Gender-related power imbalances and sexual and gender-based violence are not just collateral damage in war. They can be origins, drivers and tactics – in short, integral parts – of conflict. Impunity for perpetrators of CRSV is too often a reality. Impunity thwarts conflict resolution and sows the seeds of ongoing conflict. When perpetrators walk free, survivors walk in fear, carrying the burden of ostracism. Ensuring accountability is therefore a form of prevention. Accountability can help overcome the silence and stigma that often surround crimes like CRSV: whereas impunity normalises violence, justice reinforces global norms and rehabilitates survivors’ dignity.
Together with acclaimed experts, we will discuss the following questions: How can a feminist foreign policy help combat CRSV and strengthen both protection and participation? What feminist policy options exist to enhance accountability? How do we implement UN Security Council Resolution 2467 in the face of increasing pushback on gender issues?
Economic stability and growth are fundamental to resilient societies. The political, economic and security crises we face are not gender-blind. They affect different genders differently – and their root causes are gender-related, too. Several studies have shown that empowering women economically leads to sustainable growth of society as a whole. This makes societies more resilient in responding effectively to internal and external challenges and crises. Women represent half of the world’s population but – despite efforts made – there is an alarmingly low rate of female economic participation worldwide. Gender roles and power relations shape our societies far more deeply than traditional economic models suggest. Acknowledging the necessity to think diversely and inclusively, feminist economic theory leaves the narrow assumptions of traditional economic thought behind.
Together with acclaimed experts, we want to explore case studies from different regions, and brainstorm concrete ideas for implementing policies.
How can we adapt our thinking and apply our economic models differently? How best can we translate feminist economic theory into practice? How can we achieve broad economic participation and representation of society as a whole for the benefit of all?
Feminist foreign policy is a cross-cutting task for all foreign policy areas. Cultural relations and education policy in particular contribute to furthering an inclusive, intersectional foreign policy as they help create access to areas of society that are often outside the reach of other approaches. They also create spaces for mutual learning and reflection and fulfil a key objective of feminist foreign policy: fostering durable ties and mutual understanding through international exchange and cooperation.
Together with acclaimed experts, we will discuss the following questions: How can a feminist foreign policy contribute to cultural relations? What are the aims of a feminist cultural diplomacy? How can feminist foreign policy be established, mainstreamed and implemented in and through cultural relations and educational policy? What are potential challenges, and how can we address them?
Women are still significantly underrepresented in the field of arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament. Although many statements and resolutions have acknowledged the importance of including the women’s voices in international security deliberations, progress towards gender balance has been slower in disarmament fora than in other areas of diplomacy. And yet, evidence shows that armed violence impacts women, men, girls and boys differently while at the same time, security discussions clearly benefit from women's participation.
Together with acclaimed experts, we will discuss the following questions:
Which obstacles hinder the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in the field of disarmament and international security and how can we improve their numerical as well as their substantive role?
Feminist civil society has a long history of peace activism, and feminist academics have shaken up concepts such as war, peace and security. Both have helped pave the way for landmark moments such as the adoption of UNSC Resolution 1325 and the emergence of the first feminist foreign policies.
Today, it is a well-known fact that societies with higher levels of gender equality are more peaceful and that peace agreements are more likely to last when women have a say. We know that conflict is not gender-neutral, and that different genders are affected differently by crises. Moreover, gender stereotypes – such as women as victims – impair the potential and opportunities of all people to effectively contribute to conflict resolution.
Together with acclaimed experts, we will discuss the following questions: How can a feminist foreign policy be a game changer for peacebuilding? How best can we support women and marginalised groups in conflict – from protection to participation?
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are central to women’s agency and to the full enjoyment of women’s human rights. SRHR are a prerequisite for women’s education and thus to the peaceful and sustainable development of their communities.
But the enjoyment of these rights and access to quality health services remain unattained in many parts of the world. Moreover, SRHR are increasingly under attack. International consensus on SRHR is fragile and anti-gender actors are pushing back on hard-won rights and standards. For the anti-gender movement, SRHR serve as an entry point for a broader pushback on women’s rights and gender equality. In turn, backsliding on women’s rights is often a symptom of overall democratic backsliding.
Together with acclaimed experts, we will discuss the following questions: How can a feminist foreign policy contribute to realising SRHR, despite the pushback? What are the opportunities and risks in proclaiming and implementing a feminist foreign policy vis-à-vis the anti-gender movement? How can the anti-gender movement be effectively countered, in international fora but also in our societies, including in terms of funding? What pro-gender alliances can we mobilise?
Pursuing a feminist foreign policy, the Federal Government has made the rights, resources and representation of women and marginalised groups a priority of German foreign policy. A feminist foreign policy recognises that equal participation and equality are central to sustainable peace and human security. It aims to eradicate the underlying power structures that are at the heart of these inequalities through an intersectional and inclusive approach. In this sense, a feminist foreign policy addresses the root causes of inequalities, discrimination and exclusion.
Gender budgeting aims to advance gender equality by challenging the distribution of public resources. About 80 countries worldwide employ some form of gender budgeting, and 23 states have a prominent gender budget initiative (IMF, 2017) – including many of those countries that have adopted a feminist foreign policy.
