WHRDs are self-identified women and lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LBTQI) people and others who defend rights and are subject to gender-specific risks and threats due to their human rights work and/or as a direct consequence of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
WHRDs are subject to systematic violence and discrimination due to their identities and unyielding struggles for rights, equality and justice.
The WHRD Program collaborates with international and regional partners as well as the AWID membership to raise awareness about these risks and threats, advocate for feminist and holistic measures of protection and safety, and actively promote a culture of self-care and collective well being in our movements.
WHRDs are exposed to the same types of risks that all other defenders who defend human rights, communities, and the environment face. However, they are also exposed to gender-based violence and gender-specific risks because they challenge existing gender norms within their communities and societies.
We work collaboratively with international and regional networks and our membership
We aim to contribute to a safer world for WHRDs, their families and communities. We believe that action for rights and justice should not put WHRDs at risk; it should be appreciated and celebrated.
Promoting collaboration and coordination among human rights and women’s rights organizations at the international level to strengthen responses concerning safety and wellbeing of WHRDs.
Supporting regional networks of WHRDs and their organizations, such as the Mesoamerican Initiative for WHRDs and the WHRD Middle East and North Africa Coalition, in promoting and strengthening collective action for protection - emphasizing the establishment of solidarity and protection networks, the promotion of self-care, and advocacy and mobilization for the safety of WHRDs;
Increasing the visibility and recognition of WHRDs and their struggles, as well as the risks that they encounter by documenting the attacks that they face, and researching, producing, and disseminating information on their struggles, strategies, and challenges:
Mobilizing urgent responses of international solidarity for WHRDs at risk through our international and regional networks, and our active membership.
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Described by the Guardian as one of Kiribati’s national icons, Teresia was a fearless advocate who worked closely with feminist groups in Fiji.
She used her research to address the issues of feminism and gender in the Pacific, as well as being co-editor of the International feminist Journal of Politics. Her influence spanned the academic frontier as well as social justice movements in the Oceania region.
Dear feminist movements,
Love is what keeps our feminist fire burning. Along with care for our communities, anger and rage in the face of injustice, and the courage to take action.
In September 2022, we stepped with great excitement into our leadership roles at AWID, as Co-Executive Directors. We felt the warmth and embrace of the feminist sisterhood as you welcomed us.
Reflecting on our most precious memories as feminists, we recall powerful moments of togetherness at street protests, sharp analysis, and brave voices shaking the status quo at gatherings. We held those intimate conversations into the night, laughed for hours, and danced at parties together.
Feminist fires need to be fed, especially in difficult times when there is no lack of external challenges, from the climate crisis and the rise of right-wing forces to exploitative economies and persisting patterns of oppression within our own social movements. It's these fires, burning ablaze everywhere, that light our ways and keep us warm, but we can’t disregard the exhausting effects of political violence and repression directed against many of our struggles, movements, and communities.
We understand the desire to change the world as an essential ingredient of feminist organizing. We can never forget that we are the ones we have been waiting for, in building alternatives and shaping our future. Yet, vibrant feminist energy cannot be taken for granted and must be safeguarded in many ways. In this, we will continue to be vigilant. Greater and equal access to care and wellbeing, to healing and pleasure, are not only instruments to prevent burnout and sustain our movements, though that is an important function; first and foremost, they are the way in which we hope to live our lives.
We are thrilled to roll up our sleeves and work with you. AWID’s new strategic plan “Fierce Feminisms: Together We Rise” reflects our conviction that now is the time for us to be fierce and unapologetic in our agendas while making an effort to connect across movements and truly get to know each other’s realities, so that we may rise together - because, for us, this is the only way.
Our plans include the long-awaited AWID Forum! We look forward to meeting you all in person and online in 2024. We are hearing from you the need to connect and recharge, to rest and heal, to be challenged and inspired, to share good food, and to laugh and dance together. Few things in this world are as powerful and transformative, as feminists from all parts of the world coming together, and we truly hold our breath for this moment, because we know the magic that we can create together.
Our membership engagement has taken on a life of its own through the AWID Community (our online platform for members), and our focus on building connection and solidarity resonates with many of you. Please join and connect with us and others in feminist movements around the world. We know the importance of connection in a time and space where the rules are not made for us, and we hold close our community, where each of us matters.
Together with our fantastic AWID colleagues, we promise to do our best to support feminist movements, as is the mission and purpose of AWID. Please hold us to account.
For the past 40 years, you - feminist movements - have shaped AWID’s history, and pushed us to be braver, creative, and radical. 40 is a fabulous age, and we look forward to another 40 years with you all. We are looking forward to the partnerships, calls to justice, collaboration, policy influencing, and badass feminist power that you all bring in navigating the ever-increasing backlash on gender, racial and environmental justice. We have so much to learn from you and from each other, as we collectively build the worlds we believe in.
