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Special Focus

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

Young Feminist Activism

Organizing creatively, facing an increasing threat

Young feminist activists play a critical role in women’s rights organizations and movements worldwide by bringing up new issues that feminists face today. Their strength, creativity and adaptability are vital to the sustainability of feminist organizing.

At the same time, they face specific impediments to their activism such as limited access to funding and support, lack of capacity-building opportunities, and a significant increase of attacks on young women human rights defenders. This creates a lack of visibility that makes more difficult their inclusion and effective participation within women’s rights movements.

A multigenerational approach

AWID’s young feminist activism program was created to make sure the voices of young women are heard and reflected in feminist discourse. We want to ensure that young feminists have better access to funding, capacity-building opportunities and international processes. In addition to supporting young feminists directly, we are also working with women’s rights activists of all ages on practical models and strategies for effective multigenerational organizing.

Our Actions

We want young feminist activists to play a role in decision-making affecting their rights by:

  • Fostering community and sharing information through the Young Feminist Wire. Recognizing the importance of online media for the work of young feminists, our team launched the Young Feminist Wire in May 2010 to share information, build capacity through online webinars and e-discussions, and encourage community building.

  • Researching and building knowledge on young feminist activism, to increase the visibility and impact of young feminist activism within and across women’s rights movements and other key actors such as donors.

  • Promoting more effective multigenerational organizing, exploring better ways to work together.

  • Supporting young feminists to engage in global development processes such as those within the United Nations

  • Collaboration across all of AWID’s priority areas, including the Forum, to ensure young feminists’ key contributions, perspectives, needs and activism are reflected in debates, policies and programs affecting them.

Related Content

What issues does AWID work on?

AWID works towards the realization of gender justice and women’s human rights worldwide. We work to strengthen the voices and impact of women’s rights advocates, organizations and movements. Our main Priority Areas relate to themes that are closely linked to dominant global trends.

These themes reflect growing challenges that negatively impact women’s rights worldwide.

  • Economic Justice
  • Resourcing Women’s Rights
  • Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms
  • Women Human Rights Defenders
  • Young Feminist Activism

Find out more about AWID's Priority Areas

Snippet FEA Intro (FR)

Venez découvrir les économies féministes que nous ADORONS.

Quand nous parlons d'économie, nous parlons de comment nous organisons nos sociétés, nos foyers et nos lieux de travail. Comment vivons-nous ensemble? Comment est-ce que nous produisons la nourriture, organisons les soins, ou assurons notre santé et celle de nos communautés? L'économie concerne également la manière dont nous accédons et gérons les ressources, et nos relations avec les autres, avec nous-mêmes et avec la Nature.

Les féministes ont construit des alternatives économiques aux systèmes capitalistes d'exploitation depuis des lustres. Ces alternatives existent ici et maintenant, et elles sont les piliers des mondes plus justes et plus durables dont nous avons tant besoin et que nous méritons.

Nous sommes ravi·es de vous présenter certaines de ces alternatives économiques féministes et les collectifs à travers le monde qui nous inspirent.

سؤالي لم تتم الإجابة عليه هنا

لمزيد من الأسئلة، يرجى استخدام نموذج الاتصال. سنستمر في تحديث هذه الوثيقة بناءً على الاستفسارات التي نتلقاها منك!

Mechthild "Mel Hired" Möhring

Read also:

We all can dance
by Mechthild Möhring (aka serialmel)

How I punt myself at the narrow hard knitting I once retrieved. I'm dancing in the kitchen when I'm alone. Gracile and powerful. When I'm in company I'm clumsy. My body scandalizes, scandalizes the laws of look I feel, scandalizes the words which banished me. "Of course she can dance, it's in her blood as a Black person." "If she is able to dance nicely she is good in bed" they whisper, they murmur, no - they say it openly into my face. They smirk and rub themselves against me and let me move back. I stumble and fall. My feet reject their duty. Bearish I get out of breath. Smiling I place myself out of events and notice how my face freezes into a mask.

Translated into English by Tsepo Bollwinkel
 


Original in German

Tanzen können wir alle
Von Mechthild Möhring (aka serialmel)

Wie ich mich stosse an den engen, harten Maschen, in die ich mich einst zurückgezogen habe. Ich tanze in der Küche, wenn ich allein bin. Grazil und kraftvoll. Wenn ich in Gesellschaft bin, bin ich unbeholfen. Mein Körper eckt an, an die Gesetze des Blicks, den ich spüre, an die Worte, die mich bannten. „Natürlich kann sie tanzen, als Schwarze hat sie das im Blut.“ „Wenn sie gut tanzen kann, dann ist sie auch gut im Bett“ flüstern sie, raunen sie, nein, sie sagen es mir laut ins Gesicht. Sie grinsen und reiben sich an mir und lassen mich zurückweichen. Ich stolpere und falle. Meine Füsse verweigern ihren Dienst. Tollpatschig gerate ich ausser Atem. Lächelnd setze ich mich an den Rand des Geschehens und bemerke, wie mein Gesicht zur Maske erstarrt.

