FFP Community Festival

 

 

The idea of a community festival emerged from the survey we conducted among our members and partners of proposals submitted for the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs' Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy Conference on 1 - 2 November 2023. This demonstrated a great enthusiasm and need for more collaboration and networking opportunities around FFP.

 

Below you will find more details about the program, or you can download the schedule here. 

 

Click here for all the locations in The Hague where the FBB Community Festival events take place. A map is also included in the downloadable schedule linked above.

The Feminist Foreign Policy Community Festival kicked off at WO=MEN with a very interesting interactive panel discussion between the Ukraine Government Commissioner for Gender Policy and a number of outspoken Ukrainian women activists (details on the panel here). They discussed the need for a genuine gender lens in a post-war recovery strategy for Ukraine and ended with a Q&A with the audience.

The session discussed the currently planned Ukraine post-war recovery strategy and addressed the important need to include a local perspective as well as a gender/ intersectional perspective. This is in line with Ukraine’s strategy to localise the women, peace and security agenda and their regional National Action Plans 1325. We explored how a feminist foreign policy can support such a strategy. Concrete recommendations were formulated to inform Ukrainian and international stakeholders working on post-conflict recovery settings.

Read the blogpost on this panel discussion here

 
At a moment when feminist movements are both making important gains and also facing increasing threats around the world, it is critical for Feminist Foreign Policies to deliver meaningful support to those at the forefront of advancing gender equality and human rights: namely, autonomous feminist movements, particularly those led by structurally excluded communities. This community dialogue unpacked the politics of resourcing, examined recent funding trends, and explored participatory and transformative approaches to funding inclusive feminist movements well - abundantly, flexibly, and sustainably – as a strategy to deliver on the ambitions of FFP and to collectively move us closer to more just, joyful, liberated futures. 
 
Queering Feminist Foreign Policy 
By COC & Hivos, 09.30 – 11.00h, hosted by Hivos. 

 

It is a misconception feminism is about women. Patriarchal norms affect us all. The queer community is disproportionately affected by restrictive norms and policies regulating their love and life. For FFPs to truly reach system change, we must look at the challenges faced by those furthest left behind. The workshop equipped participants with insights and understanding of how FFP affects the queer movement, as well how a queered implementation of the FFP can aid the fight for equal rights for all.  

 

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. Natural resources are becoming scarcer. Disasters and conflict are on the rise. People forced to flee have doubled in the past 10 years to more than 108 million people. Civic space is shrinking, and organisations working on gender equity and women's rights are in many contexts the first to be under attack. In an era marked by unprecedented complexities, the Triple Nexus+ represents a visionary approach that encourages us to integrate humanitarian aid, development, peacebuilding, climate action, and gender equality. We explored the synergies and innovations at the intersection of these critical domains, forging new insights and understanding to navigate a more sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and gender-sensitive world. How can we combine forces to better address the most pressing issues of our time?

 

 

In recent years, an increasing number of countries have adopted National Action Plans on the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 and the Women, Peace, and Security framework. At the same time, an increasing number of countries have adopted Feminist Foreign Policies (FFPs) that aim to address gender inclusion in peace and security. Yet, without a common definition for FFP, these normative frameworks are widely viewed as parallel processes that are not fully integrated through international cooperation in addressing conflict and crises. This interactive workshop was based on the premise that the WPS framework and FFP are, and must be, mutually reinforcing. As we move toward stronger localization of humanitarian action and advance gender-responsive approaches to peace and security, we face critical questions about how FFP can advance localization through increasing support for women’s and feminist civil society organizations and movements. Our session took a critical view of the humanitarian assistance architecture and challenge participants to consider how the twin imperatives of localization and the promotion of gender-responsive peace, security and conflict prevention mechanisms can be further developed.

 
FFP in Security Policy and Practice: How to Centre Human Security, Demilitarization and Disarmament? 
By PAX, SIHA, Women Now & WILPF, 11.30 – 13.00h, hosted at The Grey Space in the Middle.

