EU Statement – UNICEF Executive Board: Gender Equality Action Plan 2026-29

EU Statement - UNICEF Executive Board: Gender Equality Action Plan 2026-29

5 September 2025, New York - European Union Statement at the UNICEF Executive Board Second Regular Session on Agenda Item 5: UNICEF Gender Equality Action Plan, 2026-2029

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Chair, Madam Executive Director

I am speaking on behalf of the European Union as a donor.

We take note of the new Gender Equality Action Plan and we welcome that gender equality is described as a core principle to achieve child rights and that it features at the centre of the new Strategic Plan.

We support in particular the priority given to the rights of adolescent girls, who are particularly vulnerable, and to their empowerment, especially in humanitarian contexts. We welcome that UNICEF has made investing in adolescent girls an accelerator across all its targets in its Strategic Plan.

From an inclusion perspective, we welcome that the specific vulnerability of girls with disabilities is taken into consideration, however this is mostly the case when it comes to access to education (Impact result 2). More consideration could have been given across all programmatic priorities to addressing the additional vulnerabilities of girls with disabilities and girls belonging to marginalised groups (e.g. ethnic minorities, displaced, asylum seekers, migrants/people on the move, discriminated communities according to the context).

We regret that the Gender Action Plan is almost solely focused on women and girls, even if boys are mentioned, while there are aspects such as sexual and reproductive health where it would be relevant to focus more on boys. We would like to hear whether UNICEF has a strategy to ensure that equal access to SRH services will be ensured for both adolescent girls and adolescent boys.

We also do not see any reference to LGBTIQ/SOGIESC adolescent girls and boys in terms of both gender-based violence and access to SRH, and more generally addressing the wider discrimination that they face in society.

Another point we would suggest to address is the victims/survivors' stigma, which is not mentioned in Impact Result 4. Victims/survivors of sexual violence are often blamed for the violence they have suffered due to stigma. This secondary victimization leads to additional forms of physical, mental, and social violence stemming from the initial act and is often an important barrier in accessing services.

Finally, although partnership with girls- and women-led organisations is addressed several times and the plan mentions the intention to "amplify their voices" and increase funding, we would encourage UNICEF to work on a strong and long-term strategy on how to support and empower these organisations more comprehensively so that they can themselves achieve positive outcomes for gender equality and women and girls' empowerment (in a context of increased drive towards localization).

Thank you.