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This page provides ideas and inspiration for how you can fund your participation at the 14th AWID International Forum. 

As you plan the activity you would like to do at the Forum, please also consider how you will fund your participation. Typical Costs include: accommodation, travel, visa, forum registration fees, etc.

It is important to note that this Forum will have many ‘open spaces’ and moments for movements to learn and exchange, but fewer formal sessions. (See “Ways to describe the Forum in your fundraising” below for language to use in your outreach.) 

Work with your current funders:

Reach out to your current donors first : Your best option is always a current funder that you have.

Make sure to do it in advance : We recommend contacting them by early 2020 at the latest. Many funders who support feminist organizations have some budget allocated for Forum travel. Others may be able to include it in renewal grants or through other travel funds.

If your group has funders, tell them that you want to attend the AWID Forum to learn, experience, exchange and network- even if your activity does not get selected for the final program. In order to be able to support your participation, your donors will need to know about it well in advance so tell them right away! (they are already deciding which funds they will distribute in 2020).

Seeking new funders:

If you do not currently have donor support or are not able to secure grants for Forum travel, consider reaching out to new donors. 

• You can see ideas of specific funders at AWID’s portal ‘Who can fund my women’s rights organizing?’
• Consider reaching out to national, regional, or global feminist and women’s funds
• Explore funder networks, such as Candid and European Foundation Centres, for lists of funders and opportunities in your region

Deadlines and requirements vary by funder, and a  grant review process can take many months. If you’re considering applying for new grants, do so as soon as possible.

Creative inspiration:

Feminist movements have long gotten creative with funding our own activism. Here are some ideas that we have gathered to inspire alternative ways of fundraising:

• Mobilize your community to support participation: fundraise with small contributions from members through community dinners, dance parties, and local shows, events and tours
• Mobilize your networks by organizing giving circles and crowdsourcing using various online tools like gofundme, indiegogo, plumfund, or kickstarter
• Cultivate local sources of income, including from individual donors and membership dues    
• Consider co-funding through strategic partnerships with other community and social justice groups.

For more inspiration, see AWID’s ongoing series on autonomous resourcing, including specific ideas for conference raising participation funds. 

Access Fund:

AWID strives to make the Forum a truly global gathering with participation from diverse movements, regions and generations. To this end, AWID mobilizes resources for a limited Access Fund (AF) to assist Forum participants with the costs of attending the Forum.

AWID’s Access Fund will provide support to a limited number of Forum participants and session/activity facilitators. You can indicate in your application if you would like to apply to the AWID Access Fund. This is not guaranteed, and we strongly encourage you to seek alternative funding for your participation and travel to the Forum.

Even if you apply for the AWID Access Fund, we encourage you to continue to explore other options to fund your participation in the Forum.  Access Fund decisions will be confirmed by the end of June 2020. Please remember that these resources are very limited, and we will be unable to support all applicants. 

Ways to describe the Forum in your fundraising: 

As you reach out to funders or your own networks, here is some sample messaging that may be helpful. Feel free to adapt it in whatever way is useful for you!

The AWID Forum is a co-created feminist movement space that energizes participants in their own activism, and strengthens connections with others across multiple rights and justice movements. Participants get to draw from wells of hope, energy and radical imagination, as well as deepen shared analysis, learning, and build cross-movement solidarity to develop more integrated agendas and advance joint strategies.

Our organization is seeking funds to attend the Forum in order to connect with other activists and movements from around the world, strengthen our strategies, and share our work. We are inspired by past participants, who have described the power of this global feminist gathering:

“Over four days … voices weaved together into a global perspective on the state of gender equality. And when I say global, I mean simultaneous translation into seven languages kind of global  ....”

“It was reminding us that we are not alone. The Forum provided a means of translating collectivity into our movements. Whether across ideologies, identities or borders, our strength is in our vision and our support of one another.”

It is important to note that this Forum will have many ‘open spaces’ and moments for movements to learn and exchange, but fewer formal sessions. While many attendees will not be presenting in formal sessions, there will be invaluable space to learn, strategize, and experience feminist movements’ collective power in action.

