About the Event

Despite the optimism 30 years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, progress towards gender equality has been slow with recent reports noting stagnation and backlash against women’s rights and gender equality. Just when resources to reverse these trends and support new momentum are needed the most, official development assistance (ODA) budgets are being cut and traditional philanthropy faces attack.

In recent years, the emergence of feminist foreign policies (FFPs) has provided one glimmer of hope. Despite critiques, FFPs have provided a platform for new conversations on foreign policy and reframing of global relations, opening spaces for increased ODA investments in gender equality. New research from the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative found that until 2023 (the latest year with available data) countries with FFP — on average — provided more gender equality development assistance than their peers.

The discussions on ODA are shifting rapidly in a context of evolving security challenges. Contemplations of a “post-ODA” world also contain new discussions on South-South and circular cooperation and reflections on new forms of resourcing feminist movements. It is a moment of change, yet also possibly an opportunity. What role can FFPs play?

In the framework of the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy in Paris, the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative and the Alliance for Feminist Movements convened to launch the Collaborative’s latest publication, Feminist Foreign Policy and Development Finance for Gender Equality: Momentum Under Threat? and to discuss the implications of its findings in a “post-ODA” world.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Time:

• 8:30-9:00 AM CEST: Breakfast Reception

• 9:00-10:00 AM CEST: Panel, Report Launch and Q&A

Location: Sciences Po, Chapsal Amphitheater, 27 Rue Saint-Guillaume, 75007 Paris

Speakers

Rachel Jacobson

Co-Director, Alliance for Feminist Movements

Rachel (she/her/elle) is the Co-Director of the Alliance for Feminist Movements, which she joined in 2021. She has a long history in women’s human rights activism and service delivery with Human Rights Watch, the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the International Women’s Health Coalition and Whole Woman’s Health.

Laura Leonelli Morey

Executive Board Director, Prospera - International Network of Women’s Funds; Deputy Director, Fondo de Mujeres del Sur

With over two decades dedicated to gender equality and women’s human rights, Laura Leonelli Morey serves as Deputy Director at Fondo de Mujeres del Sur (FMS), a Latin American women’s fund that mobilises resources and offers flexible, long-term grants and organisational strengthening to over 200 women’s and LGBTIQ+ organisations. She is a lawyer and holds a university degree in social communications, a master’s degree in international studies, and a higher degree in social sciences focused on gender and public policies. Previously, she worked for 10 years as a journalist. She has been a strong advocate for sexual and reproductive rights in Argentina and a member of organisations that work to advance women’s right to live free from violence, bridging philanthropy, civil society, and policy spaces.

Beth Woroniuk

Senior Fellow, Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative

Beth (she/her) has worked to advance gender justice and feminist approaches to policymaking for over 35 years. She is particularly interested in financing for gender equality, feminist foreign policies and women, peace and security. Beth has advised and worked with bilateral aid agencies, women’s funds, UN entities, international NGOs and feminist organizations, strengthening their work on gender equality and women’s rights. She has developed analytical tools, supported policy development, carried out research, blogged, conducted evaluations, organized, lobbied and testified before the Canadian Parliament. Until early 2024, Beth served as the Vice President of Policy at the Equality Fund. In 2025, Beth received the King Charles III Coronation Medal and was nominated to the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council.  She is currently a Senior Fellow with Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative.

As part of the inaugural class of the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative’s Visiting Fellows Program, Beth will focus her scholarship and thought leadership on current feminist foreign policy discussions, Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy and feminist funding.

Learn more about Beth here.

Nicolas Rainaud

Advocacy Manager, Equipop

Nicolas (he/him/il) is the Advocacy Manager at Equipop, a feminist international solidarity CSO. A graduate of Sciences Po Paris, he has been working in the field of international solidarity for more than fifteen years. He contributes to a variety of advocacy initiatives in favor of feminist public policies at both French and international levels, and participates in several collective spaces such as Coordination SUD, Walking the Talk and Countdown 2030. In France, Nicolas has been a member of the Gender Equality High Council for six years, and has co-chaired its “Feminist diplomacy, European and international issues” Commission between 2022 and 2025.

About the Organizers

Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative

The Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative (the Collaborative) works to advance feminist approaches to foreign policy worldwide. By curating convenings, conducting field-shaping research and analysis and amplifying expertise, the Collaborative serves as a meeting point for feminists inside and outside of government to work together to ensure that feminist foreign policies (FFPs) are ambitious, transformative and effectively implemented. The Collaborative works in a secretariat capacity supporting the work of two coalitions: the Global Partner Network for Feminist Foreign Policy and the Coalition for a Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States. The Global Partner Network for Feminist Foreign Policy is an informal body comprised of more than 100 organizations, governments and individuals working on feminist foreign policy around the world; the Coalition for a Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States unites more than 80 organizations advocating for a more feminist foreign policy in the US. While the focus of each of these coalitions is different, the goal is the same: to ensure wider adoption of feminist foreign policy principles advancing a better future for people, peace and planet.

For any questions or inquiries, please contact general@ffpcollaborative.org.

Alliance for Feminist Movements

The Alliance for Feminist Movements is a collaborative multi-stakeholder initiative between governments, private philanthropy, feminist funds, and civil society organizations dedicated to (1) Increasing and improving resources dedicated to supporting diverse feminist movements, and (2) Mobilizing partnerships and political support for diverse feminist movements. The strength of the Alliance for Feminist Movements comes from bringing together a range of stakeholders to tackle issues on funding and political support for feminist movements that are bigger than any single donor-grantee relationship or sector. The Alliance for Feminist Movements acts as facilitators, communicators, and educators in the feminist resourcing ecosystem. With its members it convenes, collaborates and advocates for more and better resourcing for feminist movements. The Alliance is guided by a Steering Group directly chosen by its members. Current Steering Group members include the governments of Canada and Malawi, the Ford Foundation, and Foundation for a Just Society, Women’s Fund Asia, Mama Cash, XOESE, Resurj, APWLD, and Mujeres Transformando.

For any questions or inquiries, please contact info@allianceforfeministmovements.org.