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AWID is an international, feminist, membership organisation committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights

AWID Forum: Co-creating Feminist Futures

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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:

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 world is a much different place than it was a year ago, and it will continue to change.

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.

Learn more about previous Forums

Related Content

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Snippet FEA Workers demonstrations in Georgia 1 (EN)

This photo shows four people with posters at a protest and in the middle a woman with a megaphone speaking

Snippet - WITM Why now_col 1 - RU

Почему сейчас?

A monochromatic orange illustration of a woman with curly hair with her hand on her chin. She seems to inquisitive or posing a question.

Феминистские движения, движения за права женщин, гендерную справедливость, ЛГБТКИ+ и смежные движения по всему миру переживают критический момент, сталкиваясь с мощной негативной реакцией на ранее завоеванные права и свободы. Последние годы привели к быстрому росту авторитаризма, жестоким репрессиям в отношении гражданского общества и криминализации правозащитниц(-ков) с разнообразной гендерной самоидентификацией, эскалации войн и конфликтов во многих частях света, продолжающейся экономической несправедливости, – и все это на фоне кризиса в области здравоохранения, экологии и климата.

Binta Sarr

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Category
Derechos económicos, sociales y culturales
Region
África
África Subsahariana
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Natural

Binta Sarr fue una activista por la justicia social, económica, cultural y política, y una ingeniera hidráulica en Senegal. Después de 13 años en la administración pública, Binta dejó ese camino para trabajar con mujeres rurales y marginadas.

Fue de este compromiso que surgió la Association for the Advancement of Senegalese Women [Asociación para el Avance de las Mujeres Senegalesas] (APROFES, por sus siglas en inglés), un movimiento y organización de base que Binta fundó en 1987. Uno de sus principales enfoques fue la formación de dirigentes, en relación no solo con las actividades económicas, sino también con los derechos de las mujeres y el acceso a los puestos de toma de decisiones.

"Las poblaciones de base deben organizarse, movilizarse, asumir el control ciudadano y exigir la gobernabilidad democrática en todos los sectores del espacio público. La prioridad de los movimientos sociales debe ir más allá de la lucha contra la pobreza y debe centrarse en programas de desarrollo articulados y coherentes en consonancia con los principios de los derechos humanos, teniendo en cuenta al mismo tiempo sus necesidades y preocupaciones tanto a nivel nacional como subregional y desde una perspectiva de integración africana y mundial". - Binta Sarr

Partiendo de la convicción de Binta de que el cambio fundamental de la condición de la mujer requiere una transformación de las actitudes masculinas, APROFES adoptó un enfoque interdisciplinario,  al utilizar la radio, los seminarios y el teatro popular, además de proporcionar una educación pública innovadora y  brindar apoyo cultural a las acciones de sensibilización. Su compañía de teatro popular representó piezas originales sobre el sistema de castas en el Senegal, el alcoholismo y la violencia conyugal. Binta y su equipo también analizaron la conexión crucial entre la comunidad y el mundo en general.

"Para APROFES, se trata de estudiar y tener en cuenta las interacciones entre lo micro y lo macro, lo local y lo global y también, las diferentes facetas del desarrollo. Desde la esclavitud hasta la colonización, el neocolonialismo y la mercantilización del desarrollo humano, la mayor parte de los recursos de África y del Tercer Mundo (petróleo, oro, minerales y otros recursos naturales) están todavía bajo el control de carteles financieros y las otras multinacionales que dominan este mundo globalizado". - Binta Sarr

Binta fue una de las integrantes fundadoras de la sección femenina de la Asociación Cultural y Deportiva Magg Daan. Recibió distinciones del Gobernador Regional y del Ministro de Hidrología por su "devoción por la población rural".

Nacida en 1954 en Guiguineo, un pequeño pueblo rural, Binta falleció en septiembre de 2019.

Tributos:

"La pérdida es inconmensurable, el dolor es pesado y profundo, pero resistiremos para no llorar a Binta; no lloraremos a Binta, mantendremos la imagen de su amplia sonrisa en todas las circunstancias, para resistir e inspirarnos en ella, para mantener, consolidar y desarrollar su obra..." - Página de Facebook de Aprofes, 24 de septiembre de 2019.

