Looking Outward, Feminine Style

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The German government announced it would create a new feminist foreign policy this week aimed at ensuring that all people “have the same right to representation and access to resources,” the Associated Press reported.

The country’s foreign and development ministers said the policy will focus on supporting the needs of women to eliminate discrimination and promote more stable societies.

“We are not calling for a revolution here, but we are doing something that is self-evident,” said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

The new guidelines for this policy will require that more than 90 percent of newly committed project funds be devoted toward global programs that promote gender equality – an increase from 64 percent in 2021.

The new policy will also address gender parity in Germany, specifically at the country’s foreign ministry where only 26 percent of ambassadors are female.

Some countries have implemented feminist foreign policies, which in theory means defending human rights and enabling meaningful participation in decision-making by women and other, often excluded groups, the newswire wrote.

Such policies often dictate that women and girls must be protected from violence, be allowed to assert their rights, and participate in political decisions, with adequate resources provided to enable them to do so.

German non-governmental groups welcomed the new feminist policy but criticized the lack of clarity about how the policy would be implemented and how it would be financed.