European Commission: new Strategy for Gender Equality 2026-2030 presented

Gender equality stands as a core value of the European Union. While the EU has achieved significant progress in protecting rights and combating gender-based violence, the work is far from complete. Gender equality is not just a matter of fairness, it's essential for democracy, social cohesion, security, and economic competitiveness.

Just ahead of International Women's Day on 8 March, the European Commission has presented its Gender Equality Strategy for 2026-2030, aiming to embed gender equality into every aspect of life, both online and offline. The new strategy addresses this challenge by transforming the objectives of the Commission's Roadmap for Women's Rights, endorsed by all 27 EU Member States in 2025, into concrete actions, which can be summarised as follows: 

1. Fighting gender-based violence in the digital age: the Commission will intensify efforts against cyberviolence, which disproportionately affects women and girls, with specific measures to combat sexually explicit deepfakes and deepnudes while improving online protection.
2. Engaging men and boys: recognising their crucial role in societal change, the strategy includes actions to counter disinformation and prevent growing polarisation between genders, particularly among young people.
3. Promoting women's healthcare: in partnership with the World Health Organization, the EU will work to improve the quality and accessibility of women's healthcare services.
4. Boosting economic prosperity: initiatives will attract more women to research, innovation, startups, and STEM careers, while encouraging men to pursue careers in health, education, and administration.
5. Closing pay and pension gaps: the Commission will support Member States in implementing the Pay Transparency Directive and collaborate with the European Investment Bank to improve financing access for women entrepreneurs.
6. Ensuring safe political participation: new measures will tackle online information manipulation that often drives gender polarisation.
7. Global leadership: a new gender action plan for 2028-2034 and the flagship 'SHIELD' initiative will improve access to sexual and reproductive health and support survivors of gender-based violence worldwide.

This strategy adopts an intersectional perspective, recognising how gender intersects with other forms of discrimination, and emphasises that achieving equality requires everyone's participation: women and men, girls and boys. This strategy is a renewed invitation to all allies across EU institutions, Member States, civil society, and international partners to work collectively toward a gender-equal Europe and world.