Building Feminist Economies
Building Feminist Economies is about creating a world with clean air to breath and water to drink, with meaningful labour and care for ourselves and our communities, where we can all enjoy our economic, sexual and political autonomy.
In the world we live in today, the economy continues to rely on women’s unpaid and undervalued care work for the profit of others. The pursuit of “growth” only expands extractivism - a model of development based on massive extraction and exploitation of natural resources that keeps destroying people and planet while concentrating wealth in the hands of global elites. Meanwhile, access to healthcare, education, a decent wage and social security is becoming a privilege to few. This economic model sits upon white supremacy, colonialism and patriarchy.
Adopting solely a “women’s economic empowerment approach” is merely to integrate women deeper into this system. It may be a temporary means of survival. We need to plant the seeds to make another world possible while we tear down the walls of the existing one.
We believe in the ability of feminist movements to work for change with broad alliances across social movements. By amplifying feminist proposals and visions, we aim to build new paradigms of just economies.
Our approach must be interconnected and intersectional, because sexual and bodily autonomy will not be possible until each and every one of us enjoys economic rights and independence. We aim to work with those who resist and counter the global rise of the conservative right and religious fundamentalisms as no just economy is possible until we shake the foundations of the current system.
Our Actions
Our work challenges the system from within and exposes its fundamental injustices:
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Advance feminist agendas: We counter corporate power and impunity for human rights abuses by working with allies to ensure that we put forward feminist, women’s rights and gender justice perspectives in policy spaces. For example, learn more about our work on the future international legally binding instrument on “transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights” at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
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Mobilize solidarity actions: We work to strengthen the links between feminist and tax justice movements, including reclaiming the public resources lost through illicit financial flows (IFFs) to ensure social and gender justice.
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Build knowledge: We provide women human rights defenders (WHRDs) with strategic information vital to challenge corporate power and extractivism. We will contribute to build the knowledge about local and global financing and investment mechanisms fuelling extractivism.
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Create and amplify alternatives: We engage and mobilize our members and movements in visioning feminist economies and sharing feminist knowledges, practices and agendas for economic justice.
“The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing”.
Arundhati Roy, War Talk
Related Content
Snippet - WITM Acknowledgements - RU
Слова благодарности
AWID выражает признательность всем тем, чьи идеи, аналитические работы и вклад в развитие легли в основу исследования «Где деньги?» и его дальнейшей адвокации.
Прежде всего, мы выражаем глубочайшую благодарность членам AWID и активисткам(-там), которые участвовали в консультациях, и провели этот опрос вместе с нами, щедро поделившись своим временем, аналитикой и теплом.
Мы выражаем признательность феминистским движениям, союзницам(-кам) и феминистским фондам, включая (но не ограничиваясь ими) Black Feminist Fund, Pacific Feminist Fund, ASTRAEA Lesbian Foundation for Justice, FRIDA Young Feminist Fund, Purposeful, Kosovo Women’s Network, Human Rights Funders Network, Dalan Fund and PROSPERA International Network of Women's Funds , за ваше тщательное исследование состояния ресурсного обеспечения, вдумчивый анализ и постоянную адвокацию для достижения более объемного и эффективного финансирования для феминистских организаций и движений за гендерную справедливость во всех контекстах.
Присоединяйтесь к глобальному феминистскому сообществу, которое освещает состояние ресурсного обеспечения, требуя большего финансирования и влияния для феминисток(-ов) во всем мире
O nosso grupo, organização e/ou movimento não está registado - devemos participar no inquérito mesmo assim?
É claro que sim, queremos saber mais sobre si e sobre a sua experiência com o financiamento.
كيف تعرّفون "التمويل الخارجي"؟
يشمل التمويل الخارجي المنح والأشكال الأخرى من التمويل من المؤسسات الخيرية، الحكومات، الجهات ثنائية الاتجاه أو متعددة الاتجاهات أو الممولين/ات من الشركات أو الممولين/ات الأفراد، إن كان ذلك من دولتكم/ن أو من الخارج. لا يشمل هذا الموارد التي تنتجها المجموعات، المنظمات أو الحركات بشكل مستقل مثل رسوم العضوية، تطوع الطاقم أو الأعضاء/ العضوات أو الداعمين/ات، تجنيد الأموال المجتمعي، تأجير الأماكن أو بيع الخدمات أو المنتجات. لتسهيل عملية تعبئة الاستطلاع، تم شمل تعريف أنواع التمويل ووصفها بشكل قصير في الاستطلاع نفسه.
Доступен ли опрос для людей с ограниченными возможностями?
Да, опрос доступен людям с различными нарушениями слуха, зрения, движений и когнитивных способностей.
Quanto tempo demora a preencher o inquérito?
O tempo estimado para preencher o inquérito é 30 minutos.
لا أشعر بالراحة لمشاركة اسمي او اسم مجموعتي، منظمتي و\ أو حركتي مع AWID, هل أستطيع مع ذلك تعبئة الاستطلاع؟
طبعاً! هذه الأسئلة اختيارية. نقدّر جداً حقكم بالسرية. الرجاء تعبئة الاستطلاع دون علاقة بقراركم/ن بمشاركة اسم المجموعة، المنظمة أو الحركة أو تفاصيل التواصل معكم/ن.
Могу ли я поделиться информацией об опросе с другими?
Да, пожалуйста! Мы просим распространить ссылку на опрос среди своих коллег по сети. Чем больше различных точек зрения мы соберем, тем более полным будет наше понимание финансового положения феминистских организаций.
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Register for the Forum!
When people come together on a global scale, as individuals and movements, we generate a sweeping force. Join us in Bangkok, Thailand and online in December 2024.
Values - intersectionality
Intersectionality
We believe that for feminist movements to be transformative and strong we must continue to work across our similarities and differences. We also must interrogate power and privilege both within and outside our movements.
Snippet - CSW69 - Feminist Solidarity Space 12 - EN
Feminist Solidarity Space
✉️ By registration for larger groups. Drop-ins for smaller groups. Register here
📅 Wednesday, March 12, 2025
🕒 2.00-4.00pm EST
🏢 Chef's Kitchen Loft with Terrace, 216 East 45th St 13th Floor New York
Organizer: AWID
Priority Areas - Homepage - Eng
Priority Areas
Snippet - WCFM Database blurb - En
AWID’s Who Can Fund Me? Database
Regularly updated and searchable directory of 200+ funders across different sectors and regions that support vital gender justice work.
FRMag - The Story of An Unhappy Tale
The Story of An Unhappy Tale
by Gabriela Estefanía Riera Robles
Juliana. How I would love to be called Juliana! The name is full of power and presence, full of force and vehemence. (...)
< artwork by Borislava Madeit and Stalker Since 1993
Snippet2 - WCFM Movement and Struggle - EN

