On the sidelines of the 67th Commission on the Status of Women, the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative will hold its official launch at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice.
Event speakers. From left to right, Spogmay Ahmed (FFPC Senior Policy Advisor), Memory Kachambwa (FEMNET Executive Director), Monica Aleman (Ford Foundation International Drogram Director for Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice), Her Excellency Mrs. Evelyna C. Wever-Croes (Prime Minister of Aruba), and Dr. Cristopher Ballinas Valdés (Director General for Human Rights and Democracy, Mexican MFA).
We welcomed government and civil society partners from around the world to celebrate the launch of the Collaborative and hear remarks from six incredible speakers, pictured above.
Our Founder and CEO, Lyric Thompson, kicked off the evening’s remarks. She thanked everyone near and far who helped write the herstory of The Collaborative and all who will work with us to advance feminist foreign policy around the world!
Monica Aleman of the Ford Foundation expressed her belief in the power of feminist foreing policy, and her belief in the leadership of the Collaborative in advancing the field.
Christopher Ballinas Valdés shared why he joined our Circle of Advisors and what motivated him to work with the Global Partner Network for Feminist Foreign Policy, one of two coalitions that the Collaborative supports.
Executive Director of FEMNET, Memory Kachambwa, shared her hopes for the movement, challenging us saying that “We have to be brave to push FFP whilst everyone talks about foreign policy, trade, economics, debt, it’s being framed in a very masculine hegemonic way. We, as feminists, are putting together tools and building feminist tools which can disrupt the powers, which can disrupt inequality, which can create peace.”
PM of Aruba Evelyna C. Wever-Croes shared her belief that feminist foreign policy is essential to capture the experiences and challenges faced by women, minorities and small island states in the face of climate change.
Finally, our Senior Policy Advisor, Spogmay Ahmed, reminded us that the launch of the Collaborative is as much a celebration of all we’ve achieved through feminist foreign policy as it is a toast to all we’ll accomplish together.
Guests enjoying snacks and good conversation.
The room was full of energy and excitement for the collective work that is yet to come!
Thank you to all who joined us for this wonderful night. We are grateful to partner with you for people, peace and planet.