European Consensus on Development
Within the European Development Days, the European Union and its Member States signed the European Consensus on Development, a non-legally binding framework on how to implement the internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals in EU external policy.
The Consensus highlights the vital importance of gender equality, that it is at the core of the EU’s values, for achieving the SDGs. The Consensus states that ‘the EU and its Member States will promote women’s and girls’ rights, gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls and their protection as a priority across all areas of action’.
Also, the EU and its Member States will pursue the fulfilment of obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and they will ‘work together with partners to eliminate all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and discrimination, including harmful practices, particularly forced, early and child marriage and female genital mutilation’.
