The work is to provide assessments of specific thematic issues and of the extent to which the National Strategy Report for social inclusion and social protection policies promote and mainstream gender equality.
This work will be used to advise the Commission in the analysis and monitoring of equality between women and men in the domain.

EGGSI (Group of experts on Gender Equality, Social Inclusion, Health, and Long Term Care) is an independent network of experts in the fields of gender equality, social inclusion, health and long term care issues, commissioned by the European Commission (tender VC/2007/010). The network undertakes an annual work programme of policy-oriented research and reports to the European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities.

The network comprises 33 national experts (covering the 27 Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Croatia, FYROM and Turkey) and a coordinating team.
All of the experts are academics or senior experts, drawn mainly from the fields of economics, sociology and management but also from other disciplines. All have research expertise in the domain and are committed to advancing equality between women and men through their research.

The network is coordinated by the Institute for Social Research (IRS) and the Giacomo Brodolini Foundation (FGB) - two organisations with complementarities and strong skills and capacities in technical assistance to the Commission and to national public administrations. They have set a partnership for the establishment and maintenance of this network of experts.