Gender mainstreaming strategy
Barcelona City Council promotes a strategy to mainstream the gender perspective throughout its entire organisation and operations, as well as in municipal policies, services and initiatives.
This strategy is framed within its institutional commitment to achieve real, effective equality between women and men in all areas of public and community life.
What is the gender perspective?
The gender perspective is a guiding principle of public policies that makes it possible to identify, question and transform inequalities between women and men. This entails analysing the social and structural differences between genders when designing, implementing and assessing policies, with the goal of avoiding the perpetuation of stereotyped roles, discrimination and gender gaps.
What is gender mainstreaming?
Gender mainstreaming consists of systematically including the gender perspective in all public policies, in all areas and at all stages: from design to implementation and assessment. This strategy was recognised as crucial at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), and since then it has been a part of international, state and national regulatory frameworks as an essential tool for promoting gender equality.
Gender mainstreaming tools at Barcelona City Council
The City Council has various instruments and mechanisms for the effective implementation of this strategy:
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Outlines the main principles and criteria for including the gender perspective in the institution’s internal and external operations.
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City Plan for Gender Policies. Defines the strategic lines and priority objectives to make headway in equality between women and men in Barcelona.
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Made up of designated staff trained in public equality policies, these units ensure the implementation of mainstreaming in their respective areas in coordination with other designated individuals from City Council and associated organisations.
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A standing coordination and cooperation forum for gender points of contact in the municipal areas, districts, regional bodies and publicly owned businesses and companies. This network fosters the coherence, ongoing training and exchange of knowledge among the different institutional actors.