Is Feminist Foreign Policy driving progress for women’s representation in diplomacy?
Women’s representation in leadership roles within national diplomatic services and multilateral organisations varies widely across countries and organisations. As of October 2023, there were forty-four female foreign ministers, out of 191 United Nations member states; a higher number than ever, but not even a quarter of the total.ii Only one in five ambassadors to the United Nations (UN) in New York are female.iii Some international organizations are currently led by women, including the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, but representation is patchy across international organisations at senior levels. At the UN, the percentage of women in senior positions and in several departments and agencies is approaching 50%; however, women’s representation is well below that percentage in several areas, such as international tribunals — where women occupy only 19% of permanent positions — and there has never been a female Secretary-General of the UN.iv
Women’s representation in diplomacy is important as a goal in and of itself: more diversity among decision-makers is increasingly considered to lead towards better, more legitimate, and therefore effective decision-making. Yet barriers to more equitable representation in diplomatic negotiations and foreign ministries exist, and (even worse) sexual harassment of diplomats persists. For example, female diplomats at UN climate talks in 2023 reported being harassed and intimidated, prompting two dozen countries to complain to the UN about it.v Increasing women’s representation in diplomacy — including women whose identities encompass other underrepresented groups — is but one goal that could help to diversify foreign ministries, global decision-making processes and international organisations. Given the historic and continuing underrepresentation of women in diplomacy, seeking to remedy the imbalance can contribute to broadening diversity within diplomacy.
Could the spread of feminist foreign policies help to improve women’s representation in senior diplomatic roles at the state level, and in international negotiations and organisations? Since 2021, ten states have either adopted a feminist foreign policy (FFP) or declared their intention to do so, bringing the total number of states with an FFP to over a dozen (see Figure 1: Timeline). Elsewhere there have been discussions in think tanks and policy circles about the potential benefits of implementing an FFP, including within the Labour Party in the UK and the Scottish Government, Australia, the European Union, Finland, India, and the United States.vi Although Sweden’s new conservative government announced in October 2022 that it would no longer use the label ‘feminist foreign policy’, there is still considerable interest elsewhere in adopting it. In this LSE IDEAS Strategic Update, we assess the implications of this trend of FFP adoption for driving progress on improving women’s representation in diplomacy.
The LSE IDEAS Women in Diplomacy project aims to address the issues of underrepresentation of women in diplomacy and the lack of gender considerations in foreign policy-making. This Strategic Update builds on a discussion of the outcomes and benefits of feminist foreign policy at an LSE IDEAS online event that took place in October 2022, with Sofia Calltrop (then Swedish Ambassador for Gender Equality), Dame Judith MacGregor (former British diplomat), Maryam Monsef (former Minister for Women and Gender Equality for Canada), and Nina Bernarding (co-director of the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy). The panellists considered how radical a step is the introduction of a feminist foreign policy, what difference it makes to implement one, and the issues facing policy-makers pursuing an FFP. As they pointed out, challenges such as climate change or poverty cannot be adequately addressed without the involvement of women. Feminist foreign policies can lead to concrete change, for example in decisions about aid allocations, and can provide an impetus to focus on issues of gender (in)equality across government. For some, this may be seen as radical given the pushback against women’s rights seen across the world, from Afghanistan to Europe (see Poland for a recent example) and the United States.
Since that panel discussion, the Swedish government renounced the label FFP — seen as too radical — but several other states have announced their intention to pursue an FFP (see Figure 1); nineteen states formed a ‘Feminist Foreign Policy Plus (FFP+) group’ at the United Nations, issuing a ‘political declaration on feminist approaches to foreign policy’ during the General Assembly High Level Week in September 2023.vii This Strategic Update takes stock of the spread of feminist foreign policies, and focuses on the potential for feminist foreign policies to improve or strengthen the role of women in diplomacy. Our analysis is based on publicly available documents and on our communication with policy-makers involved in the adoption and implementation of feminist foreign policies.
