SEESAC Gives Its Contribution to Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy

SEESAC’s Project Officer for Gender and Research, Mr Dragan Božanić, took part in the conference Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy organised by the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin on 12 September 2022. He took part in the workshop Gender and Small Arms and shared SEESAC’s experiences and good practices from South East Europe, focusing particularly on the ongoing efforts to mainstream gender in the operational small arms control.

The event brought together ministers of foreign affairs and representatives of international organisations, the public sector, civil society, and academia to discuss opportunities and challenges for a feminist foreign policy approach and its role in securing peace, stability, and prosperity.

During the conference, a series of high-level expert workshops were held to discuss practical aspects of shaping feminist foreign policy – ranging from gender budgeting to strengthening accountability for conflict-related sexual violence and integrating the gender perspective in small arms control.

At the workshops, the participants shared lessons learned and best practices in respective fields but also identified possible responses and concrete next steps to tackle current challenges from a feminist foreign policy perspective.

The conference’s high-level political segment was opened by German Federal Foreign Minister, Ms Annalena Baerbock, who highlighted the importance of feminist foreign policy in the context of current security challenges.  During the panel which brought together ministers of interior of Albania, Luxemburg, Norway, Rwanda, and Sweden different experiences in the implementation of feminist foreign policy were discussed.