Feminist foreign policy

Feminist Foreign Policy is about more than giving women power - creating the space for intersectional understandings of power imbalances is at its core.

The German Federal Government presented its Feminist Foreign Policy strategy on 1 March  2023. This ten-point strategy was discussed by Luise Amtsberg, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Assistance, during of the colloquium "Feminist Foreign Policy: from ambitions to actions" of 6 April 6 2023 organised by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Paris office and the association Women In International Security - WIIS France.

Not even ten years after being mentioned for the very first time, feminist foreign policy has made it into the political mainstream: the guidelines ‘Shaping a Feminist Foreign Policy’ of the German Federal Foreign Office outline a strategic shift in German foreign politics. At the same time, digital policy has become more and more international.

The German government is in the process of spelling out a feminist foreign and development policy. This article, aimed at contributing to policy changes based on the new paradigm, suggests how Germany’s policy towards Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, whose political relevance has increased for Berlin due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, could become feminist.

The precondition for a real and sustainable recovery of Ukraine is, above all, the victory over the Russian aggression against the country. Still, the discussion on the vision and specific steps for reconstruction cannot wait as residents of damaged towns and millions of internally displaced persons need viable living conditions already now, while the war is still ongoing. Ukrainian society needs to build up resilience in many aspects. This interview presents a feminist perspective on the priorities of reconstruction and the importance of international support and allyship among communities. An interview with Galyna Kotliuk, Programme Coordinator - Gender Democracy/Women Rights/LGBT-Rights at the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Kyiv office. Українська версія | Auf Deutsch

In Iran, feminist foreign policy demands both short-term interventions to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population and a long-term approach to deal with the state’s structural violence against its own citizens.

Afghan women political representatives want to establish a parliament in exile in Greece: reason enough for me to pay them a visit and show my support.

From Sweden to Mexico, an avant-garde of countries is pioneering feminist foreign policy. The European Union has made progress in promoting gender equality in its external action, but much remains to be done before it will deliver structural change. Juliane Schmidt calls for a green feminist foreign policy rooted in intersectionality that will enable the EU to live up to its values of freedom and equality.