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Gender-balanced diplomacy: Human security vs. state security?
In a patriarchal society like Indonesia, sexist, even misogynistic, mindsets are often considered the norm.
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an you imagine if the leader of contemporary Russia a woman? After so many years of Vladimir Putin’s hypermasculine machismo, both as president and prime minister, perhaps it is hard to imagine. But it is not far-fetched, as there have been nine empresses who ruled in Russia from the 10th to the 18th century, as empress regnant, but after that, only as empress consorts.
What about in Ukraine? Who can forget the fascinating prima donna of Ukrainian politics Yulia Tymoshenko, with her trademark braided hairdo, serving as prime minister in 2005 (February to September) and from December 2007 to March 2010. Since May 2019, we have had Volodymyr Zelensky, comedian turned politician, current president of Ukraine and darling of the Western world. From comedy to tragedy.
If the leaders of Russia and Ukraine were women, would the current war have dragged on for a year and would it ever have been waged at all? Would they have resorted to diplomacy on the negotiating table, to avoid a catastrophe for Ukraine, a disaster for Russia itself and the danger of a protracted crisis in Europe and indeed the world, even the risk of nuclear warfare?
I am not saying that women leaders do not wage wars. One need only think of Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) and Pakistan, Golda Meir (1898-1978) and the Yom Kippur War and Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) and the Falklands.
But there is certainly the need for diplomacy, which is about verbally communicating realities, rather than war or military action which “physically communicates a government's wishes by trying to sweep away resistance to them”.
Given that diplomacy is associated with feminine traits such as collaboration, accommodation, compromise, “feel for the game” and empathy, i.e. understanding the other party’s position, feelings and needs, why are there not more women in diplomacy?
Because like politics, diplomacy is male-dominated.
Worldwide, women make up 15 percent of diplomats, with regional variations. In the Nordic countries, they make up 35 percent, the United States 25 percent, in Asia and the Middle East 10 and 6 percent respectively; in South America, Africa and Europe (not including Nordic countries) they are all at around 15 percent.
To delve deeper into the question of gender balance in diplomacy, the Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) Center invited two speakers to a webinar titled The Gender Evolution of Women in Diplomacy.
The first speaker was Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, better known as Ibu Nining, diplomat, former Indonesian ambassador to Poland (2019-2021) and current coordinator of gender mainstreaming at the Foreign Ministry.
The second was Francisco Aguilera, Spanish ambassador to Indonesia, to speak about a related topic: Spain’s feminist foreign policy that the country has adopted since 2021.
The webinar was moderated by Fitriani Bintang Timur, senior researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), who specializes in women’s participation in international peacekeeping operations. The perfect person to moderate the webinar, wouldn’t you say? Next time I will ask her to be a speaker, to talk about her specialization – a very important one and one not enough people know about.
I was very impressed by Ibu Nining’s presentation which showed how sophisticated the program was. Based on the Foreign Ministry Regulation No. 21/2020, the program aims to mainstream gender policies in international relations within the ministry office in Jakarta but also in the missions abroad.
The ministry facilitates Indonesian diplomat couples, where both the wife and the husband are diplomats in their postings, so that they can be together. If both are ambassadors, they have to be posted in different countries, but the ministry tries to post them in nearby countries, to facilitate conjugal visits.
Well, when you consider that Retno Marsudi, the foreign minister since 2014, is a woman, it would be a surprise if the ministry was not gender aware. In fact, there is Presidential Instruction No. 9/2000 to mainstream gender in all stages of national development, at the central to the regional levels. Let us hope that if Retno is eventually replaced by a male minister, the gender program will remain strong.
As part of the program, gender mainstreaming budgets with a gender perspective are adopted at the Foreign Ministry. They also have gender-responsive infrastructure such as daycare facilities, lactation rooms, female prayer rooms and of course, a disabled-friendly environment for both genders.
However, as Ibu Nining also pointed out, challenges remain: to enhance an understanding of gender equality, to overcome common misconceptions about gender equality; to include more men in the process and of course, to operate in the very patriarchal society that Indonesia still is, where sexist, even misogynistic mindsets are considered the norm.
Ambassador Aguilera’s presentation echoed that of Ibu Nining’s in many ways. Adopted in 2021, Spain’s Feminist Foreign Policy (SFFP) is about “the incorporation of women in decision-making at the international level, promoting their representation and their participation [and] the integration of women in all areas of Spanish diplomacy”.
The aims and goals of the SFFP are to overcome the present challenges to gender equality in societies, to reinforce international cooperation and to promote women in the Spanish foreign service.
The SFFP has five lines of action: 1. Women, peace and security, 2. Violence against women and children; 3. Human rights, 4. Participation of women in decision-making spaces and 5. Economic justice and empowerment. Specifically, one of the objectives is to prevent and prosecute crimes against women, e.g. human trafficking and sexual violence in conflict and humanitarian contexts.
Looking at the figures, there is clearly a correlation between the number of women in diplomacy with gender equality and development indicators in a certain country or region (see Global Gender Gap Report 2022). Clearly, article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to eliminate all forms of stereotyping caused by culture, including misogynistic religious teachings and interpretations, is still far from being implemented by states, including the Indonesian state.
The world today is beset by crises that are global in nature, requiring nations to collaborate and face the challenges together. Diplomats are needed for peace and security, international trade, international development cooperation, to preserve relations, peace and to strengthen ties, and to get support from each other.
Hopefully more women's representation in positions of power and decision-making in diplomacy can result in a greater focus on human security that embraces humanity, rather than state security, which sees your neighbor as a threat.
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The writer is director of the Gender Equity, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Center at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information (LP3ES).