"¡Adiós Binta! Creemos que tu inmenso legado será preservado." - Elimane FALL , presidente de ACS Magg-Daan

2009: l´ONU organise une conférence sur l´impact de la crise économique

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La Conférence des Nations Unies de 2009 sur la crise financière et économique mondiale et son incidence sur le développement

  • La  conférence  de 2009  était l’aboutissement de celle de Doha en 2008. La Déclaration de Doha avait  mandaté  les Nations Unies  pour organiser, sous l’égide du Président de l’Assemblée générale, une conférence consacrée à la crise financière et économique mondiale et à son incidence sur le développement.
  • Pendant la conférence, les groupes de femmes, par le biais du WWG ont souligné l’impact de la crise financière mondiale sur les groupes les plus vulnérables. Dans sa déclaration aux membres (en anglais), le WWG a  proposé une liste d’actions nécessaires que les États membres devraient mettre en œuvre pour pallier  aux conséquences de la crise sur les femmes. Le groupe de travail a également déclaré que la prise en compte des autres groupes sociaux touchés par la crise était essentielle pour apporter une réponse qui soit en accord avec les normes et les engagements internationaux relatifs à l’égalité des genres, aux droits des femmes, aux droits humains et à l’autonomisation. 

Feminist propositions: Glossary of terms

Capitalism:

An economic system in which production and consumption patterns are based on profit using privately owned capital goods and wage labour. The system builds on individual wealth and capital accumulation at the lowest cost to the investor, with little regard for the societal costs and exploitation of the workforce - both paid and unpaid.

Commodification of land:

The conversion of land and activities related to it (like agriculture) into commodities that can be bought or sold for profit.

International Financial Institutions (IFIs):

Institutions (like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, or regional development banks) that provide loans to countries lacking sufficient money to cover funding shortfalls or to finance development projects. Historically, the lending policies of these institutions have been determined by economically powerful Western countries and private enterprises. Loans to low-income countries in particular typically include conditionalities that prompt economic reforms in these countries to support neo-liberalism.

Neoliberalism:

A set of economic and political theories in which market forces, rather than governments, determine key aspects of the economy with governments acting to support globalized markets and the interests of capital. Neo-liberal economic policies typically include promotion of free trade, privatisation, reduced government spending on social programs, subsidies and tax exemptions for business, deregulation of financial sector and foreign investments, low taxes on the wealthy and corporations, flexible labour and weak environmental protection.

Patriarchy:

Refers to systemic and institutionalized male domination embedded in and perpetuated by cultural, political, economic and social structures and ideologies. Hetero-patriarchy in addition, is a patriarchal system that is also based on the belief that heterosexuality is the only normal and acceptable sexual orientation.

Snippet FEA collaborator and allies Photo 5 (ES)

La foto muestra a un grupo de quince trabajadores sentados juntos en una sala con paredes blancas. Algunos están durmiendo, otros están despiertos, hablando entre ellos o mirando sus teléfonos.

Snippet - WITM Our objectives - AR

أهداف استطلاع "أين المال"

تقديم تحليل محدّث، قوي، مبني على الأدلة ومسيّر نحو النشاط عن وقائع التمويل النسوي للتنظيمات النسوية ووضع البيئة التمويلية النسوية لأعضاء وعضوات AWID، الشركاء/ الشريكات في الحركة والممولين/ات.

1

تحديد وإظهار الفرص للتحول لتمويل أفضل وأكبر للحركات النسوية، لكشف الحلول الزائفة ووقف التوجه الذي يجعل التمويل يتحرك ضد الأجندات التقاطعية أو أجندات العدالة الجندرية.

2

تحديد الرؤى المقترحات والأجندات النسوية، لتمويل يحقق العدالة.

3

لتعبئة الاستطلاع

Laurie Carlos

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Category
Droits économiques, sociaux et culturels
Region
Amérique du Nord
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Maladie

Laurie Carlos était une comédienne, réalisatrice, danseuse, dramaturge et poétesse aux États-Unis. Artiste hors pair et visionnaire, c’est avec de puissants modes de communication qu’elle a su transmettre son art. 

