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Supporting feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements to thrive, to be a driving force in challenging systems of oppression, and to co-create feminist realities.

Building Feminist Economies

Read in: English French Spanish

Building Feminist Economies is about creating a world with clean air to breath and water to drink, with meaningful labour and care for ourselves and our communities, where we can all enjoy our economic, sexual and political autonomy.

In the world we live in today, the economy continues to rely on women’s unpaid and undervalued care work for the profit of others. The pursuit of “growth” only expands extractivism - a model of development based on massive extraction and exploitation of natural resources that keeps destroying people and planet while concentrating wealth in the hands of global elites. Meanwhile, access to healthcare, education, a decent wage and social security is becoming a privilege to few. This economic model sits upon white supremacy, colonialism and patriarchy.

Adopting solely a “women’s economic empowerment approach” is merely to integrate women deeper into this system. It may be a temporary means of survival. We need to plant the seeds to make another world possible while we tear down the walls of the existing one.

We believe in the ability of feminist movements to work for change with broad alliances across social movements. By amplifying feminist proposals and visions, we aim to build new paradigms of just economies.

Our approach must be interconnected and intersectional, because sexual and bodily autonomy will not be possible until each and every one of us enjoys economic rights and independence. We aim to work with those who resist and counter the global rise of the conservative right and religious fundamentalisms as no just economy is possible until we shake the foundations of the current system.

Our Actions

Our work challenges the system from within and exposes its fundamental injustices:

  • Advance feminist agendas: We counter corporate power and impunity for human rights abuses by working with allies to ensure that we put forward feminist, women’s rights and gender justice perspectives in policy spaces. For example, learn more about our work on the future international legally binding instrument on “transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights” at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

  • Mobilize solidarity actions: We work to strengthen the links between feminist and tax justice movements, including reclaiming the public resources lost through illicit financial flows (IFFs) to ensure social and gender justice.

  • Build knowledge: We provide women human rights defenders (WHRDs) with strategic information vital to challenge corporate power and extractivism. We will contribute to build the knowledge about local and global financing and investment mechanisms fuelling extractivism.

  • Create and amplify alternatives: We engage and mobilize our members and movements in visioning feminist economies and sharing feminist knowledges, practices and agendas for economic justice.

“The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing”.

Arundhati Roy, War Talk

Related Content

Type

Tenderness is the Sharpest Resistance

A Film Series on Asian/Pacific Feminist Realities 

Curated by Jess X. Snow With assistance from Kamee Abrahamian and Zoraida Ingles 

Across Asia and the Pacific, and all of it’s vast diaspora, fierce women and trans folks have been fighting for a future where they can all be free. As rising sea levels threaten the Pacific islands, and the coasts of continental Asia, the fight to protect other Earth and the Ocean intensifies all over the globe. Our planet stores a geologic memory of everything that it has experienced. The rise of colonization, industrialization, and environmental destruction is connected to the rise of the binary patriarchal nation state. The power within the Earth, to reincarnate, heal, and bloom in the face of violence, must then be connected to the woman, to motherhood, to indigeneity and all forces that are expansive, sacred and queer. It is no coincidence that Feminist Realities unite the fight to protect the rights of women, trans and LGBTQ+ people with the fight to protect the Earth. From mother-daughter protectors of Mauna Kea in the Kingdom of Hawaii, to the complex mother-child relationships of Vietnamese refugees, to queer sexual awakenings in conservative India, the reclaimation of home in Inner Mongolia, to the struggle toward LGBTQ liberation in the Phillipines -- this collection of films is a cosmology of the ways current-day Asian Pacific women and queer and trans folks champion the journey to our collective liberation across oceans and borders. 

All of these films have a strong sense of place: indigenous activists protect their sacred lands, youth peel back colonial narratives of their homeland to uncover hidden truths, complex motherhood and relations of care are explored, and characters turn to their own bodies and sexuality as sanctuary when the family and city that surrounds them threaten their safety. 

AFTEREARTH

By Jess X. Snow

“A haunting film with stunning shots invoking feminist environmental resistance and how deeply rooted this is in connection to cultural history and land…”
    - Jessica Horn, PanAfrican feminst strategist, writer and co-creator of the temple of her skin

In the experimental documentary, Afterearth, four women fight to preserve the volcano, ocean, land and air for future generations. Through music, poetry, and heartfelt testimonial that honors locations touched by the Pacific Ocean–Hawaiʻi, the Philippines, China, and North America, Afterearth is a poetic meditation on four women’s intergenerational and feminist relationship to the lands and plants they come from.

STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS

By Jalena Keane Lee

In Standing Above the Clouds, Native Hawaiian mother-daughter activists stand together to protect their sacred mountain, Mauna Kea from being used as a site to build one of the world’s largest telescopes. As protectors of Mauna Kea, this film highlights the interconnected relationship between Aloha ʻĀina (love of the land) and love for one’s elders and the future generations to come.

NƯỚC (WATER/HOMELAND)

By Quyên Nguyen-Le

In the experimental narrative short, Nước (Water/Homeland) a Vietnamese-American genderqueer teen challenges dominant narratives of the Vietnam War in Los Angeles, California. Through striking dream sequences and breaks from reality, this film follows their journey to piece together and understand their mother's experience as a Vietnam War refugee. 

KAMA’ĀINA

By Kimi Lee

In Kama’āina, a queer sixteen-year-old girl must navigate life on the streets in Oahu, until she eventually finds refuge by  way of guidance from an auntie at Pu’uhonua o Wai’anae–Hawaiʻi’s largest organized homeless encampment. 

DEVI

By Karishma Dev Dube

In Devi (goddess in Hindi) a young closeted lesbian, Tara risks both family and tradition to embrace her attraction to her family’s maid. Set in New Delhi, Devi is a coming of age story, as it is a commentary on the social and class lines that divide women in contemporary India today.

HEADING SOUTH

By Yuan Yuan

In Heading South, Chasuna, an 8 year old girl, raised by her mother in the Inner Mongolian Plateau, visits her abusive father in the big city. While at her father’s house, she is introduced to a new addition to the family, and must come to terms with the fact that her true home is inseparable from her mother and land.

Outrun

By Johnny Symons & S. Leo Chiang

In the feature film, Outrun, we follow the journey of the first transgender woman in the Philippine Congress. Facing oppression in a predominantly Catholic nation, her triumphant journey becomes an outcry for the rights of LGBTQ+ people globally. 


Spanning documentary, narrative, and experimental forms, these films illustrate that community care, self-love, and deep transformative listening between our loved ones is a portal to the Feminist Realities we are bringing into existence today.  From all across the Asia Pacific and it’s diaspora, these stories teach us that in the face of violence, tenderness is the sharpest force of resistance.