Budget considerations: 

When calculating your costs and how much you need to raise, it is important to factor in costs that may come up. Here’s an example of key items to consider:

• Airfare
• Forum registration fees (please note that even if you are granted Access Funds by AWID, you will have to cover your registration fee yourself)
• Visa costs
• Travel health insurance
• Local travel to and from the airport (taxis or other transportation)
• Layover costs, such as hotels and meals if your plane travel requires a long layover
• Accommodation, including giving yourself a day to recover on either end if you have traveled far
• Technology, including WiFi access or fees for international communication as needed during travel (AWID will provide WiFi during the Forum)
• Materials costs for any items (visuals, reports, artwork!) you want to bring, share, or exchange at the Forum 
• Incidentals and/or per diems to cover food and other items that come up (all lunches and coffee/tea breaks, plus one dinner will be provided by AWID during Forum days) 
• Accessibility, such as any additional support that may be important to make your travel more comfortable, safe, and secure

We look forward to seeing you at the Forum!

The Forum is a collaborative process

The AWID Forum will now take place 11-14 January 2021 in Taipei .

It is more than a four-day convening. It is one more stop on a movement strengthening journey around Feminist Realities that has already begun and will continue well beyond the Forum dates.

Join us on this journey!

by Marta Plaza Fernández, Madrid, Spain (@gacela1980)

The feminist reality that I want to share is about weaving networks in which we uphold one another. Networks which come together in different ways, which emerge from our shared vulnerability, and which make all of us stronger.

The streets of Chamberí, my neighbourhood in Madrid, became much more of a home following the gatherings in the plazas organized by the citizens movement that originated in a rally on May 15, 2011. I think about how, during those years, we met each other and were able to associate faces, voices, smiles with so many neighbours who previously were only silhouettes without names or pasts, and who we passed by without seeing or hearing each other. I think about how we’ve become involved and dedicated; how we’ve woven a palpable, tangible community; how we’ve been advancing hand in hand towards building a new more inhabitable world, which we want and that we urgently need to create.

A group of activists and utopian neighbours, (in the best sense of the word utopian) – that moves us to action to do something real – that group for me was practically the first that reacted differently when I shared a part of my history and identity with them. With these women I shared my psychiatric diagnosis, my multiple hospital stays, the number of daily pills that accompanied me, my disability certificate, my difficulty in preserving that vital link that periodically disintegrates in my hands.

These neighbours, friends, comrades, links, loves –did not only not distance themselves from me once they got to know someone who many others had labelled as problematic, manipulator, egotistical – but became my principal network of affection and mutual support. They decided to navigate with me when the sea became agitated with storms. These people have given a different meaning to my days.

Building our feminist reality also encompasses carrying the “I believe you, sister” that we use when a friend has suffered a macho attack to the violence experienced by psychiatrized women at the hands of the very psychiatric system and institutions that are supposed to help us (and instead are often the new abuser who traumatizes and hurts us all over again). And this reality must include respect for our decisions, without taking away our agency and capacity to direct our own steps to one space or another; to listen to our narratives, desires, needs…without trying to impose others that are alien to us. It means not delegitimizing our discourse, not alluding to the label of our diagnosis, nor our madness.

With these transformation, each stay in the psychiatric institute did erase the ties that we had been able to build, but instead this network stayed by my side, its members took turns so that each day there would be no lull in calls, in visits, so that I could feel them as close as one can feel another person separated by locked doors (but unfortunately open for abuse) within the confines of the psychiatric ward. Through the warmth and kindness from my people I could rebuild that vital link that had once again been broken.

The even bigger leap happened when I was already aware of the numerous violent acts and abuse (where among other assaults, I spent days strapped to a bed, relieving myself where I lay),  I decided that I would not go back to being interned.

This network of care, these women neighbours-friends-loves-comrades, they respected my refusal to return to the hospital and supported me through each crisis I’ve been through since then. Without being interned, without violence.

