What is Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP]?

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is one of the commissions of the ECOSOC, an organ of the United Nations. In the year 2020, the CSW chose India as a member, whereby it will work with other nations until 2025.

This membership will give the country a confidence boost and give the chance to establish itself as a supporter of women's rights.

The Importance of a Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP]

The country now needs to work on a Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP] framework to move in this direction. This framework was first introduced in 2014 by Sweden though its roots can be traced back to the 1980s.

After this, other countries like Germany, France, Canada, and Mexico also followed the path, either by adopting a Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP] or a gendered approach to policymaking.

Significance & Need of a Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP]

As a non-permanent UNSC member and after the recent election to the UN Commission, India gets to play a significant role in the area.

Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP] requires a nation to practice and promote gender equality to make sure women can enjoy their rights even through diplomatic relations.

FFP is essentially a political framework built on three principles of the feminist perspectives of security and diplomacy, including acknowledgement of women's political agency, decoding internal power relations, and widening the understanding of security.

Feminist Foreign Policy is a nation's effort to rise beyond the conventional notions of peace, war, and development models to incorporate areas of foreign policy like health, finance, environment, and economics.

This way, the framework adopts a more holistic approach to security and works on the effects of policies on the experiences of women and marginalized groups. This framework is a response to the monopoly enjoyed by men for centuries in matters of foreign relations and diplomacy.

Implications of a Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP]

Adopting a Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP] can help India progress toward the goal of setting up a framework based on peace, equality, and well-being. Such a framework would provide opportunities to break existing barriers to female participation in the country's decision-making.

A Feminist Foreign Policy framework tailored to the context of India would help it get a fresh perspective on foreign policy and boost its efforts for social and economic progress.

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The World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report

This is a tough challenge as it has ranked 140 of the 156 nations covered in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report' in 2021.

This index is based on four factors, out of which political participation has the biggest gap across the world. Only 26% of the parliamentary seats are held by women in the countries. India represents a widening gap as it has 14.4% women seats in parliament.

These figures demonstrate the need for a gendered approach to the policy objectives. This implies going beyond domestic policies and the development of women to include areas of foreign policy, trade, security, finance, and economics.

FAQs on Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP]

Q.1 Which nations have a Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP]?

Countries like France, Sweden, Canada, Mexico, and Germany have a Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP] framework in place.

Q.2 When talking about Feminist Foreign Policies, who was the first feminist in India?

While talking about Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP], The famous social reformer Savitribai Phule was one of the pioneers of the feminist movement in India.

Q.3 With regard to Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP], who topped the 2021 WEF Gender Gap Report?

Iceland has ranked first on the Global Gender Gap Report of WEF in 2021, clearly marked as a leader when it comes to the Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP].

Q.4 With regard to Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP], what was India's rank in the Gender Gap Index in 2020?

India ranked 112th in the 2020 Global Gender Gap Index, which included 153 nations, signalling a long road ahead to truly understand and undertake a Feminist Foreign Policy [FFP].