Event: Understanding Feminist Foreign Policy
How can feminist foreign policy advance participation of women in all their diversity in politics and peace processes? How can gender-based violence be prevented and eliminated? Is Finland's foreign policy already feminist?
To help answer these questions and feed the discussion around feminist foreign policy in Finland, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto called together an international conference on advancing gender equality through (feminist) foreign policy.
The conference took place at House of the Estates in Helsinki, Finland on 16 November 2022.
Although Finland does not explicitly frame its foreign policy as feminist, gender equality has been a key priority in Finland’s foreign policy for years. As the term feminist foreign policy has gained more international traction and many countries have adopted feminist foreign policy or diplomacy, Finland wants to contribute to this discussion and also learn from the others.
The conference brought together high-level policy makers and experts to discuss and share lessons learned on advancing gender equality through foreign policy. The conference aimed at a better understanding of the concept and value added of feminist foreign policy.
- See the programme (pdf)
In addition, an independent review of the realisation of gender equality in Finland’s foreign policy was presented at the conference. The review was carried out at the initiative of Foreign Minister Haavisto.