They took turns accompanying me when my link to life was so broken that I felt such a huge risk which I couldn’t handle on my own. They organized WhatsApp group check-ins. They coordinated care and responsibilities so that no one would feel overwhelmed - because when an individual feels overloaded, they make decisions based on fear and the need for control instead of prioritizing accompaniment and care.

That first crisis that we were able to surmount together in this way – without being admitted to the psychiatric institute, represented a dramatic change in my life. There were months when my life was at risk, of intense suffering and of so much fear for my people and for me. But we overcame it together, and all that I thought was that if we could get over that crisis, then we could also find ways to face all the difficulties and crises that may come.

These feminist realities that we’re building day by day keep expanding, growing and taking different forms. We’re learning together, we’re growing together. Distancing ourselves from a welfare mentality, one of the first lessons was that, in reality, there wouldn’t be anyone receiving care (because of a psychiatric label) or anyone helping, from the other side of the sanity/insanity line. We learnt – we’re learning – to move to a different key – that of mutual support, of providing care and being cared for, of caring for each other.

We’ve also explored the limits of self care and the strength of collectivizing care and redistributing it so it’s not a burden that paralyzes us; we learnt – and we keep learning today – about joy and enjoying care that is chosen.

Another recent learning is about how difficult it was to start integrating money as another component of mutual support that we all give and receive. It was hard for us to realize how internalized capitalism kept on reverberating in our relationship with money, and that even though no one expected any payment for the containers of lentils we cooked amongst us when eating and cooking were difficult tasks, our expectation regarding money was different. Phrases like “how much you have is how much you’re worth” become stuck inside of us without critically analyzing them. It’s easy to keep thinking that the money each one has is related to the effort made to earn it, and not due to other social conditioning distant from personal merit. In fact, within this well-established mutual support network – redistributing money based on needs without questioning – was still a remote reality for our day to day. That’s why this is something that we’ve recently started to work on and think through as a group.

We want to get closer to that anti-capitalist world where mutual support is the way that we have chosen to be in the world; and that entails deconstructing our personal and collective relationship with money and internalized capitalism.

In these feminist realities we also know that learning never stops, and that the road continues to be shaped as we travel upon it. There is still much to do to keep caring for ourselves, to keep expanding perspectives and to make ourselves more aware of the persistent power imbalances, of privileges that we hold and continue to exercise, without realizing the violence that they reproduce.

Though we’ve already travelled so far, we still have a long way to go to get closer to that new world that we hold in our hearts (and for some within our crazy little heads too). Racism, classism, adult-centrism, fat-phobia, and machismo that persists among our partners.

Among the pending lessons, we’ve needed for a long time already to build a liveable future in which feminism is really intersectional and in which we all have space, in which the realities and oppressions of other sisters are just as important as our own. We also need to move forward horizontally when we build collectively – getting rid of egos, of protagonisms, to live together and deal with the need for recognition in a different way. And to also keep making strides grounded in the awareness that the personal is always, always political.

How we relate to and link with each other cannot be relegated to the private domain, nor kept silent: other loves are possible, other connections and other families are necessary, and we are also inventing them as we go.

This new world which we want to create, and that we need to believe in – is this kind world – in which we can love, and feel pride in ourselves – and in which all worlds will fit. We’ll keep at it.

“Healing Together”

by Upasana Agarwal, Kolkata, India (@upasana_a)

Looking at activists and feminists as healers and nourishers of the world, in the midst of battling growing right wing presence, white supremacy and climate change. This piece highlights how our feminist reality puts kindness, solidarity, and empathy into action by showing up and challenging the status quo to liberate us all. 

Registration will start early 2024. We will announce the exact registration date and registration fee soon. Registration will include participation in the Forum, plus lunch and snacks (breakfast to be provided at the hotels), and one onsite dinner.

Chapter 2

While fundamentalisms, fascisms and other systems of oppression shapeshift and find new tactics and strategies to consolidate power and influence, feminist movements continue to persevere and celebrate gains nationally and The rising power of anti-rights actors is not happening in a vacuum. Understanding the rise of ultra-nationalism, unchecked corporate power, growing repression, and diminishing civic space is key to contextualize the anti-rights threats we face today.

