The U.S. State Department’s decision to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, from U.S. Foreign Service training offers a glimpse into a changing approach to how governments prepare their diplomats. For the Philippines, it also provides an opportunity to look at how Manila’s own foreign service addresses gender, diversity, and inclusion.
The U.S. State Department said in a recent announcement that an internal review found DEI-related material in Foreign Service training and personnel programs under the previous administration. It said the material has since been removed as the department refocuses training on professional standards, practical diplomatic skills, and the national interests of the United States.
The review identified materials addressing Critical Race Theory, “white privilege,” “systemic racism,” and “Black Lives Matter,” along with guidance concerning “microaffirmations,” “unconscious bias,” and “microaggressions.” Some foreign-language training materials addressed these subjects in languages including Bangla, Urdu, and Hebrew.
The department also said some guidance encouraged Foreign Service officers to discuss DEI issues with senior foreign government counterparts and demonstrate “allyship.” The administration has said diplomatic training should remain centered on the responsibilities of representing the United States abroad.
“America’s diplomats are called to advocate for the national interests of the United States on the world stage—not advance extreme anti-American dogmas,” the U.S. Department of State posted on social media. “Fringe divisive ideological dogma has no places in Foreign Service training.”
The policy change provides a useful point of comparison with the Philippines, where diversity and inclusion remain part of a broader government framework, with gender mainstreaming serving as a key tool for promoting equality within the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The DFA’s Gender and Development Agenda for 2023-2028 describes its vision as “A resilient, responsive, and inclusive foreign service for a strong Philippines, where women and men equally benefit from development and fully enjoy their human rights.”
The agenda calls for “inclusive and gender-responsive foreign policies and programs” and identifies gender equality as an institutional objective. It includes measures related to diversity, gender mainstreaming, women’s participation in foreign-policy processes, staffing and overseas assignments, and equal opportunities in recruitment and career development.
The Philippine framework extends to Foreign Service Posts and consular offices. It calls for gender considerations to be incorporated into policies, programs, and workplace practices, reflecting the government’s broader use of Gender and Development, or GAD, as a planning and policy framework for promoting gender equality, diversity, and inclusion in public institutions.
The policy also carries a budgetary requirement. Under the Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act No. 9710), government agencies are required to allocate at least 5% of their total appropriations to Gender and Development programs, projects, and activities. The requirement does not create a single national GAD fund; agencies determine their allocations based on their own budgets and gender-related programs. For the DFA, whose 2026 budget, excluding attached agencies, is about ₱28.32 billion, the minimum 5% allocation would amount to roughly ₱1.42 billion.
This approach has also included training for diplomatic personnel. In 2021, the DFA required personnel across its Foreign Service missions to complete an online Gender Sensitivity Training course through their respective GAD focal points. The nine-module program covered gender concepts, gender roles, gender mainstreaming, and gender analysis, with the stated aim of sensitizing personnel to gender equality, women’s empowerment, and gender issues in the workplace.
The difference between the two approaches is therefore not simply about whether diversity matters, but how governments choose to address it within their diplomatic institutions.
The United States is placing greater emphasis on a common professional framework for its diplomats, with the U.S. State Department saying Foreign Service training should focus on merit, accountability, practical skills, and U.S. national interests.
The Philippines continues to incorporate gender mainstreaming, diversity, and inclusion into its public-service framework, with the DFA presenting these measures as ways to promote equal opportunity, participation, and gender equality.
Neither approach changes the fundamental role of diplomats: to represent their countries and advance national interests abroad. What differs is how diversity, gender, and inclusion are incorporated into the institutions responsible for that work.
For the Philippines, gender mainstreaming is part of a broader government policy framework. The Philippine Commission on Women continues to require national government agencies to prepare Gender and Development plans and budgets, making gender mainstreaming a continuing feature of public administration.
For Washington, the latest U.S. State Department policy reflects a different assessment of how such considerations should figure in diplomatic training.
The contrast is noteworthy because the United States and the Philippines remain close allies whose diplomats work together across a wide range of issues, from security and trade to migration and disaster response. Their cooperation does not require identical approaches to the organization and training of their respective foreign services.
Instead, the two countries illustrate how allied governments can pursue the common objective of effective diplomacy while maintaining different domestic frameworks for diversity, equality, representation, and inclusion.
Whether Manila’s approach will remain unchanged as Washington charts a different course—or whether the U.S. shift will prompt a broader conversation in the Philippines—is a question for policymakers and diplomats to consider.
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