The conference highlighted how local feminist movements drive global gender equality. By sharing insights from Ghana, India, and Ukraine, the event underscored the role of community-led approaches in promoting gender-transformative change.
©IDOS
As part of the research project Local Feminist Perspectives as Transformation Levers for Greater Gender Equality, a final synthesis conference took place on 19 March 2025, in Berlin. The event, along with IDOS and the partner organisations — the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre (Ghana), the Goa Institute of Management (India) and Gender in Detail (Ukraine) — brought together researchers, civil society representatives and policymakers from BMZ, DGAP, Duisburg-Essen University, German Foreign Office, GIZ, INEF, Körber Foundation, ODI Europe, Misereor and SWP. The participants discussed feminist perspectives from different local contexts and their role in driving global gender-transformative change.
The event provided a platform for sharing insights from the studies conducted by the colleagues from partner organisations and engaging in critical discussions on feminist movements, policies and their implementations. A key highlight was the exchange on how feminist perspectives shape sustainable development, especially in challenging contexts such as conflict settings, climate change and environments with strong patriarchal norms.
The day began with partners presenting findings on feminist perspectives from their respective countries:
- The Ghanaian study underscored feminist initiatives in Ghana having made significant strides in gender equality through advocacy, coalition-building, and policy engagement, driving transformative change in both formal and informal spaces.
- The Indian study highlighted that community-led feminist approaches in India at the intersection of gender, health, and climate action are advancing systemic change through collaboration and intersectional strategies.
- The Ukrainian study illustrated the persistence of gender-transformative policies during the defensive war, showcasing successes in shaping sustainable feminist policies and driving social change despite challenges and limitations.
A World Café session facilitated interactive discussions among participants, allowing deeper engagement with the case studies and the identification of shared challenges and opportunities for feminist policy advocacy.
The presentation of the Synthesis study further consolidated key insights from the partner studies, reflecting on feminist foreign and development policy approaches. It stressed the need to integrate feminist perspectives into broader policy frameworks and strengthen transnational alliances to counter anti-feminist movements.
The closing panel focused on the implications of the research findings for feminist policy approaches and future actions, with discussions centring on:
- The role of feminist movements in shaping gender-transformative policies, emphasising the importance of international frameworks such as the Istanbul Convention and the
- The importance of sustainable funding and country ownership in implementing gender-based development projects to ensure long-term sustainability and impact.
- Strengthening cooperation among various stakeholders, including academia, think tanks, and the private sector, to foster effective implementation of feminist approaches.
- The challenges posed by anti-feminist backlash and global geopolitical shifts, which both hinder and create new opportunities for feminist advocacy.
The conference reaffirmed the importance of local feminist perspectives in shaping global gender equality initiatives and emphasised the central role of people and societies as drivers of change. Moving forward, the focus will be on integrating these insights into policy discussions and implementation while fostering cross-regional cooperation.
The research project “Local feminist perspectives as transformation levers” is funded by GIZ and by IDOS. For more information on the research project and access to the published studies, visit: https://www.idos-research.de/en/research/description/details/local-feminist-perspectives-as-transformation-levers-for-greater-gender-equality/