Cindy Clark and Hakima Abbas, thank you for paving the way for us and preparing us to fill your enormous shoes. We always appreciate all those on whose shoulders we stood and continue to stand. We understand ourselves to be part of a broader movement landscape, feminist histories, presents, and daring futures.
AWID’s Board of Directors, we are grateful to you for the support and feminist love you show us, and for your commitment to Global South leadership and the co-leadership model. We send our love and respect to each and every AWID colleague, we feel honoured to be working with such an exceptional feminist team of dedicated professionals.
This is our first time writing a love letter together, how could we conclude it without expressing love, care, and respect for each other? It’s a pretty intense relationship we’ve stepped into! We both bring our different and diverse perspectives and skills to our work, and as individuals, we also bring our lived experiences and authentic selves.
Together with you all, we are a story in the making, a part of a beautiful woven - and often beautifully challenging - tapestry that continues into the future. We had fun starting this journey together with each other and with you, and we very much hope to keep the romance alive.
In solidarity, with love and care
Inna and Faye
21 February 2023, Member Mixer 5 on Feminist Politics with Faye and Inna.
Not a member yet? Find out more about AWID Membership.
Por favor, calcula los costos de viaje a Bangkok, alojamiento y viáticos, visado, cualquier necesidad de accesibilidad y gastos incidentales, además de la tarifa de inscripción que se anunciará próximamente. Los hoteles en la zona de Sukhumvit en Bangkok tienen un rango de precios de USD$50 a $200 por noche en ocupación doble.
Lxs afiliadxs de AWID reciben un descuento al registrarse, por lo tanto, si aún no te has sumado a la membresía, te invitamos a considerar unirte y formar parte de nuestra comunidad feminista global.
En 2023, las organizaciones feministas y por los derechos de las mujeres tenían un presupuesto anual promedio de USD 22.000. Detrás de ese promedio se esconde la disparidad y la desigualdad: mientras que algunos grupos acceden a recursos a gran escala, la gran mayoría apenas sobrevive con presupuestos muy ajustados.
Una mirada más detallada a los presupuestos reales revela gran diversidad y desigualdad de ingresos.
Consulta los datos sobre el tamaño de los presupuestos feministas
Anti-rights actors adopt a double strategy. As well as launching outright attacks on the multilateral system, anti-rights actors also undermine human rights from within. Anti-rights actors engage with the aim of co-opting processes, entrenching regressive norms, and undermining accountability.
Stella comenzó su carrera en el Ministerio de Género y Desarrollo Comunitario en Uganda colaborando con lxs legisladores en reformas legales, incluida la Constitución de Uganda de 1995, que estableció algunas de las reformas más progresistas para las mujeres en la región.
Stella es respetada y admirada en toda la región por sus incansables esfuerzos para crear y hacer cumplir leyes y políticas que tomen en cuenta cuestiones de género. También desempeñó un papel clave en la redacción de la Ley de Violencia Doméstica de Uganda y en la movilización de apoyo para las constituciones sensibles al género tanto en Uganda como en Ruanda.
A través de su trabajo con el Centro Internacional para la Investigación sobre la Mujer (ICRW, por sus siglas en inglés), abordó la violencia contra lxs niñxs y trabajó para fortalecer las capacidades de las organizaciones de base que abordan la violencia de género. Stella fue profesora en cursos sobre derechos de género y la ley, en la Universidad Makerere, y formó parte de las juntas directivas de Akina Mama wa Afrika, ActionAid International Uganda y Open Society Initiative para África Oriental.
Nunca supe que tenía una familia cercana que me ama y que quiere que crezca. Mi mamá siempre ha estado presente para mí, pero nunca imaginé que tendría miles de familias por otros sitios, con las que no estoy relacionada por lazos de sangre.
Descubrí que la familia no son solo las personas relacionadas por lazos sanguíneos, sino la gente que te ama de forma incondicional, a quienes no les importa tu orientación sexual, ni tu estado de salud, ni tu estatus social, ni tu raza.
Al pensar en los momentos invaluables en que escuché a mis hermanas de todo el mundo que son firmes feministas –gente a quien no he conocido físicamente, pero quienes me apoyan, me enseñan, luchan por mí– me faltan las palabras: las palabras no pueden expresar cuánto las amo a ustedes, mis mentoras, y a las demás feministas. Ustedes son una madre, una hermana, una amiga para millones de chicas jóvenes.
Ustedes son maravillosas, ustedes luchan por personas a quienes no conocen –y eso es lo que las hace tan especiales–.
Mi corazón se alegra de expresar esto por escrito.
Las amo a todas y seguiré amándolas. Nunca he visto a ninguna de ustedes en forma física, pero parece que nos conociéramos desde hace décadas.
Somos feministas y estamos orgullosas de ser mujeres.
