From New York to Mexico City: Reconciling Institutional Challenges and Grassroots Demands for Women’s Rights and

June 2024 From New York to Mexico City: Reconciling Institutional Challenges and Grassroots Demands for Women’s Rights and Feminist Foreign and Development Policy During the 2024 Annual Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the Feminist Peace Summit (FPS) in Denver, Colorado, discussions regarding women’s rights and feminist foreign policy took center stage. [...] The Heinrich Boell Foundation’s Washington, DC Office supported the participation of three young feminists from Algeria, Pakistan, and Zambia to participate in the CSW in New York and supported Phoebe Donnelly and Evyn Papworth from the International Peace Institute in attending the FPS in Denver. [...] We asked Phoebe and Evyn to share their experience of attending both summits, their assessment of the current challenges in the field and how they hope that the CSW and the FPS can influence the upcoming FFP Summit in Mexico City in July 2024. [...] In your opinion, what role do grassroots movements play in shaping feminist foreign policy agendas and influencing decision-making processes at the institutional level? (Do you see potential for intersections and collaboration between platforms such as the CSW in March and civil society convenings like the Feminist Peace Summit in May?) Many FFPs have been very top-down and have come as a surprise. [...] The Feminist Peace Summit in Denver was a hopeful space, and something that really resonated with me from one of the speakers was the idea that, as we work towards a vision of the future that is truly feminist and transformative, we need to avoid recreating the same problematic dynamics.