We are proud to announce that the Policy Kitchen challenge “What should a feminist foreign policy look like in the 2020s?” has been successfully completed! It was the first joint project by the Open Think Tank Network and the most collaborative process we have had so far. Over 50 volunteers from the network jointly organized 7 virtual workshops with over 200 participants from all over the world, generating 89 policy recommendations. The results are published in our most recent report “Introducing the Purple Age: Crowdsourced recommendations for a Feminist Foreign Policy”.
Publication Launch
The publication was presented on 9 December 2020 during a virtual conference to over 146 representatives of international organizations, government officials, academia, civil society organizations, and the wider public. Guest speakers included Delphine O (Ambassador of the Republic of France and Secretary-General of the Generation Equality Forum), Dr. Hannah Neumann (Member of the European Parliament), Dr. Caren Grown (Director Gender, World Bank), Vanessa Erogbogbo (Chief of Sustainable and Inclusive Values Chains (SIVC), Head of SheTrades, International Trade Centre), Cecilia Pellosniemi (Women, Peace and Security Specialist, UN Women), Vijay Krishnarayan (Former Director-General of Commonwealth Foundation and Director Partnerships of CountUsIn), and Sheena Anderson (Intersectionality Expert, Centre For Feminist Foreign Policy).
Additionally, we were able to present the publication at the Geneva Peace Week 2020, which took place virtually this year. Our video submission to their “Digital Product” series ended up being one of the most-watched on their website!
In order to benefit from this momentum, we invite you to join the gender group on Policy Kitchen and to scale up the discussion around gender and intersectionality. The gender group is a space to learn and listen, share experiences, ideas, visions, events, and resources and to connect with like-minded people.
Feminist Foreign Policy in 2020 and beyond
The year 2020 promised a pivotal moment for mapping the future development of a feminist foreign policy agenda: The year marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, the 20th anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and the 5th anniversary of Sustainable Development Goal Nr. 5 on Gender Equality. Several countries have adopted a feminist foreign policy in recent years.
At the same time, we are experiencing a significant backlash against gender equality and women’s rights, along with increasing inequality around the globe. Unequal power relations perpetuate the exclusion of individuals and communities along social, cultural, political and economic dimensions from accessing equal and full social and political rights. This interlocking system of power disproportionately affects traditionally marginalized individuals, including LGBTQ+ individuals, racial and ethnic groups, people with disabilities, low-income or migration backgrounds. Women and traditionally marginalized groups have also been historically underrepresented in government, policy-making, and subsequently, in foreign policy. This has led to foreign policies that traditionally neglect the interests of these groups and have, in consequence, sometimes increased (pre-existing) gender inequalities.
To address these issues, the Open Think Tank Network (OTTN) organised a transnational Policy Kitchen challenge to answer the question: “What should a feminist foreign policy look like in the 2020s?” This final report presents the output of a bottom-up participatory process collaboratively organised by all five think tanks of the OTTN; foraus (CH), Ponto (AT), Polis180 (DE), Argo (FR), and Agora (UK).
The report outlines comprehensive recommendations for a Feminist Foreign Policy in 5 areas:
- Intersectionality and Representation
- Health, Safety and Autonomy
- Peace and Security
- Environment and Climate Change
- The Economic Sphere
We would like to thank all participants which took part in the challenge, as well as our partners at the Open Think Tank Network. Finally, we'd like to thank Engagement Migros for supporting Policy Kitchen.
We look forward to seeing you in future challenges or in the gender group on Policy Kitchen!
Kind regards,
Your Policy Kitchen Team
Your Policy Kitchen Team
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