« Laurie entrait dans la pièce (n’importe quelle pièce/toutes les pièces) avec une perspicacité déroutante, un génie artistique, une rigueur incarnée, une féroce réalité – et une détermination à être libre... et à libérer les autres. Une faiseuse de magie. Une devineresse. Une métamorphe. Laurie m’a dit un jour qu’elle entrait dans le corps des gens pour trouver ce dont ils et elles avaient besoin. » - Sharon Bridgforth

Elle a employé plusieurs styles de performance alliant les gestes rythmiques au texte. Laurie encadrait les nouveaux·elles comédien·ne·s, performeur·euse·s et dramaturges, et a contribué à développer leur travail dans le cadre de la bourse Naked Stages pour les artistes émergent·e·s. Associée artistique au Penumbra Theatre, elle a participé à la sélection de scripts à produire, dans l’objectif « d’intégrer des voix plus féminines dans le théâtre ». Laurie faisait également partie des Urban Bush Women, une compagnie de danse contemporaine reconnue qui contait les histoires de femmes de la diaspora africaine.

Elle fit ses débuts à Broadway dans le rôle de Lady in Blue, en 1976, dans la production originale et primée du drame poétique For colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf de Ntozake Shange. L’oeuvre de Laurie inclut White Chocolate, The Cooking Show et Organdy Falsetto. 

« Je raconte les histoires à travers le mouvement – les danses intérieures qui se produisent spontanément, comme dans la vie – la musique et le texte. Si j’écris une ligne, ce n’est pas forcément une ligne qui sera dite ; ce peut être une ligne qui sera bougée. Une ligne à partir de laquelle de la musique est créée. Le geste devient phrase. Tant de ce que nous sommes en tant que femmes, en tant qu’êtres, tient aux gestes que nous exprimons les un·e·s par rapport aux autres, tout le temps, et particulièrement dans les moments d’émotion. Le geste devient une phrase, ou un état de fait. Si j’écris “quatre gestes” dans un script, cela ne signifie pas que je ne dis rien;cela veut dire que j’ai ouvert la voie à ce que quelque chose soit dit physiquement. » Laurie Carlos

Laurie est née et a grandi à New York, a travaillé et vécu à Minneapolis-Saint-Paul. Elle est décédée le 29 décembre 2016, à l’âge de 67 ans, après un combat contre le cancer du côlon. 

Hommages :

« Je pense que c’était exactement l’intention de Laurie. De nous sauver. De la médiocrité. De l’ego. De la paresse. De la création artistique inaboutie. De la paralysie par la peur.
Laurie voulait nous aider à briller pleinement.
Dans notre expression artistique.
Dans nos vies. » - Sharon Bridgforth pour le Pillsbury House Theatre

« Quiconque connaissait Laurie aurait dit que c’était une personne singulière. Elle était sa propre personne. Elle était sa propre personne, sa propre artiste ; elle mettait en scène le monde tel qu’elle le connaissait avec un vrai style et une compréhension fine, et elle habitait son art. » – Lou Bellamy, Fondatrice de la Penumbra Theatre Company, pour le Star Tribune 

Lire un hommage complet par Sharon Bridgforth (seulement en anglais)

March 2015: The Zero-Draft Outcome Document is released

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Release of the Zero-Draft Outcome Document, March 2015

  • The zero-draft outcome document (dated 16 March), prepared by the Co-facilitators, was released for discussion at the 2nd drafting session from 13-17 April 2015. 
  • During the opening session, the WWG on FfD called for dedicated resources for gender equality and women’s empowerment as stated in both the Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration,to be added into the Zero draft. 

Key opposition actors

We are witnessing an unprecedented level of engagement of anti-rights actors in international human rights spaces. To bolster their impact and amplify their voices, anti-rights actors increasingly engage in tactical alliance building across sectors, regional and national borders, and faiths.

This “unholy alliance” of traditionalist actors from Catholic, Evangelical, Mormon, Russian Orthodox and Muslim faith backgrounds have found common cause in a number of shared talking points and advocacy efforts attempting to push back against feminist and sexual rights gains at the international level.

Holy See

  • Key activities: As the government of the Roman Catholic Church, the “Holy See” uses its unique status as Permanent Observer state at the UN to lobby for conservative, patriarchal, and heteronormative notions of womanhood, gender identities and “the family”, and to propagate policies that are anti-abortion and -contraception  

  • Based in: Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

  • Religious affiliations: Catholic

  • Connections to other anti-rights actors: US Christian Right groups; interfaith orthodox alliances; Catholic CSOs

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

  • Key activities: Self-described as the “collective voice of the Muslim world”, the OIC acts as a bloc of states in UN spaces. The OIC attempts to create loopholes in human rights protection through references to religion, culture, or national sovereignty; propagates the concept of the “traditional family”; and contributes to a parallel but restrictive human rights regime (e.g. the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam).

