YOUNG FEMINIST ACTIVISM PROGRAM

Background

Within the women’s movement there is a growing recognition of the critical role that young feminists play in defending women’s rights and of the unique perspectives and strategies for organizing that they bring to the movement. There is also an increasing understanding of the differential impact of women’s rights violations on younger women.

Strengthening and mobilizing younger activists within the women’s movement requires deliberate strategizing, dedication to understanding the experiences of young feminists and a commitment to supporting youth-led initiatives.

AWID’s Young Feminist Activism program aims to contribute to a multi-generational movement by amplifying the voices of young women within the movement so that their experiences and ideas are reflected in feminist discourse and activism.

Goals and objectives

The Young Feminist Activism program operates as cross-cutting to all of AWID’s work and focuses on specific activities within each of the AWID Strategic Initiatives. The Young Feminist Activism program aims to:

• Support young feminist activism in the context of AWID’s Strategic Initiatives to strengthen the role of young feminists within the women’s movement with a specific focus on young feminists from diverse backgrounds and marginalized women’s groups

• Work with young feminists to make a case for young feminist activism to key players in the women’s movement

• In collaboration with young feminists, build tools and resources to overcome key challenges to effective action for women’s rights in their contexts, particularly in relationship to resource mobilization and religious fundamentalisms

• Work with AWID allies to understand how to implement effective multi-generational dialogue and create strategic spaces for this to occur

What we hope to achieve

• Ensure that young feminists are an integral part of each AWID strategic initiative with specific activities, research or other strategies specifically developed for young feminists and/or to amplify the perspectives of young feminists

• Create resources and opportunities that specifically respond to the needs of young feminists in the women’s movement and support young women’s rights work

• Support young feminists from diverse backgrounds and marginalized women’s groups in their organizing in concrete ways

• Ensure that young feminists play a greater role in agenda-setting for the women’s movement

• Facilitate knowledge sharing and networking, and strengthening alliance-building for young feminists targeted towards enhancing women’s rights activism

Activities in 2009

• Where is the Money for Young Women action-research project examining the resource mobilization challenges faced by young women-led organizations.

• Work with key partners to develop and incubate a Young Feminist Fund that will provide funding and capacity-building programs for young feminist activism in developing countries around the world.

• Creation of a small private online community of young feminist activists in the MENA region to share experiences, discuss women’s rights issues and plan joint activities.

• Creation of contacts database of young feminist organizations and initiatives.

• Research to develop a conceptual map of young feminist organizations and initiatives, and women’s rights organizations engaging in movement building and leadership work with young women.

• Research to identify the key needs of new and emerging young women-led women’s rights initiatives and devise appropriate methods of organizational strengthening.

Project team

Lindiwe Bardill - Research Associate
Ghadeer Malek - Program Assistant
Sanushka Mudaliar - Manager