Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena leads closing ceremony of 3rd Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena leads closing ceremony of 3rd Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy

• The declaration establishes a commitment to women's human rights instruments such as the 2030 Agenda and recognizes the importance of developing economic and social systems with a gender-responsive approach.
• The declaration was signed by 19 countries and will be open for signing by additional States until the Summit of the Future this September.

The third Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy concluded today with the presentation of a declaration that establishes the commitment to promote women's human rights instruments such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the importance of developing economic and social systems with a gender-responsive approach, and the importance of the role of women in conflict resolution, international peace and security.

The declaration was signed by 19 countries, including Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Germany, Honduras, Ireland, Lithuania, Mongolia, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Uruguay. It will be open for signing by additional States until the Summit of the Future, to be held next September in New York.

The closing ceremony was led by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena Ibarra; Nadine Gasman Zylbermann, President of the National Women's Institute (Inmujeres); and María Noel Vaeza, Regional Director of UN Women for the Americas and the Caribbean.

In her remarks, Secretary Bárcena said, "When a woman advances and transforms, we all advance; when women progress, society progresses; and that is what is happening here [...] We have to commit to a generational and gender pact that truly has normative and legal foundations, and empower women in international forums [...] in order to arrive at the Summit of the Future with something concrete. We, who are proclaiming a feminist foreign policy (FFP), must fight to ensure that there are no setbacks in multilateral forums, in political agendas [...] we are here to cause a revolution of consciousness."

Inmujeres President Nadine Gasman said, "This conference reflects the important moment in which we find ourselves and the importance of continuing to move forward and agreeing on FFP and its indispensable role in achieving gender equality. It is very important to remember the steps we have taken that have brought us here today, to talk about the situation and to discuss the steps we will take in the future to continue advancing FFPs as part of the Summit of the Future."

UN Women Regional Director María Noel Vaeza said, "At UN Women, we believe that feminist foreign policy is a formidable instrument not only to promote, protect and guarantee women's rights within and outside of national territories, but that it is also key for achieving a renewed, inclusive and effective multilateralism, with gender equality and respect for human rights, as the UN Secretary-General has noted."

For three days, 300 participants, including foreign ministers from more than 40 countries and representatives from the private sector, international organizations and more than 100 civil society organizations, discussed in various panels how to integrate FFP and a gender perspective into sustainable development and financing; gender dynamics in international peace and security; the implementation of FFP in science, technology and digital cooperation; and its implementation in the global south through international development cooperation, in order to advance the issue of inclusion and achieve an equitable future that eradicates structural discrimination.

The declaration identified concrete opportunities for mainstreaming gender equality at the Summit of the Future and for the approach to be adopted in the Pact for the Future.

The Government of Mexico reaffirms its commitment to substantive equality in order to build a more just and equitable society.

Link in Spanish: III Conferencia Ministerial y de altos y altas representantes sobre Políticas Exteriores Feministas. Declaración de la Presidencia de la Tercera Conferencia

Link in English: III Ministerial and High-Level Representatives on Feminist Foreign Policies. Declaration by the Chair of the Third Conference