Human Rights Council (HRC)
The Human Rights Council (HRC) is the key intergovernmental body within the United Nations system responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe. It holds three regular sessions a year: in March, June and September. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the secretariat for the HRC.
The HRC works by:
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Debating and passing resolutions on global human rights issues and human rights situations in particular countries
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Examining complaints from victims of human rights violations or activist organizations on behalf of victims of human rights violations
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Appointing independent experts (known as “Special Procedures”) to review human rights violations in specific countries and examine and further global human rights issues
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Engaging in discussions with experts and governments on human rights issues
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Assessing the human rights records of all UN Member States every four and a half years through the Universal Periodic Review
AWID works with feminist, progressive and human rights partners to share key knowledge, convene civil society dialogues and events, and influence negotiations and outcomes of the session.
With our partners, our work will:
◾️ Raise awareness of the findings of the 2017 and 2021 OURs Trends Reports.
◾️Support the work of feminist UN experts in the face of backlash and pressure
◾️Advocate for state accountability
◾️ Work with feminist movements and civil society organizations to advance rights related to gender and sexuality.
Related Content
Snippet FEA Principles of work Transparency (ES)

TRANSPARENCIA
Snippet - Intro WITM - EN
Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing? Survey Results
Thanks to our global feminist community! From May to August 2024, nearly 1,200 organizations working for Women's rights, gender justice, and LBTQI+ equality shared their experiences in the WITM survey. The results offer a unique picture of how feminist movements are resourced and where gaps remain.
Stay tuned for the upcoming report for more analysis!
Ika Vantiani

Bunga ou fleur en francais est un symbole qui est souvent associé aux femmes en Indonésie. Ce qui signifie qu'une fleur peut également être associée aux femmes transgenres. Parce que les femmes transgenres sont des femmes. Aussi belles, aussi fortes, l’une comme l’autre a vécu sans attendre d'être "cueillie", mais en grandissant, en s'épanouissant et en mourant à sa guise. Cette œuvre est un hommage à mes ami·e·s transgenres à l'occasion de la Journée Internationale de la Visibilité des Personnes Transgenres.
À propos d’Ika Vantiani

María Digna Montero
María Digna Montero était une défenseuse Garifuna (d’origine africaine et autochtone) du droit à la terre et membre de l’Organisation fraternelle noire hondurienne (OFRANEH), une organisation communautaire oeuvrant à protéger les communautés Garifunas, leurs droits, leur culture, leurs ressources et leur territoire ancestraux.
María a également enseigné dans l'école locale et été membre du groupe de travail sur l'éducation bilingue interculturelle de l'OFRANEH.
Le 12 octobre 2019, jour de la Résistance autochtone, des inconnus ont tiré à plusieurs reprises sur María, alors qu’elle se trouvait dans l’arrière-cour de sa maison.
Elle est l'une des six défenseuses Garifunas à avoir été assassinées entre septembre et octobre 2019 et selon OFRANEH, ces crimes n’ont fait l’objet d’aucune enquête de la part des autorités. Dans une déclaration officielle, l'organisation a également souligné le lien entre la violence à l’encontre des dirigeants Garifunas et le développement des industries extractives qui exploitent les ressources naturelles de leurs communautés, affirmant que cette violence s’inscrivait dans une "stratégie d'intimidation et d'expulsion systématique" menée par l'État hondurien.
“La tension accrue et les risques croissants pour la sécurité et les droits humains des dirigeants des communautés et des territoires ancestraux sont le résultat de la dépossession, du déplacement et de la criminalisation des communautés et des mégaprojets d'extraction promus par l'État en collaboration avec les entreprises nationales et internationales". - Communiqué de l'OFRANEH, 12 octobre 2019
Snippet FEA No feminist economies without feminist unions (FR)
Pas d’économies féministes sans syndicats féministes!
Par le biais de l'organisation syndicale, Sopo, Sabrina et Linda se battent non seulement pour les droits des femmes, des travailleur·euses essentiel·les, des travailleur·euses migrant·e·s et des travailleur·euses du sexe, mais pour les droits de tous·tes les travailleur·euses .
La lutte pour mettre fin à l'exploitation des travailleur·euses est une lutte féministe. C’est pourquoi il n’y a pas d’économies féministes sans syndicats féministes.
FRMag - The Triple (FR)
Les invalides en triple : parlons sexe, chéri !
par Nandini Tanya Lallmon
Olajumoke « Jay » Abdullahi et Kym Oliver sont des féministes révolutionnaires à plus d'un titre. (...)
illustration : « Éclose » de Titash Sen >
Ivonne Siu Bermudez
Snippet - WITM To make - ES

Para darle visibilidad a la complejidad de la dotación de recursos para las diversas formas de organización feministas.
Understanding the Context of Anti-Rights Threats
Chapter 2
While fundamentalisms, fascisms and other systems of oppression shapeshift and find new tactics and strategies to consolidate power and influence, feminist movements continue to persevere and celebrate gains nationally and The rising power of anti-rights actors is not happening in a vacuum. Understanding the rise of ultra-nationalism, unchecked corporate power, growing repression, and diminishing civic space is key to contextualize the anti-rights threats we face today.