Together with acclaimed experts, we will discuss the following questions: How can gender budgeting help realise the objectives of a feminist foreign policy? To what extent does gender budgeting help mainstream a feminist foreign policy? How can gender budgeting be established through German foreign policy? What are the practical implications of gender budgeting? What are potential challenges, and how might they be addressed?
More than 3 billion people live in regions that are severely affected or threatened by the climate crisis. Since 2008, an annual average of 21.5 million people have been forcibly displaced by weather-related events such as floods, storms, wildfires and extreme temperatures. There are severe water shortages and food crises, exacerbated by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
The climate crisis particularly affects those already experiencing inequality, discrimination and exclusion. Under Germany’s co-leadership, the CSW recognised the impact of climate change on women in the Agreed Conclusions of the CSW66. The document also provides an important roadmap on how to move towards integrating a gender perspective into relevant policies, expanding gender-responsive finance, enhancing data collection, and fostering a gender-responsive, just transition.
Providing opportunities for women and marginalised groups to participate in decision-making can contribute to the development and implementation of efficient and long-lasting climate-resilient policies.
Together with acclaimed experts, we will discuss the following questions: How can a feminist foreign policy contribute to a foreign climate policy? What are the aims and practical implications of a feminist climate policy? How can the normative conclusions and roadmap of the CSW66 be translated into concrete action? How can Parties better integrate the issue of gender into nationally determined contributions and national climate change policies, plans, strategies and action? What are potential challenges, and how might they be addressed?
Berlin Correspondences Special
The war in Ukraine has contributed to a discussion on what a feminist peace and security policy can look like in times of armament and conflict.
In a dialogue between politicians and artists, the event will consider what role feminist foreign policy plays in these times of war in Europe. Voices from Eastern and Central Europe as well as from Africa will then discuss why feminism is repeatedly used as an irritant in the cultural war between (Western) modernity and (Russian) tradition often proclaimed by Putin and his consorts. Another important question is what Putin's war of aggression means from a feminist point of view: What gender relations are affected by war? How can feminism contribute to different, more forward-looking, de-escalating and more humane politics? How can art and literature give a voice to those who often remain mute in the news?
The evening is intended to be an intense and deep discussion of the challenges and possibilities of feminist practice in institutions and politics. Finally, the discussion will be opened for questions from the audience.
Guests:
The discussion will be moderated by Ralf Beste, Director-General for Culture and Society, Federal Foreign Office.
Venue: Allianz Forum (Pariser Platz 6, just next to the Brandenburg Gate)
Time: 7.00 – 8.30 p.m., 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Get-together (finger food and drinks)
Language: German with simultaneous translation into English
Luise Amtsberg has studied Islamic Studies, Political Science and Protestant Theology and she wrote her master's thesis in Israel and Palestine, on the topic of feminism in Islam using the example of the Palestinian women's movement. Her political career began back in 2009, when she joined the state parliament in Schleswig-Holstein for the Green Party. Since 2013, Luise Amtsberg has been a member of the German Bundestag and was the spokesperson for refugee policy and also represented the Bundestag parliamentary group in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. In the current legislative period, she is a member of the Committee on Culture and Media, as well as the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid.
Katja Petrowskaja grew up in Kiev, studied literature and Slavic studies in Estonia, received scholarships to further her education at Stanford University, and earned her doctorate in Moscow. She has lived in Berlin since 1999. She has worked as a journalist for Russian and German media, including the taz, NZZ and Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. She is a significant contemporary literary voice and has often used her influence in recent months to draw attention to the global dimension of the Ukraine war. The topics of her books range from pogroms, expulsions and the Holocaust, to socialism and communism, and are intended to fight against forgetting.
Jasmila Žbanić was born in Sarajevo. She received her education at the Academy of Arts in Sarajevo and went to the USA in 1995. Then she returned to Sarajevo in 1997 and founded the film production company "Deblokada". Today Jasmila Žbanić lives most of the time in Berlin. With her debut film "Esma's Secret", the filmmaker won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2006 and in 2021, she was a member of the competition jury herself. Her film “Quo Vadis, Aida?” was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2021. Jasmila Žbanić is also politically engaged, she is a member of the Democracy in Europe 2025 (DiEM25) movement founded in 2016 and a signatory of the Declaration on the Common Language of Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins published in 2017.
Dr. Simone Wisotzki studied Political Science, English Studies and History at the University of Frankfurt and has been active at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt since 2001. Her expertise covers, among other, women in conflict situations and gender aspects in post-conflict societies, security sector reform, arms control within international humanitarian law, nuclear weapons policy. She currently works on the implementation of measures connected to the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Women – Peace - Security, the contestations and backlashes of gender equality in peacebuilding and the crisi/es of arms control.
Ralf Beste is the Director-General for Culture and Society at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, overlooking the areas of cultural and educational policy as well as public diplomacy. From 2019 to February 2022 Ralf served as German Ambassador to the Republic of Austria. Other roles since joining the Federal Foreign Office in 2014 include the position as Director for Strategic Communication and Head of the Policy Planning Staff. Prior, Ralf worked as correspondent for different newspapers and magazines, among them Der Spiegel for 13 years.