  • Based in: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

  • Religious affiliations: Muslim

  • Connections to other anti-rights actors: Ultra conservative State missions to the UN, such as Russia

World Congress of Families

  • Key activities: International and regional conferences; research and knowledge-production and dissemination; lobbying at the United Nations “to defend life, faith and family”

  • Based in: Rockford, Illinois, U.S.

  • Religious affiliation: Predominantly Catholic and Christian Evangelical

  • Connections to other anti-rights actors: Sutherland Institute, a conservative think-tank; the Church of Latter-Day Saints; the Russian Orthodox Church’s Department of Family and Life; the anti-abortion Catholic Priests for Life; the Foundation for African Culture and Heritage; the Polish Federation of Pro-Life Movements; the European Federation of Catholic Family Associations; the UN NGO Committee on the Family; and the Political Network for Values; the Georgian Demographic Society; parliamentarians from Poland and Moldova, etc; FamilyPolicy; the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies; and HatzeOir; C-Fam; among others

Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam)

  • Key activities: Lobbying at the United Nations, particularly the Commission of the Status of Women to “defend life and family”; media and information-dissemination (Friday Fax newsletter); movement building; trainings for conservative activists

  • Based in: New York and Washington D.C., U.S.

  • Religious affiliations: Catholic

  • Connections to other anti-rights actors: International Youth Coalition; World Youth Alliance; Human Life International; the Holy See; coordinates the Civil Society for the Family; the Family Research Council (U.S.) and other Christian/Catholic anti-rights CSOs; United States CSW delegation

Family Watch International

  • Key activities: Lobbying in international human rights spaces for “the family” and anti-LGBTQ and anti-CSE policies; training of civil society and state delegates (for example, ‘The Resource Guide to UN Consensus Language on Family Issues’); information dissemination; knowledge production and analysis; online campaigns

  • Based in: Gilbert, Arizona, U.S.

  • Religious affiliations: Mormon

  • Connections to other anti-rights actors: leader of the UN Family Rights Caucus; C-Fam; Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH); the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH); World Congress of Families; CitizenGo; Magdalen Institute; Asociación La Familia Importa; Group of Friends of the Family (25 state bloc)

World Youth Alliance

  • Key activities: Advocacy in international policy spaces including the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization of American States for “the family”, against sexual and reproductive rights; training youth members in the use of diplomacy and negotiation, international relations, grassroots activities and message development; internship program to encourage youth participation in its work; regular Emerging Leaders Conference; knowledge production and dissemination

  • Based in: New York City (U.S.) with regional chapter offices in Nairobi (Kenya), Quezon City (The Philippines), Brussels (Belgium), Mexico City (Mexico), and Beirut (Lebanon)

  • Religious affiliations: primarily Catholic but aims for interfaith membership

  • Connections to other anti-rights actors: C-Fam; Human Life International; the Holy See; Campaign Life coalition

Russian Orthodox Church

  • Key Activities: The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), capitalizing on its close links to the Russian state, has operated as a “norm entrepreneur” in human rights debates.  Russia and the ROC have co-opted rights language to push for a focus on “morality” and “traditional values”  as supposed key sources of human rights.  Russia led a series of “traditional values” resolutions at the Human Rights Council and has been at the forefront of putting forward hostile amendments to progressive resolutions in areas including maternal mortality, protection of civil society space, and the right to peaceful protest.

  • Connections to other anti-rights actors: Organization of Islamic Cooperation; Eastern European and Caucasus Orthodox churches, e.g. Georgian Orthodox Church; U.S. Christian Right including U.S. Evangelicals; World Congress of Families; Group of Friends of the Family (state bloc)

Other Chapters

Read the full report

Snippet FEA lines of work Against (FR)

Illustration d'un livre rose sur lequel est écrit : « Droits du travail » avec un X rouge, l

LES VIOLATIONS DES DROITS DU TRAVAIL

Кому следует принять участие в опросе?

