“We reaffirm the responsibility of our nations to gender equality”

With the signing of the Declaration of Seven Commitments to promote women's human rights instruments, 19 countries, in addition to Mexico: Germany, Belgium, Bolivia, Colombia, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Slovenia, Spain, France, Honduras, Ireland, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, New Zealand, Romania, and Uruguay reaffirmed their responsibility as nations to gender equality and committed to mainstream this perspective in the pursuit of full development of women in all areas.

“We reaffirm the responsibility of our nations to gender equality, non-discrimination, and respect for diversity as fundamental principles of human rights, and as necessary conditions for fulfilling the objectives of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as indispensable requirements to achieve equal, equitable, prosperous, peaceful, and sustainable societies,” reads the concluding document of the III Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policies “Solutions for a Better Tomorrow,” presented by Mexico.

“We also reiterate our commitment to international human rights and gender equality instruments, to mainstreaming this perspective in all development efforts, as well as to fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially SDG number 5 related to achieving gender equality and empowering all women, youth, and girls, in all their diversity, from a transformative gender approach,” the declaration points out, which will remain open until the Future Summit, to be held next September in New York, so that all countries that wish to can join the signing.

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The closing ceremony of the meeting, in which foreign ministers from more than 40 countries, as well as representatives from the private sector, international organizations, and more than 100 civil society organizations participated, was headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra; the President of the National Institute of Women (Inmujeres), Nadine Gasman Zylbermann; and the Regional Director of UN Women for the Americas and the Caribbean, María Noel Vaeza.

During her intervention, Foreign Minister Bárcena pointed out that “when a woman advances and transforms, we all advance; when women advance, society progresses, and that is what is happening here [...] we have to bet on a generational and gender pact that can truly include normative and legal foundations and the empowerment of women in international forums [...] to reach the Future Summit with something concrete. Precisely what we have to achieve is that there are no setbacks [...] we, who are proclaiming a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP), fight so that there are no setbacks in multilateral forums, in political agendas [...] we are here to make the revolution of consciousness”, she emphasized.

The Regional Director of UN Women for the Americas and the Caribbean, María Noel Vaeza, highlighted that “from UN Women we believe that Feminist Foreign Policy is a formidable instrument not only to promote, protect, and guarantee women's rights inside and outside national territories, but it is also a fundamental strategy to achieve a renewed, inclusive, and effective multilateralism, with gender equality and respectful of human rights, as the UN Secretary-General pointed out."

“Feminist Foreign Policy has the potential to transform traditional power structures to adopt less vertical, more participatory, and inclusive dynamics,” Noel Vaeza added.

The President of Inmujeres, Nadine Gasman, stressed that “this conference reflects the important moment we are in and the relevance of continuing to advance and agreeing on FFP and its indispensable role as a tool to achieve gender equality.

These are the 7 commitments of the Declaration:

1. Advance gender-responsive reforms, to reshape financial and economic systems to prioritize sustainability, climate justice, and peace and achieve economies that focus on the well-being of all people, in particular, those in situations of vulnerabilities;

2. Design gender-responsive fiscal and budgetary policies that address the rights of all women, young women and girls, and include them in decision-making;

3. Reaffirm the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, mediation efforts and peacebuilding, and stressing the importance of their full, equal and meaningful participation in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, as well as the need to increase their role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution.

4. Advance in the elimination of the gender digital divide, guaranteeing for women, youth, and girls, equality of opportunities, conditions, and treatment in access, use, and appropriation of technology, as well as the promotion of women’s skills and leadership and the incorporation of the gender perspective in science, technology and digital cooperation and intersectional approaches that allow dismantling discriminatory biases and generating inclusive, responsible, safe and transparent digital systems;

5. Incorporate the voices of youth in decision-making, particularly young women and girls, including their meaningful participation in the design, implementation, and evaluation of foreign and development policies with a gender perspective and with an intersectional, intergenerational, intercultural, and human rights approach;

6. Promote, through foreign policy, conditions that allow women, young women, and girls to participate fully, freely, and effectively in public life, as well as to establish policies to eradicate gender stereotypes, patriarchal patterns, and all forms of discrimination and sexual and gender-based violence in public – including all sectors of foreign policies– and private life, online and offline, highlighting the importance of promoting comprehensive global policies and approaches based on human rights in favor of decent work, the care economy, access to education and gender equality;

7. Incorporate intercultural, and intergenerational perspectives in the design, implementation, and evaluation of feminist foreign policies, as well as other commitments related to the promotion, protection, and guarantee of the rights of women, young women and girls, and their fully, freely, and effective participation in public life.

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

Mexico is the first country in the Global South to organize this conference and was the first to adopt a Feminist Foreign Policy.