Adolfo Lujan | Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Mass demonstration in Madrid on International Women's Day
Multitudinaria manifestación en Madrid en el día internacional de la mujer

Priority Areas

Supporting feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements to thrive, to be a driving force in challenging systems of oppression, and to co-create feminist realities.

Advancing Universal Rights and Justice

Uprooting Fascisms and Fundamentalisms

Across the globe, feminist, women’s rights and gender justice defenders are challenging the agendas of fascist and fundamentalist actors. These oppressive forces target women, persons who are non-conforming in their gender identity, expression and/or sexual orientation, and other oppressed communities.


Discriminatory ideologies are undermining and co-opting our human rights systems and standards,  with the aim of making rights the preserve of only certain groups. In the face of this, the Advancing Universal Rights and Justice (AURJ) initiative promotes the universality of rights - the foundational principle that human rights belong to everyone, no matter who they are, without exception.

We create space for feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements and allies to recognize, strategize and take collective action to counter the influence and impact of anti-rights actors. We also seek to advance women’s rights and feminist frameworks, norms and proposals, and to protect and promote the universality of rights.


Our actions

Through this initiative, we:

  • Build knowledge: We support feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements by disseminating and popularizing knowledge and key messages about anti-rights actors, their strategies, and impact in the international human rights systems through AWID’s leadership role in the collaborative platform, the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs)*.
  • Advance feminist agendas: We ally ourselves with partners in international human rights spaces including, the Human Rights Council, the Commission on Population and Development, the Commission on the Status of Women and the UN General Assembly.
  • Create and amplify alternatives: We engage with our members to ensure that international commitments, resolutions and norms reflect and are fed back into organizing in other spaces locally, nationally and regionally.
  • Mobilize solidarity action: We take action alongside women human rights defenders (WHRDs) including trans and intersex defenders and young feminists, working to challenge fundamentalisms and fascisms and call attention to situations of risk.  

 

Related Content

Love letter to Feminist Movements #10

I never knew I have a close family who loves me and wants me to grow, My mum has always been there for me, but I never imagined I would have thousands of families out there who are not related to me by blood.

Collage of Kraft paper envelopes with the words "Love letters to Feminist Movements" written at the top. Near the bottom it says "From: FAITH ONUH". On the upper left corner there is a postal stamp. Under the envelope there is a card with a type writer printed on it.

I found out family are not just people related by blood ties, but people who love you unconditionally, not minding your sexual orientation, your health status, social status, or your race.

Thinking about the precious moments I listened to all my sisters around the world who are strong feminists, people I have not meet physically, but who support me, teach me, fight for me: I am short of words, words cannot express how much I love you mentors and other feminists, you’re a mother, a sister, a friend to millions of girls.

You are amazing, you fought for people you don’t know - and that is what makes you so special.

It gladdens my heart to express this through writing.

I love you all and will continue to love you. I have not seen any one of you physically but it seems we have known each other for decades.

We are feminists and we are proud to be women.

We will keep letting the world know that our courage is our crown.

A love letter from FAITH ONUH, a young feminist from Nigeria

 

The 2024 AWID Feminist Calendar

Image of a calendar on a wall. https://www.awid.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/calendar-mockup_gif_0.gif

This calendar invites us to immerse ourselves in the inspiring world of feminist artistry. Each month, as it gently unfolds, brings forth the vivid artwork of feminist and queer artists from our communities. Their creations are not mere images; they are profound narratives that resonate with the experiences of struggle, triumph, and undying courage that define our collective quest. These visual stories, bursting with color and emotion, serve to bridge distances and weave together our diverse experiences, bringing us closer in our shared missions.

This calendar is our call to you: Use it, print it, share it. Let it be a daily companion in your journey, a constant reminder of our interconnectedness and our shared visions for a better world.

Let it inspire you, as it inspires us, to keep moving forward together.

Image of a section of the 2024 calendar cover. Is show the top of a pyramid, a celestial object orbited by dancing naked bodies and a face with a third eye have open emerging from the water in the horizon.

Use it. Print it. Share it. 

Get it in your preferred language!

English
Français
Español
Português
عربي
Русский
Thai

Snippet FEA A Caring Economy (EN)

A CARING

ECONOMY

Feminists Centering Care in the Economy:
A Cross-Movement Dialogue

What if we reimagined ways of caring for our communities?

What if the economy was not about someone else’s profit but about care for our individual and collective wellbeing? These stories are about building communities of care with and for people who are historically and presently excluded, disenfranchised and dehumanized by both state and society. These are the stories of feminists centering care in the economy.

Snippet FEA Mano Cambiada (EN)

Two hands shaking - lighter skinned hand with a yellow shirt and darker skinned hand with a burgundy shirt. The words "Mano cambiada" are written over in cursive.

MANO CAMBIADA

("exchange hand") 

Term of the black communities of the Northern Cauca for the minga, the collective work based on solidarity and mutual support.

Snippet FEA EoS The Howl (EN)

Three arms with fist raised: one black, pink, and the last one in purple

The Howl
Participation and activism

Snippet FEA Bio fertilizer and Sum-Pack (EN)

ILLUSTRATION OF NSS Products: Bio fertilizer and Sum-Pack - Natural stock cubes

Snippet FEA What Challenges Story 3 (EN)

What Challenges do Trans and Travesti People Face in Argentina?

Snippet FEA collaborator and allies Photo 1 (EN)

The photo shows Sopo Japaridze, one of the co-founders of the Solidarity Network Union. Sopo has long brown hair, with bangs, and brown eyes, and wears a red mask of the Solidarity Network Union. The picture is taken at night.

Snippet FEA Sopo Japaridze (EN)

Meet Sopo Japaridze, fierce feminist, union leader and chair of the independent service trade union at the Solidarity Network.

She left the country when she was very young to go to the United States where she first became very politically active as a labor organizer. She kept Georgia in the back of her mind all that time, until one day, two decades later, she decided to return.

The existing Georgian union confederation back then was less than ideal. So, equipped with her skills, knowledge and labor organizing experience, Sopo went back to Georgia and built her own union.

Sopo is a passionate researcher and writer. She studies labor and social relations, writes for various publications and is the contributing editor of LeftEast, an Eastern European analytical platform. She also co-founded the political history initiative and podcast, Reimagining Soviet Georgia, where she explores the complexities and nuances of the country's experiences under the Soviet Union, to better understand its past in order to shed light on how to build a better future.

Snippet FEA Principles of Work (EN)

Principles

OF WORK

Snippet - Podcast Playlist Season 1 (EN)