ODA Spending

How much ODA does the EUI allocate to gender equality?

The EU allocated US$10.8 billion to gender equality related projects in 2023, marking a slight increase since 2022.

The EUI’s consistency in using the OECD gender policy marker has fluctuated in recent years: although all bilateral allocable ODA was screened against the marker in 2016, 2017, and 2022, at least one-fifth was not screened between 2018 and 2021 (26% in 2021).

How is EUI gender equality ODA changing?

The EUI’s funding for projects related to gender equality met their target of 85% of all new external relations actions contributing to gender equality and women's empowerment by 2025 for the G1 marker.

Increases in gender equality-related funding have been driven mainly by support for projects that included gender as a significant rather than principal focus.

How do the EUI allocate gender equality ODA?

Bilateral Spending

The EUI’s projects in emergency response, government and civil society, and education had the largest gender equality focus in 2023. Emergency response jumped from 5^th to 1^st priority in 2022 and remaining the top priority in 2023, likely driven by assistance for Ukraine.

According to Countdown 2030, in 2023, EU support to sexual and reproductive health and family planning ( SRH/family planning) amounted to EUR75 million ( US$82 million). This is a decrease of 33% compared to the previous year, and represented 0.2% of ODA from the EUI, compared to 0.4% in 2022. Similarly, EU contributions to SRHR decreased by 43% in 2023, with total disbursements amounting to EUR138 million ( US$150 million). Such difference is mainly due to support to the GFATM, which this year received only one third of what had been disbursed in 2022 and about one seventh of the 2021 support. This cut is also partly due to reduced earmarked multilateral contributions to the EU - UN Spotlight Initiative, which aims to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

Funding and Policy outlook

What is the EUI's current outlook on gender equality ODA?

EUI have been increasing its policy emphasis on gender equality. In 2024, in her new political guidelines, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the Commission would continue to strive for gender equality. She also confirmed the renewal of the Gender Equality Strategy and the release of a Roadmap for Women's Rights.

The Roadmap was published on March 7, 2025. It aims to reaffirm and reinforce the EU’s commitment to empower women and girls and fully realize a gender-equal society across Europe and the world. The Roadmap and its guiding principles will serve as a guide to inform external initiatives and pave the way towards the next EU Gender Action Plan in external relations (2028 – 2034).

EUI gender funding is guided by a number of strategies:

• ‘European Consensus on Development’ guide DG INTPA’s gender equality work. It identifies equality and women’s empowerment as a cross-cutting issue for all EU policies and set out priorities including empowering women and girls, ending violence against women, and girls, and ending harmful practices;
• GAP III: This five-pillar strategy was put forward by the EC and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in November 2020 and runs until 2027; and
• European Gender Equality Strategy for 2020-2025: This strategy is mostly focused on gender equality in the EU but includes targeted measures to achieve gender equality through development cooperation, EU trade policy, and advocacy in international fora.

GAP III is based on five pillars:

1. Ensuring 85% of all new actions related to external relations contribute to gender equality and women's empowerment by 2025 (in 2021, 70% of new External Actions contributed to gender equality);
2. Implementing a shared strategic vision and close cooperation with Member States and partners at multilateral, regional, and country levels;
3. Accelerating progress by focusing on the key thematic areas of engagement, including:

• Ending GBV,
• SRHR;
• Economic and social rights and empowerment;
• Equal participation and leadership;
• Women, peace, and security; and
• Green and digital transformations.

4. Having the EU lead by example by establishing gender-responsive and gender-balanced leadership at top political and management levels; and
5. Setting up a quantitative, qualitative, and inclusive monitoring system to increase public accountability, as well as ensuring transparency and access to information on its assistance to gender equality worldwide.

In 2022, the EU launched a Team Europe Initiative on SRHR under the EU-Africa Global Gateway Package and the EU Global Health Strategy. The TEI's budget is EUR60 million ( US$63 million) pulled from the EU budget. Its objectives are to increase the implementation of continental and regional commitments on SRHR in the health and education sector, to improve the availability, affordability, and acceptability of quality-assured SRHR goods for all, especially women and girls, and to strengthen advocacy and accountability to ensure SRHR needs are met.

Key bodies