Opportunities for a Feminist Foreign Policy in the Indo-Pacific

Feminist foreign policy is a key tool in addressing collective action problems like climate change, global health structures and changing areas of governance. With Mexico and Libya becoming the first Global South countries to adopt a feminist foreign policy, conversations about FFP and gender mainstreaming in the Indo Pacific are increasing. 

IWDA with the Australian Feminist Foreign Policy Coalition and the Kubernein Initiative invite you to our Commission on the Status of Women parallel session. This event will explore the relevance of feminist foreign policy approaches in the region, both in terms of the lessons Indo-Pacific countries can take from other parts of the world, and the opportunities and pitfalls for countries exploring FFP approaches to their relationships in the Indo-Pacific.

Check what time this event is taking place in your timezone.

Speakers

Bettina Baldeschi has been the CEO of International Women’ Development Agency since late 2017. Joining IWDA in 2012 as IWDA’s Director of Communications and Fundraising, Bettina led the transformation of the organisation’s brand identity, media profile and communications strategy. Under her leadership, IWDA was awarded two Fundraising Institute of Australia awards, and delivered the organisation’s most successful fundraising appeal to date. Over 28,000 new supporters joined IWDA under Bettina’s leadership during this time. Bettina later served as the Director of IWDA’s Individual Deprivation Measure (IDM) program, which is a partnership between the Australian National University (ANU), the International Women’s Development Agency and the Australian Government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Working closely with the ANU, Bettina and the IWDA IDM team tested a world-first, gender-sensitive and multidimensional measure of poverty. During this time, Bettina presented the IDM at global events, driving communications strategy, forming international networks, and paving the way for the IDM’s global use by 2020. Before joining IWDA, Bettina held a number of executive roles with Oxfam Great Britain, working across a team of 5000 staff in 90+ countries and she has also worked with UNHCR in Canberra. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Masters in Women’s Studies (Gender and Development).

Priyanka Bhide: Founder-Director of Kubernein Initiative, Priyanka is a strategy and communications specialist with over a decade experience working with the private and non-profit sectors in South Asia, North America and Europe. She has expertise on a wide range of issues which include sustainable development, future forecasting, water diplomacy, governance, security, conflict resolution and renewable energy. Priyanka was a consultant with the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service in New York and has worked with Suzlon Energy, Strategic Foresight Group, Institute for Sustainable Communities and Dalberg Advisors in Asia. She is currently a Visiting Faculty at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, where she teaches Business Communications.

James Blackwell is a proud Wiradjuri man and Research Fellow in Indigenous Diplomacies at the ANU’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. His work centres on conceptualising First Nations foreign policy approaches in the Twenty-First Century, as well as the greater inclusion of First Nations voices within governance systems. He is a member of the Uluru Dialogue at UNSW, working to support the Uluru Statement from the Heart and an enshrined Voice to Parliament. He is currently completing a PhD in International Relations at the ANU, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Wiradjuri Language, Heritage and Culture at Charles Sturt University. 

Chandy Eng (she/her) is an Executive Director, Gender and Development for Cambodia (GADC), a Cambodian non-profit organization focused on gender equality as a human right. She holds dual degree in Law/ELBBL from the Royal University of Law & Economics, a graduated student from Harpswell Foundation that empower young women to be the next generation of leader. She finished her fellowship in Gender and Sociology from Bowdoin College, Maine, USA.  Chandy completed her MA in International Human Rights from Mahidol University, Thailand. She is a feminist who has been working on gender equality movement for more than 10 years. In her role, she manages GADC’s work on leadership, networks, campaigns, publications, fundraising and public forums to raise awareness on gender equality issues, and lobbies national-level legislators and policymakers to incorporate gender principles into new and existing laws and policies. She also provides training on gender and feminism to youth, CSO, government staff and network organizations. She has an ambitions of bringing gender training curriculum into all universities in Cambodia.

Sharanya Sekaram is an independent policy and advocacy consultant in gender, based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is currently focused on gender-based violence, resourcing women and girl-led organizations, and gender issues in humanitarian and emergency contexts. Sharanya holds an LLB (Hons) from Staffordshire University and a Masters in Conflict and Peace Studies from the University of Colombo, she is also currently reading for a Post-Graduate Diploma leading to an MA in Women and Gender Studies at the University of Colombo. She is passionate about the democratization of information and resources, as well as access to networks and spaces, and is currently working with the Coalition of Feminists for Social Change, (COFEM) as their Advocacy Communications Consultant and with VOICE as their Regional Technical Lead for South Asia. You can find Sharanya on Twitter @sharasekaram and on her blog.

Nalini Singh is a feminist and a social development specialist with over 20 years’ experience in design, implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation of women’s rights and development programmes in Asia Pacific. With her passion for women’s human rights and gender equality driving her work, her particular interests is in the issues of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), decent work and organisational capacity strengthening. Prior to joining Fiji Women's Rights Movement over four years ago, Nalini worked as the Programme Manager- Advocacy and Capacity Building for the Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for 7 years. Before this she was a Programme Officer at the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) based in Chiang Mai, Thailand for 5 years. Nalini was also part of the Regional Rights Resource Team for 2 years. The diverse and unique experiences across the region have provided Nalini with invaluable skills, practical knowledge, learnings and understanding of contextual realities for the work that she does.