Dear EU-funded sister projects, colleagues and friends committed to gender equality in research, higher education and research, I am reaching out on behalf of GENDERACTIONplus project which focuses on advancing gender equality in the European Research Area.
On 18 September 2024 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented her Political Guidelines for the next European Commission, the new Commissioners Designate and their Mission letters (see here). The new Commissioners are expected to begin their term on 1 December 2024. As we prepare for this transition, we want to ensure that the important progress made in recent years promoting gender equality in research and innovation at the Commission level continues.
In the current political landscape, support for gender equality is at risk of backsliding and erasure by “simplification”. An early warning is that the Mission letter for Commissioner-Designate Ekaterina Zaharieva does not address gender equality, inclusiveness, or the position of women in research in relation to her portfolio.
To counter this risk, we in GENDERACTIONplus are organising an open letter calling on the Commissioner to continue supporting inclusive gender equality in R&I and specifically in the next Framework Programme 10. At the following link, you will find the letter we will share with the Commissioner:
Open Letter to the Commissioner of Research and Innovation
We consider it absolutely vital in particular, to continue the Gender Equality Plans as an eligibility criterion, as the evidence continues to mount that the eligibility criterion has had a strong effect especially in countries with less advance gender equality policies in research and higher education, providing a policy backing for the work of gender equality officers and HR in research and higher education institutions.
We hope to have the letter endorsed by as many people as possible to demonstrate widespread support for inclusive gender equality in R&I among EU researchers, gender equality practitioners, officers and scholars, students, and other relevant groups. As someone deeply committed to advancing inclusive gender equality in EU research, we invite you to support and engage with this effort by endorsing the letter and sharing it in your networks, to amplify its reach.
If you agree to support this initiative, please fill out the form by adding your name to the list of supporters. Submitted to the Commissioner will be a list of signatories including your title, name, surname, organisation and country. If you prefer to remain anonymous, there is an option to sign the letter without including your name and only your country will be shared. Your email is requested only to check for duplicates and shall not be shared with anyone.
In compliance with GDPR, we ensure that your personal data is handled with care. We will retain personal data only for the duration of this project, to ensure accountability in relation to the project reporting. After this period, all data will be deleted. For further information on how we handle your data, please contact us.
We encourage you to leave a personal message of support, which we will share to help highlight the strong commitment to this cause. Additionally, we kindly ask you to share the letter in your networks to help us reach as broad an audience as possible and amplify our impact.
We rely on your support. We need to mobilise to ensure that voices calling for simplifying the gender equality provisions in the next Framework Programme have a strong counter. Together, we can raise the voice of our community to continue the path toward more equitable research and innovation.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your time and commitment to this important cause.
Marcela Linkova
On behalf of GENDERACTIONplus