Interview with Susana Ros Martinez, President of the Equality Committee of the Congress of Deputies of Spain, ahead of the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policies.
Published on 28/05/2026.
Interview with Susana Ros Martinez, President of the Equality Committee of the Congress of Deputies of Spain
At a time marked by setbacks in women’s rights and the rise of anti-gender narratives, Susana Ros Martinez discusses the priorities of Spain’s feminist foreign policy, the challenges of ensuring its long-term sustainability, and the role of Parliament and international institutions in defending equality and human rights.
Focus 2030 : How would you assess the current commitment of Spanish parliamentarians to issues related to feminist cooperation and gender equality in foreign policy?
Susana Ros Martinez : Today, in Spain, under a progressive government, there is a stronger commitment to feminist development cooperation and gender equality in foreign policy. We have moved from words to action, translating these commitments into concrete policies.
In 2023, Spain adopted a new Cooperation Law that explicitly incorporates gender equality as a cross-cutting principle of its international action and development cooperation.
This commitment has translated into concrete initiatives. Foreign policy is structured through the Action Plan for a Feminist Foreign Policy and strengthened by specific tools such as the First Feminist Cooperation Strategy, which places women’s rights, representation, and empowerment at the center of all international policies. Equally significant is the development of the Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2025–2030, whose main objective is to place both gender equality and human rights at the core of all of our country’s international action.
Spain has been one of the first European Union member states to formally adopt this approach, aligning itself with the 2030 Agenda and international commitments on human rights and equality.
Our main objective is to embed a gender perspective across all areas of foreign policy: international cooperation, humanitarian action, diplomacy, security, trade, ecological transition, and the defense of human rights.
Focus 2030 : Do you perceive lasting political momentum around these issues within the Spanish Parliament?
Susana Ros Martinez : In this regard, two important considerations must be made:
First, within Parliament there is broad, though not unanimous, consensus around the need to defend the rights of women and girls, combat gender-based violence, and promote women’s participation in decision-making processes, especially in contexts of conflict, poverty, or humanitarian crises.
Second, political differences remain regarding the scope and priorities of these policies. The far right opposed the Cooperation Law and consistently rejects this gender perspective and its integration into decisions on foreign policy, trade, cooperation, and security. Likewise, the governing coalitions we are seeing in Spain between the right and the far right often place equality and international cooperation policies as their first targets.
For this reason, in an international context where we are witnessing setbacks in women’s rights in different countries, I believe that the Spanish Parliament has a responsibility to continue being a strong voice in defense of equality, human rights, and truly transformative international cooperation.
Focus 2030 : How do you perceive the impact of these developments on the ambitions of feminist foreign policy, both in Spain and globally?
Susana Ros Martinez : As I mentioned, there is a global trend marked by polarization, conflict, and the rise of movements opposed to human rights. This poses a major challenge for feminist foreign policy and for the global agenda for equality. In many countries, we are seeing setbacks in the rights of women and girls, as well as challenges to fundamental democratic progress.
In the Spanish case, the challenge is to maintain a coherent and ambitious commitment to feminist foreign policy while also strengthening international alliances to defend the progress achieved and prevent it from being rolled back.
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Seville in 2025, was a unique opportunity to reform financing at all levels and a space where government leaders, international organizations, financial institutions, businesses, civil society, and the United Nations came together to strengthen international cooperation.
On June 2 and 3, 2026, Madrid will host the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy: Building Peace and Democracy, a high-level global gathering dedicated to feminist foreign policy, women’s rights, and gender equality.
Feminist foreign policy cannot be reduced to a symbolic or secondary dimension of foreign affairs. It represents a different way of approaching international relations, one grounded in human rights, cooperation, social justice, and multilateralism.
It is also important to strengthen international partnerships and agreements, especially to jointly defend the achievements mentioned above and prevent those gains from being rolled back. To those who seek to weaken women’s rights, there should be only one response: more cooperation, more democracy, and stronger political commitment.
Focus 2030 : Feminist foreign policies often depend on the political majorities in power. In your view, what conditions are necessary to ensure the sustainability of these commitments and to embed them permanently in institutions and public policy?
Susana Ros Martinez : Ensuring the sustainability of feminist foreign policies requires establishing them as long-term state policies.
It is also essential to provide these policies with stable instruments: clear legal frameworks, action plans, evaluation mechanisms, and sufficient funding. Without resources and monitoring, commitments risk remaining merely symbolic declarations.
Another key element is training and awareness-raising within institutions themselves, so that a gender perspective is mainstreamed across diplomacy, cooperation, humanitarian action, and security policies, regardless of political changes.
In addition, collaboration with international organizations, civil society, and feminist organizations is essential to maintaining a strong agenda that remains connected to realities on the ground and broadly supported.
Ultimately, the best guarantee of continuity is recognizing that equality is not a partisan or temporary issue, but rather a democratic principle and an essential requirement for building fairer, safer, and more sustainable societies.
| This interview has been translated from Spanish by Focus 2030. Please refer to this link to view the original version. The opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect the views of Focus 2030. |
