The past three weeks, the OpenTTN organised 7 workshops, with almost 40 members of 5 think tanks involved. These workshops were an absolute highlight for all of us and attracted participants from governments, international organizations, academic institutions, private sector and NGOs from all over the world. We would like to thank you all for all the positive feedback, the empowering atmosphere and your valuable contributions! Together we brainstormed on the question of “What should a feminist foreign policy look like in 2020s?”.
In this process, over 60 ideas were submitted on Policy Kitchen, which can still be further developed until 15 May 2020. Besides editing your own ideas, please also feel free to contribute to other ideas by becoming a co-author (click “I want to contribute” on the respective idea’s page) or commenting. We now already see a few emerging clusters, which include:
- Shifting the narrative (rethink issues of feminist foreign policy after Covid-19. training for foreign office staff to challenge the reproduction of stereotypes, male gender champions for gender equality, mainstream gender across all policy fields)
- Inclusion of grassroots and mainstreaming intersectionality (raise awareness on intersectionality and create platforms for marginalized groups, include grassroots as consultants in decision-making, measure gender policies by listening to the voices of feminist grassroots)
- Fighting climate change with a gender perspective (ensuring localised mitigation strategies and knowledge is acknowledged, enshrine human rights into climate action and ensure diversity in policy- and decision-making)
- Gender & security (inclusion in policy-sectors usually deemed as masculine such as arms trade, create inclusive evaluations of peace processes by bringing together local mediators, ensuring women’s representation in peacekeeping missions, fight GBV through budgeting and research)
- Apply a gender lens to migration (consider gender injustices in the climate pass for refugees, ensuring a gendered lens in migration and asylum)
- Making the economy and trade work for everyone (formalising the informal sector, ensuring sustainable access to finance for women, issue family policy recommendations, hold private sector accountable for gender-blindness, creating communities of care and fostering representation in decision-making)
- Gender-sensitive data for sound foreign policies (avoiding decisions based on gender-biased data, fighting backlash with data-based evidence, gather data on domestic violence, filling gender data gaps on (renewable) energy, making data collection intersectional too, issues of surveillance data and gender)
This summary does not exhaust the diversity of ideas and the richness of their content, and we invite you to read through the complete list here. We strive for a comprehensive set of proposals for a feminist foreign policy. Something on your mind that is not yet covered here? Let us know by posting your idea! Also, invite your peers to contribute as well.
We are looking forward to receiving your further ideas and comments - the more developed our ideas are, the stronger our proposals - and will keep you up to date!