The Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) - advocating for free, safe, and legal abortion in Ireland - has been an AWID member since May 2015. It is a grassroots, non-hierarchical, all-volunteer organization and is autonomous in its pro-choice activism.

ARC partners with numerous social justice, human rights and gender equality groups working on issues that intersect with and are impacted by Ireland’s failure to support full sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHRs) for women since the 1983 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution.

Although ARC only formed in January 2013, it currently actively partners with over 15 organizations throughout Ireland and internationally including the women’s councils, transgender, immigrant, traveler and regional/rural groups.

Marching for Choice

As part of this year's Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion, ARC held its 4th Annual March for Choice on 26 September 2015

The march is part of ARC’s wider mission to secure access to free, safe, and legal abortion, while challenging the restrictive, stigmatized, and patriarchal environment surrounding SRHRs in Ireland.

Cathie Doherty, one of the co-conveners of ARC tells us, “There is an appetite in Ireland for real change, contrary to the statement from the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach. We need to end the hypocrisy of travel and the hypocrisy which forces women who cannot travel to carry pregnancies or to break the law by importing the abortion pill. We can change Ireland. We can have a society which treats us as the valuable human beings that we are.”

In just one year (2013 – 2014), the march grew from 1,000 to 5,000 participants, and there were a reported 10,000 participants at this year's march. Marchers have brought wheelie suitcases to symbolize the thousands of women who have been forced to seek abortion elsewhere. Between January 1980 and December 2014, at least 163,514 women and girls travelled from the Republic of Ireland to access safe abortion services in another country.

Speaking out – Breaking Silence and Stigma

ARC works closely with women who have had abortions to tell their stories. They create a safe space where women can speak and be listened to. Ireland’s ‘Speak-Out’ organized in 2013 and again in 2014 gave a platform to women to talk about their abortions and reproductive health experiences abroad or illegally in Ireland. Some women have shared their stories with the press.

The Comedian and writer Tara Flynn recently spoke publicly about her experience in the Irish Times and said about the March for Choice that she will also MC for, “It’s time to acknowledge real women’s stories – women we all know – and actual facts: hundreds of thousands of women have had to travel and will continue to travel for healthcare they need, or put themselves at risk. Silence has got us nowhere. It’s time to talk.”

Dismantling Myths Through Social Media

For ARC, social media is an effective platform to campaign for and highlight bodily autonomy issues which often more traditional media fail to engage with.

“We strive to incorporate the use of new media and technologies into all of our advocacy work, with the aim of engaging as wide an audience as possible,” ARC said.

Ahead of International Women's Day in 2014, ARC ran the '8 days, 8 myths' campaign, dismantling the stigma and falsehoods surrounding abortion.

4th Annual March for Choice Campaign

Rama est une jeune chercheuse et écrivaine féministe sénégalaise. Sa première nouvelle, La dernière lettre, a été publiée dans Présence Africaine en 2008, alors qu’elle était âgée d’une vingtaine d’années.

Un an plus tard, elle a été sélectionnée pour - participer à l’Initiative Moremi pour le leadership des femmes en Afrique, MILEAD (site en anglais). La bourse d’études est décernée à 25 jeunes femmes africaines avec la vision, le courage et l’engagement nécessaires pour inspirer et mener des changements dans leurs communautés.

"Devenir soi-même et s’assumer pleinement n’est pas simple, mais c’est la plus importante de toutes les réussites. J’ai méthodiquement appris à désapprendre et réapprendre, à déconstruire et reconstruire tout ce qu’on m’avait appris sur la manière dont les femmes doivent se comporter en société..."

Munie de la bourse Ibrahim Governance and Development 2015, Rama est sur le point de commencer ses études doctorales en développement à l’École des études orientales et africaines de l’Université de Londres. Elle est titulaire d’une maîtrise en développement international, spécialisée en développement économique africain et en questions de genre, et d’un Master en coopération internationale et en développement de l’IEP de Bordeaux, en France.

