Promoting gender equality in EU development aid: from transformative policy to transformative practice?

Among international organisations the European Union (EU) stands out in its support for gender equality. The Lisbon Treaty considers “equality between women and men” among its values and objectives, and since 1996, the EU has committed to integrate gender considerations into all aspects of its operations and policies. The Union (Commission and member states) is also the world’s largest development aid donor, providing 55 percent of official development assistance globally. But to what extent has this been used to advance gender equality goals? Has the EU promoted gender equality in its development policies in a transformative way? Or has the approach towards gender equality in its foreign aid remained rather ‘mainstream’? This paper examines the gender perspective in European Commission (EC) development aid by critically investigating the twin-track strategy. After elaborating on gender equality policies in the EU and in its development policies I delve into the analysis of the financing of measures which directly support women’s empowerment. Next I analyse formal and substantial aspects of gender mainstreaming in EC development aid. The paper concludes that only part of the twin-track strategy is travelling well within EC bureaucracies and that gender policies in EC development policy are realized in an limited, interest-guided and expert-bureaucratic manner. Such an approach severely limits the transformative potential of the twin-track strategy