There are promising opportunities for France and Australia to collaborate on the shared objective of advancing gender equality and women’s rights, and to extend France’s feminist foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific. Analysis of France’s deep-rooted commitment to advancing their feminist foreign policy indicates why Australia should prioritise this partnership.

A quick glance at global news over recent weeks shows that progress towards gender equality can never be taken for granted – from anti-LGBTIQ+ legislation in Africa to the winding back of sexual and reproductive health access in the US, and the ongoing high rates of violence against women in the Pacific. Australia must identify key allies to promote gender equality internationally and develop strong relationships based on dialogue and coordinated action. In this respect, Australia should pursue a closer relationship with France where its commitment to feminist foreign policy and international advocacy for gender equality shows a strong alignment of priorities.

In a new report from the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue (AP4D), we discuss how closer cooperation between Australia and France on promoting gender equality internationally can be a key pillar of an expanded bilateral relationship.

At the multilateral level, Australia and France can work closer in the defence of gender equality principles currently under threat from regressive and illiberal actors. In the Indo-Pacific, meanwhile, Australia can help France contextualise its feminist foreign policy approach to the particular priorities of women in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Moreover, as both countries develop their “bilateral roadmap,” the key architecture for the Franco-Australian relationship, gender equality should be elevated to a core area for ongoing cooperation.

France has held a commitment to feminist foreign policy since 2019, extending to all areas of foreign policy, including “reduction of inequality, sustainable development, peace and security, defence and promotion of fundamental rights, and climate and economic issues,” as well as internal objectives around representation and working conditions. As the first permanent member of the UN Security Council to adopt this approach, France has played an important role in bringing feminist practice into global foreign policy discourse, including through its 2019 G7 presidency and 2022 EU presidency.

France has made significant contributions to advancing women’s rights through multilateral forums, which has become an increasingly challenging task. For example, negotiations on the resolution of the 56th Commission on Population and Development held at the UN in New York earlier this year were effectively stymied by a small but vocal group of member states intent on blocking previously agreed language on comprehensive sexuality education, meaning that no outcome could be reached.

In an effort to bypass these kinds of challenges and make meaningful progress on gender equality agreements, France co-hosted in 2021 the Generation Equality Forum, established by UN Women as an alternative to holding a fifth World Conference on Women. The fourth World Conference in 1995 remains the high watermark for global agreements on women’s rights, with many feminists agreeing that holding another such conference would only result in a weaker agreement due to the increased sophistication of anti-rights actors at co-opting human rights language and UN processes. The Generation Equality Forum proved effective as an alternative space to advance gender equality and women’s rights, and generated US$40 billion in progressive, feminist commitments from governments, the private sector, and civil society.

Australia has prioritised the defence and advancement of women’s rights and gender equality commitments in international fora such as the Human Rights Council, the Commission on Population and Development, and the Commission on the Status of Women. In such fora, France tends to negotiate as part of the EU bloc, whereas Australia joins a grouping including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Canada, Norway, and New Zealand – colloquially known as the “Mountains Group.” Greater cooperation between these blocs would generate a more effective defence of already agreed gender equality principles in increasingly contested multilateral fora.

In international development, France and Australia should engage in greater coordination of efforts to support feminist organisations and movements, and share learning across regions. France’s Support Fund for Feminist Organisations (FSOF) has mobilised more than €138 million in funding from across Agence Française de Développement (AFD) programs to support the work of feminist civil society organisations in French cooperation partner countries. In line with France’s regional focus, it dedicates 65 percent of funding to organisations based in Africa. Much of the Fund for Feminist Organisations’ funding is channelled through French and international non-government organisations. Reaching feminist movements, as opposed to individual organisations, has been identified as an area for growth.

Given Australia’s focus on increasing locally-led development efforts, France and Australia could share lessons on support for feminist movements and extend their reach across regions. Indeed, Australia is already exploring new models of direct funding to Global South feminist organisations through the “Amplify. Invest. Reach. (A-I-R)” feminist funds program, and initiatives like “Balance of Power,” which recognise the importance of local leadership and knowledge to transform social and gender norms. On a recent visit to Australia for the Women Deliver Oceanic Pacific Regional Convening, France’s Ambassador-at-large and Secretary General for the Generation Equality Forum, Delphine O, indicated France’s interest in supporting the DFAT-supported Pacific Feminist Fund, demonstrating early moves towards greater collaboration that can be further built upon.

While France is one partner among many for Australia when it comes to gender equality, Paris’ global reach and deep commitment to feminist foreign policy should make it a priority.

This piece draws on an AP4D report, What does it look like for Australia to enhance coordination with France in the Indo-Pacific, funded by the Australian Civil-Military Centre. AP4D thanks all those involved in consultations to produce the report. We also thank the International Women’s Development Agency, Australian Feminist Foreign Policy Coalition and Asialink for hosting a roundtable discussion with Delphine O, French Ambassador-at-large and Secretary General for the Generation Equality Forum, on feminist foreign policy on 7 June 2023.  

Alice Ridge is Senior Research, Policy and Advocacy Advisory at the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). Hugh Piper is program lead at the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue (AP4D).

This article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.