This Strategic Update first explores the key objectives of the feminist foreign policies that have been announced or adopted thus far. To what extent do the FFPs include goals relating to improving the representation of women in diplomacy? Then it looks at the process of adopting a feminist foreign policy. How involved have female policy-makers been in the adoption and implementation of FFPs? In the third part, it analyses the implementation of FFPs, focusing particularly on the realisation of objectives related to improving the representation of women within foreign ministries and in international decision-making processes. The final part considers the implications of the spread of FFPs for improving the representation of women in diplomacy.
Part I: An overview of Feminist Foreign Policies
As can be seen in Table 1, while some countries have issued formal guidelines on their FFP, many others have yet to do so. ‘Representation’ — along with ‘resources’ and ‘rights’ — have formed the significant basis for many FFPs. We assessed government communications to understand the specific commitments made to improve women’s representation in diplomacy where those have been made explicit.
As can be seen in Table 1, almost all the FFPs commit to supporting women’s representation in general. This includes within the Women, Peace and Security agenda to ensure the meaningful participation of women in peace processes, which is highlighted as an area of focus by Spain, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Luxemburg, and Libya. Canada, for example, states that this will be accomplished ‘through a combination of targeted support for local women’s organisations and programming to help women strengthen their mediation and negotiation skills and expertise so that they can more fully participate in — and influence — peace negotiations’. Canada will ‘advocate at international policymaking events for a stronger role for women and girls in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding.’xxvi Germany, Canada and Chile also pledge to support women’s leadership within action on climate change. Some countries mention the broader goal of increasing diversity in decision-making globally, including by enhancing the participation of marginalised groups. Women’s representation is often highlighted as part of broader commitments to women’s political representation, the representation and participation of women in all areas of society, or as international development programming focused on engaging women and girls in decision making — at national or international level. However, FFPs do not tend to focus explicitly on fostering greater participation of women in international organisations or diplomatic negotiations.
In addition to the widely-shared FFP goal of improving women’s representation and participation in decision-making, Chile, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain include an internal focus on ensuring gender equality within foreign ministries; increasing the number of women at senior levels in foreign ministries and embassies, as well as at all staff levels, and acting against discrimination and sexual harassment at work.
The inclusion of both internal and external objectives with respect to strengthening women’s role in diplomacy appears to be an acknowledgment that FFPs should not practice double standards or hypocrisy, as well as perhaps anticipating that domestic pressure groups and other NGOs could seize on the FFP commitments to focus attention internally; on the need to improve gender balance and diversity within foreign ministers and diplomatic services. As the Dutch ministers for foreign affairs and for foreign trade and development cooperation noted in their letter to the Dutch parliament on feminist foreign policy:
Since everything we promote abroad begins at home, the Ministry will also continue to look critically at its own organisation, increasing its capacity for gender analysis implementation through training and knowledge development. Diversity, inclusion, and gender parity in all job grades at the ministry will remain a continuous focus of attention. When putting together delegations, the goal will always be to ensure diverse and inclusive representation.xxvii
Similarly, the German Federal Foreign Office guidelines on a feminist foreign policy state that ‘Credible feminist foreign policy must also look inwards.’xxviii Chile’s guidelines ‘recognize the persistence of gender gaps that hinder the full participation of women in all decision-making areas of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’, facilitating not only entry but retention of female leadership.xxix Spain’s guidelines note that:
The development of a genuine feminist foreign policy requires a Foreign Service that puts emphasis on the values of equal treatment and equal opportunities and applies them consistently within its own structures. It is about achieving substantive equality and highlighting the role of women in Spanish diplomacy.xxx
Liberia’s Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Williametta Saydee Tarr, noted the Liberian President’s commitment to appoint women in key Cabinet positions, advocating for a 30% quota for women’s representation.xxxi
A common thread for FFPs therefore seems to be the understanding that successful implementation of an FFP may require looking inward and ensuring that appropriate gender equality measures and resources are in place to improve inclusion, diversity, and gender parity within foreign ministries. In this way, FFPs hold out the potential to improve women’s representation in diplomacy, at least in those countries that have adopted an FFP. The objective of improving women’s roles in international diplomatic negotiations and/or international organisations is less explicit or elaborated in existing FFPs, though attention to this aspect would also be needed to help effectuate change globally.
