"Hear Her Roar" - Talking Feminist Foreign Policy

Feminist Foreign Policy & Climate Change

Speakers:  Hilda Nakabuye, Sofiia Shevchuk Special guest: Rahmina Paullete In the second episode of “Hear Her Roar” our host and feminist foreign policy fellow Sabrine Dao continues the conversation around feminist foreign policy, this time with a focus on climate change. She is joined by two co-fellows, the Ugandan climate activist Hilda Nakabuye and the gender & security expert Sofiia Shevchuk, a Ukrainian currently based in Brussels. The special guest for this episode is Rahmina Paullete, a seventeen year old climate activist and environmentalist from Kenya. Climate change has especially dire consequences for women around the world. Our speakers discuss how structural discrimination, such as restricted access to education for women, leads to a lack of knowledge and understanding of the science and impacts of climate change. Hilda, for instance, highlights the situation in Uganda, one of the most affected countries of climate change: her local community has had to deal with floods, droughts, high temperatures, heavy rains and strong winds. But overwhelmingly, these extreme weather events are seen as a punishment from God. Almost 80% of those affected by climate change are women, however, they are also the drivers for climate action at a grassroots level. To learn more about the effects of climate change on women in particular, and why feminist foreign policy enables a more holistic view of environmental and climate change issues, listen to this episode out now.

A Global North-South Dialogue on Feminist Foreign Policy

Speakers: Thandi Matthews, Leonie Hopgood Special guest: Kavita Ramdas In the first episode of our mini podcast series “Hear Her Roar” host and feminist foreign policy fellow Sabrine Dao leads a discussion on the understanding and limitations of the concept of feminist foreign policy from a Global South perspective. She is joined by two of her co-fellows, human rights attorney Thandi Matthews and German parliamentary advisor Leonie Hopgood. This episode’s special guest is the renowned gender equity and justice advocate Kavita Ramdas. Kavita and Thandi call for a much broader and decolonised understanding of the concept of a “feminist foreign policy” that effectively ensures intersectional and equitable justice.The current world order led by the Global North has its roots in colonialism, white supremacy and the patriarchy, thus an informed struggle for a just world needs to take all of these underpinnings into account. An all encompassing feminist foreign policy should challenge existing power structures, and, as Leonie put it, be an invitation for the Global North to be held accountable and confront the ways these systems uphold inequality. To learn more about an intersectional approach to feminist foreign policy, listen to our new episode.