WASHINGTON - Today, the international women’s rights organization MADRE announced the launch of its Feminist Foreign Policy Jumpstart, an initiative to bring global women’s voices and solutions to progressive policymaking in the US.

MADRE noted that the recent shift in power in the US Congress reflects the impact of women’s strengthened political organizing and leadership and offers new opportunities for progressive action. However, even amid the renewed calls for a progressive foreign policy agenda, global women’s perspectives and feminist analyses remain sorely lacking.

The Feminist Foreign Policy Jumpstart will advance a policy agenda developed in partnership with grassroots women worldwide and create opportunities for local women leaders to present their expertise and testimonies to US policymakers. This initiative will focus on three priority areas: offering a global gender justice perspective on the Green New Deal; advancing the voices of women peacebuilders on the frontlines of war to bring lasting peace and stability; and confronting the crisis of gender violence against migrant women.

“We already have what we need to succeed, and a jumpstart will accelerate our progress,” said Diana Duarte, MADRE’s Policy and Communications Director. “Women like MADRE's partners worldwide are already doing the work to protect their communities against war and disaster. They know well what it means to navigate crises worsened or opportunities offered by US foreign policy. This gives them vital knowledge to offer solutions and transform a progressive foreign policy agenda.”