Part II: Who is driving the adoption of Feminist Foreign Policies?
Female diplomats and politicians have been at the forefront of the adoption and implementation of FFPs, though not exclusively so. Women in the position of foreign minister have been particularly active. Slovenia’s foreign minister, Tanja Fajon, even made a link explicitly between her gender and decision to pursue an FFP: ‘As Slovenia’s first female foreign minister and deputy prime minister, who has made gender equality a priority, I have decided to join the initiative of a group of progressive countries that have formally incorporated feminism into their foreign policy strategy’.xxxii Mongolia’s announcement that it would develop a feminist foreign policy was made at a conference that it hosted solely of female foreign ministers, at least implying a link.xxxiii Yet in Germany, where the position of foreign minister was held for the first time by a woman, Annalena Baerbock, the announcement of the adoption of feminist foreign policy did not explicitly note a connection between her gender and the policy.xxxiv Similarly, Canada’s Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland, and Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, Marie-Claude Bibeau, have not made explicit links to their gender but underlined their focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment; Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) aims to achieve both under the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a self-proclaimed feminist.xxxv
In the (few) discussions available on the Liberian commitment to establishing a feminist foreign policy, there are repeated references to the Liberian President, George Weah, as ‘Feminist-In-Chief’.xxxvi Mexico’s Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard pledged the country’s intentions to draft a feminist foreign policy — a policy that is said to be a ‘hallmark policy’xxxvii of its Foreign Minister. Similarly, representatives of the Chilean government shared with us that ‘the Feminist Foreign Policy is part of the presidential commitments and is in the programme of the current government of President of the Republic of Chile, Gabriel Boric Font.’xxxviii
In all countries but one (Luxembourg), a female minister was initially put in charge of its implementation, inevitably acting as norm entrepreneurs driving these policies forward (see Table 2). Even if the introduction of a feminist foreign policy had not been driven principally by a woman (or women) in power, governments adopting an FFP have apparently shown some commitment to increasing women’s representation in policy-making though supporting female leadership in ministerial positions; including those related to and responsible for the policy itself. In this way, FFPs help to improve women’s representation in senior diplomatic roles. Some of the leaders listed below, however, have been removed from office, by election or otherwise: the government’s commitment to strengthening women’s leadership as well as promoting the FFP will thus become evident also by tracking their replacements.
Part III: Implementation of FFP Commitments on Women’s Representation
Most of the FFPs have been announced recently, so implementation can be assessed only tentatively. Additionally, given that the definitions and approaches to FFPs differ across countries, there is also no consistent framework for assessing the short- and long-term outcomes of FFPs. In this section, we focus on the extent to which countries have taken steps to improve gender diversity within their foreign ministries because, as noted above, the objective of improving women’s representation in international diplomatic negotiations and/or international organisations has also not been developed as explicitly as the ‘internal’ commitment.
Chile, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico, Slovenia, and Spain have all stated that their FFPs include goals such as improving the representation of women in senior positions in the foreign ministry and increasing the number of female ambassadors. France, Germany, and Spain provided specific benchmarks. French law (the Sauvadet Act) specifies that over 40% of appointments at senior level in the civil service should be women. Germany aims for equitable participation in senior positions by the end of 2025; 27% of heads of mission and 26% of senior positions in the ministry were women in 2023. By the end of the legislature in 2023, Spain aimed to have 25% women ambassadors; the data in Table 3 illustrates that it did meet that goal in 2021.
Elsewhere, the aims were less specific, simply to increase the number of women in senior positions. Chile, for example, aims to increase the presence of women in embassies without specifying a target.xxxix Chilean representatives confirmed to us that they are working on indicators that will make it possible to measure the results of their FFP, but this is still a work in progress. With respect to Mexico’s pledge to improve representation within the Foreign Service, researchers had to submit freedom of information requests for the data; they concluded that there had been no change in the percentage of women by rank in the Foreign Service since 2018 and that women were only 32% of diplomatic appointments proposed between 2018 and 2022.xl
Assessing the extent to which these goals have been realised is not straightforward, as statistics on the foreign ministries themselves may not be publicly available. It is, however, easier to track ambassadorial appointments: Table 3 provides data on the percentage of female ambassadors from each country with an FFP, through 2021. This allows a benchmark against which commitments to internal reform may be assessed in future.