Today, considerably more than half of the world’s population is governed by far-right leaders.  Against this backdrop, human rights defenders and feminists are working hard to “hold the line” and protect multilateralism and the international human rights system. They also face the risk that their engagement may bring with it violent reprisals. At the same time, these institutions are increasingly subject to private sector interests. Large businesses, particularly transnational corporations, are occupying seats at the negotiating table and leadership positions in a number of multilateral institutions, including the UN. This nexus of ultra-nationalism, closing civic space, and corporate capture is having a tremendous impact on whether human rights for all can ever be achieved. 

Table of Contents

• Nationalism and Ultra-nationalism
• Corporate Capture: Untamed Corporate Power is Putting Rights at Risk
• Reprisals and Closing Civic Spaces for Feminist Activists, and LGBTIQ+ and Women Human Rights Defenders
• Movement Resistance Story: CEDAW’s Article 16: A Pathway for Reformation of Discriminatory Family Laws in Muslim Contexts 
   

Read Full Chapter >

For additional questions, please use our contact form. We will keep updating this document based on the queries we receive from you!

أجرت المقابلة تشينيلو أونوالو
ترجمة فيفيان عقيقي

نايكي ليدان، مدافعة عن العدالة الاجتماعية وناشطة نسوية ملتزمة، تتمتع بـ 20 عامٍ من الخبرة في مجال الدفاع عن حقوق الإنسان والعدالة الصحية وتمكين المرأة، والنضال من أجل الوصول الشامل إلى الخدمات الأساسية والإدماج الاجتماعي، فضلاً عن بناء قدرات المجتمع المدني. قامت بعمل مكثف في كندا وغرب وجنوب إفريقيا وهايتي في مجال الدفاع عن الحقوق المدنية، وبناء القدرات لمنظمات المجتمع المدني، مع التأكيد على المحددات الاجتماعية للإقصاء الهيكلي. إنها تقدر مبادئ القيادة المشتركة والمساحات المعادية للاستعمار والقمع والأبوية.

السؤال الأوّل: تُعَدّين ناشطة في قضايا حقوق العابرين/ات جنسياً؛ أشعر بالفضول لمعرفة كيف عبّدتِ مسيرتك.

نشأتُ في هايتي حتّى بلغت سنّ الثامنة عشرة، ثمّ عشتُ في مونتريال لمدّة 19 عاماً. في العام 2016 عدتُ إلى هايتي معتقدة أنني سوف أعود إلى الوطن، لكن المكان تغيّر، وكان عليّ التكيّف مجدّداً. لم أُعِدْ ربط الصلات مع العائلة وأصدقاء الطفولة بالطريقة التي كنت أتوقّعها. عدت كمُغتربة مع ظروف عمل مريحة، وبقيت أشعر أنني غريبة لفترة طويلة جداً. لكن في الوقت نفسه، شعرت أنني في وطني بسبب اللغة، وحتى الصمت المألوف، وعدم اضطراري إلى تبرير غنائي لشارة إعلان تجارية – تعلمين... تلك الأمور التي نتشاركها، تلك الطاقة، تلك المساحة، وتلك الروح.