Watch our conversation with the filmmakers

Jess X Snow:

Jess X. Snow is a film director, artist, pushcart-nominated poet, children’s book author and community arts educator who creates queer asian immigrant stories that transcend borders, binaries and time. 

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Snippet - CSW69 On autonomous resourcing - EN

On autonomous resourcing alternatives

المانغو

ترجمة رولا علاء الدين

Jurema Araújo Portrait

جوريما آراوْخو،  معلّمة وشاعرة من ريو دي جانيرو. ساهمت في مجلة Urbana التي حرّرها الشاعران برازيل باريتو وسامارال، وفي كتاب Amor e outras revoluções “الحب والثورات الأخرى” مع العديد من الكتّاب الآخرين. بالتعاون مع أنجليكا فيراريس وفابيانا بيريرا، شاركت في تحرير O livro negro dos sentidos “الكتاب الأسود للحواس”، وهو مختارات إبداعية عن الحياة الجنسية للمرأة السوداء في البرازيل. جوريما عمرها 54 سنة. لديها ابنة وثلاثة كلاب وقطة والعديد من الأصدقاء.
Mango Cover

مَن يودّ المصّ معي؟

المانغو هي الثمرة المفضّلة عندي.
أفتح ثغري وأمصّها كلّها،
ويعلق لبّها بين أسناني 
وأسناني تنعم كي لا تؤذيها.
أضعها بين لساني وسقف حلقي وأضغط عليها
ثم أُخرجها وأمصّ كلَّ شبرٍ منها،
وعصيرُها يسيلُ في فمي وحوله
وأنا أتبلّل وأغرق في رحيقها الساحر.
وأعود وأدخلها كلّها في ثغري،
لأنّ المانغو هي البَذْرَة والعسل
وهي العِرْق والنَكهة.
ولمّا ينتهي الأمر، أجد نفسي منتشية
مُندّية بالرحيق مُحلاة وشفتاي مبلولتان.
المانغو خُلِقَت لمتعة المرغ. 

تقديم كتاب الحواس الأسود The Black Book of Senses

يومَ دعتني أنجليكا وفابي لأكون القَيِّمة على تشكيلة نصوص شبقية من تحرير نسوة سود لم أكن أعرف ما يعنيه عملُ القيِّم. الشبق ومشتقاته، هذه فهمتها جيداً، لكن عمل القَيِّم... ابتسمت تحت وطأة الخجل والإطراء. أظن أنّي شكرتهما، على الأقلّ آمل أنّي شكرتهما، وقلت في ذاتي: ماذا تعني هذه الكلمة اللعينة؟! حسناً، سأضطر إلى سَبر معاني هذا اللقب المُبهرَج وأنا أطبّقه. 

اليوم، أنا على دراية بما يعينه عمل القيِّم. هو بمثابة ممارسة الحبّ مع نصوص شخصٍ آخر، مع فنّ شخصٍ آخر، بغية تجميع كتاب وتنظيمه. وهذا تماماً ما قمت به. عرّيت بشهوانية أدبية كلّ نصّ لكلٍّ من الكاتبات. تعمّقت في كلمات وحواس الآخرين. ولَجَتني قصائدُ لم أكتبها. حكايات ما كنت لأجرؤ على تخيّلها قلبتني رأساً على عقب وأربكت مشاعري وعبثت بشهوتي الجنسية. وكانت نشوةٌ رائعة وفريدة: سماويّة وجسمانيّة وسامية في آنٍ واحد، فكريّة وحسّيّة.

تنبض هذه النصوص كالبظر المنتصب رغبةً، رطبةٌ، ينسال منها الفرح مع كلّ قراءة. كلمات ابتلعتني بإيحاءتها اللعوبة، تأخذني أعمق فأعمق في هذا العالم الرّطب.

غطست هذه النسوة السود إلى قعرِ هَيْجِهنّ وحوّلن أعمق تخيّلاتهنّ الشبقيّة إلى فنٍّ.

أُخْصِبَت هذه الأعمال بأسلوبِ كلٍّ من الكاتبات الخاصّ في التجربة الجنسانية، بحريّة، بسوداوية، بأنفسنا، بطريقتنا الخاصّة، بتمكّن. 

اخترت أن أوزّع هذه النصوص في مختلف أجزاء الكتاب ونظّمتها بحسب محتواها الأكثر رقّة أو انفعالية أو بديهية أو ضمنيّة.

استهلالاً لهذا «اللبّ الأسود المفترج»، تأتي أقسام ’التمهيدات‘ (Preliminaries) بنصوصها التي تقدّم لمحةً للقرّاء عن عالم الأطايب هذا، وهي بمثابة لمسَة شاملة رقيقة تُعرِّف بالمواضيع التي تطرحها النصوص في باقي الكتاب. 

يلي ذلك لهيبُ ’اللمس‘ (Touch) وهو جزءٌ يُعنى بكلّ ما تشعر به البشرة. تلك الطاقة التي تحرق أو تُثلِج أجسادنا، التي تفجّر هُرموناتنا وتوقظ حواسنا الأخرى. صحيحٌ أنّ كثيرين بيننا يستمتعون بشهوة التلصُّص، لكنّ ملامسة البشرة بالفم الدافئ والرّطب مثيرٌ، وهو كالتطواف في نعومة الآخر. تُغرينا اللمسة اللطيفة أو الحازمة وتجتاحنا القشعريرة، وذلك التوتّر الجميل الذي يسري من العنق إلى الظهر ولا يختفي إلا اليومَ التالي. ودفء الشفاه والفم واللسان الرّطب على البشرة، آه من حلاوة لسانٍ ينساب داخل الأذن، أو احتكاك الجلد بالجلد، والملابس تتموّج على الجسد وكأنّها امتدادٌ لليدّ. ولمّا يكون التروّي جزءاً من المتعة، وتعصف بك الإثارة بفعل قبضة مُحْكَمة وبعضٍ من الألم – أو الكثير منه، من يدري؟

أمّا ’الصوت‘ (Sound) – أو اللحن؟ – فيبيّن لنا أنّ الانجذاب يحصل أيضاً عبر حاسّة السمع: صوت الشخص، الهمسات، الموسيقى التي تشعل التواصل بين جسدٍ وآخر وقد تمسي محورَ الرغبة. فبالنسبة لبعضٍ منّا، لا يتطلّب الأمر إلّا الأوتار الصوتية لشخصٍ ذي صوتٍ جميل، فذاك الصوت الأجشّ أو العميق أو الرخيم يكون كممارسة الجنس سمعياً. أن نسمع سِبابَهم الصارخ أو كلامهم المعسول همساً في الأذن يكفي لتجتاحنا قشعريرة الإثارة من الرأس إلى أخمص القدميْن. 