It is also important to bear in mind that focusing on increasing the number of ambassadors that are women could hide significant variations in the prestige of postings to which female ambassadors have been posted. Are they appointed as ambassadors to G7 or G20 countries, and/or to the UN? Only Spain has committed to appointing at least 15% women ambassadors to G20 countries — a low percentage which in and of itself is indicative of the general tendency to appoint women ambassadors to lower status posts.xli
There is also less clarity regarding the measures that will be taken to try to reach the goals of increasing diversity within foreign ministries and improving the representation of women at senior levels. Only some of the FFPs list steps that need to be taken with respect to recruitment, fostering career progression and combatting discrimination and harassment at work. Spain outlined a commitment to raise awareness among female university students and to promote a work-life balance through the enactment of a Gender Equality Plan, and through training courses on equality issues.xlii France is set to launch a ‘Springboard’ program which will aim to improve women’s access to senior management positions at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.xliii It also committed to place gender equality liaison officers, contact points and focal points at each diplomatic post and each directorate of the Ministry.xliv Further measures that are being taken in the French foreign ministry include consideration of flexible working conditions, parity in appointment panels, and training on equality.xlv
Germany has committed to ensure that parental leave and part-time work do not have a negative impact on the career paths of women and men, through the use of a career tracking tool.xlvi Germany’s guidelines for feminist foreign policy indicate that there are flexible working possibilities — and even job sharing — at missions abroad, and that it will be easier for diplomats to commute between their posting and Germany if their families wish to stay in Germany.xlvii Chile has committed to the creation of a Gender Affairs Division to coordinate the advancement of the gender equality plan and gender commitments in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.xlviii
The Netherlands has stated that diversity, inclusion and gender parity will form an important consideration in the composition of its delegations to multilateral fora.xlix The Spanish FFP notes that its feminist foreign policy confers a new prominent role to Spain’s diplomatic and consular missions and other bodies that channel its external action and has designated gender focal points to support and monitor the equality plans of international organisations in which it participates.l
Declaring a feminist foreign policy helps to shine a light on gender equality within foreign ministries, especially where progress has been slow in the recent past. Setting the goal of improving female representation puts the foreign ministry under more public scrutiny and, as the Mexico case shows, can increase pressure to release data to the public. An FFP may thus help to improve the representation of women in the diplomatic services of that country and spur the introduction of specific policies that will ensure the retention and promotion of women who have chosen a diplomatic career. It may also help improve the recruitment and retention of other underrepresented groups in diplomacy but, as is the case with women, only if the necessary resources and attention are given to this goal.
Part IV: conclusions and implications
The number of countries that have either adopted a feminist foreign policy or are contemplating doing so is increasing. This offers a real opportunity to focus more political attention and resources on women’s participation in the field of diplomacy. Given the urgent needs to ensure sustainable peace and prosperity globally, and address the climate crisis, a commitment to fostering women’s engagement at international negotiating tables is more important than ever. Monitoring the goals and implementation of the increasing number of FFPs is critically important to ensure that such policies bring more women to the field of international diplomacy.
