On September 22nd, during the 30th session of the Human Rights Council, we co-hosted a side event with the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) to discuss protection gaps around sexual rights. The five panelists discussed the nature and causes of existing protection gaps in sexual rights, and gave recommendations to further protections for all individuals in the field of sexuality.
This week, the Post-2015 Development Agenda will be formally adopted, culminating in 3 years of intense work for numerous stakeholders. As a youth representative of civil society – the ASTRA Youth network of young sexual and reproductive health and rights advocates, I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to cooperate with a group of amazing activists, who have been tirelessly advocating for youth and women’s rights, trying to ensure that the new agenda is ambitious, progressive and human rights-focused.
Women and girls are in the public eye, recognized as key agents in development, like never before. Yet this increased interest is not translating into resources for the very organizations that are key to creating sustained systematic change in the lives of women and girls, as a new animation video from AWID shows.
After a three-year process, country representatives meeting in the basement of United Nations headquarters in New York adopted, in the late evening of Sunday 2 August, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to guide global development priorities for the next fifteen years.
Under the auspices of ‘national security’, a host of countries are experiencing increased criminalization of dissent, coupled with shrinking spaces for social justice activism and work. For organisations that rely on foreign-sourced funding for their work, the implications are dire.
The following declaration is the outcome of a workshop on the gendered impacts of mining, held in Mania, Philippines from 30 July to 1 August, 2015, as part of the the International People's Conference on Mining.
On 16 July 2015 the Third International Financing for Development Conference (FfD3), which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and that was preceded by a long preparatory process, concluded with a very disappointing outcome document - the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA). Nonetheless it holds some entry points for the advancement of women’s rights and gender equality.
AWID is saddened to learn of the passing of Kelly Ann Quinn on 14 July 2015. Kelly was dedicated to advancing women’s rights around the world and passionate about supporting women’s rights activism and organizing.
AWID is deeply saddened by the loss of Josefa Gigi Francisco, whose life was dedicated to defending women’s human rights and advancing social justice. Her death on 22 July 2015 is a source of great sadness to women’s rights activists around the world.
Today we stand at the last milestone of the post 2015 development agenda process. In the coming two weeks of negotiations at the UN – and the months of informal consultations to follow - there will be debates on the language of the initial declaration, the SDGs and their targets, the means of implementation (MOI); and follow up and review mechanisms outlined in the draft outcome document.