Staying the Course: Reflections on Feminist Foreign Policy from Mexico
ANALYSIS FROM SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR OF THE FEMINIST FOREIGN POLICY COLLABORATIVE
This July, our team traveled to Mexico City for the III Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy, hosted by Mexico’s Foreign Ministry and National Institute of Women, as well as UN Women. There was much anticipation leading up to the conference: on the heels of Mexico’s historic election of its first woman president, and as the first of such high-level conferences hosted outside of Europe, participants were eager to see how the evolving field of feminist foreign policy would be activated on this new global stage.
The conference welcomed over 300 participants, including 39 governments, 100 civil society organizations, and representatives from international organizations, academia and the private sector. Governments reiterated their commitments to gender equality, and outlined their achievements in panel discussions focused on sustainable development, financing, peace and security, science, technology and innovation, and global governance. They were joined by civil society speakers, who uplifted the demands of feminist movements, called for a structural analysis of power and governance, and encouraged co-creation in the advancement, development, implementation and monitoring of foreign policies.
Throughout the conference, government and civil society speakers also laid out their goals for the upcoming UN Summit of the Future. Taking place this September, the Summit will convene global leaders to forge an international consensus on how to accelerate progress and deliver a more promising future—certainly no easy feat. To date, drafts of the Summit outcome document—the Pact for the Future—have been rather unambitious in their commitments to advancing gender equality and civil society inclusion. But in Mexico, governments called for feminist foreign policy to be a key part of the Summit, as well as their actions moving forward. If they follow through on their commitments, the UN’s flagship event could be more exciting than initially anticipated.
Following Germany in 2022 and the Netherlands in 2023, many have asked: what was noteworthy about Mexico’s conference? Mexico’s conference was unique in that it spotlighted national leadership from across the Global South, and from Latin America in particular. For example, the Government of Colombia platformed its commitment to “total peace”; the Government of Liberia committed to incorporating feminist foreign policy in its foreign service training; the Government of Chile emphasized a focus on gender equality in free trade agreements; the Government of Mongolia named its progress on women’s leadership in politics and diplomacy; the Government of Costa Rica urged nonproliferation and disarmament; the Government of Brazil cited an increased focus on racial discrimination; and the Government Mexico highlighted its national care system, among other issues. Throughout the conference, governments called for greater “South-South” and “triangular” cooperation around this agenda, which could deepen implementation and advance discourse at regional and multilateral levels.
These governments even forged a consensus of their own; 20 member-states endorsed a declaration committing to advance gender equality in foreign policy. Hearing the calls for structural change, they also pledged to “reshape financial and economic systems to prioritize sustainability, climate justice and peace.” Importantly, they committed to working with feminist and grassroots movements in the design, implementation and evaluation of these policies, and to advance the role of youth in decision-making.
While government voices took center stage in Mexico, civil society voices were prominent, powerful and diverse. We heard from regional networks like the African Feminist Collective on Feminist Informed Policies and the Australian Feminist Foreign Policy Coalition, as well as international networks like the Women’s Major Group and our own Global Partner Network for Feminist Foreign Policy. The Mexican Feminist Foreign Policy Network organized day-long panel discussions on its vision of a regional agenda, interrogating topics like fiscal justice, bodily autonomy and the many domestic concerns left out of the formal conference program. Civil society speakers from nearly every region of the world pointed out both progress and discrepancies in this agenda; they called on governments to build greater cohesion between their foreign and domestic policies, to invest resources in feminist movements, to challenge double standards in human rights policies and to reverse the trend of rising militarization that is making the world less safe.
While our team has gathered many learnings over the years, two reflections from Mexico rise to the top: first, the opportunity to influence foreign policies through feminist movement-building remains open, and has vast potential; second, from research and advocacy to accountability and innovation, the amount of work on feminist foreign policy is proliferating across numerous regions and sectors. Taken together, these learnings uncover immense power and opportunity for change.
Governments are eager to defend progress, and civil society is hungry for brave, bold leadership. What matters now is how they collectively move forward. At the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative, we are building space for feminists inside and outside of government to meaningfully exchange, raise questions, build strategies, deepen understanding and find solutions. Our partners range from grassroots feminists to international NGOs to current and former policymakers. Some approach feminist foreign policy with enthusiasm, others with skepticism, most with cautious optimism—but they all believe in its potential for change. And that potential serves as our guiding light.
As we reflected at the start of the year, the pursuit of a feminist foreign policy has never been more challenging. But in the words of my colleague, “the only battles you lose are those you walk away from.” In Mexico, I found what I was eagerly searching for: proof that the window of opportunity still exists, is growing open, and one day, will honor all that we have lost, and everything that we are soon to gain.
With gratitude,
Spogmay
Senior Policy Advisor, Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative