Q. What was your reaction when you heard about President Trump’s order?

A. Well, of course, I was very disappointed and a little bit shocked because, you know, this is 2017. You would have expected that in 2017 the rights of women and girls to be the masters of their own bodies and their own sexual lives would be something matter-of-fact.

Did you think, “What can I do to counter this?”

Yes. And if you’re a minister of foreign trade and development cooperation, one of the good things is that you can do something. That’s why I came up with this idea of creating this fund.

I talked to my staff about it. They were a little cautious at first. They thought we should do this with other countries and start negotiating with the others. I thought if you start the long process of negotiating, you don’t know what happens before we get to a result.

I said, “Let’s take the initiative and if others follow, yes! If others don’t, we’ll still have done the right thing.”

What was the response when you reached out to your counterparts in other countries?

Most thought it was an amazing initiative and were pleased. I have to say that my Belgium counterpart, Alexander De Croo, he was the most swift of all. He immediately said, “We’re going to help — not only to donate money, but we’re going to organize and host this conference.”