FFPs have already contributed to increasing a focus on improving the role of women in diplomacy, and some FFPs include specific measures aimed at achieving that goal. Female diplomats and politicians have also been at the forefront of the adoption and implementation of FFPs.,
FFPs also serve as a case study to understand how women’s transformative leadership can catalyse change on gender equality within institutional systems. As Leena Vastapuu and Minna Lyytikäinen argue, declaring a feminist foreign policy makes a significant statement in the current international context in which gender has become a flashpoint, as autocratic states stake out anti-gender positions.li Further, they suggest that although ‘adopting an explicit FFP has transformative potential, it is not a magic bullet if not planned and implemented with utmost care.lii In the face of such strong countervailing tendencies that push back against gender equality domestically and internationally, the adoption of FFPs by a growing number of states may help to accelerate change. Yet attention must also be paid to ensuring that a widespread domestic consensus in favour of the adoption and implementation of an FFP is fostered, as otherwise elections or personnel changes could lead to the abandonment of the FFP — as the case of Sweden has shown. Feminist foreign policies are one measure that could improve women’s representation in diplomacy, with the focus on internal progress in doing so potentially transformative. But adopting a feminist foreign policy is not the only way to foster greater diversity in the diplomatic field, and countries supportive of gender equality globally can join forces to push policies that will help to do so.
Endnotes
I The authors would like to thank the following for their helpful comments on early drafts of this Strategic Update: thanks to Klaus Brummer, Katarzyna Jezierska, and the participants of the LSE’s Centre for Women Peace and Security seminar in October 2023.
II According to a dedicated Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_foreign_ministers (accessed 6 October 2023).
III United Nations, ‘Deputy Secretary-General’s remarks at the Ministerial side-event on Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) as an accelerator for positive change by transforming commitments into action’, 20 September 2023; https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/dsg/statement/2023-09-20/deputy-secretary-generals-remarks-the-ministerial-level-side-event-feminist-foreign-policy-%28ffp%29-accelerator-for-positive-change-transforming-commitments-actions
IV Kirsten Haack, Women’s Access, Representation and Leadership in the United Nations (Palgrave Macmillan 2022), pp. 83–87.
V Attract Mooney and Camilla Hodgson, ‘UN climate summit female delegates reveal bullying and harassment’, Financial Times, 17 June 2023.
VI See: Australian Feminist Foreign Policy Coalition (https://iwda.org.au/australian-feminist-foreign-policy-coalition/); the report commissioned by the European Parliament’s Greens and European Free Alliance on A Feminist Foreign Policy for the European Union (Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy, June 2020); Leena Vastapuu and Minna Lyytikäinen, Gender Equality in Finnish Foreign Policy from 2019 to 2022, Independent Study Commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, November 2022; Innocentia Atchaya, The Need for a Feminist Foreign Policy in India, Modern Diplomacy, 6 August 2022); Caroline Pinder, Why Labour Needs to Adopt a Feminist Foreign Policy (Labour Foreign Policy Group 8 March 2023); Scottish Government, Scotland’s Feminist Approach to Foreign Policy: Background Note (2 November 2022); Shirley Graham and Megan Corrado, How to Advance a Feminist U.S. Foreign Policy (US Institute for Peace, March 2021).
VII See ‘Political Declaration on Feminist Approaches to Foreign Policy’, UNGA78, 20 September 2023; available on the Government of the Netherlands website: https://www.government.nl/documents/diplomatic-statements/2023/09/20/political-declaration-on-feminist-approaches-to-foreign-policy
VIII In addition to the sources listed in the footnotes, general information on feminist foreign policies is available here: The Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy website https://centreforfeministforeignpolicy.org/feminist-foreign-policy/; Gender Security Project, ‘Feminist Foreign Policy’ https://www.gendersecurityproject.com/feminist-foreign-policy; Lyric Thompson, Spogmay Ahmed and Tanya Khokhar, ‘Defining Feminist Foreign Policy: A 2021 Update’, International Center for Research on Women 2021 https://www.icrw.org/publications/defining-feminist-foreign-policy/; Lyric Thompson, Spogmay Ahmed, Beatriz Silva, and Jillian Montilla, Defining Feminist Foreign Policy: The2023 Edition. The Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative, 2023, https://www.ffpcollaborative.org/network-publications; UN Women, ‘Feminist Foreign Policies: An Introduction’, 2022, https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjYkM-oqJ2AAxUNVEEAHVSoC_oQFnoECDIQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unwomen.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F2022-09%2FBrief-Feminist-foreign-policies-en_0.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3yQm63mOjXPEAmHZYy-C7r&opi=89978449;
IX Thompson, Ahmed, Silva, and Montilla, Defining Feminist Foreign Policy, p. 13.
X Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy, https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/priorities-priorites/policy-politique.aspx?lang=eng
XI Government of Chile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Feminist Foreign Policy, June 2023; https://politicaexteriorfeminista.minrel.gob.cl/home
XII Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, ‘Columbian Feminist Foreign Policy: Pacifist, participatory, and intersectional’, Side Event in the margins of the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 7 March 2023; https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi99cOdpZ2AAxUIB8AKHYZdASEQFnoECBcQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Funwlobstorage.blob.core.windows.net%2Fcsw%2F475037b3-cda8-4686-997a-c01267482e51_Concept%2520note.%2520Side-Event.%2520Colombian%2520Feminist%2520Foreign%2520Policy.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3y7C7dpsaYHeUAlJKaM1LG&opi=89978449
XIII France, Ministère de l’Europe et des Affairs Étrangères, ‘Feminist Diplomacy’, https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/feminist-diplomacy/
XIV German Federal Foreign Office, Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy: Federal Foreign Office Guidelines, March 2023: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/themen/ffp-guidelines/2585074
XV Liberian Permanent Mission to the UN, ‘UN Women Head Commits to Expanding Support to Women Leadership in Liberia’, 21 September 2022; https://www.pmun.gov.lr/index.php/news-and-events/233-un-women-head-for-gender-equality-and-empowerment-commits-to-expanding-support-to-women-leadership-in-liberia-meets-with-senior-female-government-officials-in-new-york
XVI See Gender Security Project, ‘Libya’: https://www.gendersecurityproject.com/post/libya-s-feminist-foreign-policy
XVII The Government of Luxembourg, Accord de coalition 2018–2023, p. 210; https://gouvernement.lu/en/publications/accord-coalition/2018-2023.html
XVIII Luxembourg, Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres et Europeenes, Rapport d’Activité 2022, pp. 10–11; https://maee.gouvernement.lu/en/publications.gouvernement%2Ben%2Bpublications%2Brapport-activite%2Bminist-affaires-etrangeres-europeennes%2Bmaee%2B2022-rapport-activite-maee.html
XIX See, for example, Luxembourg Government, Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes, Déclaration de politique étrangère 2022.
XX Gobierno de Mexico, ‘Mexico Adopts Feminist Foreign Policy’, Press Release 15, 9 January 2020: https://www.gob.mx/sre/prensa/mexico-adopts-feminist-foreign-policy?idiom=en
XXI Leonie Stamm, ‘Mongolia Leans in to Feminist Foreign Policy’, The Diplomat, 3 July 2023; https://thediplomat.com/2023/07/mongolia-leans-in-to-feminist-foreign-policy/
XXII Government of the Netherlands, Letter to the Parliament on Feminist Foreign Policy, 8 November 2022; https://www.government.nl/documents/parliamentary-documents/2022/12/07/letter-to-the-parliament-on-feminist-foreign-policy
XXIII Republic of Slovenia, ‘Minister Fajon presents feminist foreign policy as a modern, future-oriented policy’, 8 March 2023; https://www.gov.si/en/news/2023-03-08-minister-fajon-presents-feminist-foreign-policy-as-a-modern-future-oriented-policy/
XXIV Gobierno de España, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación, Spain’s Feminist Foreign Policy: Promoting Gender Equality in Spain’s External Action (2021) https://www.exteriores.gob.es/en/PoliticaExterior/Paginas/PoliticaExteriorFeminista.aspx
XXV Government Offices of Sweden, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Handbook Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy (2018) https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiD38DK_Z-AAxUpgv0HHX7-AqUQFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.swedenabroad.se%2Fglobalassets%2Fambassader%2Fzimbabwe-harare%2Fdocuments%2Fhandbook_swedens-feminist-foreign-policy.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1McylG7VrvNLFcXyvyYZXT&opi=89978449
XXVI Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy, p. 59.
