Conference • Prague
Feminist Approaches to Foreign Policy in Central Europe: Challenges, Insights, and the Road Ahead
The final output of our project is a joint conference that serves as a culmination of our efforts. The written report containing recommendations, best practices, and insights gathered from the 4 previous meetings will be introduced at this event.
Although women constitute half of the population, their participation in the implementation of foreign, European and security policy in the V4 countries is disproportionately low compared to men. The more strategic the position, the fewer women hold it. Despite substantial progress in recent decades, the representation of female expert voices has been neither sufficient nor fair. Even more importantly, we need to take a closer look at whether representation is really meaningful and not just a formality, to tackle the actual content and goals of foreign policy, including critical reflection of basic concepts – for example, what we consider security to mean. It is important to remember to address the latter issue, since it would be incorrect to assume that ensuring the equal representation of women will automatically lead to a more feminist foreign policy. Last but not least, this year's 25th anniversary of UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security offers a good opportunity to reflect on the extent to which it is succeeding in including women and other marginalised groups in foreign and security policy practice.
The goal of the conference is three-fold:
- to discuss the experience with implementing feminist approaches from selected countries, and to present examples of good practice as well as lessons learned;
- to provide a platform for identifying obstacles to implementing these principles in the countries of Central Europe and to find inspiration for overcoming them, starting with the question of the representation of women in the fields of foreign and security policy, but also addressing the implementation of feminist and intersectional approaches into Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak foreign policy;
- to inspire commitment among V4 stakeholders and pave the way for concrete progress in achieving gender equality and adopting feminist-oriented measures in foreign policy.
The conference will bring together policymakers, government representatives, academics, think-tank experts, and civil society organizations engaged in the field of foreign and security policy and gender issues.
This conference is a closing event of the international project, "Connecting networks of women in foreign, European, and security policy, across the V4 states", which focuses at exploring the challenges and opportunities of adopting feminist foreign policy within the V4 countries. As part of this initiative, the conference will present a comprehensive report featuring recommendations, best practices, and insights gathered from a series of four preceding meetings of female foreign policy professionals in the V4 countries.
The working language is English.
Program
08:30 - 09:00: Registration
9:00 - 9:15: Welcoming Remarks
- Pavlína Janebová, Association of International Affairs
- Klaus Linsenmeier, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague
- Kamila Xenie Vetišková, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
9:15 - 10:45: Session 1: Global Perspectives & Experience: Feminist Foreign Policy - How and where does it work or does it not? / Applied in Practice
- Moderated panel debate with experts focused on studying feminist foreign policy approaches, assessing examples of good as well as bad practice from selected countries.
- Daniela Philipson García, Monash University (online)
- Niklas Balbon, The Global Public Policy Institute
- Sheena Anderson, Political scientist and feminist activist & organizer
- moderation: Ondřej Horký Hlucháň, Institute for International Relations
10:45 - 11:15: Coffee break
11:15 - 12:15: Session 2: Is Foreign Policy in the V4 a Man’s World?
- Introduction of a report containing recommendations, positive examples, and insights from the V4 countries by Pavlína Janebová, Association of International Affairs
- Introduction of the discussion paper “Principles of feminist foreign policy in the Czech Republic: Insights from practise and possible strategies” by Míla O’Sullivan and Ondřej Horký Hlucháň, Institute for International Relations
- Followed by a moderated debate – both questions and comments from the audience
- Moderation: Kateřina Boťová, Heinrich Böll Stiftung Prague
12:30 - 13:30: Lunch
13:30 - 15:00: Session 3: Navigating the Road to Feminist Foreign Policy in the V4
- Moderated panel debate with experts from the V4 countries
- Recommendations and specific steps, strategies, initiatives to keep gender equality at the centre of focus when forming as well as applying feminist foreign policy approaches in practice among the V4 countries.
- Lucia Yar, Member of the European Parliament (online)
- Aleksandra Gasztold, University of Warsaw
- Dóra Csernus, Equilibrium Institute
- Moderation: Pavlína Janebová, Association of International Affairs
By bringing together relevant V4 stakeholders as an audience of this conference and engaging them in the debates (including policymakers, government representatives, think-tankers, academics, and civil society organizations), we plan to raise awareness of this topic, and motivate them to implement the concrete recommendations in their daily work and in the areas they are able to influence.
https://www.amo.cz/en/connecting-networks-of-women-in-foreign-european-and-security-policy-across-the-v4-states/
