Today EDF submitted its recommendations for the forthcoming EU Gender Equality Action Plan IV (GAP IV). The GAP IV represents an important opportunity for the European Union to strengthen its global leadership on gender equality, women’s rights and inclusive international cooperation.
For GAP IV to succeed, it must explicitly include women and girls with disabilities across all priorities, financing tools, implementation systems and monitoring frameworks. Women and girls with disabilities continue to face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination based on gender and disability, often compounded by poverty, age, race, ethnicity, migration status, displacement or living in rural and conflict-affected areas.
The European Disability Forum calls on the EU to ensure GAP IV becomes the first fully disability-inclusive Gender Action Plan, grounded in intersectionality, a gender-transformative approach and a human rights based approach, in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), CEDAW, Agenda 2030 and EU equality commitments.
Read our full input: EDF input call for evidence Gender Equality Action Plan IV (April 2026)