Vamos a seguir diciéndole al mundo que nuestra valentía es nuestra corona.
Una carta de amor de FAITH ONUH, una joven feminista de Nigeria
Nous avons parfaitement conscience des obstacles pratiques et de la détresse émotionnelle générés par les voyages internationaux, en particulier pour les personnes originaires des pays du Sud mondial. L'AWID collabore avec le TCEB (Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau) afin d'aider les participant·e·s au Forum à obtenir un visa. De plus amples informations concernant l'aide à l'obtention de visas seront disponibles au moment de l'inscription, y compris les coordonnées indiquant où et comment déposer votre demande.
Alors que la COP29 de l’année dernière avait été marquée par la présence de près de 1 773 lobbyistes du secteur des énergies fossiles, nous voilà en route vers Belém au Brésil, aux côtés d’autres féministes, pour assister à la COP30 du 10 au 21 novembre 2025. Nous continuerons d’y dénoncer les fausses solutions, d’interpeller sur la mainmise des multinationales, et d’exiger aux États qu’ils respectent leurs engagements envers le principe des responsabilités communes mais différenciées (en anglais), et préconiserons des alternatives économiques féministes.
2,7 mille milliards USD pour l’armée. 300 milliards USD pour la justice climatique. Nous sommes là pour inverser la vapeur.
En esta historieta de la ilustradora Sophia, se puede seguir a nuestra superheroína feminista que recupera las narrativas capturadas por lxs actores anti-derechos en distintos lugares y salva al mundo.
Ayant co-fondé le réseau Red de Mujeres Ixiles de Nebaj, une organisation de défense des droits des femmes autochtones, membre de l’Initiative mésoaméricaine des femmes défenseur-e-s des droits humains (IM-Defensoras en espagnol), Juana était actuellement membre de son conseil d’administration.
Elle était également sage-femme et mère de 7 enfants. Juana avait reçu des menaces de mort qui avaient été signalées au bureau du procureur. Juana est la troisième défenseure autochtone assassinée dans la région en 2018. L'Ombudsman pour le Guatemala a signalé qu'au total 20 défenseur-e-s ont été tué-e-s dans le pays cette année.
Juana Ramírez Santiago a été abattue par des assaillants non identifiés alors qu'elle traversait un pont à Nebak, Quiché, au Guatemala. Les enquêtes visant à identifier les auteurs sont en cours.
Dans le monde entier et au sein des mouvements sociaux, les personnes désireuses d’innover ont tendance à se sentir seules et impuissantes face au « statu quo du mouvement ». Historiquement, les Forums de l’AWID ont joué un rôle dans le soutien de ces innovateur·trices en leur offrant une plateforme où leurs idées et pratiques sont accueillies et renforcées par les pensées et actions d’autres personnes de différentes régions et communautés qui les ont déjà explorées. Sara Abu Ghazal, féministe palestinienne au Liban, nous parle de ce qu’ont représenté les Forums pour toute une nouvelle génération de féministes de la région MENA (Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord) qui ont introduit de nouvelles façons de s’organiser, de nouvelles conceptions du féminisme et de nouvelles questions dans le paysage régional des droits des femmes.
AWID’s working languages are English, French and Spanish. Thai will be added as the local language, as well as sign language & other accessibility measures. Other languages may be added if funding permits, so check back regularly for updates. We care about language justice and will try to include as many languages as we can and as our resources allow. We hope to create multiple opportunities for many of us to be present in our languages and to communicate with each other.
Panels, ateliers, sessions plénières et espaces d’échanges entre collectives, activistes et organisations en lutte pour prendre collectivement le chemin vers un agenda et un programme de lutte pour l’éco-socialisme.
📅 Du 8 au 11 novembre 2025
📍 Buenos Aires, Argentine
En espagnol et en portugais
Lorsque notre travail incarné devient un profit entre les mains de systèmes que nous cherchons à démanteler, il n’est pas étonnant que nos sexualités et nos plaisirs soient une fois de plus relégués à la marge – surtout lorsqu’ils ne sont pas assez rentables. À plusieurs reprises au cours de la production de ce numéro, nous nous sommes demandé ce qui se passerait si nous refusions de nous plier aux services essentiels du capitalisme. Mais pouvons-nous oser poser cette question, lorsque nous sommes épuisé·e·s par le monde? Peut-être que nos sexualités sont si facilement rejetées parce qu’elles ne sont pas considérées comme des formes de soins. Peut-être que ce dont nous avons besoin, c’est de réimaginer le plaisir comme une forme de soin radical – un soin qui est également anticapitaliste et anti-institutionnel.
Diakite was actively involved in advocating for women in political and public life in Mali.
She worked to support training of women candidates in elections, and spoke out against the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). She was a strong proponent of reproductive health and rights.
