Throughout the world, the rise of conservative movements favors the regression of the rights of women and girls, and facilitates gender discrimination. At the heart of these excesses, the development policy of Donald Trump, who chose last year to freeze American subsidies allocated to international aid, in particular by abolishing USaid (the United States agency for international development). The consequence is terrible for women: due to lack of subsidies, more than half of the NGOs working for their fundamental rights have ceased to exist or have had to give up some of their fights and support on the ground. Very recently, the United States withdrew from UN Women, which works for gender equality and to which it was a major donor.
Economic equality, access to resources and education, representation in decision-making bodies, sexual and reproductive rights: gender remains a factor of vulnerability, and inequalities in this area are increasingly flourishing on an international scale. The observation is dramatic for each of us, women and men. A response to these setbacks carried out by the Donald Trump administration is the rise of a proactive, egalitarian and universalist “feminist diplomacy”, adopted by around fifteen states, including France.
The voice of our country must be raised loudly during the 5th Conference on the place of women in countries’ foreign policies, on June 2 and 3. Because taking into account women’s rights is a democratic indicator – and equality a republican value. Because the status of women determines our collective intelligence, because it is an issue of development and pacification that goes beyond gender divisions. There is an urgent need to reverse the dynamic.
