To What Extent Does Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy Reflect Genuine Feminist Principles? A Case Study of Canada’s International Assistance to Afghanistan

This paper analyzes Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) through a Global South lens, considering whether Canada's application of FIAP represents a genuine aid framework or functions instead as a form of political branding. Drawing on Afghanistan as a case study, the paper explores the divide between Canada's rhetoric and its actual practice across three angles. First, it reveals that although Canada has shown humanitarian commitment, its implementation falls short of being sustained or effective, hindered by bureaucratic delays and a move toward instrumentalist feminism that treats women's empowerment as a means to developmental ends rather than a goal in itself. Second, the paper examines how FIAP imposes a Western model of feminism onto Afghanistan, disregarding the ethnic, religious, and geographical realities of Afghan women. Third, it identifies an "aid paradox," pointing to power dynamics — such as Pakistan's regional role and anti-terrorism laws obstructing humanitarian organizations — that undercut the authenticity of Canada's feminist commitments and place national interests above genuine implementation. Ultimately, the paper demonstrates the fragility of FIAP, using the swift collapse following the Taliban's 2021 takeover to illustrate this, while reconsidering what feminism truly entails and exposing the disconnect between a nation's feminist promises and its actual delivery.