Photo: CIDSE.
Today, March 31 2022, a group of 82 civil society organizations, which includes CIDSE, sent an open letter to President of the European Commission von der Leyen, Vice-President Jourova and Commissioners Breton, Dalli and Reynders, as well as to MEPS and Permanent Representations, asking for a gender-responsive approach in the Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive proposal adopted by the European Commission on February 23rd lays down rules for companies to respect human rights and the environment in global value chains.
However, despite its groundbreaking potential, the Commission’s proposal is gender-blind and risks leaving women and girls behind.
The current text does not recognize the fact that business and human rights abuses have differentiated impacts on individuals and groups in marginalized situations, including on women and girls. This comes as a great disappointment when over 60 organizations wrote to the European Commission in November 2021, urging them to ensure that the upcoming proposal be gender-responsive and strongly aligned with the EU Gender Equality Strategy
and the Gender Action Plan III.
As the proposal makes its way through the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, the letter calls on policy-makers to improve the proposal to ensure it is gender-responsive.
Gender-responsiveness must be included in all steps of the due diligence process; if not, it will render invisible the specific risks and additional barriers faced by women and/or groups in vulnerable situations.
See open letter with list of signatories in the link below: