Protecting EU Rights and Values

Gender inequality and harmful gender norms remain widespread in the EU. While sexual and reproductive health and rights are at the core of gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment, their attainment varies greatly from country to country. Women and girls, particularly those marginalised by systemic oppression, face significant barriers to sexual and reproductive healthcare, information and education, which violates their human rights and hinders progress towards gender equality.

Discourse from anti-rights movements continues to undermine the significant progress achieved in safeguarding SRHR and threatens many of the rights and values that the EU aims to protect. It is in this context that IPPF EN, together with its Member Associations (MAs) and partners, is working to progress towards a more gender equal world where people in all their diversity are released from harmful gender norms and fully empowered to make decisions over their lives and bodies. 

We are working to strengthen support in the EU institutions and Member States for gender equality and women’s rights by:

• Increasing engagement and capacity of civil society actors to act in a strategic and coordinated manner when promoting gender equality and women’s rights.
• Ensuring that policy and decision makers at all levels (EU, national and local) are creating progressive legislative and policy frameworks that protect and advance gender equality and women’s rights, including SRHR within the EU.
• Educating and empowering young people, as a new generation of EU citizens, to become leaders and drivers of the long-term change process needed around societal norms and behaviours that advances gender equality, eliminates harmful gender stereotypes and intersectional discrimination, and prevents sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
• Strengthening the technical and organisational capacity of IPPF EN members and partners to design, implement and sustain intersectional, gender transformative initiatives. 

2025 MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS 

In 2025, under the CERV programme, IPPF EN collaborated with EU-based MAs and Collaborative Partners (CPs) to:   

• Strengthen the resilience, preparedness and coordination of SRHR organisations through the development and piloting of safety and security tools, crisis communications scenario-based workshops and tools developments, and targeted support through peer-to-peer sharing and community of practice.
• Share expertise with and build the capacity of MAs and CPs to strengthen their involvement in EU processes around gender equality, and women’s rights including SRHR; and provide them with support and solidarity actions when SRHR were under threat in their national contexts. In 2025, IPPF EN in collaboration with the MAs and CPs contributed to a total of 46 advocacy wins, and of these 26 were at national level.  
• Finalize the four-year initiative on the impact of gender-transformative sexuality and relationships education on young people’s attitudes and behaviours related to gender equality and SGBV. Conducted in schools in the Porto, Portugal, the project combined three phases: a baseline study, a school-based intervention testing a gender-transformative programme, and a follow-up assessing longer-term impacts on students and teachers. Despite the challenges, the study demonstrated that schools can be powerful lever for cultural change when properly supported. Some of the long-term results of this study include;  
  • The creation of safe spaces: The participatory design of the programme created safe spaces for collective reflection and discussion on SGBV, gender, and sexual diversity. Pedagogical tools proved effective in addressing sensitive topics and fostering student engagement.   
  • Increased knowledge and confidence among teachers: Teachers reported increased knowledge, confidence, and competence to integrate gender equality, sexual diversity, and SGBV prevention into their teaching practice.
  • Interpersonal relationships and communication: Positive effects were observed in the students’ interpersonal relationships and communication, including greater respect, openness, and sensitivity in classroom interactions. The programme contributed to long-term cognitive change, particularly in students’ understanding of gender diversity, male privilege, and power dynamics in SGBV.  
• Reinforce the technical and organizational capacity of MAs and CPs through the implementation of gender assessments and the development of action plans, as well as the implementation of collaboration activities, strategy alignment and accreditation. The gender assessment toolkit has proven to be useful in bringing a critical self-reflection on an organisation’s work, increasing their knowledge and awareness of gender equality, intersectionality and tailored gender transformative approaches.     

You can read more about our work and impact in IPPF EN's Annual Report 2025.