The main objectives of this assignment are to: i) provide an independent evidence-based assessment of the contribution of EU external action support in the policy area of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE), including achieved results in line with the objectives of the GAP III, the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 and other relevant overall policy frameworks for gender equality such as the Agenda 2030, CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action, and ii) based on the above, identify lessons learnt and recommendations to inform the EU programming process in order to improve the implementation of future EU external action.
In particular, this evaluation aims to:

• measure the level of effectiveness of mainstreaming GEWE into the 2021-2027 bilateral, multi-country/regional, and thematic programming (including MIPs and, for the Enlargement Region, Strategic Responses);
• assess the added value of GAP III requirements for the EU and EU Member States (EU MS) to develop GAP III Country Level Implementation Plans (CLIPs);
• assess the progress in the implementation of the EU Action Plan on WPS including in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)/ Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) context;
• assess results achieved on Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE), which is part of GAP III’s third pillar on key thematic areas of engagement;
• identify lessons learnt and best good practices that can help improve the effective implementation of GAP III at global, regional and country level;
• provide recommendations to ensure a coherent EU approach on supporting WEE, as well as the effectiveness of the EU actions.