Navigating Feminisms: A Contextualization of BMZ´s Feminist Development Policy in MENA

Its been almost exactly a year that BMZ has published its strategy for a feminist development policy. Time to celebrate? Not really, or – at least – not yet. Resistance against feminist struggles and an ever-growing gender backlash are on the rise. They affect not only project implementation but also turn political dialogue on feminist issues into an extremely sensitive undertaking.

This is where the Feminist Starter Kit for the MENA region comes in. Developed as a briefing tool for BMZ staff, it gives orientation on what feminism in MENA looks like and provides arguments against the common reproach that feminism would be “yet another concept imposed by the West”.

After all, the region´s history and present are full of examples of feminist struggles and activism that paved the way for a feminist development policy in MENA to build on.

The starter kit presents the different waves of feminism in the MENA region, shines a light on the obstacles feminists and women´s rights activists face and provides preliminary policy recommendations on how to further pursue the feminist development policy in the region.

During the GIZ Gender Week, we would like to share the insights of the starter kit with you and explore common challenges and entry points for implementing the feminist development policy – in the MENA region and beyond.

Date: 27.03.2024
Time: 2:00 PM CET
Format: Online Event