Since 2021, Germany has belonged to the group of states with a foreign feminist policy and / or development. After the collapse of the Traffic Light Coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals in November 2024, a first federal election brought a change of government earlier this year. Winner of the majority of votes, the Conservatives (CDU / CSU) have now formed a coalition with the Social Democrats. Their recently published coalition agreement does not explicitly refer to a foreign feminist or development policy. Even if the coalition agreement is not a binding document and must always be ratified by the CDU and the Social Democrats, this gives an indication of the government’s plans for the next four years – and these plans do not seem to include a feminist approach.
This reflects larger global trends: since 2022, at least four states have – more or less discreetly – retracted their feminist foreign policies (Sweden, Luxembourg, Argentina, Netherlands). Each time, this occurred after the federal elections that strengthened central-right forces. Other states, such as Canada, have been significantly silent on the subsequent development of their feminist foreign policies. Now it seems that the new German government has abandoned the feminist label.
What does this mean for the future feminist approaches to German foreign policy? Will political content remain sticky, despite the apparent absence of the feminist label? Or can we expect the feminist foreign policy to be retracted in its entirety?
Foreign and development feminist policy was adopted by the previous administration in December 2021, in the coalition agreement of social democratic, green and liberal political parties. The Federal Foreign Office German, led by the Greens, and the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, led by the Social Democrats, were responsible for developing politics. In March 2023, the two ministries published strategy documents. The guidelines on feminist foreign policy follow the Swedish approach of the three Rs and undertake to strengthen the rights, resources and representation of women and marginalized groups in all areas of German foreign policy. They also include measures to increase the internal diversity of the ministry as well as the financing of humanitarian aid objectives. The feminist development policy is structured around the five elements of human rights, a transformative gender approach, intersectionality, a post-colonial and anti-racist approach and the construction of alliance. He also undertakes to promote the three Rs through his portfolio.
Above all, foreign and development feminist policy was not policies across the government. Instead, they were products from individual ministries, each strategy referring to a single department and its political responsibility. This maintains the silosage of German policy in discreet ministries, underlined by the fact that the Federal Foreign Office and the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development are generally led by various political parties with different political priorities. This weakened the feminist approach and made it less coherent; In particular because the previous German administration has never understood as a feminist government.
In addition, the two ministries had little time to integrate foreign and development feminist policy, despite a longer German commitment to promote gender equality in foreign affairs. During the two years which followed the publication of strategy documents, there has been progress, such as the introduction of the budgeting between the sexes and the expansion of gender -sensitive projects. However, the feminist foreign policy in particular had little impact on the crucial decisions of foreign policy. For example, the German government continues to support Israel with exports of arms despite clear indications that Israel commits a genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Since the attack on Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of whom are women and children. Germany has also agreed with a reform of the common European asylum system in 2023, which should considerably increase human rights violations, including gendered and sexualized violence as well as deaths, at European borders. And even if the German government supports refugees, as in the case of Ukraine, the measures often do not target the needs of specifically women and queer people. The implementation of feminist principles in foreign affairs seems to be already uneven.
This does not seem to be good for the future of German feminist and development policy. However, a feminist approach will not necessarily disappear entirely. The question of whether feminist approaches remain depends on the question of whether and how the Federal Foreign Office and the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development continue to implement at least some of their strategies.
The Federal Foreign Office will be led by the conservative political party, which previously indicated that it does not support a feminist label. For the first time since 1966, the same political party will also hold the Chancellery. As such, the infomers of the conservatives on German foreign policy will probably increase. In this context, conservation at least certain feminist principles can be summed up in the implementation of existing international law such as the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW) and the agenda of women, peace and security (WPS), both key ingredients of feminist foreign policy. In particular, the coalition agreement includes a commitment to strengthen Cedaw and WPS. In addition, the Federal Foreign Office can rely on working methods established around the work of equality, diversity and inclusion as well as commitments of individual staff to feminist principles. Given the complexity and geographically dispersion of the German diplomatic service, diplomats can continue with at least part of their feminist work despite a change in government policy.
The Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development will remain in the hands of the Social Democrats. If Svenja Schulze retains her position as minister, it seems likely that she would like to continue to implement the policy of feminist development, since it was launched by it and the judgment, this can point out a political failure. However, the maintenance of the feminist label for German development policy may not be easy in the current political climate. Although the coalition agreement undertakes to support health and sexual reproduction rights as well as on women’s rights, it also highlights German security issues and strategic interests, including economic cooperation, access to raw materials and migration management. However, the ministry will probably continue to apply a feminist approach to their work.
What’s going on? Once the coalition is confirmed by the CDU and the members of the social democrats, the cabinet will be trained and the new government will begin their work. The use of the feminist label for the German foreign and development policy then becomes a question of political will. If the label is removed from the two political areas, a gender equality program can always be preserved, at least in the fields where there is a binding international law or an individual commitment to feminist principles. For example, the Federal Foreign Office should develop a new WPS national action plan while the previous one expired in 2024. This opens opportunities to maintain or introduce feminist principles. However, the strong emphasis on the military, defense infrastructure and migration management will also lead to discounts in other areas, including diplomacy, humanitarian aid and development cooperation. Getting away from a distinctly feminist approach would therefore mean moving away from a commitment to social transformation.
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