Gender equality will become central to Australia's foreign policy, diplomacy, trade and aid programmers under a new international strategy, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday in Canberra.
Gender equality is a "stronger predictor of peace than a nation's wealth or political system", Wong said in a speech at a U.N. Women event at parliament house.
Australia's new International Gender Equality Strategy aims to protect women's sexual and reproductive health rights and increase the security and financial inclusion of women.
"Across the world, women are facing more sexual and gender-based violence, and less access to sexual and reproductive health services," Wong said in announcing the new strategy.
Two in three women experience physical or sexual violence in the Pacific region, she added.
Globally, 380 million women and girls live in extreme poverty and 2.4 billion women do not have equal economic opportunities.
"Some will try to delegitimise this strategy as being about a 'special interest'... Gender equality is a matter of national interest," she added.
The United States, the biggest aid donor globally, has frozen aid funding, which includes women's reproductive health, and has criticized clean energy projects for women in the Pacific, as the Trump Administration overhauls foreign assistance.
Australia provides 40% of aid to the Pacific Islands region and already has a policy which requires gender equality goals in new aid projects of A$3 million or more.
Under the new strategy Australia will spend A$30 million to provide more assistance to aid groups to include gender and social inclusion targets in programmers, the foreign affairs department said.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
6 Comments
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JJE
It's a bit rich coming from a country with an ingrained problem of women being killed in DV situations.
GuruMick
JJE...nonsensical comments...doing "something " 'better than nothing...and it is Australian men who need to look at themselves re DV
Mr Kipling
Let's see if they hold the Muslim countries to this policy?
WoodyLee
It's about time someone put into action the obvious, anyone who still thinks that there is a diff between the two genders except for the natural is either a retard or ignorant.
WoodyLee
"" Let's see if they hold the Muslim countries to this policy? "" it wont work with these nations not because of their faith BUT BECAUSE of FEAR and Insecurity.
All faiths give women equal rights regardless, only those who fear women and their ability to take on all tasks are blocking and degrading them.
Jay
Ah yes, Penny Wong's WOKE grand theory of geopolitics: just slap a few diversity quotas on a country and - poof! - world peace! Never mind that some of the most peaceful, prosperous nations in history were built by MEN who had never even heard the term "gender equality." But no, apparently we need to pretend that putting more activists in power is the key to stopping wars, rather than, say, strong leadership, economic stability, and a competent military. Clown-level incompetence from this woman.