XXVII Government of the Netherlands, Letter to the Parliament on Feminist Foreign Policy, p. 4.
XXVIII German Federal Foreign Office, Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy: Federal Foreign Office Guidelines, p.59.
XXIX Government of Chile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Feminist Foreign Policy, June 2023; https://politicaexteriorfeminista.minrel.gob.cl/home, p. 50.
XXX Gobierno de España, Spain’s Feminist Foreign Policy, p. 19. Bold in original.
XXXI Liberian Permanent Mission to the UN, ‘UN Women Head Commits to Expanding Support’.
XXXII Republic of Slovenia, ‘Minister Fajon presents feminist foreign policy as a modern, future-oriented policy’, 8 March 2023; https://www.gov.si/en/news/2023-03-08-minister-fajon-presents-feminist-foreign-policy-as-a-modern-future-oriented-policy/
XXXIII Leonie Stamm, ‘Mongolia Leans in to Feminist Foreign Policy’, The Diplomat, 3 July 2023; https://thediplomat.com/2023/07/mongolia-leans-in-to-feminist-foreign-policy/
XXXIV Federal Foreign Office, ‘Speech by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to present feminist foreign policy guidelines’, 1 March 2023; https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/news/baerbock-guidelines-ffp/2586412.
XXXV UN Women, Press Release; https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/3/press-release-discussion-on-gender-equality-with-canadian-prime-minister
XXXVI Liberia Permanent Mission to the UN; https://www.pmun.gov.lr/index.php/news-and-events/233-un-women-head-for-gender-equality-and-empowerment-commits-to-expanding-support-to-women-leadership-in-liberia-meets-with-senior-female-government-officials-in-new-york
XXXVII Government of Mexico, Press Release: Mexico adopts Feminist Foreign Policy; https://www.gob.mx/sre/prensa/mexico-adopts-feminist-foreign-policy?idiom=en
XXXVIII Exchanges with representatives of Chilean government, August — September 2023
XXXIX Marca Chile, ‘Five Key Pieces of Information about the Feminist Foreign Policy’, 12 June 2023: https://marcachile.cl/en/imagen-de-chile/five-key-pieces-of-information-about-the-feminist-foreign-policy/).
XL Daniela Philipson García, Dinorah Arceta and Ana Velasco, ‘Mexico’s Feminist Foreign Policy: A Brief Evaluation’, Internacional Feminista, March 2023, pp. 15–19; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Msnc1dJLEWeR1s7aPxkrl_w8kyLcZgQ2/view
XLI Ann Towns and Birgitta Niklasson, ‘Gender, International Status and Ambassador Appointments’, Foreign Policy Analysis, 13: 3, 2017, pp. 521–540.
XLII Gobierno de España, Spain’s Feminist Foreign Policy, p. 20.
XLIII Embassy of France in Washington, D.C, Feminist diplomacy — International Women’s Day — France in the United States, https://franceintheus.org/spip.php?article11215#:~:text=France%20will%20continue%20to%20implement,the%20period%20of%202021-2025
XLIV Govenrment of France, France’s International Strategy on Gender Inequality (2018–2022), meae_strategie_-__en_cle076525.pdf (diplomatie.gouv.fr), p. 25.
XLV France Diplomacy, ‘Gender Equality at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’, no date; https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/the-ministry-and-its-network/gender-equality-at-the-ministry-for-europe-and-foreign-affairs/
XLVI German Federal Foreign Office, Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy, p. 65.
XLVII Federal Foreign Office, Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy, pp. 59–70.
XLVIII Government of Chile, Feminist Foreign Policy, pp. 43–5.
XLIX Government of the Netherlands, Letter to the Parliament on Feminist Foreign Policy.
L Gobierno de España, Spain’s Feminist Foreign Policy, pp. 9–13.
LI Leena Vastapuu and Minna Lyytikäinen, Gender Equality in Finnish Foreign Policy from 2019 to 2022, Independent Study Commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, November 2022, pp. 30–31.
LII Vastapuu and Lyytikäinen, Gender Equality in Finnish Foreign Policy, p. 4.