Группы, организации и движения, работающие исключительно или главным образом в интересах женщин, девочек, гендерной справедливости, прав ЛГБТКИ+ людей во всех регионах и на всех уровнях, как недавно созданные, так и давно существующие.

Roxana Reyes Rivas

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Category
LGBTQI Rights
Region
Latin America
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Disease

Roxana Reyes Rivas, philosopher, feminist, lesbian, poet, politician and LGBT and women’s rights activist from Costa Rica. Owner of a sharp pen and incisive humour, a laugh a minute. She was born in 1960 and raised in San Ramón of Alajuela, when it was a rural town, and her whole life she would break away from the mandates of what it meant to be a woman.   

With El Reguero (Costa Rican lesbian group) she organized lesbian festivals for over a decade, fun-filled formative spaces to come together at a time when the Costa Rican government and society persecuted and criminalized the lesbian existence. For hundreds of women the lesbian festivals where the only place they could be themselves and come together with others like them.  

Roxana would often say founding political parties was one of her hobbies. “It’s important for people to understand there are other ways to do politics, that many issues need to be solved collectively”. She was one of the founders of the New Feminist League and VAMOS, a human rights focused political party.

“The philosophical trade is meant to jab, to help people ask themselves questions. A philosopher who doesn’t irritate anyone is not doing her job”. For 30 years Roxana taught philosophy at several Costa Rican public universities. Through her guidance, generations of students reflected about the ethical dilemmas in science and technology.  

Roxana’s favourite tool was humour, she created the Glowing Pumpkin award, an acknowledgement to ignorance that she would bestow upon public figures, through her social media channels, mocking their anti-rights expressions and statements.  

An aggressive cancer took Roxana at the end of 2019, before she could publish a compilation of her poems, a departing gift from the creative mind of a feminist who always raised her voice against injustice.

¿Qué es el Proceso de la Financiación para el Desarrollo de Naciones Unidas?

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El proceso de la Financiación para el Desarrollo (FpD) de Naciones Unidas (ONU) se propone abordar distintas formas de financiación y cooperación para el desarrollo. Según lo acordado en el Consenso de Monterrey, se centra en seis áreas prioritarias:

  • Movilización de recursos financieros nacionales para el desarrollo;
  • Movilización de recursos internacionales para el desarrollo: la inversión extranjera directa y otras corrientes de capitales privados;
  • El comercio internacional como promotor del desarrollo;
  • Aumento de la cooperación financiera y técnica internacional para el desarrollo;
  • La deuda externa;
  • Tratamiento de cuestiones sistémicas: fomento de la coherencia y la cohesión de los sistemas monetarios, financieros y comerciales internacionales en apoyo al desarrollo.

Defendiendo nuestra tierra del poder corporativo

Estas industrias 'extraen' materias primas de la tierra: minería, gas, petróleo y madera son algunos ejemplos.

Este modelo económico explota desenfrenadamente la naturaleza e intensifica las desigualdades norte, donde sus grandes corporaciones se benefician y sur, de donde extraen los recursos.

Contaminación del agua, daño irreparable al medioambiente, comunidades forzadas a desplazarse son algunas de las consecuencias inmediatas.

Lee nuestro reporte de INDUSTRIAS EXTRACTIVAS

Hay alternativas sostenibles para el medioambiente y los derechos humanos de la mujer.

 

 

Descubre además cómo nos afecta económicamente

El impacto de los flujos financieros ilícitos en los derechos de las mujeres y la justicia de género a nivel global

Conoce qué son los FLUJOS FINANCIEROS ILÍCITOS

Snippet FEA HEALTH CONDITIONS (EN)

An illustration of a white-skinned person in yellow uniform of a nurse with stethoscope in their hand.

HEALTH CONDITIONS

O nosso grupo, organização e/ou movimento não recebeu ou mobilizou financiamento de financiadores externos. Devemos participar no inquérito?

Sim! Reconhecemos e valorizamos diferentes motivos pelos quais as feministas nos seus respetivos contextos não dispõem de financiamento externo: desde não serem elegíveis para se candidatar a subsídios e/ou receber dinheiro do exterior, até dependerem de recursos gerados autonomamente como uma estratégia política por si só. Queremos saber mais sobre vocês, independentemente da vossa experiência com financiamento externo.