On June 29 and 30, Mongolia’s Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh hosted foreign ministers from France, Germany, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, and South Africa as well as representatives from international organizations in Ulaanbaatar. They discussed issues related to gender equality, including ways to tackle the climate crisis and food insecurity, resulting in the “Ulaanbaatar Declaration.” Mongolia, which recently joined the “Feminist Foreign Policy Plus Group” at the United Nations – an alliance of countries engaging in the topic – says it will hereby contribute to promoting feminist and gender transformative approaches to multilateralism and foreign policy.
Feminist foreign policy wants to strengthen the rights, resources, and representation of women and marginalized groups, in the proven knowledge that more inclusive decision-making leads to more sustainable diplomatic and peace processes. Germany’s government became the seventh country to commit to a feminist foreign policy (FFP) in late 2021. Since then, more states have announced their commitments, including Chile and the Netherlands.
They have joined a reform-minded club – one that promotes a sharp new understanding of security that puts the interests of people, rather than states, at the center. For governments, this means aiming at status quo assumptions, national interests, and relations with other states. While FFP’s implementation and focus may vary from state to state, it is still a commitment to fundamental transformation.
Read the full article at The Diplomat, accessible here.