 ما ساعدني في ذلك هو حبّي للعمل في كافة أنحاء البلاد، وتوثيق معارف الناس. لذلك تركت مساحتى المريحة، وأصبحت مديرة قطرية لمنظّمة إقليمية كويرية. تركَّز معظم عملي على إيجاد الموارد وبناء قدرات المجتمع المدني. بنيتُ استراتيجيتي على الذهاب إلى الريف، والبحث عن كلّ المنظّمات الصغيرة، والمساعدة في بناء قدراتها وتمويلها. لم أكن مُهتمّة بالسياسيين وبمصافحتهم والتقاط الصور معهم <ضحكة>. كان لديّ حليف رائع: شارلوت جودي، الناشط الكويري الذي قُتِل قبل ثلاث سنوات في منزله. تقرّبنا كثيراً بعد حظر مهرجان أفلام أفرو كويرية في هايتي كنا نخطّط له. أحدث المهرجان ضجّة كبيرة، وأثار نقاشات عن الكويرية في كلّ مكان، لذلك قدّمني شارلوت إلى منظّمات المجتمع المدني الصغيرة، المُنتشرة في كلّ ركن من البلاد. كان عليّ أن أكون هناك لمساعدة المنظّمة (المنظّمات)، على التسجيل بشكل قانوني أو بناء خطّتها الاستراتيجية. جعلتني هذه الأعمال ناشطة كويرية، وبالتالي ناشطة في قضايا المتحوّلين/ات جنسياً. مع ذلك لا أسمّي نفسي ناشطة. إنّها كلمة ثقيلة كما تعلمين. لكنّها الصفة التي يناديك بها الناس. أعتقد أنني مجرّد عاشقة ومقاتلة <ضحكة>.

السؤال الأوّل: أخبريني عن ورشة العمل التي نظّمتها للمهرجان مع AWID. ما هو مضمونها وسياقها؟

ا تتحدّث وسائل الإعلام الدولية عن هايتي، لكن مع وجود بيئة سياسية سيّئة فإن البيئة الاقتصادية تكون أكثر كارثية. نظراً لانتمائي إلى الطبقة الوسطى في هايتي، وتحدّثي بلغات عدّة، وامتلاكي جوازات سفر مختلفة، تردّدت بدايةً في أخذ هذه المساحة. غالباً ما أرى نفسي كجسر، لا شخص يتحدّث عن نفسه. لذلك دعوت سيمي، شابّة لامعة متحوّلة جنسياً من خارج بورت أو برنس، لتأخذ المساحة وتتحدّث عن نفسها، وترشدنا إلى واقع النساء المتحوّلات في هايتي. انتهى بنا الأمر بعقد جلسة عن النسوية غير الشمولية – أو كما أسمّيها المساحات النسوية الرسمية – وكيف أن الفتيات المتحوّلات في هايتي لا يملكن مساحات للمساهمة في التعريف عن المرأة ومشاركة واقعها. من هنا، كان مهرجان AWID فرصة لي لإعطاء مساحة للنساء اللواتي يجب أن يحصلن على فرص. أمضينا وقتاً رائعاً؛ احتسينا النبيذ أثناء جلستنا عبر الإنترنت، وشاركتنا سيمي، التي ساعدتني في إدارة الجلسة، بما يعنيه أن تكوني طفلة/ فتاة/ امرأة متحوّلة في مراحل مختلفة من حياتها، وتحدّثت عن أخطار الشارع والفقر والإقصاء والفشل في ظهورها كامرأة بعد التحوّل، وأيضاً عن انتصاراتها.

السؤال الأوّل: ما علاقة النساء المتحوّلات بالمنظّمات النسوية في هايتي؟ كيف كانت تجربتك في هذا السياق؟

لقد كانت تجربة النساء المتحوّلات صعبة، وفي الواقع مفجعة. من عدم الاعتراف بوجودهن إلى التعامل معهنّ بأسلوب جنسي مُتطرّف، فضلاً عن تعرّضهن للقتل من دون حتّى الإعلان عن هذه الحالات في الإعلام. وهو ما يعبّر عن مدى عدم الاعتراف بوجودهن، وعن كيفيّة محوهن. إنهنّ موجودات في كلّ مكان، لكن ليس في أماكن العمل، ولا في البيئات النسوية، ولا في بيئات المؤسّساتية. ولا حتّى في منظّمات مجتمع الميم. في الآونة الأخيرة فقط، ونتيجة حملات المناصرة، صحّحت بعض المنظّمات نوعاً ما هذه الوضعيّة. لكن لا يزال الأمر غير وارد في المساحات النسوية. ما زلنا مضطرّات للتعامل مع الخطاب الإقصائي القديم بـ»إنهنّ لسنا نساء. بالطبع، إذا نجحن في الظهور كنساء بعد عمليّات التحوّل...». إن ثقافة الفشل أو النجاح في التحوّل ليست إلّا محادثة عن إدارة المخاطر – إلى أي درجة ينجح التحوّل، وما الذي يعنيه لجسمكِ، والعنف الذي يلحق به. في الواقع الإقصائي للمتحوّلين/ات الذي نعيش فيه، ويُعاد إنتاجه في الكثير من المساحات النسوية، قد تُعتبر فتيات، وإلى حدّ معيّن، أولئلك اللواتي ينجحن في الظهور بما يتوافق مع الجنس الذي تحوّلن إليه. لكن ماذا عن الوقوع في الحبّ، وإجراء محادثة، وإخفاء الهوية الجنسية، والرغبة في الحصول على مظهر معيّن، أو مهنة معيّنة؟ في الحقيقة، أصبح العلاج بالهرمونات حديثاً عن الحدّ من المخاطر كما عبّرت سيمي في ورشة العمل. لكن ليس لدينا خيار العلاج الهرموني، ولا الإطار الطبي أو النظام لدعم أولئك الذين يرغبون في متابعته.

