Synthesis Report - European Commission - Europa

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Synthesis Report Ex-post Evaluation of the ERDF 2000-2006 The projects undertaken in other policy areas, however, can also have differential effects on the social groups concerned. Improving local roads, for example, or connections between rural areas and urban centres can make it easier for women to combine family responsibilities with working, as can improvements in public transport, which also tend to benefit the elderly in particular. 3.9.2 The main findings from the evaluation Gender equality Nearly all programming documents and development strategy statements made at the beginning of the programming period mentioned gender equality and its importance, as did many projects that were initiated. In four of the case study regions (Southern and Eastern Ireland, East Scotland, Salzburg and Basilicata), special units were set up during the period to give guidance on the implementation of the gender equality guideline in project design. In Southern and Eastern Ireland, for example, a Gender Equality Unit was established with the aim of ensuring that: • the issue was incorporated in the National Development Plan; • monitoring committees took account of gender balance when assessing the operation of programmes; • gender effects were considered in project selections • equal opportunities were part of all evaluations. Similar action was taken in the other three regions, so that gender equality, as was intended, became an integral part of the deployment of the Structural Funds. It should be noted, in addition, as indicated in the national report, that all Spanish regions also created special bodies with responsibility for ensuring equal treatment of men and women. In 2007, the Red de Coordinación de Políticas de Igualdad was created to coordinate regional efforts in this regard 36 . There is evidence from the case studies of concrete results from projects undertaken in improving the situation of women by helping them better to balance their family and working lives and avoid conflicts between the two. For example: • in Southern and Eastern Ireland, support under Objective 1 contributed to increasing childcare places by over 25,000 over the programming period (in this case up to the end of 2007) • in Salzburg, childcare facilities were also established, if on a far smaller scale because of the much smaller scale of funding under Objective 2. Equally, there is more qualitative evidence of transport projects helping to reduce the isolation of rural communities and of rehabilitation projects improving living conditions in many urban and rural areas. Only in a few cases, however, was there evidence of gender equality considerations affecting the policies carried out or being specifically taken into account in the design of projects or in their 36 The case study of Castilla y Leaon, however, did not find that such a unit played a prominent role over the 2000- 2006 period in relation to the ERDF. 108
Ex-post Evaluation of the ERDF 2000-2006 Synthesis Report implementation. Nor were there many attempts to monitor the effect of programmes in this regard or to set up an indicator system for doing so. Moreover, the regions in which special units were set up specifically to deal with gender equality issues were a minority of the regions examined as part of the evaluation. The other regions had not put in place any machinery or procedures for integrating the issue into the planning or management process. Perhaps because of this, there was little evidence of awareness among regional and local authorities of the potentially important effect on women of the kinds of project listed above, except those which have a clear impact on them, the provision of childcare centres, in particular, despite them being the prime beneficiaries. In consequence, little or no account was taken of the specific needs of women, so that the effect on them was less than it might have been. More generally, the lack of indicators means that it is not possible to assess the extent to which the inclusion of gender equality as a horizontal issue in the cohesion policy guidelines had a tangible effect on the situation of women relative to men. Box – Support for social infrastructure in Castilla y Leon In Castilla y Leon the ERDF supported the construction of 47 health centres and the enlargement and refurbishment of 91 health centres, 24-hour medical attention centres and hospitals providing services locally to the elderly, those with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. The projects were carried out in rural and urban locations, with small towns (with a population of less than 20,000) benefiting the most. The result was an improvement in the living conditions of rural populations by reducing the need to travel to larger towns to access health care services and receive medical treatment. The work-life balance of carers in rural areas, generally women, equally improved due to a reduction in their work-load. In addition, there was an increase in employment opportunities at local level, especially for women. The total budget was just under 9% of the total support from the ERDF. Demographic trends There is little or no evidence that demographic trends had any influence on the allocation of ERDF support over the period or that they were taken into account by the authorities across the EU in the selection of projects or their design. As in the case of gender equality, while a number of transport projects, projects undertaken in planning and rehabilitation programmes and the construction of various kinds of social infrastructure particularly affected older age groups and/or migrants, there was little awareness of this. Accordingly, their specific needs were not explicitly considered. Although an ageing population and the inflow, or outflow, of migrants have particularly important implications for some regions, no evidence of this affecting the pursuit of cohesion policy in the 12 case study regions came to light. The evaluation did, however, find evidence of growing awareness of the potential significance of demographic trends as well as evidence that the ERDF could contribute to the implementation of measures for responding to the effects of these trends. 3.9.3 The issues to arise The evidence from the evaluation is that the inclusion of gender equality as a horizontal requirement when designing and implementing programmes had only limited effect on the projects undertaken over the period. This prompts the question of whether it is worthwhile including such cross-cutting priorities in the cohesion policy guidelines in future. 109
Page 1:
Cohesion Policy Ex-Post Evaluation
Page 4 and 5:
Synthesis Report Ex-post Evaluation
Page 6 and 7:
Page 8 and 9:
Page 10 and 11:
Page 12 and 13:
Page 14 and 15:
Page 16 and 17:
Page 18 and 19:
Page 20 and 21:
Page 22 and 23:
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57:
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60 and 61: Synthesis Report Ex-post Evaluation
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176:
Consult this website for further in
show all

Synthesis Report - European Commission - Europa

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?