Introduction

This chapter examines the ongoing challenges of and possibilities for renewed thinking in feminist development policies, highlighting the significance of decolonial feminism for guiding future development policies. Feminist development policies are at a critical juncture: they offer the potential to advance a new vision for international development yet fall short in rhetoric and substance for tackling persistent global challenges. Among the enduring challenges in international development are: the failure to address the needs and priorities of the poorest and most marginalized (including women and gender non-conforming individuals) with limited impacts on tackling inequality and poverty; accountability to donors and donor nations, rather than local communities where aid is meant to have the most impact; and insufficient strategies for addressing emerging and compounding global crises that lead to heightened insecurities for the most marginalized. Climate change, pandemics, food insecurity and the growing number of conflicts around the world are examples of crises we currently face, and our limited capacity to address these crises reduces our capacities for meeting global commitments, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Meanwhile, new aid actors are entering the global arena with their own political relationships and distinct development strategies that further limit our progress in meeting our global commitments for a sustainable, equitable and just world.

This chapter begins with an overview of persistent and emerging challenges in foreign aid policy and international assistance. The second section considers the impact of feminist development policies, drawing on critical feminist analyses of current feminist development policies: Canada's 2017 Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) and Germany's 2023 Feminist Development Policy (FDP), with additional examples of foreign aid priorities from Sweden and Australia. The main themes emerging from the analysis of contemporary feminist development policies include neoliberalism and the instrumentalization of women's labour for other political and economic outcomes; the significance of intersectional feminist priorities and the need for clearer definitions of feminism; and strategies for translating policy to practice including funding allocations, monitoring and evaluation, and the potential for inside activists to enact feminist principles. The challenges outlined in this critical evaluation of feminist development policies highlight their current limitations, opportunities for innovation in practice, and the importance of a decolonial feminist vision for addressing the realities of contemporary development challenges and the complexity of compounding global crises.