Deadline: December 2, 2025
Applications are open for the Heinrich Böll Foundation Feminist Foreign & Development Policy Fellowship 2025. The fellowship aims to support feminist experts from the Global South to be part of critical discussions, provide space, access and experience in the realm of international institutions and connect young underrepresented voices to relevant decision-makers. Part of the program will also focus critically on how to best advance a feminist foreign policy – a framework that has been under scrutiny in the last year.
The key objectives of this fellowship opportunity are:
- To provide a learning and networking experience for emerging feminist leaders in development and foreign policy. As a result, participants will be better able to pursue their policy and advocacy aims and tap into a global network of like-minded change-makers;
- To enable more intergenerational and cross-regional debate on feminist development and foreign policy;
- To serve as a mechanism through which emerging feminist leaders can identify issues that require further debate and/or advocacy, and where exchange between relevant actors can be facilitated.
Benefits
- Travel Costs: The Heinrich Böll Foundation will cover the cost of international flights; transportation to the departing and arriving airport, as well as local transportation in NYC; up to 6 nights of accommodation in New York City; and health/travel insurance. Selected meals will also be provided.
- Visa Processing: If needed, the Foundation will support the visa application process by providing an official letter of invitation and will cover visa fees. Note that the Foundation cannot guarantee that visas will be processed in time.
- Visibility and Platform: Before the CSW, selected fellows will be promoted on social media channels to create a visible online platform around their aims and to amplify important political messages related to the CSW.
- CSW Registration: The Foundation will facilitate conference registration and cover related fees.
- Skills and Network: The selected fellows will get access to the global HBS network, introductory sessions and strategizing workshops ahead of CSW, networking events, bi- and multilateral meetings, as well as informal sessions for exchange during CSW.
Eligibility
- They seek candidates who are emerging or experienced leaders and activists in the fields of foreign and development policy, with a specific feminist focus on issues such as human rights, reproductive rights, or decolonial struggles, among others. Qualified candidates will be actively engaged in developing and shaping feminist development and foreign policy in at least one of the following ways:
- as leaders and activists in civil society and grassroots organizations (e.g. supporting feminist approaches to development policy on the ground);
- as elected officials or policy advisors at local, state, national, or supra-regional level (e.g. implementing feminist foreign & development policy, Women, Peace & Security agenda);
- as students, researchers, or teachers in academia or think tanks (e.g. researching women’s and queer rights and representation with an international lens);
- as entrepreneurs in the private sector (e.g. developing creative solutions in support of gender equality and women’s and queer human rights).
- They reserve a specific amount of seats for applicants who are young feminists (between the ages of 21 and 35) and who have not yet attended a CSW in the past. Also considering more experienced profiles, they hope to create a space that encourages learning and exchange within the group. They also encourage HBS partner organizations with or without CSW experience to apply and indicate their connection to HBS in their application.
- In 2025, they are seeking candidates based in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Caucasus Region, and Eastern Europe.
Application
Applications should consist of:
- Resume: Use a standard US format. Standard US resumes do not include pictures or marital/familial status and have a maximum of 2 pages. Indicate your age, as they reserve some fellowships for candidates aged 21-35.
- Challenge / motivational statement: Write a short (max 300 words) reflection on the biggest challenge you see for the movement towards gender equality or women’s rights right now. How do you propose to deal with it and what are concrete steps that you are currently taking? How will your participation at the CSW help you in navigating those challenges?
For more information, visit Heinrich Böll Foundation Fellowship.
