The Malta Sociological Association (MSA) welcomes the development of the Gender Action Plan IV and supports the EU’s commitment to gender equality in its external action.
The MSA recommends the systematic integration of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) within GAP IV. SIA enables the analysis of intended and unintended social consequences of interventions, offering valuable insights into how gender policies are experienced across diverse social and cultural contexts.
In this regard, the MSA emphasises the importance of:
- Participatory approaches, involving local civil society and gender based organisations
- Context-sensitive implementation, recognising diverse socio-cultural settings yet without compromising basic human rights;
- Complementing quantitative targets with qualitative, sociologically informed evaluation tools.
