PRESS RELEASE: Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative Launches Visiting Fellow Program
The program brings senior leaders in feminist foreign policy to research, convene, reflect and engage on challenges and solutions
Disponible en español.
WASHINGTON (July 16, 2024) The Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative has launched a Visiting Fellows Program to provide a platform for senior leaders in feminist foreign policy at a time when these policies are being rolled back. Despite exponential growth in the adoption of feminist foreign policies globally over the last decade, the rise of right-wing governments in historically progressive countries has threatened these efforts and endangered women’s rights. This initiative brings together some of the world’s most brilliant minds in this field to research, convene, reflect and engage on today’s key challenges and investigate potential solutions.
The Collaborative is a shared space for feminists working across government, civil society and philanthropy to collectively strategize and advance feminist approaches to foreign policy. The Visiting Fellows Program was launched at the recent III Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy in Mexico City and is designed to strengthen the implementation of feminist foreign policy between international forums.
The inaugural class of fellows will feature former Argentine Ambassador for Feminist Foreign Policy and current President of Feminists Without Borders, Marita Perceval, and former Equality Fund Vice President for Policy, Beth Woroniuk. Together, they will investigate key issues facing the field today, such as maintaining the sustainability of feminist foreign policy achievements and securing adequate, sustained funding for gender equality in a budget-constrained environment.
“The purpose of the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative’s Visiting Fellows Program is to give some of the brightest minds in the business the space to conduct focused work on feminist foreign policy without the burden of institutional agendas and to seed the ground for progressive policymaking when political winds are more favorable,” said Lyric Thompson, Founder and CEO of the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative. “We welcome our initial class of fellows to the Visiting Fellows Program and look forward to working with them to generate and assemble new ideas for the future.”
The Visiting Fellows program will host two fellows annually, hailing from the Global North, the Global South, government and the feminist movements. These individuals will implement a stream of work influencing relevant current and future policies. The program will create opportunities for exchange and public discussion surrounding feminist foreign policy led by seasoned thinkers and leaders. Their expertise will contribute significantly to the field and will help advance feminist foreign policy objectives.
Included in the initial class as a Senior Fellow is Ms. Perceval. She focuses on regional efforts in Latin America and the sustainability of feminist foreign policy. Her background includes serving as Special Representative for Feminist Foreign Policy of the Argentine Republic from 2023-24. Previously, she served as Secretary of Equality and Diversity Policies of the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity of the Argentine Republic from 2021 to 2022. In this role, she oversaw the coordination of the XV Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean ECLAC-UN Women. She is also the First Female Permanent Representative of the Argentine. Republic to the United Nations. Ms. Perceval’s fellowship follows Argentina’s dramatic shift from being the first Latin American country to ever convene on feminist foreign policy to electing Javier Milei as President. Mr. Milei has opposed feminist policies, abortion rights and immediately dissolved the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity upon taking office.
“My home country of Argentina is currently facing an unprecedented assault on gender equality, human rights and the rules-based order," said Ms. Perceval. “As a Senior Fellow, I am eager to support the crucial work of preserving progress and sustaining the feminist foreign policy movement throughout Latin America and globally.”
Ms. Woroniuk focuses her work on feminist foreign policy debates, resourcing and Canada’s feminist international assistance policy. She has over 35 years of experience working to advance gender justice and feminist approaches to policymaking as an analyst, activist, and advisor. Ms. Woroniuk has been a key player in Canadian FFP debates, notably within the W7 planning group, also known as the Women’s 7, an engagement group for the G7. She co-founded the Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada and is a Working Group Co-Chair of the Collaborative’s Global Partner Network for Feminist Foreign Policy. “With the Summit for the Future this September and Canada hosting the G7 next year, we have valuable opportunities to advance the feminist foreign policy agenda," said Ms. Woroniuk. “The Visiting Fellows program provides a strategic platform to connect with other inspiring leaders in government and civil society.”
To join the growing cohort of funders supporting our Senior Fellows, please click the button below.
About The Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative:
The Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative (the Collaborative) is a shared space for feminists working across government, civil society and philanthropy to collectively strategize and advance feminist approaches to foreign policy. The Collaborative works in a secretariat capacity, supporting the work of two coalitions: the Global Partner Network for Feminist Foreign Policy and the Coalition for a Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States. The Global Partner Network for Feminist Foreign Policy (the Global Partner Network) is an informal body of more than 80 organizations and governments working on feminist foreign policy around the world; the Coalition for a Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States (the U.S. Coalition) unites more than 80 organizations advancing a more feminist foreign policy in the United States.