1. Expertise France

Expertise France (EF), part of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group, is the French public agency for international technical cooperation and the second largest cooperation agency in Europe.

EF designs and implements projects in more than 100 countries to support partner institutions in governance, public finance, health, education, climate action and gender equality. With long-standing experience in EU-funded programmes, EF has played a leading role in promoting gender equality across public administrations, notably through its implementation of the European Commission’s “Gender Flagship” projects, which supported several Member States in strengthening gender-responsive budgeting, gender impact assessments and gender mainstreaming practices.

By combining policy expertise, capacity development, and knowledge capitalisation, EF has established itself as a reference partner for advancing reforms that integrate gender equality into public policy and budgetary processes.

2. The Projects

a.     Gender Flagship (2022-2026)

In 2022, Expertise France has been chosen by the European Commission's SG REFORM to implement a technical support project aimed at supporting thirteen beneficiary authorities in ten Member States. The administrations supported are at central or decentralised level, and are responsible for gender equality policies, sectoral policies or budgetary processes.

The Gender I project carries out:

-          Group activities: workshops, study visits, online training, etc.

-          Specific support for each beneficiary authority.

The overall objective of the project is to build the capacity of applicant Member States to support them in their efforts to deploy or test a gender budgeting framework at national level through a training programme.

The project will end by Mid-July 2026.

b.     Gender Mainstreaming in Public Policy and Budget Processes (2025–2027)

SG REFORM accepted 5 new applications under Regulation (EU) 2021/240 establishing a technical support instrument ("TSI Regulation") in October 2024: Paris, France, Berlin & Hamburg, Malta and Portugal. This new project will therefore begin in parallel with the continued implementation of the Gender Flagship project.

The “Gender Mainstreaming in Public Policy and Budget Processes 2025–2027” project, runs over an operational period of 18 months ( 15 October 2025 – 15 March 2027) and will benefit to:

§  France, the project supports the City of Paris in piloting and scaling gender-responsive budgeting within the Public Health Department, and the State Procurement Department (DAE) of the Ministry of Finance in integrating gender considerations into public procurement, particularly in the digital and green sectors.

§  Germany, the project supports the Federal State of Berlin in modernising and institutionalising its Gender Check and Gender Competence Tool, and the Federal State of Hamburg in harmonising and consolidating its gender equality instruments, including the GPR, GWHS, Equality Monitor, and the “printed matter audit.”

§  Malta, the project supports the Human Rights Directorate within the Office of the Prime Minister in implementing the Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Strategy, strengthening the capacity of Gender Focal Points, developing a gender data portal, and piloting gender-responsive budgeting.

§  Portugal, the project supports the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG) and the Ministry of Finance in refining Annex XXI of the State Budget, enhancing gender impact assessments, strengthening sex-disaggregated data systems, and reinforcing sectoral capacity-building.

The project’s overall aim is to strengthen the institutional and administrative capacity of the participating Member States to integrate gender equality into public policies, budgeting processes, and public procurement systems, thus contributing to more transparent, efficient and inclusive governance.

The Specific Objectives are:

1.    Support the City of Paris in piloting and scaling gender-responsive budgeting within the Public Health Department.

2.    Equip the French State Procurement Department (DAE) with tools and guidance to integrate gender considerations into public procurement, particularly in the digital and green sectors.

3.    Consolidate and harmonise gender equality instruments in the Federal States of Berlin and Hamburg, building on reforms launched under previous TSI support.
Strengthen Malta’s Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Strategy by enhancing the capacity of Gender Focal Points, developing a gender data portal, and piloting gender-responsive budgeting.

4.    Improve Portugal’s implementation of its national equality strategy by refining Annex XXI of the State Budget, enhancing gender impact assessments, and reinforcing sectoral capacity building.

Expected Outcomes:

By the end of the project, participating authorities are expected to have:

a.       Stronger institutional frameworks to mainstream gender equality across policies and budgets. Improved availability and use of sex-disaggregated data for decision-making.

b.       Practical tools, pilots and guidelines enabling the application of gender-responsive budgeting, gender impact assessments, and gender-responsive public procurement.

c.       Increased capacity of civil servants through tailored training and awareness-raising programmes.

d.       Documented good practices and policy briefs enabling knowledge sharing within and beyond the participating Member States.

Timeline and Key Milestones:

The project runs over an operational period of 18 months (September 2025 – February 2027). Implementation is structured in successive phases, each comprising specific deliverables and activities:

         I.            Inception Phase: fact-finding missions, baseline analysis, and preparation of the Inception Report.

       II.            Country-Specific Support Phase: tailored technical assistance to Beneficiary Authorities, including pilots, guidelines, capacity building, and awareness-raising activities.

     III.            Capitalisation Phase: consolidation of results, preparation of policy briefs, case studies, and cross-country knowledge products.

Closure and Dissemination Phase: organisation of national closure events and a final dissemination conference at European level.