Breaking the silos: Why international policies should link climate, gender and conflict and how Feminist Foreign Policy can be a driver of this change

 

The climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity reinforce the context in which armed conflict can occur; crop failure, water scarcity and pollution weigh on a society. The climate and biodiversity crises and related armed conflicts exacerbate existing gender inequalities. Conversely, gender inequality, whereby women, men and gender non-conforming persons do not have equal access to food, water, and natural resources, is also a root cause of armed conflict. The nexus between the climate crisis, conflict and gender requires a holistic perspective on foreign policy. It requires rethinking current (power) structures in policy making focusing on the viewpoint of people in vulnerable positions and the most marginalized, yet also recognizing the powerful role women in all their diversity play in climate and security solutions. The only solution for robust climate-, gender- and conflict policy coherence is having a Feminist Foreign Policy. During our interactive event our speakers will draw attention to the urgency of breaking the silos in international policies on climate, gender and conflict. Speakers will include activists from the Global South, representatives of INGOs and interventions from the Dutch Government. The second part of the session will require inputs from you, the audience. This is where we explore how a Feminist Foreign Policy could support breaking silo thinking in international policies and enable sustainable change.