Danger - Trump and the Far Right.
Today, considerably more than half of the world’s population is governed by far-right leaders. Against this backdrop, human rights defenders and feminists are working hard to “hold the line” and protect multilateralism and the international human rights system. They also face the risk that their engagement may bring with it violent reprisals. At the same time, these institutions are increasingly subject to private sector interests. Large businesses, particularly transnational corporations, are occupying seats at the negotiating table and leadership positions in a number of multilateral institutions, including the UN. This nexus of ultra-nationalism, closing civic space, and corporate capture is having a tremendous impact on whether human rights for all can ever be achieved.
Table of Contents
- Nationalism and Ultra-nationalism
- Corporate Capture: Untamed Corporate Power is Putting Rights at Risk
- Reprisals and Closing Civic Spaces for Feminist Activists, and LGBTIQ+ and Women Human Rights Defenders
- Movement Resistance Story: CEDAW’s Article 16: A Pathway for Reformation of Discriminatory Family Laws in Muslim Contexts
Lorena Borjas
Lorena Borjas, a trans Latina woman and activist, lived and worked in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, New York City. In those streets, she looked after her community for years, advocating for trans and immigrant rights, supporting survivors of human trafficking and abuse, campaigning for sex workers’ rights and those of people living with HIV and AIDS.
Lorena was strong and tireless in her fight to support, defend, and have the back of those most marginalized and discriminated by transphobia, misogyny and racism.
“She pushed us to shine authentically, to become a scream of subversion that says, ‘I am here, and I deserve happiness, too.’” - Cecilia Gentili, a trans activist and Lorena’s friend
Having faced numerous traumas and hardships herself, as a trans immigrant woman and victim of human trafficking, Lorena pulled knowledge and emotional memory from the well of her experiences in order to help build and strengthen the community she was part of and which was part of her. Some of the ways she did this was to organize and mobilize support ranging from providing condoms and connecting trans women to different services, to setting up an HIV testing clinic in her own home.
"She was such a beautiful soul who helped others when her journey was difficult and painful as an immigrant, as a trans immigrant. She believed the trans community needed love, acceptance, and compassion, and she gave it all.” - Luchia Dragosh, QPTV Supervising producer of a documentary about Lorena
In more than 25 years of activism, she also founded the Lorena Borjas Community Fund together with Chase Strangio (lawyer and trans rights activist). The Fund helps the many different members of her community (and especially trans persons) dealing with immigration challenges to avoid the cycle of arrest-jail-deportation.
Lorena passed away in March 2020 of complications from COVID-19.
Her enormous and beautiful legacy will be taken forward through the streets of Queens by the network and community she co-created.
“We will pick up her work where she left it, work that is essential to the well-being of “mis pajaras” as she called the trans girls of Queens under her wing.” - Cecilia Gentili
Tributes:
"Lorena brought light to us when we were living through a very dark time here in New York. She brought us light when we were dealing with the crack epidemic, when we were dealing with the AIDS crisis, dealing with changes in immigration policies." - Cristina Herrera, founder and CEO of Translatina Network and Lorena’s friend
"Lorena has done more than anyone else I know to shine a light on the epidemic of trafficking in transgender communities and to help other trans women escape exploitation." - Lynly Egyes (represented Borjas on behalf of the Transgender Law Center)
Watch a documentary about Lorena Borjas
Read a postscript in The New Yorker about Lorena Borjas
Read an opinion piece in the New York Times by Cecilia Gentilin
Snippet FEA We are living in a world right (EN)
Even in times of climate crisis, governments continue to encourage large-scale agriculture industries to expand. These activities poison the land, threaten biodiversity, and destroy local food production and livelihoods. Meanwhile, while women produce the majority of our food in the world, they own almost none of the land.
What if we perceived land and Nature not as private property to exploit, but as a whole to live in, learn from, and harmoniously coexist with? What if we repaired our relationships with the land and embraced more sustainable alternatives that nurture both the planet and its communities?
Nous Sommes la Solution (We Are the Solution, NSS) is one of many women-led movements striving to do this. This is their story.
FRMag - Resistance from the Kitchen
Our arepa: Resistance from the Kitchen
by Alejandra Laprea
I live in a country of the impossible, where there are no bombs yet we are living in a war. (...)
artwork: “Entretejidas” [Interwoven women] by Surmercé >
Yusdiana
Snippet - WITM About the survey - EN
ABOUT THE SURVEY
- GLOBAL & DIVERSE: Reflecting on resourcing realities of feminist organizing at a global scale and disaggregated by region
- CONTEXTUALIZED: Centering voices, perspectives and lived experiences of feminist movements in all their richness, boldness and diversity in their respective contexts
- CO-CREATED: Developed and piloted in close consultations with AWID members and movement partners
- COMPLEMENTARY: Contributing to and amplifying existing evidence on the state of resourcing for feminist, women’s rights and gender justice organizing by activists, feminist funders and allies
- MULTI-LINGUAL: Accessible in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
- PRIORITIZING PRIVACY & SECURITY: We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of your data. Read our Privacy Policy to learn more about the measures we take to ensure the protection of your information
- ACCESSIBLE: Accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities, taking approximately 30 minutes to complete
- REPLICABLE: Replicable by movements in their respective contexts; WITM survey tools and datasets will be publicly available to support more feminist research and collective advocacy.
Promover agendas feministas: progresos clave en género y sexualidad
Capítulo 1
Mientras los fundamentalismos, los fascismos y otros sistemas de opresión cambian de forma y encuentran nuevas tácticas y estrategias para consolidar su poder e influencia, los movimientos feministas siguen perseverando y celebrando logros a nivel nacional y en espacios regionales e internacionales.