 
Whose security is central? While defence spending soars in Europe and throughout the world, there are a growing number of states adopting a Feminist Foreign Policy. What actions are needed to centre peace and security in Feminist Foreign Policy and what are the implications of security policies? This session moved from discussing demilitarisation abstractly towards implementation of FFP principles and commitments. Concrete actions and reforms are needed, shaped by and grounded in the realities of conflict affected communities. During the session, panellists and attendees enterde into conversation together, discussing crucial questions and formulating actions needed to advance Peace and Security through Feminist Foreign Policy.   
 
Read the PAX blog on their session here

Feminist Foreign Policy theory and trade-offs  
By Cordaid, WIPC & The Broker, 11.30 – 13.00h, hosted by Cordaid. 

 
The workshop looked at FFP policy theory and trade-offs, leverage points within the specific country contexts of South Sudan and Afghanistan. This workshop will be used for research reflecting on the realities of implementing Feminist Foreign Policy in fragile and conflict affected contexts.    
 
Walking the Talk - centering Majority World voices and experiences in FFP monitoring and accountability 
By Hivos, Equipop, Restless Development & Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy, 11.30 – 13.00h, hosted by Hivos.

 
Any FFP aims to concretely and practically bring a feminist perspective to foreign policies, practices and funding. To assess whether a FFP indeed lives up to these expectations, it is essential to understand if and how it contributes to positive changes in the lives of women and LGBTIQ+ persons in practice. FFP monitoring and accountability mechanisms therefore need to center the experiences and voices from a diversity of Majority World feminists. This session generated ideas and practical proposals on how this can be achieved. This will allow for better monitoring of the real results and impact of a FFP, to understand its results and to propose changes to optimize its impact.  

Read the HIVOS blog on their session here

 

 

In this session we discussed what difference Feminist Foreign Policies are making and what opportunities they provide to address gender-based violence more effectively. Then we zoomed in on what needs to be done to change harmful gender norms which underpin inequality and violence. We explored how men and boys can be involved as allies of and advocates for transformative change. How can we engage men without shrinking the space for women and decentering their needs? How can we engage men and boys in a way that makes gender inequality their priority?

 

By Our Voices Our Futures (OVOF) consortium, CREA, UHAI, 13.30 - 15.00h, hosted at Grey Space in the Middle.
 

This session was all about discussing theory and practice of using arts in activism: artivism. OVOF focuses on creating space to hear the voices of structurally silenced and excluded communities. How are different art forms used in online and offline spaces to amplify voices and make real change? The audience had the opportunity to interact with two amazing artivists from India and Uganda to learn from their realities, strategies and their work.

 

Programme:
- Interactive panel conversation moderated by Mercy Otekra (UHAI-EASHRI, Kenya) with feminist film maker and writer Shabani Hassanwalia (The Third Eye, India) and activist poet and author Juliet Kushaba (ArtVism, Uganda).  Artivism in action using poetry and painting guided by Juliet Kushaba 

 
Feminist Foreign Policy: Questions and Discussion

This session formed an opportunity to workshop questions (big and small) on feminist foreign policy before the Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy conference began. This interactive session surfaced key questions (there is no such thing as a dumb question) and then crowdsourced possible responses. Were there questions that arose during the day of the FFP Community Festival or are there questions that have remained unanswered for far too long? What would help you prepare for the official conference? What keeps going around and around in your brain? We may not find all the answers, but together we can advance our thinking.
 
Implementing a Feminist Foreign Policy: The role of women faith actors 
By Mensen met een Missie, Tearfund & Faith to Action Network, 13.30 – 15.00h, hosted by Cordaid.

 
Panel discussion on the role of women faith actors in the implementation of a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) with representatives of different sectors: Grassroots practitioners from various countries, Academics, Government, European External Action Service, and the Dutch Parliament. With all representatives we discussed their view on: how they see the role of women faith actors in implementing a FFP; how inclusion and participation of women faith actors in local peace and security processes can be strengthened; how grassroots and international efforts can join together to strengthen the implementation of a FFP.     
 
The future is now! The road to meaningful & inclusive youth participation as a core principle in FFP 
By Amref Flying Doctors & Restless Development, 13.30 – 15.00h, hosted by Hivos. 
 
The Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) recognises the critical and active role that young people can play in advancing global gender equality and women's rights. In this session, our aim was to explore the practical implementation of Meaningful & Inclusive Youth Participation (MIYP) within the context of FFP. We facilitated an exploratory dialogue with a panel of young feminists (of different genders) actively promoting gender equality. They discussed practical examples of enhancing MIYP within FFP, shared successful approaches and addressed challenges that require adjustment.  
 
Feminist Foreign Policy made sexy  
By SekswerkExpertise, SWAD, 13.30 – 15.00h, hosted by Hivos.  
 
The Dutch FFP promises intersectionality. How are, and how should sex workers be involved in Feminist Foreign Policy to truly deliver on its promises? Sex worker rights activists, academics and their supporters weighed in and informed an audience on how to take a stand together to ensure equal rights, meaningful participation and sufficient resources for one the most marginalized communities in focus of FFP. 

 

 

In this session, we discussed the root causes of conflict, militarised masculinities, and its links to gender persecution through the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)’s novel analysis and pathways for change, including the role men allies can play in supporting women’s rights movements in dismantling gender persecution and towards sustainable feminist peace. Based on the experiences of women’s rights activists from Afghanistan and Yemen, the session looked at discovering possibilities, challenges, and implications of concrete step towards and ambitious and creative feminist foreign policy, a policy that effectively protects the human rights of women. The session commenced by showing the WILPF documentary Power on Patrol: the Making and Unmaking of Militarised Masculinities in Afghanistan.

Read the WILPF blog on their session here

 

Corporate engagement as a strategy for actioning the trade and aid agenda
By Women Win, 15.30 - 17.00h, hosted by Hivos.

The private sector plays a crucial role in actioning our trade and aid agenda, including the strategy around the Feminist Foreign Policy. Women Win believes in the power of partnership between Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the private sector for advancing women's economic empowerment and has been supporting CSOs globally to influence the corporate agenda and co-create impactful interventions in partnership with businesses. We also know that cross-sectoral collaboration is not always easy. This workshop focused on exploring the potential of collaborating with the private sector, offered practical tools, and demonstrated how this can effectively support Gender-Responsive Human Rights Due Diligence.

 

By Our Voices Our Futures (OVOF), CREA, The Third Eye, 15.30 - 16.30h, hosted at Grey Space in the Middle.

 

Raat: Night Time In Small Town India encapsulates the experiences and events of the night in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. Men and women from the three states set forth, armed with a camera to witness and record small town India at night. What does one really see at night?
*The film is in Hindi with English subtitles.

 

"More than arriving at a film, for us, Raat was a process of understanding and internalizing that time, and the act of claiming it for oneself, is a political act. Negotiating our realities within the everyday, is a political act.” – The Third Eye

 

Book Event with Stephenie Foster: "Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and in Practice"
By WO=MEN, 15.30 – 17.00h, hosted by Hivos.

Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and in Practice outlines the foundations of feminist foreign policy and the fundamental concepts discussed and utilized by governments, civil society organizations, and those in the academic community as they define, formulate, and implement it. The book furthers the global conversation around how countries can develop and execute approaches to foreign policy and national security that go beyond conflict prevention and resolution and use a feminist or gendered lens. 

 

At the FFP Community Festival, one of the authors Stephenie Foster was live to present her book, talk about implementation of feminist foreign, development, and trade policies at the multilateral and national levels; and answer all of your questions. Foster is co-founder of Smash Strategies, former Senior Advisor/Counselor to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, and Senior Advisor to the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, U.S. Department of State, and former Professorial Lecturer and Executive-in-Residence at the American University Women & Politics Institute. Moderated by Marene Elgershuizen.  

 

It was an evening of fun, food & feminism at the Grey Space in the Middle. With the ever-dazzling quiz master Quirine Lengkeek and a thrilling jury to ensure fairness abides people joined a team to compete for great prizes and the ultimate title of Feminist Foreign Policy Quiz Champion. People enjoyed food, drinks, live performances and the great atmosphere. 

 

After the quiz the feminist silent disco hit it off with music from around the world - because as Emma Goldman said: "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution".

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Questions? Get in touch with Programme Manager Political Coordination, Anika Snel. 

 

Please note: We are not involved in organising the Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy Conference of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You can find more information about that conference here. Of course we - and many of our members and partners - will engage in that conference and you will be able to find us at the market place.