Benjaline Hernandez
Advancing Universal Rights and Justice
Uprooting Fascisms and Fundamentalisms
Across the globe, feminist, women’s rights and gender justice defenders are challenging the agendas of fascist and fundamentalist actors. These oppressive forces target women, persons who are non-conforming in their gender identity, expression and/or sexual orientation, and other oppressed communities.
Discriminatory ideologies are undermining and co-opting our human rights systems and standards, with the aim of making rights the preserve of only certain groups. In the face of this, the Advancing Universal Rights and Justice (AURJ) initiative promotes the universality of rights - the foundational principle that human rights belong to everyone, no matter who they are, without exception.
We create space for feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements and allies to recognize, strategize and take collective action to counter the influence and impact of anti-rights actors. We also seek to advance women’s rights and feminist frameworks, norms and proposals, and to protect and promote the universality of rights.
Our actions
Through this initiative, we:
- Build knowledge: We support feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements by disseminating and popularizing knowledge and key messages about anti-rights actors, their strategies, and impact in the international human rights systems through AWID’s leadership role in the collaborative platform, the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs)*.
- Advance feminist agendas: We ally ourselves with partners in international human rights spaces including, the Human Rights Council, the Commission on Population and Development, the Commission on the Status of Women and the UN General Assembly.
- Create and amplify alternatives: We engage with our members to ensure that international commitments, resolutions and norms reflect and are fed back into organizing in other spaces locally, nationally and regionally.
- Mobilize solidarity action: We take action alongside women human rights defenders (WHRDs) including trans and intersex defenders and young feminists, working to challenge fundamentalisms and fascisms and call attention to situations of risk.
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Key factors impacting
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#1 - Sexting like a feminist Tweets Snippet AR
مفضّلتي: لا مزاح في حضرة القوى العظمى
عزمي الوصول الى الذروة الجنسية، كفيلة بإيقاظ الأجداد من مثواهم الأخير وإعادتهم الى صفوف الثورة التقدميّة
Snippet - COP30 - Actions - EN
COP30 Events and Actions
08 - 16 November, 2025
Snippet Welcome Message_Fest (EN)
Welcome message
Hakima Abbas, AWID
"We're using the tools that we have to share our resistance, strategies and continue to build our power to take action and create new brave and just worlds."
Snippet - COP30 - Mutual Aid and Community Care - EN
AWID Member Exclusive: Mutual Aid and Community Care Crafting Workshop
AWID members will explore and critically evaluate the role that mutual aid can play in resourcing our movements, through collective collage making.
📅 Wednesday, November 12, 2025
📍 The People’s COP Space
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:
◾️ Monitor, track and analyze anti-rights actors, discourses and strategies and their impact on resolutions
◾️ 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.
◾️ 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.
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Fariha Al Berkawi
Cheryl Ananayo
2018: Supporting feminist movements to thrive and disrupt
This report looks back and celebrates the first year of AWID’s new strategic plan as we took our first steps towards our desired outcomes of supporting feminist movements to thrive, challenging anti-rights agendas and co-creating feminist realities.
We worked with feminists to disrupt anti-rights agendas, achieving important victories fought and won within the United Nations system when ground-breaking language on structural discrimination, sexual rights, and states’ obligations were included in a number of resolutions. Yes, the multilateral system is in crisis and in need of serious strengthening but these victories are important as they contribute to the legitimacy of feminist demands, providing feminist movements with more pressure points and momentum to advance our agendas.
We tried and tested different ways to build knowledge with feminist movements through webinars, podcasts and ‘live’ conversations. We developed facilitation guides with popular educators to reclaim knowledge in the interest of social and gender justice, even about a topic as seemingly opaque as illicit funding flows. We commissioned blogs and opinions about how feminist groups fund and resource themselves and threw light on the threats facing our human rights systems.
Within AWID, we practiced and learned from our shared leadership approach, and told the story of the trials and tribulations of co-leading a global, virtual organization. We don’t have a definitive answer to what feminist leadership looks like, but we know, a year on, that a continued commitment to collective experimentation and learning has enabled us to keep building an organization that we are all excited to contribute to.
As we look back on this year, we want to thank all our friends and supporters, colleagues and companions, who have given their time and shared their wealth of knowledge and wisdom with us. We want to thank our members who helped frame our strategic plan and joined us to make feminist demands. We could not do this work without you.
Juventina Villa Mojica
Kasia Staszewska
Biography
Kasia has been supporting the work of feminist and social justice movements for the last 15 years. Before joining AWID, Kasia used to lead policy and advocacy for ActionAid and Amnesty International while organizing with feminists and social justice groups in Poland for access to abortion and against violence on the European borders. Kasia is passionate about resourcing feminist organizing in all their boldness, richness and diversity. She shares her time between Warsaw and her DIY community village in the forest. She loves saunas and is crazy about her dog named Wooly.
Position
Manager, Resourcing Feminist Movements
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Jeanne d´Arc Mihigo
Jessica Whitbread
Biography
Jessica is a queer artist- activist from Toronto, Canada, but is currently based in Bulgaria. Jessica has over 15 years experience in the HIV response working at the intersections of gender and HIV with key populations (sex workers, women who use drugs, LGBTQI communities, incarcerated people and of course people living with HIV). Jessica loves movement building and thinking/taking/strategizing about arts-based interventions. One fun project she started in 2013 was LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN that engages over 125 community groups and organizations globally every February 1-14th to celebrate women living with HIV in their communities.
Position
Membership and Constituency Engagement Lead
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Jyotika Singh
Faten Nabhan
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Parvin Paidar
I am a young feminist. How can I engage in AWID’s work?
Young feminist activists are at the heart of AWID’s work.
In fact, 38% of our members are under the age of 30.
We believe that young feminists are both the present and the future of the struggle for women’s rights. We promote young leaders in the global women’s rights movement and our Young Feminist Activism program cuts across all aspects of our work.
At the same time, by defining young feminist activists as one of our Priority Areas, we contribute new analysis to current debates and ensure that young feminist activists are able to articulate their priorities and voice their concerns.
Cecilia Loria
2013: The sixth High-level Dialogue reviews progress of MDGs
The Sixth High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development, 7-8 October 2013 focused on reviewing the progress of MDG’s, and identifying gaps to be addressed in discussions on the new development framework.
A report by the MDG’s Gap Task Force launched during the session pointed to the failure to meet MDG 8 (Global Partnership for Development) as a major factor in the challenges to meeting the MDGs. The report showed that more focus should be given to developing stronger global partnerships that would ensure binding commitments for the new development framework post 2015.