في ’المذاق‘ (Flavor)، نأتي إلى اللسان وهو الخبير في استكشاف الخبايا يجول هائماً على جسد الآخر ويتلذّذ. وأحياناً يُقحَم اللسان قحماً لتذوُّق رحيق الآخر. فكرة أن يُشاركنا أحدٌ فراولته أو مانغته الشهيّة الملأى، بالعضّ واللحس، أو اللحس ثم العضّ، فكرةٌ كفيلة بإذابتنا. لكن لا شيء يعلو على حلاوة تذوُّق جسد الآخر بكهوفه وتلاله. إقحامُ اللسان في العمق لتذوُّق الثمرة، أو قضاءُ ساعاتٍ في تذوُّق رأس القضيب في الفم، أو رضعُ ثدي شهيّ لتذوُّق الحلمة... كلّها أفعال تسعى إلى حفظ ’مذاق‘ الآخر في الذاكرة.

نجد أيضاً نصوصاً تصف كيف تُستثار الرغبة عبر الأنف. ’الرائحة‘ (Smell)، أعزائي القرّاء، قد توقظ فينا شهوات الرغبة. أحياناً نلتقي شخصاً رائحته عبقة لدرجة أننا نودّ التهامه بأنفنا. يريد الأنف أن يجول في أنحاء الجسد ويبدأ من العنق وآهٍ من الرعشة الحلوة التي تصيبنا وتعرّي الروح! يقلّ حياء الأنف فيتعمَّق ويلفّ حول العنق ليلتقط عَبَق رائحة الآخر فيحفظها. وفي غياب هذا الشخص، إن إلتقط الأنف رائحة شبيهة يحضر الشخص في ذاكرتنا، أو إن استحضرته الذاكرة تجتاحنا الرائحة والإثارة.

نصل إلى ’النظر‘ (Look)، وهو برأيي غدّار الحواس، ومن خلاله ندرك الرغبة من وجهة «نظر». هنا النصوص تصف الرغبة والإثارة عبر حاسة النظر التي توقظ باقي الحواس. أحياناً، ابتسامةٌ تكفي لِنُصاب بالجنون. تبادُل النظرات؟ تلك النظرة التي تقول «أريدك الآن». نظرة التملّك تلك التي لا تنكسر إلا مع انتهاء المضاجعة، وقد تدوم بعدها. هذه نظرة فريدة من نوعها، تجذب الآخر فيعجز عن إشاحة نظره لوقتٍ طويل. والنظرات المُسترَقة حيث يشيح واحدٌ بنظره ما أن يلتفت إليه الآخر كأنّهما في مطاردة كالقط والفأر. وما أن تلتقي الأعين وينفضح أمرنا جُلّ ما يمكننا فعله هو أن تنفرج أساريرنا بابتسامة فاغرة. 

ختاماً، يأتي الانفجار في جزء ’الحواس كافة‘ (All Senses) حيث النصوص تمزج المشاعر لتبدو كحالة تأهّب لنصل إلى اللذة القصوى، إلى النشوة. 

طبعاً، لا شيء يفصل بوضوح بين هذه القصائد والحكايات. بعضها رقيقٌ بتلميحه. الإثارة تُشغِل الحواس كافّة، والأهمّ أنّها تُشغِل الرأس، فهُنا مقام كلّ ما يحدث والجسد بكامله يستجيب. لقد نظَّمتُ القصائد وفقاً لما أثارته فيّ عند قراءتها، ولكم الحريّة في مخالفة رأيي هذا. لكن بالنسبة لي، الرغبة تنبع من حاسّة معيّنة ومن ثم تنفجر، وثمّة لذّة في تتبّع مسار الرغبة وتحديد أيٍّ من الحواس استقلّت. 

إنّ القدرة على تحويل الإثارة إلى فنّ تعني تحرير أنفسِنا من الأحكام المسبقة والسجون ووصمات العار كلّها التي حبَسَنا فيها هذا المجتمع المُتمَحوِر حول العرق الأبيض.

كلّما تقوم كاتبة سوداء بتحويل الشبقيّ إلى فنّ فهي تخلع السلاسل العنصرية المؤذية التي تشلّ جسدها وتقمع جنسانيتها وتجعل منّا غرضاً لجشع الآخرين. إنّ كتابة الشعر الشبقيّ هي استعادة لسلطتها على جسدها وهي التنقّل بلا خوف بين ملذّات الرغبة من أجل ذاتها ومن أجل الآخرين ومن أجل الحياة. 

الكتابات الأدبية الشبقيّة هي نحن عندما نتّخذ الشكل الفنّي. الشكل الذي يتيح لنا إظهار أفضل ما لدينا وآرائنا في الحبّ الملأى لذّة والمتبّلة بشهوة أجسادنا والتي تُترجَم عبر وَعْينا الفنّي. نحن متنوّعات، وهنا نشارككم هذا التنوّع في الأحاسيس عبر الكلمات المُشبَعَة إثارة. صحيح، حتّى كلماتنا ترشَح برغبتنا الجنسية وترطّب آياتنا وتجعل من شهواتنا قصائدَ. النشوة، بالنسبة لنا، إنجاز. 

أن تكون عقولنا وأجسادنا وجنسانياتنا سوداء هو أمرٌ ضروري لاستئناف لذّتنا واستعادة نشوتنا. عندها فحسب نصير أحراراً. هذه العملية برمّتها إنجازٌ وهي لا تخلو من الألم. لكنّه من المفرح أن نجد أنفسنا في مكان مختلف جداً عن حيث تمّ وضعنا. 
أشعر أنّي لكنّ/لكم، أنّي لنا. تذوّقوا هذه الكلمات العذبة معنا، تلذّذوا بها، ولْتَكُن وليمة. 


هذا النص مقتبس من مقدمة كتاب «O Livro Negro Dos Sentidos» وهي تشكيلة قصائد شبقيّة لثلاثٍ وعشرين كاتبة سوداء.

Cover image for Communicating Desire
 
Explore Transnational Embodiments

This journal edition in partnership with Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research, will explore feminist solutions, proposals and realities for transforming our current world, our bodies and our sexualities.

Explore

Cover image, woman biting a fruit
 

التجسيدات العابرة للحدود

نصدر النسخة هذه من المجلة بالشراكة مع «كحل: مجلة لأبحاث الجسد والجندر»، وسنستكشف عبرها الحلول والاقتراحات وأنواع الواقع النسوية لتغيير عالمنا الحالي وكذلك أجسادنا وجنسانياتنا.

استكشف المجلة

Snippet - Section Two Funding Resources in One Place - EN

A Universe of Funders & Funding Commitments

Pleasure(s) as the key to personal freedom

By Nkhensani Manabe

The conversation title "Pansexual, Gynasexual or Abrosexual? A dive into queerness, pleasure and sex positivity" gives one much to think about. Tiffany Kagure Mugo, author, educator and curator of HOLAAfrica, begins the discussion with a reading from Touch, a recently published collection of fiction and non-fiction essays on sex, sexuality and pleasure. In this excerpt, the author puts forward the idea that pleasure is constant and ongoing, it is to be found in everyday activities and is not confined to sexual intercourse.

This idea, that pleasure is as much a part of daily life as anything else, runs through the discussion, which also covers topics of desire, attraction and sexual orientation.

Pleasure Garden exhibition: the photographic and illustrative collaboration produced by Siphumeze and Katia
Pleasure Garden exhibition: the photographic and illustrative collaboration produced by Siphumeze and Katia

Early on, there is this sense of hope and possibility. Tiffany presents options and explains alternatives, giving us new language to speak about who we are, what we like, and how we want it. This is about desire and sex, but mostly it is about self-knowledge and empowerment. Tiffany speaks passionately about making decisions from a place of power: learning your own identity so that you are able to make the best choices for yourself. 

In a conversation that is open and free, representing the attitude that Tiffany would have us all adopt, we learn that knowledge about sex and sexuality is ever-changing, the boundaries are shifting. What we may have learned or, more importantly, been kept away from as children or adults is exactly where we should start unlearning and reprogramming. Tiffany notes that young people these days need tools to understand the experiences they are already having, a reminder to never underestimate what children and teenagers know about the kind of pleasure(s) they want to pursue in life.

The conversation opened my mind to something: knowing myself will help to build my confidence; I will be able to approach relationships with care not only for myself but for others, too. Learning the language of orientation, attraction, desire and pleasure will go towards deepening my future connections. I appreciated the space to think about this aspect of my life -- the private, intimate parts that I don’t access often. Tiffany’s enthusiasm about pleasure and identity pushed my own boundaries, allowing me to entertain new personal possibilities. 

The idea of learning how to make holistic connections is still not common. Largely, we live in a culture of instant and fleeting connections. There is hardly any time to truly reflect on how and why we are seeking relationship or partnership -- at least, not until a moment of crisis. 

Of course, there are selected spaces that welcome questions and discussions, such as the AWID Crear Résister Transform Festival and other free-thinking online platforms or publications -- but access to information from a helpful, non-judgemental source is something people are still trying to figure out. This may be in part because people are not confident in the language of sexuality and pleasure. 

Sex and Spirtuality
Pleasure Garden exhibition: the photographic and illustrative collaboration produced by Siphumeze and Katia

The notion of language and tools repeats itself throughout Tiffany’s presentation. Tiffany and her colleagues are doing the work of talking, teaching and nurturing. Seeing what people need, where they are, what they want for themselves, and walking alongside them as they build their ideal worlds. Giving them new words and definitions to help give shape to their identities at different stages of their lives. 
These are the kinds of conversations that are necessary, even in a society that has myriad healthcare messages broadcast with varying degrees of details at any given moment. Sometimes people need to be brought back from the big picture moments and encouraged to learn about their individual opinions and desires. This is what Tiffany’s talk does: it gives people a space in the larger puzzle. 

A highlight of Tiffany’s talk was the section on the different types of attraction. 

Sexual -- as in, the express desire to have intercourse with a person or people
Sensual -- the desire to touch a person or people, to be physically close without necessarily including intercourse
Romantic -- the desire to date or be in a relationship with a person or people
Platonic -- the desire to build close friendships 
Aesthetic -- the desire to look at and be pleased by the appearance of a person or people

These five types or levels of attraction offer a shorthand for desire and pleasure, and help to contextualise the different kinds of pleasure people can experience. 

Thinking of attraction beyond the physical or sexual offers a new perspective on connection. It is a chance to take the pressure off relationships, which opens up opportunities for different, more enlightened and fulfilling partnerships. 

This freedom and knowledge that Tiffany presents is a roadmap to the future. The presentation offered a new perspective on what is possible. 

As the opening excerpt states, pleasure is ongoing. In light of Tiffany’s discussion, it is also clear that it is dynamic and exciting. There is always more to know. 

This may be daunting at first, but on the other side of hesitation is hope, potential and freedom. 

Snippet2 - WCFM Regional focus: - EN

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We Are the Ones We Have been Waiting For!

We’re beginning a new year--2023. COVID-19 continues to infect and re-infect many, many people around the world. We are witnessing the resurgence of right-wing and fascist governments, even in places we may not have expected like Sweden. War, armed conflict, and dramatic increase in militarization, militarism, and military spending are enabling the unbridled capital accumulation by the few, with participation of seemingly “strange” alliances locking arms, both visibly and invisibly, where economic and political elites of the Global North and Global South are benefitting beyond our wildest imagination. In the meanwhile, our people and the natural environment pay enormous costs and suffer all the expected and unexpected consequences.

As all of you and all of us at AWID know, feminists in multiple movements around the world are resisting and organizing against multiple faces of tyranny, creating alternative structures, implementing grassroots strategies, and building transnational alliances. We are generating joy, inspiring one another, singing, and dancing within and against the prevailing culture of killing and cynicism that seems to have engulfed so much of the world.

We--Staff and Board--of AWID are prepared and inspired more than ever before to face challenges by strengthening our relationships with our members and organizational partners, meeting and getting to know those who we are yet to meet and do what we do best: support the global feminist movements. Although we were sad facing the departures of our beloved former Co-Eds Cindy and Hakima, our wonderful new Co-EDS Faye and Inna along with committed and creative staff have embraced the moment that encapsulates both opportunities and threats.

For sure, all of us at AWID and all our movement folks know:  As the Caribbean US poet and activist June Jordan wrote to the South African women activists during the height of the apartheid regime, “We are the ones we have been waiting for”!

WITM - Refreshed INFOGRAPHIC 3 EN

How feminists resource themselves

Feminist and women’s rights organizations don’t just rely on institutional funding, we resource ourselves. Our organizing is powered by passion, political commitment, solidarity and collective care.
These resources are self- generated and autonomous, and often invisible in our budgets, but they are the backbone of our organizing.

 Explore the data on autonomous resourcing

Donation Success


Thank you for taking a step further to change the world!

Your generous contribution will help us support feminist movements across the globe working to achieve gender justice and women’s human rights worldwide.

You can also support our work as an AWID Member. Find out how here.