¿Publican un informe anual?

Sí. AWID publica informes anuales.

Todos nuestros informes anuales estan disponibles en línea.

Ver todos los informes anuales de AWID

Snippet FEA Occupation’s kitchen (EN)

Photo of a wall with a graffiti which says “Luta’
Photo of people in facemasks and aprons cooking together
Photo of a black woman in a red apron and black facemask, holding a book
Photo of a group of 4 of people wearing facemasks, demonstrating food and books

Women and collaborators at the occupation’s kitchen

Photo of two black women cooking

Snippet - CSW68 - Follow the Money - EN

Follow the Money:

Illicit Financial Flows & Anti-Rights Actors

📅Monday, March 11
🕒4:30 - 6pm EST

Organisers: AWID, IJSC and NAWI
🏢 Church Center of the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, 11th Floor
(French and Spanish interpretation available)

J’ai rédigé un article en rapport avec les droits des femmes et le développement. Comment puis-je le partager avec les membres de l’AWID ?

Snippet FEA Housing is a right (ES)

Three-fold horizontal graphic: 1st of a brown-skinned woman on the right side, she is sitting on a pink carpet and is wearing a pink shirt and yellow dress; 2nd two women of color looking at each other and touching their shoulders, they are on a pink background; 3rd - graphic version of three women cooking.

La vivienda es un derecho | El cuidado sostiene la vida

Snippet - CSW68 - March 13 - EN

Day 3

13th March

María Verónica Reina

María était reconnue au niveau mondial pour son leadership extraordinaire au sein de la communauté des personnes handicapées.

Elle a représenté l'International Disability and Development  Consortium (consortium international sur le développement et le handicap) lors de la négociation de la Convention des Nations Unies relative aux droits des personnes handicapées (2001-2006). Son travail a été consacré à la réalisation de l'objectif de la Convention, à savoir la réalisation des droits humains  universels par, pour et avec les personnes handicapées pour un monde inclusif, accessible et durable.

Selon ses propres mots, son leadership consistait à « … servir la communauté des personnes handicapées, en commençant par de petites tâches que d'autres pourraient ne pas vouloir faire».

Elle est décédée le 27 octobre 2017 dans sa ville natale de Rosario, en Argentine.

Pour en savoir plus sur María Verónica Reina, retrouvez son témoignage.

 


 

María Verónica Reina, Argentina

2005: Second High-level Dialogue takes place

Second High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development

  • The overall theme of the Second High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development, from 27-28 June 2005 was The Monterrey Consensus: status of implementation and tasks ahead. 
  • Apart from the traditional six roundtables on each of the individual chapters of the Monterrey Consensus, there was an informal interactive dialogue with the participation of a range of stakeholders including women’s rights groups.  
  • There was a call from ‘developing’ nations that global challenges and local needs and possibilities be taken into account when interacting with different groups including women, youth, people with disabilities etc. on the themes identified in the Monterrey consensus.  

Snippet FEA Clemencia (FR)

Nous sommes ravis de vous présenter Clemencia Carabalí Rodallega, une extraordinaire féministe afro-colombienne.

Elle a travaillé sans relâche pendant trois décennies pour sauvegarder les droits humains, les droits des femmes et la consolidation de la paix dans les zones de conflit sur la côte pacifique de la Colombie.

Clemencia a apporté une contribution significative à la lutte pour la vérité, la réparation et la justice pour les victimes de la guerre civile en Colombie.

Elle a reçu le Prix national pour la défense des droits humains en 2019 et a également participé à la campagne de la nouvelle élue afro-colombienne et amie de longue date, la vice-présidente Francia Márquez.

Bien que Clemencia ait rencontré et continue de rencontrer de nombreuses difficultés, notamment des menaces et des tentatives d'assassinat, elle continue de se battre pour les droits des femmes et communautés afro-colombiennes à travers le pays.

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!
 

Learn more about the insights

Laura Lee

Laura was a leading activist and lawyer who campaigned fearlessly for the decriminalisation of sex work in Ireland.

She is remembered as “a freedom fighter for sex workers, a feminist, a mother to a daughter and a needed friend to many.” 

Laura advocated for individuals in the sex industry to be recognised as workers deserving of rights. She advanced demands for decriminalisation, including initiating a judicial review at Belfast’s high court in respect of the provisions criminalising the purchase of sex.  Laura stated that her intention was to bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

 


 

Laura Lee, Ireland