Rama est conseillère auprès de FRIDA | le Fonds pour les jeunes féministes et membre de l’équipe ’Politiques Economiques et Mondialisation’ du réseau DAWN, Development Alternatives with Women for a new Era (Pour une nouvelle ère d’alternatives de développement avec les femmes, site en anglais). Au cours des années antérieures, elle a travaillé comme assistante-chercheuse à la Commission économique pour l’Afrique des Nations Unies (IDEP), et a collaboré brièvement avec le secteur caritatif en France et dans les bureaux du PNUD situés à l’Ile Maurice.

"Pour réaliser mon moi véritable, j’ai appris que prendre soin de moi et réaliser mes rêves était plus important que toutes ces étiquettes que la société nous colle et qui ne me définissent même pas..."

En 2013, Rama a participé à un ouvrage collectif du Réseau des jeunes chercheurs-euses africain-ne-s sur la démocratie et le développement en Afrique et a également été chroniqueuse pour Nouvel Horizon Sénégal.

"Pour moi, être féministe c’est accepter de questionner tout ce qui est établi par la société pour définir ce que je devrais être, ce que je 'devrais vouloir', car devoir et vouloir sont antinomiques. Le verbe vouloir est puissant lorsqu’il est libéré du 'devrait' ou 'ne devrait pas'. Soyez vous-mêmes, un point c’est tout. "

Écoutez son dernier discours (en anglais)

Rama a parlé au nom du Groupe de travail des femmes sur le financement du développement lors de la 2ème réunion plénière de la 3ème Conférence internationale sur le financement du développement, en 2015 à Addis Abeba, en Éthiopie.

Rama is a young Senegalese feminist, researcher and writer. In her early twenties, she wrote her first novel La dernière lettre, published by Présence Africaine in 2008. A year later she was selected as a MILEAD fellow of the Moremi initiative for Women’s Leadership in Africa. The fellowship is awarded to 25 young African women with extraordinary vision, courage and commitment to lead change in their communities.

"Becoming one's full and unapologetic self is a difficult but the most important of all achievements. I have methodically learned to un-learn and re-learn, to de-construct and re-construct all that I have been taught about how women should socialise..." 

As the 2015 Ibrahim Governance and Development PhD scholar, Rama is about to begin her doctoral studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She already holds an MSc in International Development specializing in African Economic Development and Gender and a Masters’ degree in International Cooperation and Development from the Bordeaux Institute of Political Studies, France.

Rama is an Advisor of FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund and a member of the Political Economy and Globalisation Team of Development Alternatives with Women for a new Era (DAWN). In previous years, she worked as a Research Assistant at the United Nations African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), briefly in the charity sector in France and at the UNDP country office of Mauritius.

"To become my true self, I have learned that my self-care and achievement of my dreams were more important than societal labels that do not even define me..."

In 2013, Rama contributed to a collective book by the Network of young African Researchers on Democracy and Development in Africa and has also been a columnist for Nouvel Horizon Senegal.

"To me being a feminist is accepting that I will have to question everything established by society to define who I should be or what I ‘should want’ because ‘should and want’ are antithetical. Wanting is powerful when liberated from the ‘should’ or ‘should not’. Be You. Period."

Listen to her recent speech

Rama spoke on behalf of the Women's Working Group on Financing for Development, at the 2nd Plenary Meeting of the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2015.

Rama es una joven feminista, investigadora y escritora senegalesa. Tenía poco más de 20 años cuando escribió su primera novela, La dernière lettre, publicada por Présence Africaine en 2008.Un año después fue una de las 25 jóvenes africanas con visión, valentía y compromiso extraordinarios para liderar cambios en sus comunidades que recibieron la beca MILEAD, otorgada por la Moremi Initiative for Women's Leadership in Africa [Iniciativa Moremi para el Liderazgo de las Mujeres en África].

