The European Parliament adopted a resolution based drafted by Olga ZRIHEN ZAARI (PES, B), making some amendments to the Commission's proposals. (Please see the summary of 26/11/03.) Parliament also added:
- contracts with beneficiaries may cover the financing of their operating expenditure, in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation;
- the Commission should actively raise the question of gender as a standing item on the agenda during meetings between representatives of the Commission, Member States and partner countries in order to increase awareness of gender issues in emerging areas of development cooperation;
- the Commission should draw on the experiences of Members States, other donors and partner countries in the field of gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment.