Sweden has consistently ranked in the top 5 of the World Economic Forum’s annual Gender Gap Index since 2006, and is known as a country with a small gender gap. Women make up about half of its parliament, and gender equality has advanced in various areas—for example, in a parental leave system that allows parents a total of 480 days, at least 90 days must be taken by each parent.

Gender equality is often thought of as a women’s issue, but promoting it benefits not only women, it benefits society as a whole. In traditionally male-dominated industries, cases have been reported where increasing the share of women in management by 10% led to an average 1.5% increase in profits. It has also been shown that peace negotiations with equal participation by women and men are more sustainable. In other words, gender equality is an important goal in itself, but it is also indispensable for building a better society, including economic growth and peace.

Many countries include gender equality in their domestic policies, focusing on the benefits generated by promoting equality and the human rights protected by achieving it. Sweden, however, did not treat gender equality solely as a domestic issue; viewing it as a shared global challenge, it became the first country in the world in 2014 to incorporate gender equality into foreign policy. This foreign policy is known as “feminist foreign policy.” Feminism is the idea that rights in all fields—social, economic, political—should not be denied on the basis of sex. Although feminist foreign policy seemed like an innovative initiative at first glance, Sweden abandoned its continuation in 2022. This article explores what it means to integrate gender equality into diplomacy—focusing on Sweden—and the obstacles that arise when implementing it.

The Swedish cabinet when the feminist foreign policy was introduced in 2014 (Photo: Frankie Fouganthin / Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 4.0] )

Overview of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy

Feminist foreign policy refers to efforts to incorporate the concepts of feminism into foreign policy to advance gender equality through diplomacy. In practice, one example is to integrate a gender perspective into existing frameworks such as bilateral and regional assistance, and to implement development aid and humanitarian support accordingly.

Sweden is said to have actively pursued the promotion of gender equality in its diplomacy since 1996, but under Foreign Minister Margot Wallström in 2014, it formally declared the promotion of feminist diplomacy. As concepts underpinning feminist diplomacy, the Swedish government cites the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), the Beijing Declaration (1995), UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (2000), and the Sustainable Development Goals（SDGs）（2015）as part of a long-standing global push for gender equality. Alongside the goal of contributing to global gender equality through such feminist diplomacy, some also view it as a branding strategy for Sweden as a country “actively promoting gender equality.” A key feature of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy is that achieving gender equality itself is the objective of foreign policy, rather than merely incorporating a gender perspective into various areas of foreign policy.

Margot Wallström, then foreign minister from Sweden’s Social Democratic Party (Photo: CBSS Secretariat / Flickr [CC BY 2.0]）

Within this feminist foreign policy, Sweden focuses on three Rs: “Rights, Representation, and Resources.” Below is a brief summary of the Swedish government’s positions on each R and the global situation.

On “Rights,” the Swedish government aims, through diplomacy, to ensure that all women and girls can enjoy human rights. Specifically, it targets “equal rights with men in areas such as education, work, marriage, divorce, inheritance, and ownership,” and “combating all forms of violence and discrimination that restrict freedom of movement.” In reality, however, women own less than 20% of land resources worldwide, and in many countries, women do not even have the legal right to own land. Sweden urges countries where women’s rights are violated to ratify and comply with human rights treaties. In 2014, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) estimated the cost of gender-related violence to EU member states at €256 billion annually, with 87% attributable to male violence against women. Accordingly, in 2017, Sweden submitted a UN Security Council resolution to make gender-based violence grounds for economic sanctions, so that human rights are not violated through violence.

On “Representation,” Sweden calls for women’s participation and influence at all levels and in all areas of decision-making, including dialogues with civil society, and argues that women’s participation accelerates gender equality in society. Yet women’s participation in such arenas remains limited. For example, a study of 31 major peace processes between 1992 and 2011 found that only 9% of negotiators were women, and over 96% of signatories to peace agreements were men. To improve this situation, Sweden contributed to greater involvement of women in peace efforts in countries such as Colombia, Mali, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Somalia through political, technical, and financial support. Specifically, in the 2016 Colombian peace accord, Sweden asked for the inclusion of gender equality issues in the agreement in return for supporting Colombia’s peacebuilding with approximately 約8,000万ユーロ.

Finally, on “Resources,” Sweden holds that in order for women and girls to be able to enjoy their human rights, resources must be allocated to promoting gender equality. According to a 2020 report by the OECD, in 2018 Sweden allocated 87% of its foreign aid to projects where gender equality was a principal or significant objective.

Sweden also helped establish, at the United Nations in 2010, the post of the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict; Margot Wallström—who would later introduce the feminist foreign policy—served in this role. Within the EU, Sweden played a leading role in adopting the “Gender Action Plan III,” which mandates the promotion of gender equality across all external policies.

Impact of feminist foreign policy on other countries

Other countries have followed Sweden’s feminist foreign policy; Canada, Luxembourg, France, Mexico, Spain, Libya, Germany, and most recently in September 2022 Colombia announced it would adopt the policy. Here we focus on the examples of Canada and Mexico.

The Canadian government announced in 2017 that it would adopt a feminist foreign policy. The objective of Canada’s feminist foreign policy is to eradicate global poverty by promoting gender equality in all areas and enabling women to exercise their rights.

Through the Elsie Initiative, established in 2017 to increase the meaningful participation of women in peace operations, the Canadian government provided funding to the governments of Ghana and Zambia to promote the participation of women in peacekeeping operations (PKO) in those countries. As the G7 presidency in 2018, Canada also announced that gender equality would be a priority across all G7 agendas, raising its voice on gender equality issues in multilateral forums.

A Zambian PKO participating in an International Women’s Day event in Sudan (Photo: U.S. Institute of Peace / Flickr [CC BY-NC 2.0]）

Mexico adopted a feminist foreign policy in 2020, the first in the Global South. Mexico’s policy is guided by five principles: “1) incorporate a gender perspective into foreign policy; 2) advance gender equality within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 3) combat gender-based violence, including within the ministry; 4) achieve visible gender equality; and 5) integrate feminism across all areas of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” Mexico has set ambitious goals: in fiscal 2020 it conducted training and workshops for ministry staff and developed a manual for feminist foreign policy, and it has pledged to achieve gender-equal employment and equal pay across the ministry by 2024.

Contradictions and limitations of feminist foreign policy

Although Sweden championed a feminist foreign policy, there are gaps between its content and reality. For instance, while the policy includes respect for human rights and peace, Sweden is among the world’s top 10 major arms exporters and exports weapons to regions where even women’s most basic human rights are denied, as well as to repressive authoritarian regimes. This clearly contradicts a government policy of promoting gender equality, as Swedish weapons often enable and encourage gender-based violence and repression. Sweden has also been criticized for never emphasizing disarmament and non-proliferation as general conflict-prevention measures.

Countries that imported military equipment from Sweden in 2018 include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar—states with clear risks of human rights abuses. These weapons are sometimes used in actual conflicts; according to reports, many Swedish-made weapons exported to Saudi Arabia have been used in the Yemen conflict. Conflict situations tend to see higher levels of sexual violence, and when access to healthcare is cut off, women may be unable to receive appropriate treatment for injuries or pregnancies resulting from sexual violence, harming their health—a serious risk. Exporting weapons to countries that clearly violate human rights effectively means Sweden is supporting their military operations and contributing to human rights abuses.

A Swedish-made missile exported to Saudi Arabia (Photo: Bundesheer Fotos / Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 2.0]）

Furthermore, Sweden’s migration and refugee policies also have aspects that contradict feminist foreign policy. In the second half of 2015, the government tightened border controls, and in 2016 it passed a law known as the temporary asylum law, which restricted the ability of asylum seekers and their families to obtain residence permits in Sweden. As a result, the number of asylum seekers plummeted from about 160,000 in 2015 to about 30,000 in 2016. Policies that restrict the acceptance of migrants and refugees are incompatible with Sweden’s 2017 action plan to protect the rights of women who are migrants or refugees, and they clearly have a negative impact on women’s human rights.

Why Sweden ended its feminist foreign policy

Since its introduction in 2014, feminist foreign policy has spurred many initiatives to achieve gender equality and spread to other countries, yielding various results. However, the new right-wing government that took office in 2022 announced soon after taking power that it would abolish the policy. Tobias Billström, Sweden’s new foreign minister, said the reason was that “the name ‘feminist foreign policy’ tends to cause misunderstandings about its content.” In other words, some people view the term “feminist” negatively and believe that programs related to feminism and gender equality concentrate rights and resources on women, thereby reducing benefits for men.

Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (Photo: Stortinget / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]）

There is, however, another view from third parties. With the election of a new coalition of right-leaning parties in September 2022, public opinion reportedly grew stronger that Sweden should focus on domestic issues rather than global ones. Indeed, the Swedish government’s most important political priorities stated in 2022 are “economic growth, improved security, migration policy, climate action, healthcare, and education”—mostly domestic issues—and gender equality is not included.

With the abolition of the feminist foreign policy, Sweden no longer loudly champions gender equality as foreign policy, but the government says gender equality will remain a core value for the country.

Outlook and conclusion

With the inauguration of the new government, the amount of international aid it provides will decrease, with €5 billion to be cut over the three years starting in 2022. This means a reduction of €120 million compared with a year earlier. Sweden has long ranked among the world’s top countries in terms of the share of its economy devoted to foreign aid and had aimed to keep this figure above 1% of gross national income (GNI). However, Sweden’s aid is expected to fall to 0.885% of GNI in 2023. Because this aid plays a crucial role in activities for women’s rights in the Global South, the abolition of the feminist foreign policy and the concurrent reduction in international aid were shocking developments, raising the possibility that activities will become unsustainable and women’s rights will again be neglected.

Despite its many contradictions, Sweden’s feminist foreign policy did contribute to some extent to advancing global gender equality. Going forward, it will be important to watch whether countries such as Canada and Mexico, which followed Sweden in adopting a feminist foreign policy, will continue to maintain it.

Writer: Minori Ogawa

Graphics: Yudai Sekiguchi

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