The European Union is a strong political and financial partner of UNFPA.

Through its Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO), the European Commission contributes significantly to specific initiatives and activities, such as UNFPA Supplies, the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, the UNICEF-UNFPA Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage, the Global Programme to Prevent Son Preference and Gender-biased Sex Selection, as well as to UNFPA country programmes in all regions.

The new European Consensus on Development, adopted in June 2017, aligns the European Union’s development policy with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In line with the European Union’s commitment to human rights, its development priorities and objectives uphold freedom from violence for women and girls, with special attention to female genital mutilation; child and forced marriage; gender-based and sexual violence; sexual and reproductive health and rights, including family planning; and education. 

Against this background, the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls was launched during the UN General Assembly in September 2017. With €500 million in seed money from the EU, the Spotlight Initiative will implement programmes in the areas of sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices, trafficking and economic (labour) exploitation, femicide, as well as domestic and family violence in the coming years.   

Through its Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Protection (DG ECHO), the European Commission has become an increasingly important partner in supporting UNFPA’s humanitarian work to ensure that the reproductive health needs of women and young people are also served in emergency and crisis contexts. 

Through the Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), the European Commission supports projects combating gender-based violence and ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning.

Specific areas of collaboration with the European Commission are sexual and reproductive health and rights (including reliable access to contraceptives), the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence and harmful practices against girls and women, and data collection and analysis.