Un grupo de mujeres recrea la marcha de mujeres de 1956 a Pretoria para protestar contra las leyes de pases.
Por ejemplo, en 2019, se dio un paso significativo en el Consejo de Derechos Humanos, cuando la ONU reconoció por primera vez el derecho a la integridad y autonomía corporal. Varias resoluciones del Consejo sobre la discriminación contra mujeres y niñas también reconocen que la reacción está vinculada con grupos de presión regresivos, con perspectivas ideológicas o con el uso inapropiado de la cultura o la religión para oponerse a los derechos igualitarios de mujeres y niñas. También hemos visto progresos feministas en el trabajo de Procedimientos Especiales de la ONU (funcionarixs independientes), tales como enfatizar la obligación de los Estados de oponerse a las narrativas de ideología de género, denunciar el uso inapropiado por parte de los actores antiderechos de referencias a la «cultura», y enfatizar que las creencias religiosas no pueden ser utilizadas como justificación de la violencia o la discriminación.
Índice de contenidos
- Nivel nacional
- Espacios internacionales
- Ejercicio: ¡Esquematicemos y celebremos nuestras victorias!
Cristina Bautista
“Si nos mantenemos en silencio, nos matan. Si hablamos (nos matan) también. Así que, hablemos” Cristina Bautista, 2019.
Incansable defensora de los derechos del pueblo Nasa, Cristina habló alto y claro sobre la violencia dirigida contra su comunidad. En un discurso ante las Naciones Unidas, Cristina reclamó la protección de las vidas de las mujeres indígenas, y su participación en las diferentes esferas de la vida. En 2017, Cristina entró en el programa de Becas Indígenas de la Oficina de Derechos Humanos de la ONU y en 2019 recibió una subvención del Fondo de Contribuciones Voluntarias de la ONU para los Pueblos Indígenas.
"Me gustaría sacar a la luz la situación actual de los pueblos indígenas en Colombia, el asesinato de líderes indígenas, la represión de las protestas sociales. El acuerdo de paz, en lugar de ayudar, lo que ha hecho es reforzar el conflicto y la explotación de territorios sagrados en Colombia... En la situación actual, en casi todas las naciones indígenas, como mujeres, estamos trabajando para encontrar un futuro mejor para nuestras familias. No quiero que más mujeres del campo vivan en estas circunstancias. Las mujeres indígenas necesitamos oportunidades para participar en la vida política, económica, en la sociedad y en la cultura. Hoy me da fuerzas ver a todas estas mujeres aquí y ver que no estoy sola". - Cristina Bautista, 2019
El 29 de octubre de 2019, Cristina fue asesinada junto a cuatro guardias indígenas desarmados en un ataque que, supuestamente, fue llevado a cabo por miembros armados del grupo disidente de las FARC "Dagoberto Ramos".
Según Global Witness, "en los últimos años el asesinato de líderes comunitarios y sociales ha aumentado dramáticamente en Colombia".
"La comunidad Nasa ha alertado repetidamente a las autoridades sobre las amenazas que reciben y que ponen en peligro su seguridad. Sin embargo, a pesar de los esfuerzos que ponen los sucesivos gobiernos colombianos, los pueblos indígenas siguen corriendo grandes riesgos, especialmente, las figuras clave religiosas o comunitarias como Cristina Bautista". - Reunión informativa de la ONU para la prensa (en inglés), 1 de noviembre de 2019.
Snippet - That Feminist Fire Podcast Trailer (FR)
FRMag - Armenians
Armenixs: el feminismo es nuestro pasado y nuestro futuro
por Sophia Armen
Guste o no, lxs férrexs ungerhouis han sido parte esencial de nuestras historias de resistencia y están aquí para quedarse. (...)