Advancements in gender equality happen with concerted and committed action by national governments. Area H of the Beijing Platform for Action highlights the importance of formal structures and processes – ‘institutional mechanisms’ – in ensuring that gender equality goals are at the forefront of policy.
EIGE has established a system for the regular monitoring of the state of institutional mechanisms for the promotion of gender equality in the EU Member States. This monitoring is based on four indicators adopted by the Council of the European Union for monitoring Area H (three in 2006 and one in 2013). The latest data covering the situation in May 2024 is published in EIGE’s Gender Statistics Database. This data talk article provides key findings at the EU level.
Small increase in commitment to promoting gender equality, with variable degrees of accountability across Member States
Indicator H1 (status of commitment to the promotion of gender equality) considers the visibility and power of the people and structures promoting gender equality within governments, the scope of the mandate of both governmental and independent gender equality bodies, and the accountability of governments for action on gender equality. The evidence of their accountability is the strategies and action plans in force, together with monitoring processes based on clear and quantifiable targets and indicators.
In 2024, Member States scored an average of 62 % of the maximum possible score for indicator H1, the best result out of the four monitoring indicators (Figure 1). Taking into account only the 25 Member States with data for 2021 and 2024 (i.e. excluding Ireland and France, which did not provide data for 2021), the data shows a slight improvement compared with 2021 (from 61 % to 63 %).
Scores were generally high in terms of visible commitments to the promotion of gender equality, with an average combined score of 70 % for the three sub-indicators dealing with the highest level of responsibility in government (H1a, 91 %), the position of the gender equality body within the government hierarchy (H1c, 52 %) and the scope of the mandate of that body (H1d, 67 %).
A key area for improvement is governmental accountability, particularly in the form of action plans setting out concrete, scheduled and costed measures to advance gender equality. The average score for the related sub-indicator (H1e), which contributes a third of the overall score for indicator H1, was 53 %, and there was considerable variation between countries. A quarter of Member States did not have an active, formally adopted, gender equality action plan when data was collected in May 2024. Even where an action plan had been adopted, only 60 % were costed (at least partially) and less than half (45 %) set clear and quantifiable targets and indicators to monitor progress.
Mixed results for the resourcing of gender equality bodies but more efforts are needed
Indicator H2 (human resources of the national gender equality bodies) assesses whether the structures tasked with promoting and ensuring gender equality have sufficient resources to fulfil that role effectively. On average in 2024, Member States scored 47 % for this indicator, suggesting that both governmental and independent gender equality bodies are under-resourced (scoring an average of 49 % and 45 % respectively; Figure 2).
A direct comparison for the 25 Member States with available data for 2021 indicates an improvement between 2021 and 2024, with average scores up 3 percentage points from 43 % to 46 %. However, there was a decrease in the level of resourcing of governmental bodies (from 50 % in 2021 to 48 % in 2024) and an improvement in the resourcing of independent bodies (from 39 % to 43 %). Despite this, a third of Member States (nine) score no more than 25 % for indicator H2 and have fewer than 10 staff working in the area of gender equality in at least one body. This suggests that bodies are under-resourced and that efforts to promote gender equality could be boosted if more resources were allocated.
A decline in gender mainstreaming marked by a lack of use of gender mainstreaming tools
Indicator H3 (gender mainstreaming) measures the extent to which gender equality concerns are adequately integrated into legislation and policy and the strength of the structures, tools and consultation processes in place to ensure that this happens systematically. A comprehensive and consistent commitment to gender mainstreaming is critical to advancing gender equality across all areas of life. Yet the 2024 monitoring results show gender mainstreaming to be the least effective aspect of institutional mechanisms, with an average score of 34 %. Moreover, a comparison for the 25 Member States with data available for 2021 and 2024 shows that the average score decreased by 2 percentage points, falling from 37 % to 35 %.
The data shows that independent gender equality bodies are not routinely consulted on new policy/legislation (sub-indicator H3d, 16 %) and that tools and methods to support gender mainstreaming (e.g. gender budgeting, gender impact assessment, effective training of staff) are unevenly implemented (H3c, 28 %). Average scores are higher for other aspects of the indicator, namely legal and other commitments to apply a gender mainstreaming approach (H3a, 51 %), and the existence and scope of interministerial structures to promote gender mainstreaming across government and the involvement of the governmental gender equality body in policy consultation processes (H3b, 42 %). Nevertheless, evidence indicates that gender mainstreaming activities need to be strengthened.
Slight improvement in commitments to collect sex-disaggregated data and no progress in efforts to disseminate gender statistics
Indicator H4 (production and dissemination of statistics disaggregated by sex) assesses national commitments to ensure a statistical system equipped to provide a comprehensive evidence base for the analysis of gender issues. This is crucial to facilitate adequate consideration of gender concerns in policy deliberations and to keep relevant stakeholders and the public informed of existing gender inequalities and the extent of any progress or regression being made. On average, Member States scored 60 % for indicator H4 in 2024 (Figure 4).
The comparable average (excluding Ireland and France) is slightly lower, at 58 %, but still 2 percentage points higher than in 2021 (56 %). This improvement derives from higher scores for commitments to collect data disaggregated by sex (sub-indicator H4a, up from 55 % to 60 %). Meanwhile, there has been no change in efforts to disseminate gender statistics (H4c, 58 % in both years). Gaps in gender statistics are affecting progress in advancing gender equality1, making it necessary to collect more data with a gender-responsive approach and share the resulting statistics and messages it conveys with the widest possible audience.
Progress in the implementation of institutional mechanisms in the Member States is being made at a snail’s pace
Overall, institutional mechanisms in the Member States achieved an average score of over half the maximum possible in 2024 (50.8 %; Figure 5), with values ranging from 86 % in Spain to 17 % in Poland (a separate data talk article looks at the country-level data). Considering only the 25 Member States with data for both 2021 and 2024, the data shows a small improvement of 1.2 percentage points, from 49.2 % in 2021 to 50.4 % in 2024. To advance gender equality, institutional mechanisms need to be reinforced and efforts to embed gender mainstreaming in government action intensified.
About the data
EIGE’s data collection on institutional mechanisms relies on information compiled by nominated representatives of national authorities, each supported by a national researcher with expertise in the area of gender equality. The data provided is subject to a comprehensive quality assurance process to ensure that the information for each country is relevant and reliable, and adheres to common guidelines to facilitate statistical comparison.
Overall ratings for the strength of institutional mechanisms in each country are based on the average of the scores for each of four underlying indicators (H1 to H4). The scores for each country are then averaged to give an EU-level figure.
Further reading
Methodological report for the collection of 2024 data on institutional mechanisms
EIGE’s work in monitoring Area H of the Beijing Platform for Action
Footnotes
1See, for example, the 2019–2024 activity report of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (of the European Parliament).