Snippet - COP30 - Feminist Demands for COP30 Col 1

What We Reject:

  • Market-based false solutions
  • Ecosystem service trading
  • Green neoliberal economies mining
  • Geo-engineering
  • Fossil fuels
  • Military spending over climate funds
  • Climate finance as loans

Protection of the Family

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The Issue

Over the past few years, a troubling new trend at the international human rights level is being observed, where discourses on ‘protecting the family’ are being employed to defend violations committed against family members, to bolster and justify impunity, and to restrict equal rights within and to family life.

The campaign to "Protect the Family" is driven by ultra-conservative efforts to impose "traditional" and patriarchal interpretations of the family, and to move rights out of the hands of family members and into the institution of ‘the family’.

“Protection of the Family” efforts stem from:

  • rising traditionalism,
  • rising cultural, social and religious conservatism and
  • sentiment hostile to women’s human rights, sexual rights, child rights and the rights of persons with non-normative gender identities and sexual orientations.

Since 2014, a group of states have been operating as a bloc in human rights spaces under the name “Group of Friends of the Family”, and resolutions on “Protection of the Family” have been successfully passed every year since 2014.

This agenda has spread beyond the Human Rights Council. We have seen regressive language on “the family” being introduced at the Commission on the Status of Women, and attempts made to introduce it in negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Our Approach

AWID works with partners and allies to jointly resist “Protection of the Family” and other regressive agendas, and to uphold the universality of human rights.

In response to the increased influence of regressive actors in human rights spaces, AWID joined allies to form the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs).  OURs is a collaborative project that monitors, analyzes, and shares information on anti-rights initiatives like  “Protection of the Family”.

Rights at Risk, the first OURs report, charts a map of the actors making up the global anti-rights lobby, identifies their key discourses and strategies, and the effect they are having on our human rights.   

The report outlines “Protection of the Family” as an agenda that has fostered collaboration across a broad range of regressive actors at the UN.  It describes it as: “a strategic framework that houses “multiple patriarchal and anti-rights positions, where the framework, in turn, aims to justify and institutionalize these positions.”

 

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Feminism, motherhood and the struggle for gender equality

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Feminism, motherhood and the struggle for gender equality

“In our struggle for equality, we tend to forget that women are also mothers (if they chose to be).  We should not be ashamed of our ability to give birth to a human being. The rights of mothers are also women's rights. Being a mother and a feminist is not a contradiction” says Aleksandra Miletić-Šantić, a lawyer and single mother of three children.

Aleksandra is originally from Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). She currently lives and works in Sarajevo as a BH focal point person for the Council of Europe’s Human Education for Legal Professionals Programme. She is also a specialist in the Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Programmes.

The years 1992-1995 was a tumultuous period in war torn Bosnia and Herzegovina when Aleksandra worked as a War Studio of Mostar correspondent for the Sarajevo-based Radio-Television BH. The multi-ethnic Studio had been created with the goal of being a source of optimism to citizens and as part of an attempt to preserve cultural and artistic life under abnormal conditions.  This studio was attacked and subsequently closed. In 1993 it was permanently destroyed when the building it occupied with the Headquarters of the BH Army was set on fire.

Aleksandra’s journalistic background and experience of living through armed conflict as a young woman has made her a passionate advocate for peace building.

In her current professional capacity she works on the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. She has designed and facilitated training programs on gender and security, and also engages with the UN Women Office in BH to support national gender mechanisms in the implementation of the Resolution 1325.

“In the ideal world, being a feminist would be a matter of decency as it would be considered normal that all people have the same rights and liberties. That would include all rights - civil, social, economic and political.”

For the past 15 years, Aleksandra has been working on the improvement of human rights in BH, and was one of the pioneer gender advisors for the Common Security and Defence Policy missions of the European Union (EU).

In her role as gender advisor for the EU Police Mission (EUPM) in BH she introduced the action plan for gender mainstreaming as a tool that focuses on improving the internal position of women staff members, while integrating gender in the EUPM mandate activities in BH.

Aleksandra’s dream of a better world drives her in the work she does:

“My dream is a world where everybody will be able to achieve their full potential, where not a single person will know about poverty or insecurity. Sadly, so many years after the adoption of basic human rights instruments, a way of life is still not a matter of individual choice.”

Aleksandra has been an AWID member since February 2014.

“I have become an AWID member as its mission and the way it is implemented strongly correspondents to my ideals. I also cherish the way AWID treats its members by paying due attention to every single member regardless of any basis. It makes every member feel as an important actor of change.”  

Region
Europe
Southern, Central and Eastern Europe
Topics
Freedom of expression
Social & cultural rights
Source
Aleksandra Miletic-Santic

Feminismo, maternidad y la lucha por la igualdad de género

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Feminismo, maternidad y la lucha por la igualdad de género

«En nuestra lucha por la igualdad, tendemos a olvidar que las mujeres también son madres (si así lo deciden). No deberíamos sentirnos avergonzadas por tener la capacidad de dar a luz a un ser humano. Los derechos de las madres son también parte de los derechos de las mujeres. Ser madre y feminista no es una contradicción», dice Aleksandra Miletić-Šantić, abogada y madre soltera de tres hijas/os.

Aleksandra es oriunda de Mostar, Bosnia y Herzegovina (BH). Actualmente vive y trabaja en Sarajevo como la persona de contacto en BH para el programa Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals [Formación en Derechos Humanos para Profesionales del Derecho] del Consejo de Europa. Aleksandra también es especialista en el seguimiento y evaluación de programas de desarrollo.

El período que va de 1992 a 1995 fue tumultuoso en una Bosnia y Herzegovina devastada por la guerra. Aleksandra trabajó en la estación de radio War Studio [Estudio de Guerra] de Mostar como corresponsal para la Radio-Televisión BH de Sarajevo. Era una estación de radio multiétnica que había sido creada con el objetivo de ser una fuente de optimismo para la ciudadanía y de preservar la vida cultural y artística en una situación anormal, pero que fue atacada y posteriormente cerrada. En 1993, la estación fue destruida para siempre cuando incendiaron el edificio que ocupaba junto al Cuartel General del Ejército de BH.

Su experiencia como periodista y como mujer joven que vivió durante un conflicto armado ha hecho que hoy día Aleksandra sea una ferviente defensora de la consolidación de la paz. En su actual rol como profesional, trabaja en la implementación de la Resolución 1325 del Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) sobre Mujeres, Paz y Seguridad. Aleksandra ha diseñado y facilitado programas de capacitación sobre género y seguridad y colabora con la Oficina de ONU Mujeres en BH para apoyar  a los organismos estatales que se ocupan del género en la implementación de la Resolución 1325 a nivel nacional.

«En un mundo ideal, ser feminista sería simplemente una cuestión de decencia, ya que sería considerado normal que todas las personas tuvieran los mismos derechos y libertades. Esto incluiría todos los derechos—civiles, sociales, económicos y políticos.»

Durante los últimos quince años, Aleksandra ha trabajado para mejorar los derechos humanos en BH y ha sido una de las asesoras pioneras en temas de género para las misiones de la Política Común de Seguridad y Defensa de la Unión Europea (UE). En su rol como asesora en género para la Misión de Policía de la UE en BH, Aleksandra introdujo el plan de acción para la transversalización de género como una herramienta enfocada a mejorar la situación del personal femenino al interno de la organización, al mismo tiempo que incorporaba temas de género en el mandato de la Misión para sus actividades en BH.

El sueño de Aleksandra por lograr un mundo mejor es lo que la impulsa a hacer el trabajo que hace:

«Mi sueño es un mundo donde todas las personas puedan alcanzar su máximo potencial y donde nadie sepa lo que son la pobreza o la inseguridad. Lamentablemente, tantos años después de haber adoptado las herramientas básicas de derechos humanos todavía hay personas que no tienen la libertad de elegir de qué forma quieren vivir.»

Aleksandra es afiliada a AWID desde febrero de 2014.

«Me afilié a AWID porque su misión y la forma en que la implementan coinciden totalmente con mis ideales. También valoro la forma como AWID trata a su membresía, prestando la debida atención a cada una/o, independientemente de quienes sean. Eso hace todas/os sientan que son agentes de cambio importantes.”  

Para comunicarte con ella, por favor envía un mensaje a membership@awid.org y/o encuéntrala en nuestro directorio en línea.

Region
Europa
Europa del Sur, Central y del Este
Topics
Libertad de expresión
Derechos sociales y culturales
Source
Aleksandra Miletic-Santic

Féminisme, maternité et combat pour l’égalité de genre

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Féminisme, maternité et combat pour l’égalité de genre

« Dans notre combat pour l’égalité, nous avons tendance à oublier que les femmes sont aussi des mères (si elles ont choisi de l’être). Nous ne devons pas avoir honte de notre capacité à donner naissance à un être humain. Les droits des mères font aussi partie des droits des femmes. Être une mère et être une féministe n’est pas contradictoire », affirme Aleksandra Miletić-Šantić, une avocate qui élève seule ses trois enfants.

Aleksandra est originaire de Mostar en Bosnie-Herzégovine. Elle vit actuellement à Sarajevo, où elle exerce en tant que point focal du Programme de formation aux droits de l’homme pour les professionnels du droit du Conseil de l’Europe. Elle est aussi spécialiste du suivi et de l’évaluation des programmes de développement.

Lors de la tourmente des années 1992-1995, pendant lesquelles la Bosnie-Herzégovine était déchirée par la guerre, Aleksandra était correspondante au War Studio de Mostar pour la Radio-télévision nationale basée à Sarajevo. Ce studio pluriethnique avait été créé dans l’objectif de redonner espoir aux habitants de la ville et il contribuait aux efforts pour préserver une vie culturelle et artistique malgré les conditions anormales. Le studio a dû fermer suite à un attentat, et en 1993 il a été complètement détruit lorsque l’immeuble dans lequel il se trouvait, qui abritait également le quartier général de l’armée de Bosnie-Herzégovine, a été incendié.

Son passé de journaliste et le conflit armé qu’elle a vécu alors qu’elle était une jeune femme ont fait d’elle une militante passionnée de la construction de la paix. De par ses fonctions actuelles elle participe activement à la mise en œuvre de la Résolution 1325 du Conseil de Sécurité de l’ONU sur les femmes, la paix et la sécurité. Elle a conçu et organisé des programmes de formation sur le genre et la sécurité, et elle collabore avec le Bureau de ONU Femmes en Bosnie-Herzégovine pour que soient créés des mécanismes de genre au niveau national favorisant la mise en œuvre de la Résolution 1325.

« Dans un monde idéal, être féministe serait la moindre des corrections car il serait considéré comme normal que toutes et tous aient les mêmes droits et les mêmes libertés. Tous les droits - civils, sociaux, économiques et politiques. »

Ces 15 dernières années, Aleksandra a œuvré à l’amélioration des droits humains en Bosnie-Herzégovine, et elle a été l’une des toutes premières conseillères en matière de genre auprès des missions de la Politique de sécurité et de défense commune (PSDC) de l’Union Européenne (UE). En tant que conseillère en matière de genre auprès de la Mission de police de l’Union européenne (MPUE) en Bosnie-Herzégovine, elle a mis en place un plan d’action pour l’intégration de la dimension du genre ; un outil axé sur l’amélioration du statut du personnel féminin, et qui visait aussi à intégrer la question du genre dans les activités entreprises par la MPUE au titre de son mandat en Bosnie-Herzégovine.

Aleksandra rêve d’un monde meilleur et c’est ce qui la motive dans sa vie professionnelle :

« Je rêve d’un monde où chacune et chacun pourra réaliser pleinement son potentiel, où personne ne connaîtra la pauvreté et l’insécurité. Malheureusement, alors qu’il y tant d’années que les instruments des droits humains fondamentaux ont été mis en place, le mode de vie n’est toujours pas une affaire de choix personnel. »

Aleksandra est membre de l’AWID depuis février 2014.

« Je suis devenue membre de l’AWID car sa mission et la façon dont elle la met en œuvre correspondent en tout point à mon idéal. J’apprécie aussi la façon dont l’AWID traite ses membres, en accordant la même attention à chacun d’entre eux sans aucun préjugé. Grâce à cela, chaque membre se sent un acteur/une actrice important-e du changement. »

Pour la contacter, vous pouvez écrire à membership@awid.org et/ou la retrouver dans l'annuaire des membres en ligne.

Region
Europe
Europe de l’Est, centrale et du Sud
Topics
Liberté d'expression
Droits économiques, sociaux et culturels
Source
Aleksandra Miletic-Santic

Analysis

Emerging LGBTQ Identity in West Africa: Aspirations and challenges of Francophone movements

Source: AWID

Análisis

Identidad LGBTQ emergente en África Occidental: aspiraciones y desafíos de los movimientos francófonos

Source: AWID

Analyses

Emerging LGBTQ Identity in West Africa: Aspirations and challenges of Francophone movements

Source: AWID

WE-Change: Las voces de las mujeres LBT* en el Caribe se escuchan más fuerte

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WE-Change: Las voces de las mujeres LBT* en el Caribe se escuchan más fuerte

En todo el Caribe, la incidencia por el reconocimiento y la realización de los derechos de lesbianas, gays, personas bisexuales y trans* (LGBT*) tiene lugar en un contexto excluyente, homofóbico y transfóbico.

Women’s Empowerment for Change [Empoderamiento de las Mujeres para el Cambio, WE-Change], afiliada a AWID desde su creación en mayo de 2015, crea conciencia acerca de los derechos de las mujeres lesbianas, bisexuales y trans* (LBT*) en Jamaica y el Caribe y los defiende. Es una organización de base comunitaria, liderada por mujeres. Veinte mujeres LBT* crearon WE-Change con el objetivo de fortalecer el movimiento de mujeres dentro de la comunidad LGBT* e incrementar la participación de las mujeres LBT* en la promoción y defensa de la justicia social en Jamaica y la región, reconociendo que en el Caribe los espacios de incidencia LGBT* en general están dominados por los hombres, se centran en ellos y suelen marginar a las mujeres.

“Las personas LGBT* cada vez defienden más sus derechos, la igualdad ante la ley, la equidad en los servicios sociales y la protección, y exigen ser tratadas con la dignidad intrínseca con la que nacieron. Yo soy una de esas personas LGBT*. Y tengo un compromiso permanente con la eliminación de todas las formas de estigma y discriminación contra mi comunidad en general y contra las mujeres de mi comunidad en particular”. – Latoya Nugent, Cofundadora y Directora Adjunta de WE-Change

A los pocos meses de haber sido creado, este grupo organizó sesiones de capacitación en nociones básicas de derecho aplicado a la violencia doméstica y sobre la Ley de Violencia Doméstica, además de preparar a facilitadoras para que supieran cómo dar respuesta a y abordar la violencia de género y la causada por la pareja. Para esta actividad se asoció con el Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays [Foro Jamaiquino de Lesbianas, Pansexuales y Gays, J-FLAG]; aquí podrás escuchar lo que dijeron las participantes (en inglés).

“WE-Change quiere una sociedad en la que se reconozcan, respeten y protejan los derechos de cada persona, y en la que garantes de obligaciones y proveedores de cuidados se comprometan a crear un ambiente que permita a todas las personas aportar al desarrollo sostenible de Jamaica”.

Al mismo tiempo que procura crear espacios alternativos y seguros en los que la comunidad LBT* pueda expresarse y reducir la homofobia y la transfobia, WE-Change también promueve el autocuidado y el bienestar a través de clases de danza, el yoga y entrenamiento físico (fitness boot camp). Por ejemplo: en la ‘danza aeróbica’, a las participantes se les enseñan “distintos pasos de danza al ritmo de los últimos éxitos de la soca y el dancehall (géneros musicales caribeños)”. Y para celebrar el amor durante #Pride2015 [Orgullo 2015], las mujeres de WE-Change hicieron el video siguiente (en inglés) porque ¡#LoveWins [El amor triunfa]!

Region
El Caribe
Topics
Derechos LGBTQI
Organización de jovenes feministas
Source
WE-Change

WE-Change: faire entendre les voix des femmes LBT dans les Caraïbes

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WE-Change: faire entendre les voix des femmes LBT dans les Caraïbes

Dans les Caraïbes, le plaidoyer en faveur de la reconnaissance et du respect des droits des personnes lesbiennes, gaies, bisexuelles et trans* (LGBT) s’effectue dans un climat homophobe, transphobe et non-inclusif.

L’organisation Women’s Empowerment for Change - WE-Change (l’autonomisation des femmes pour le changement), membre de l’AWID depuis sa création en mai 2015, œuvre pour sensibiliser et défendre les droits des femmes lesbiennes, bisexuelles et trans* (LBT) en Jamaïque et dans les Caraïbes. Cette organisation communautaire est dirigée par des femmes. Sur la base du constat que la majorité des espaces dédiés à la sensibilisation en faveur des personnes lesbiennes, gaies, bisexuelles et trans* (LGBT) sont dominés par et centrés sur les hommes et que les femmes y sont souvent marginalisées, une vingtaine de femmes LBT ont créé WE-Change, avec l’objectif de renforcer le mouvement des femmes au sein de la communauté LGBT et d’augmenter la participation des femmes LBT aux actions de plaidoyer et de sensibilisation en faveur de la justice sociale en Jamaïque et dans la région.

« De plus en plus de personnes lesbiennes, gaies, bisexuelles et trans* (LGBT) se mobilisent pour faire valoir leurs droits, pour l’égalité devant la loi, pour l’équité en matière de services et de protection sociale et exigent d’être traitées avec la dignité qui leur est due. Je suis une de ces personnes LGBT et je m’engage en faveur de l’élimination de tout forme de stigmatisation et de discrimination contre ma communauté en général et contre les femmes de ma communauté en particulier. » Latoya Nugent, Co-fondatrice et Directrice associée de WE-Change

Deux mois à peine après sa création, le groupe a déjà organisé des ateliers de formation sur les aspects juridiques de la violence domestique, une formation de formatrices sur la manière de traiter et de répondre à la violence basée sur le genre et à la violence dans les relations intimes, ainsi qu’une formation sur la loi relative à la violence domestique. Ces sessions ont été co-organisée avec le Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays ou J-FLAG (forum jamaïcain des personnes lesbiennes, bisexuelles et gaies). Découvrez ce que les participantes en ont pensé. (en anglais)

« WE-Change envisage une société où les droits de chaque personne sont reconnus, respectés, et protégés et où les responsables et le personnel soignant s’engagent à créer un environnement propice dans lequel chaque personne peut contribuer au développement durable de la Jamaïque. »

En parallèle de la création d’espaces alternatifs et sécurisants pour que la communauté LBT puisse s’exprimer et pour faire reculer l’homophobie et la transphobie, WE-Change promeut également le souci de soi et le bien-être grâce à des cours de danse, de yoga et des sessions de fitness intensives. Pendant les ‘dancerobics’ par exemple, les participantes ont pu apprendre « des mouvements de danse sur les nouveaux tubes de soca et de dancehall ». Pour célébrer l’amour pendant la #Pride2015, les femmes de WE-Change ont réalisé cette vidéo (en anglais) car #LoveWins (l’amour triomphe) !

Region
Les Caraïbes
Topics
Droits des LGBTQI
Organisation de jeunes féministes
Source
WE-Change

WE-Change: Stronger voices of LBT women in the Caribbean

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WE-Change: Stronger voices of LBT women in the Caribbean

Across the Caribbean, advocacy for the recognition and fulfillment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights occur in a non-inclusive, homophobic and transphobic context.

Women’s Empowerment for Change (WE-Change), an AWID member since their launch in May 2015, works on raising awareness and defending the rights of lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) women in Jamaica and the Caribbean. The organisation is women-led and community-based. Recognising that LGBT advocacy spaces in the Caribbean are largely dominated by and focused on men - and women are often marginalized -, 20 LBT women founded WE-Change with the aim of strengthening the women’s movement within the LGBT community and increasing the participation of LBT women in social justice advocacy in Jamaica and the region.