"Convertirse en quien una es, plenamente y sin pedir disculpas, es un logro difícil pero el más importante de todos. He aprendido, en forma metódica, a desaprender y reaprender, a deconstruir y reconstruir todo lo que me han enseñado acerca de cómo se deben mover las mujeres en la sociedad..."

Tras recibir la beca en Gobernanza y Desarrollo 2015 de la Ibrahim Foundation, Rama está a punto de iniciar sus estudios de doctorado en la Escuela de Estudios Orientales y Africanos (SOAS) de la Universidad de Londres. Ya tiene una Licenciatura en Desarrollo Internacional con especialización en Desarrollo Económico Africano y Género, así como una Maestría en Cooperación Internacional y Desarrollo por el Instituto de Estudios Políticos de Burdeos, Francia.

Rama es asesora de FRIDA | El Fondo de Jóvenes Feministas e integrante del equipo sobre economía política y globalización de Mujeres por el Desarrollo Alternativo para una Nueva Era (DAWN por sus siglas en inglés). En años anteriores ha trabajado como asistente de investigación en el Instituto Africano de Desarrollo Económico y Planificación de las Naciones Unidas (IDEP), brevemente en el sector sin fines de lucro en Francia y en la oficina del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) en la República de Mauricio.

"A fin de llegar a ser quien verdaderamente soy, he tenido que aprender que cuidarme y alcanzar mis sueños era más importante que las etiquetas sociales que ni siquiera me definen..."

En 2013, Rama contribuyó a un libro colectivo de la Network of Young African Researchers on Democracy and Development in Africa [Red de Jóvenes Investigadoras/es Africanas/os sobre la Democracia y el Desarrollo en África] y también ha sido columnista de Nouvel Horizon Senegal.

"Para mí, ser feminista es aceptar que tendré que cuestionar todo lo socialmente establecido para definir quién debo ser y qué ‘debo querer’, porque ‘deber’ y ‘querer’ son términos antitéticos. Cuando se libera del ‘deber’ o del ‘no deber’, el ‘querer’ se vuelve poderoso. Sé tú misma. Y punto."

Escucha su reciente discurso (en inglés)

Rama habló en representación del Grupo de Trabajo de Mujeres sobre Financiación para el Desarrollo en la segunda Sesión Plenaria de la Tercera Conferencia Internacional sobre la Financiación para el Desarrollo, celebrada en Adís Abeba, Etiopía, 2015.

The story of Koogere

The Kitara Empire once encompassed present-day parts of eastern Uganda, some areas of northern Tanzania and of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. In this Empire, it is told, a woman named Koogere reigned over the Busongara Chiefdom. It is said that she was an exceptionally wise chief, great leader and entrepreneur who, among other achievements, brought socio-economic prosperity to her communities. The Koogere oral tradition tells the story of Koogere’s leadership, carrying her legacy through generations of the community. 

“Busongora bwa Koogere mbere ikamwa niboroga, Amagita gatera amaato, amata geser’ente” (Busongora of Koogere the land of plenty of cattle and abundant dairy products).

Koogere’s Legacy Today

The Koogere Women Empowerment Programme of Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action, EZT) is built around and inspired by this oral tradition. EZT, an AWID member since early 2015, is an indigenous Ugandan organisation founded in 1999 and working with communities in western Uganda. EZT works to strengthen the capacity of these communities, using cultural practices to promote gender equality, the rights of indigenous women and community self-reliance. Their main activities aim to promote grassroots women’s mobilization and leadership; encourage women’s production and marketing in agro-business and cultural enterprises; end domestic violence and promote women’s economic rights.

EZT works through images and film.

Watch a video about the Koogere oral tradition

EZT is accredited to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and is facilitating the nomination for their oral tradition to be inscribed by UNESCO on the world list of intangible cultural heritage during the 10th session of its Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding Intangible Heritage. The session will take place from November 30^th to December 4^th 2015 in Windhoek Namibia during which indigenous women and gender activists will showcase this oral tradition.

“Engabu Za Tooro: Impassioned for social equity and inclusion”