Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) want to strengthen women’s rights in Germany’s political engagement abroad. At a joint presentation of concepts for a feminist foreign and development policy, Schulze said that when it comes to fighting hunger, poverty and injustice, “one cannot do without half of the potential – namely women”.
Baerbock said that feminist foreign and development policy is not “nice to have” but “actually a matter of course”. This is “obviously not yet everywhere in the world – not even here – reality”. It runs through all areas of foreign policy action, from humanitarian aid to stabilization measures, peacekeeping missions and also in foreign culture and education policy. “It is also clear that feminism is not a magic wand,” said Baerbock. “We’re not naive. We won’t be able to solve all the world’s problems with a feminist foreign policy.”
Feminist foreign and development policy aims to overcome male supremacy worldwide and achieve true equality. Women and girls are to be strengthened because they are the largest discriminated part of the world population, but also groups that are often persecuted, such as indigenous peoples or homosexual people.
Baerbock also spoke of “real feminism”. It’s a pragmatic approach. If half of society worldwide consists of women, they should also be taken into account. The strategy should also work internally. Baerbock said only 26 percent of German embassies are headed by women. There is “a lot of room for improvement there”.
The idea of feminist foreign policy has been discussed for more than 100 years
Schulze’s development policy strategy aims to give women and marginalized groups more representation and to give them access to education, social security, health services and decent work. Age, gender identity, disabilities and legal status should be taken into account when planning climate protection for poor people. The ministry wants to specifically strengthen indigenous peoples and local communities.
Baerbock and Schulze gave examples of specific projects. In Zambia, for example, women were involved in planning a water system. In Colombia, women played a major role in the peace process. When it comes to humanitarian aid, for example when building a village, it is important to take into account the interests of all the people living there. This included schools, but also medical care for small children and access to hygiene articles for women.
The idea of feminist foreign policy has been discussed for more than 100 years. The International Women’s Congress in The Hague in 1915 is considered an important milestone. In 2014, Sweden was the first country to officially commit to a feminist foreign policy. Other countries such as Canada, Mexico and Spain followed. According to Baerbock and Schulze, a total of around 30 countries have committed to this. However, the new right-wing government in Sweden has already announced that it will overturn the concept.