On March 13, 2025, the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, in collaboration with the Global Engagement Initiative at AUB, the Permanent Missions of Finland, Mexico, and Chile to the United Nations, Colegio de Mexico, the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative, as well as The Footage Foundation, and in partnership with UN Women and NGO CSW, hosted a high-level event at the AUB Debs Center in New York City to reflect on the legacy of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action and explore the development and impact of feminist foreign policies (FFPs) thirty years on.
Hosted during the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), the event opened with remarks by Dr. Fadlo R. Khuri, President of the American University of Beirut, and Professor Charlotte Bunch, Senior International Fellow at the Asfari Institute, emphasizing the enduring relevance of global feminist advocacy in a time of political and social instability.
In the first panel, titled The Making of Beijing and the Platform for Action, speakers, including H.E. Alicia Buenrostro Massieu (Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN), Ms. Tuula Haatainen (Finnish Member of Parliament), and Lopa Banerjee (Director of the Civil Society Division at UN Women) reflected on the historical significance of the 1995 Beijing Conference. Longtime activists Anita Nayar and Dr. Patricia Licuanan provided first-hand accounts of the movement-building efforts that shaped the Beijing outcomes.
The second panel, From the Beijing Platform for Action to Feminist Foreign Policies, focused on the evolution of FFPs as a strategic tool for advancing gender equality. Panelists included Dr. Kristen Ali Eglinton (Footage Foundation), Lyric Thompson (Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative), Nisren Habib (Women Now for Development), and Professor Ana María Tepichin (El Colegio de México). The discussion emphasized the central role of civil society in pushing governments to adopt transformative policy frameworks rooted in feminist principles.
The final panel, Beijing+30 During Times of Upheaval and Conflict, highlighted the urgency of feminist responses to crisis contexts. Speakers included Lydia Alpízar (ELIGE Youth Network), Fahima Hashim (Sudan), and Zeina Abdel Khalik (Doria Feminist Fund) who addressed the intersection of feminist advocacy, armed conflict, and authoritarianism, and the importance of centering feminist foreign policies on justice, peace, and human rights.
The event concluded with remarks from Dr. Tania Haddad, Director of the Global Engagement Initiative at AUB. The convening reaffirmed the importance of reclaiming the historical legacy of Beijing and using feminist foreign policy as a forward-looking framework for global gender equality.
Missed it?
Watch the full recording here:
