Sweden, UN Women Vietnam and partners joined a feminist foreign policy dialogue
September 7, Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi collaborated with the embassies in Canada, France, Mexico and Spain, as well as the UN women in Vietnam for the first ever feminist foreign policy dialogue.
The event hosted Vietnam’s Diplomatic Academy and was joined by Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu and Vietnam President of the Friendship Union Nguyen Phuong Nga.
Nearly 500 participants joined online and in person, including participants from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Foreign Trade University, Vin University and Fulbright University.
According to the embassy, the dialogue provided a learning and progressive perspective on a comprehensive, feminist approach to a country’s foreign policy, for young and future Vietnamese diplomats and others interested.
Ambassador Ann Måwe emphasized, among other things, that “Sweden has been a champion of gender equality globally for a very long time. This comes from a conviction that gender equality is not just a matter of human rights. Sustainable peace, security and development can never be achieved if half of the world’s population is excluded. It is smart politics and economics and it achieves real results. Sweden also has a very long tradition of working with gender equality at home, driven by a strong women’s movement, and later also a men’s movement for gender equality. Because equality benefits everyone – men and women. ”
Sweden was the first government in the world with a feminist foreign policy, in response to the discrimination and systematic subordination that still characterizes everyday life for countless women and girls around the world. Feminist foreign policy is an agenda for change to strengthen the rights, representation and resources of all women and girls.
Ambassador Måwe continued: “It was still a big change when feminist foreign policy was launched by our then Foreign Minister Margot Wallström in 2014. It is based on the three R’s guiding principles; Representation, resources and rights. These three perspectives should always be applied. We are pleased that several countries have now also adopted a feminist foreign policy. “
After Sweden, the feminist foreign policy was adopted by Canada in 2017, France and Luxembourg in 2019, Mexico in 2020 and most recently Spain in 2021.
“Gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls and the fact that they enjoy human rights are cornerstones of Swedish foreign policy and prerequisites for achieving peace, security and sustainable development,” says the embassy.