“More and more LGBT people [are] standing for their rights, for equality before the law, for equity in social services and protection, and demanding that they be treated with the inherent dignity with which they were born. I am one of those LGBT people. And I remain committed to eliminating all forms of stigma and discrimination against my community in general and against the women in my community in particular.” – Latoya Nugent, Co-founder and Associate Director of WE-Change

Within just a couple of months of existence, the group organised legal literacy training sessions on domestic violence, training of facilitators on responding to and addressing gender-based violence and intimate partner violence, and a training on the Domestic Violence Act. Hosted in partnership with the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG), watch what these participants had to say.

”WE-Change envisions a society where the rights of every person are recognised, respected, and protected, and where duty bearers and caregivers commit to creating an enabling environment for every person to contribute to the sustainable development of Jamaica.”

While working on creating alternative and safe spaces for the vocalisation of the LBT community and reducing homophobia and transphobia, WE-Change also promotes self-care and wellness through dance, yoga and fitness boot camp classes. During the ‘dancerobics’ for example participants were taught “several dance moves to the tune of new soca and dancehall hits.” And to celebrate love during #Pride2015, the women of WE-Change made this video because #LoveWins!

Region
The Caribbean
Topics
LGBTQI Rights
Young Feminist organizing
Source
WE-Change

Statements

AWID Condemns Online Attacks and Stands in Solidarity with the Association for Progressive Communications

Source: AWID

Declaraciones

AWID expresa su solidaridad con la Asociación para el Progreso de las Comunicaciones y condena los ataques virtuales contra ella.

Source: AWID

Déclarations

L’AWID condamne les attaques en ligne et se solidarise avec l’Association pour le progrès des communications

Source: AWID

Analysis

Aya Chebbi: Redefining Feminist Narratives in Tunisia

Source: AWID

Análisis

Aya Chebbi: Redefiniendo las narrativas feministas en Túnez

Source: AWID

Analyses

Aya Chebbi: Une redéfinition des discours féministes en Tunisie

Source: AWID

Growing ‘Agripreneurs’ in Ghana

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Growing ‘Agripreneurs’ in Ghana

Nana Adjoa Sifa Amponsah, a young woman from Ghana, dreams of “a society where young women graduates are proud to be ‘agripreneurs’, agricultural entrepreneurs, and where the smallholder farmer gets value for money”.

She is confident that women agripreneurs will influence and drive Ghana's economy, “grow healthy food and wealthy farmers”.

“I strongly believe that agriculture is one single sector that can help reduce five of the world's most pressing problems which are unemployment, food insecurity, poverty, hunger and malnutrition.”

A certified social entrepreneur from the India-based Institute of Social Entrepreneurs (now called Kanthari), Nana has direct field experience in food security, strategic management and agriculture in Africa, Asia and Europe. Over the years, Nana has become a project management expert and has initiated numerous projects and programs that help create lasting change. Nana is also skilled in fundraising and events and projects planning.

Currently, Nana is the President of Direct Impact Foundation in Ghana, an organization aiming to bridge the gap between rural and urban education. She is also an initiator of Guzakuza, a social enterprise committed to combining agriculture and entrepreneurship to create agrpreneurial mindsets. Guzakuza is a Swahili word meaning ‘grow to touch lives’. She sees it as an approach to tackle the most pressing problems, calling it ‘solution ACT’ which stands for Advocacy, Cooperatives, and Training.

“The big question I keep asking is what would be the greatest change? How do we feed the population on track to 9 billion in 2050 if we are all lawyers, doctors and engineers?”

Nana has been a member of AWID since early 2014. She loves to travel, write and cook and is passionate about photography and farming.

 

Listen to her “Dream Speech” where you can also find out more about ‘solution ACT’.

Region
Africa
Sub Sahara Africa
Topics
Economic justice
Land rights
Poverty
Source
Nana Adjoa Sifa Amponsah

El cultivo de 'agroemprendedoras' en Ghana

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El cultivo de 'agroemprendedoras' en Ghana

Nana Adjoa Sifa Amponsah, una joven de Ghana, sueña con «una sociedad en la que las jóvenes que se gradúan sientan orgullo de ser 'agroemprendedoras' a cargo de emprendimientos agrícolas y en la que haya una buena relación precio-calidad para los productos de la agricultura a pequeña escala».

Nana confía en que las agroemprendedoras lograrán influir sobre la economía de Ghana e impulsarla, «produciendo alimentos saludables y campesinas ricas».

«Creo firmemente que si hay un sector que puede ayudar a reducir cinco de los problemas más urgentes del mundo —desempleo, inseguridad alimentaria, pobreza, hambre y desnutrición— es la agricultura».

Emprendedora social certificada por el Institute of Social Entrepreneurs [Instituto de Emprendedores Sociales, ahora conocido como Kanthari], Nana tiene experiencia directa de campo en seguridad alimentaria, gestión estratégica y agricultura adquirida en África, Asia y Europa. Con los años, Nana se ha convertido en una experta en gestión de proyectos y ha generado muchos proyectos y programas que ayudan a generar cambios duraderos. También está capacitada en movilización de recursos y en planificación de eventos y proyectos.

En la actualidad, Nana es la Presidenta de Direct Impact Foundation [Fundación Impacto Directo], una organización con sede en Ghana que se propone cerrar la brecha educativa entre las zonas rurales y las urbanas. También es la creadora de Guzakuza, un emprendimiento social que combina la agricultura y el espíritu emprendedor para generar mentalidades agroemprendedoras. Guzakuza es una palabra suajili que significa «cultivar para cambiar vidas». Para Nana, se trata de un enfoque para hacer frente a los problemas más urgentes, al que por su sigla en inglés ella llama ‘la solución ACT’ (incidencia , cooperativas y capacitación).

«La pregunta más importante que hago todo el tiempo es ¿cuál sería el cambio más profundo? ¿Cómo vamos a alimentar a una población que se estima será de 9 mil millones en 2050 si somos todas abogadas, médicas e ingenieras?»

Nana está afiliada a AWID desde comienzos de 2014. Le gusta viajar, escribir y cocinar, y le apasionan la fotografía y la agricultura.

 

Escucha su “Dream Speech” [Discurso sobre mi sueño] (en inglés) en el que podrás encontrar más información sobre la ‘solución ACT’.

Region
África
África Subsahariana
Topics
Justicia Económica
Derechos de propiedad sobre la tierra
Pobreza
Source
Nana Adjoa Sifa Amponsah