Background
After taking office on 8 December 2021, the government of Olaf Scholz, and more specifically, the Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) under the leadership of Minister Svenja Schulze, announced the upcoming adoption of a feminist development policy. To this end, in 2022, the ministry engaged over 400 stakeholders from civil society, academia and multilateral organisations in Germany and abroad. Messaging from the ministry emphasises that German development policy plays a vital role in defining and realising strong and just societies worldwide and can, therefore, serve as a leveraging force in advancing the issues at the centre of this new strategy.
In March 2023, The BMZ announced the completion of its new Feminist development policy strategy. The new guidelines present a broad framework, centring gender equality efforts in the various areas of German foreign policy, including humanitarian aid delivery, peace negotiations and climate policy. A focal point of the strategy is the 3Rs: CET rights, resources and representation. In this context, rights refer especially to bodily self-determination, while resources include access to land, financial systems such as provision for old age, and loans. Finally, representation indicates the promotion of women's participation in political offices, decision-making bodies, and jurisdiction.
The announcement of the new strategy has been met with a mixed response. Supporters have praised the participatory consultations the policy designers undertook while developing the policy guidelines. However, observers noted limitations in the consultation process due to language barriers and accessibility, among other factors. Overlap with the BMZ’s Africa Strategy, launched in January 2023, can also be observed; calls for more political, social and economic participation for African women echo the 3Rs outlined in the new Feminist development policy.
There are many questions surrounding the new feminist development policy. What applications and concrete actions have we seen since the strategy was announced? How has the strategy affected the discussion around feminist development policy in Africa? How has it affected German-African development cooperation? In what practical ways can the new strategy help foster equal participation of all people in social, political and economic life - “irrespective of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, skin colour, disability or other characteristics”?
Webinar
To answer these questions, APRI – Africa Policy Research Institute is convening experts to conduct a thorough stock-take of the year since the new feminist development policy strategy was announced in March 2023. It will discuss and reflect on the objectives outlined in the strategy and the progress and challenges of implementing the Feminist development policy strategy in Africa and recommend ways forward.
The Panelists
Prof Josephine Ahikire
Panelist
Josephine is a Professor of Gender Studies in the School of Women and Gender Studies, College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Makerere University. She is also an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy (CANRAD), Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. Her Scholarship has centred on feminist imperatives in politics, land, livelihoods and cultural studies. She is also a member of Council for Development of Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and serving on the Editorial Advisory Board of CODESRIA’s Journal of Higher Education in Africa.
Ms Hala Al-karib
Panelist
Hala is the Regional Director of the Strategic Initiative for Women (SIHA), vital in promoting women's and girls' rights and empowerment in the Horn of Africa and the two Sudans. She is a world-renowned pro-democracy and women’s rights activist who has dedicated more than 20 years to empowering women and girls, focusing on those in conflict and post-conflict areas, including minorities, refugees and displaced persons. She is an expert in human rights and women's peace and security, with a bachelor's degree in literature and psychology, a diploma in human rights, and a portfolio of research initiatives and prominent publications. Her thought leadership is regularly sought after by international media giants, including Foreign Policy, Newsweek Magazine, Africa Argument, and AlJazeera. CNN named Hala one of the world’s top Defenders of Gender Equality in 2024. In 2021 and 2023, the UN Security Council invited Ms. Al-Karib to address the Assembly in the Women, Peace and Security debate.
Ms Barbara Mittelhammer
Panelist
Barbara Mittelhammer is an independent, Berlin-based political analyst and consultant. Her research focuses on feminist foreign policy, gender in peace and security, human security and the role of civil society in foreign policy making. She has published on applying feminist foreign policy, i.a. towards Iran and Syria, and has worked with think tanks, foundations, international organizations, ministries, parliamentarians and civil society organizations, i.a.with Carnegie Europe, GPPI, SWP, Heinrich-Böll Foundation, Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, the German Foreign Office, or GIZ.
Ms Verena Wiesner
Panelist
Verena is a Senior Policy Officer in the division for Feminist Development Policy at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. She is a lawyer by training and has held various positions in the ministry and its external structure over the past years: she worked on sustainability in global supply chains in the trade department, was responsible for human resources development in the ministry, was Head of Cooperation at the German Embassy in Accra, Ghana, and has been working on human rights, gender and inclusion since 2019. In this role, she has helped develop the Feminist Development Policy and supported its implementation since 2021. Before joining the Ministry, she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public and International Law.
Moderation
Ms Memory Kachambwa
Moderator
Memory is the Executive Director at FEMNET, a pan-African feminist movement working on climate justice and its intersections with economic and sexual reproductive justice. She is a pan-African intersectional feminist, gender, and women’s rights activist with deep experience organising and advocating for feminist policies at the regional, national, and international levels. She’s a seasoned cross-cultural thought leader and strategist bridging national, regional, and global women’s rights networks with policy leaders.