Movement in focus:
Filter your search by funders’ priority support areas that speak to your organizing efforts
Ours explore chapters
Explore the Chapters
WITM - Refreshed Intro Text (EN)
Where is the Money? An Evidence-Driven Call to Resource Feminist Organizing
This new report shines a light on the resourcing realities of feminist and women’s rights organizations amid unprecedented political and financial upheaval. Drawing on over a decade of analysis since AWID last Where is the Money? report (Watering the Leaves, Starving the Roots), it takes stock of the gains, gaps, and growing threats in the funding landscape.
The report celebrates the power of movement-led initiatives to shape resourcing on their own terms, while sounding the alarm on massive aid cuts, shrinking philanthropy, and escalating backlash.
It calls on funders to invest abundantly in feminist organizing as essential infrastructure for justice and liberation. It also invites movements to reimagine bold, self-determined models of resourcing rooted in care, solidarity and collective power.
Ghiwa Sayegh Snippet

Ghiwa Sayegh is an anarcha-queer writer, independent publisher, and archivist. She is the founding editor of Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research and the co-founder of Intersectional Knowledge Publishers. She has an MA in gender studies from Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis. She is passionate about queer theory, transnational circulations, and imagined or unknown histories. Her influences are Audre Lorde and Sara Ahmed.
Snippet - COP30 - Feminist Demands for COP30 col 2
What We Demand:
- Climate finance as reparations: grants, not loans
- Direct funding to frontline communities
- Phasing out fossil fuels NOW
- Defunding military and prison complexes
- Corporate accountability mechanisms
- Enabling environments for feminist alternatives to thrive
- The liberation of Palestine, Congo and Sudan
- Debt cancellation and an end to austerity
- Rapid, direct and flexible funding to frontline communities
- Decolonial feminist just transitions
#10 - Sexting like a feminist Tweets Snippet EN
I love me some poetry…

AWID Forum: Co-creating Feminist Futures
In September 2016, the 13th AWID international Forum brought together in Brazil over 1800 feminists and women’s rights advocates in a spirit of resistance and resilience.
This section highlights the gains, learnings and resources that came out of our rich conversations. We invite you to explore, share and comment!
What has happened since 2016?
One of the key takeaways from the 2016 Forum was the need to broaden and deepen our cross-movement work to address rising fascisms, fundamentalisms, corporate greed and climate change.
With this in mind, we have been working with multiple allies to grow these seeds of resistance:
- Our Seed Initiatives, has helped 20 ideas that emerged at the Forum to grow into concrete actions
- The video “Defending people and planet” and guide “Weaving resistance through action” put courageous WHRDs in the spotlight and present concrete strategies they use to confront corporate power.
- With our animations about the State of Our Feminist Movements and Climate and Environmental Justice, movements now have creative tools to support their advocacy work.
- The compiling artistic expressions of our #MovementsMatter series continues to inspire stronger and more creative organizing around the world.
- Movements can also benefit from new methodologies on Visioning Feminist Futures (Coming up soon!)
And through our next strategic plan and Forum process, we are committed to keep developing ideas and deepen the learnings ignited at the 2016 Forum.
What happens now?
The next AWID Forum will take place in the Asia Pacific region (exact location and dates to be announced in 2018).
We look forward to you joining us!
About the AWID Forum
AWID Forums started in 1983, in Washington DC. Since then, the event has grown to become many things to many peoples: an iterative process of sharpening our analyses, vision and actions; a watershed moment that reinvigorates participants’ feminisms and energizes their organizing; and a political home for women human rights defenders to find sanctuary and solidarity.