On June 2 and 3, 2026, the 5th Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy was held in Madrid, seven months after the conference organized by France. As in Paris, a political declaration was endorsed by some thirty countries. The level of financial resources mobilized in the near future will determine the success or failure of this initiative.
Strong support from civil society for Equipop
Building on previous ministerial conferences on feminist foreign policy, in which our organization has become increasingly involved, Equipop traveled to Madrid alongside numerous partners:
- The Francophone Feminist Alliance, an initiative that promotes the voices of Francophone feminists in multilateral forums
- Countdown 2030 Europe and Walking the Talk, to highlight issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights and funding for gender equality, and in particular the need for close monitoring of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville;
- Partners of the Civil Society Forum
- A French parliamentary delegation
- FFP Collaborative: Equipop is a member of the steering committee for this global network, which brought together some 30 people ahead of the conference for a two-day collective strategic planning session.
The international situation has deteriorated since the Paris conference
As Salina Grenet-Catalano, Director of Global Affairs at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, pointed out, the Paris Ministerial Conference set out to provide a clear-eyed assessment of the situation and to usher in a new approach.
The situation has changed fundamentally: it is no longer a matter of a slowdown in progress, but rather a massive, organized assault on equality, being waged on several fronts:
- Cyberspace: where disinformation has become a national security issue for many countries.
- Multilateral forums: where anti-rights activists demonstrate great technical skill.
- Funding: particularly the U.S. “global gag rule,” which has led to widespread closures of essential services.
The goal of broadening the coalition of those who reject any rollback thus guided the preparation of the Paris conference, and the final text, endorsed by 31 states, contained language that was more progressive than the UN agreements.
Less than eight months later, the international situation is undoubtedly even more pressing
- Ana Alonso Giganto (ambassador for Spain’s feminist foreign policy) spoke of a historic moment—linked to democracy, peace, and the fight against fascism—the kind that occurs only once or twice a century.
- Miriam Ciscar Blat (Spanish cooperation agency) spoke of a “pandemic of selfishness.”
- Ana Redondo Garcia (Spain’s Minister for Equality) concluded: “Two models are at odds, and Spain firmly supports one of them […] We cannot look the other way. Feminists never have.”
A new ministerial declaration
On the eve of the ministerial conference, two hundred feminists from around the world gathered for the civil society forum. The statement we released jointly called on governments to address this urgent situation.
“Feminist foreign policies must address this moment with clarity, courage, transparency, consistency, and political integrity. This requires grounding governments’ commitments in knowledge, leadership, and lived realities, as well as the redistribution of power and the meaningful participation of women in all their diversity—particularly those from the Global South—who have long been advancing decolonial, anti-militarist, anti-racist, ecofeminist, anti-ableist, and care-centered alternatives in global politics.”
The ministerial conference did not provide such a clear response to all these long-term requirements, but it was essential to restore the level of commitment seen in Paris.
Some thirty countries endorsed the “Madrid Joint Political Declaration, ” titled “Building Peaceful and Just Societies through Gender Equality, Human Rights, and Feminist Foreign Policies.” Driven by the bold stance of Spain and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno (“There is no equality without democracy, there is no democracy without equality”), the text contains strong provisions, references the intersectional perspective, and highlights the historical role of feminist movements.
An educational tool to help students understand current issues
The conference also serves to educate policymakers and the media, as the links between gender equality, human rights, peace, and democracy remain poorly understood and recognized:
The anti-women front joins the anti-democracy front: At the opening ceremony, Eléonore Caroit (Minister Delegate for Francophonie and International Partnerships) noted that when democracy is under attack, women’s rights are the first to be targeted. The response must be collective and resolute in the face of well-funded global anti-rights movements.
To help raise awareness, Le Women 7 (a G7 engagement group co-led this year by Equipop) has carried out communication initiatives, resulting notably in significant media coverage and a thought-provoking editorial in the daily newspaper La Croix on June 1. The French daily took a stand in an editorial that should inspire the entire press in defending the rule of law and democracy.
Security and the digital space: The discussions highlighted the importance of digital issues and the concentration of wealth and media in the hands of a handful of misogynistic men. Mariana Betsa (Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs) emphasized that feminist foreign policies “change the perspective on security.”
Global Governance: There has been immense anticipation surrounding Antonio Guterres’s successor: more than 80 years after its founding, the UN must finally be led by a woman.
The fundamental questions that remain
To build a just world, we must champion a renewed form of multilateralism that moves beyond the post-war paradigms. Usta Kaitesi (Rwanda’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs) noted:
“I don’t want to think of the United Nations as Geneva or New York. We are the United Nations.”
The Madrid Declaration also makes clear that there is no single model of democracy. How should we approach these policies? With humility and determination, acknowledging the inconsistencies so that we can better address them. No country has yet fully implemented these principles, not even Spain.
What's next? The next steps
- Funding and Commitment: The Madrid Declaration commits states to providing sustained, flexible, and accessible financial support to feminist movements. Salina Grenet-Catalano emphasized the “political necessity” of working with civil society.
- The accountability framework: The FFP Collaborative has unveiled its first monitoring framework, the “FFP Accountability Project , ” to increase concrete commitments and track progress.
- The Absence of the European Union: The European level was notably absent from the discussions in Madrid. Yet securing funding for gender equality remains a key objective for the coming months. The Franco-Spanish partnership should work to bring other European countries on board in a more deliberate manner.
Heading to Morocco for the 6th edition
Equipop will continue its advocacy work in Brussels, Paris, and Geneva. The 6th edition of the conference will be hosted by Morocco, the first African country to organize this ministerial cycle. While this has raised high expectations and strategic questions within civil society movements, Equipop and its partners will continue to support positive developments.
As Geetanjali Misra (co-founder and executive director of CREA) stated on behalf of the civil society committee:
“We’re not here because we’re optimistic, but because we’re determined.”
To build a peaceful and just world, we must continue to defend multilateralism, which is currently under attack for the wrong reasons by actors who seek to destroy rather than build; but not at any cost, that is, not on the terms of previous decades, since the UN was built primarily by the victors of World War II, at a time when decolonization processes had barely begun. Usta Kaitesi, Rwanda’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, reiterated the fundamentals: “I don’t want to think of the United Nations as Geneva or New York. We are the United Nations.” In the same vein, the Madrid Declaration states that,“while democracies share common traits, there is no single model of democracy, and democracy does not belong to any one country or region.”
How can feminist foreign policies be positioned in this complex environment?
With humility, no doubt, while maintaining a strong stance—one that does not shy away from moving forward despite the paradoxes this may bring to light, but which acknowledges its inconsistencies and genuinely strives to reduce them and, in the long term, eliminate them. In fact, no state pursuing a feminist foreign policy applies all the principles that should guide it, not even Spain, although it is undoubtedly the most proactive state today.