السؤال الأوّل: عندما تتحدّثين عن الطريقة التي يُنظر بها إلى الأشخاص المتحوّلين/ا جنسياً والكويريين/ات في المجتمع، يبدو أنها مشابهة لنظرة المجتمع في نيجيريا، حيث يبرز رهاب المثلية بعمق.

هايتي بلد مُعقّد للغاية وبطريقة جميلة جداً. لا يوجد شيء بسيط، كما تعلمين، لا يوجد شيء يُمكن القيام به بطريقة واحدة فقط. الهايتيون متسامحون للغاية – لكنّهم وفي الوقت نفسه يعانون من رهاب المثلية. سوف تجد مناطق في الريف، لا يعاني المقيمون فيها من رهاب المثلية على الإطلاق نظراً لوجود معابد فودو فيها، وهذه ديانة تحترم الحياة. أحد المبادئ الأساسية لديانة فودو هو عدم وجود ما هو صحيح أو خطأ. لفترة طويلة، كان الناس يعتقدون أن هايتي ملاذ ومكان حيث يعيش أناس متسامحون – نحن نتحدّث عن السبعينيات والثمانينيات وقبل انتشار فيروس نقص المناعة البشريّة، وحتّى التسعينيات. من ثمّ وقع زلزال العام 2010 وقتل نحو 300 ألف شخص، وبعدها تدفّقت كلّ هذه الأموال من جنوب الولايات المتّحدة عبر الإنجيليين لإعادة بناء البلاد والعثور على يسوع. لذلك، يُعدّ رهاب المثلية حديث النشأة في هايتي. في العمق، في روحية الثقافة، لا أستطيع القول إنّ هايتي معادية للمثليين. لكن في الحياة اليومية، من المؤكّد أن هناك عنفاً يقع على المثليين، وكذلك على النساء، والنساء الفقيرات، والنساء داكنات البشرة أيضاً، خصوصاً أنّ التمييز العرقيّ بارز جداً في منطقة الكاريبي.

السؤال الأوّل: كيف تمكّنت من إدارة الأمر؟ ما كانت استراتيجيّتك 

أنا أحبّ عملي حقّاً. أحبّ العمل بشكل عام. عندما وصلت، عملت بداية مع تلك المنظّمة غير الحكومية الرهيبة لكنني قمت بعمل رائع. كنت موجودة دائماً في الريف، وأتحدّث وأتعلّم من الناس والنساء. وهو ما أسعدَ قلبي لفترة طويلة لأنني أحبّ ثقافتي بشدّة، وأحبّ الأشخاص السود، والنساء السود – النساء السود المُسنّات، والأطفال السود. يملأني الأمر بروحانية. عندما كنّا في كندا، ارتاد أطفالي مدارس البيض المرموقة. لم يتحدّثوا بلغة شعب الكريول ولا الفرنسية. أمّا الآن فإنّهم يركضون بحرّية في حديقة المنزل، ويتقاتلون بلغة الكريول. أيضاً وجدت مع الأشخاص الذين قابلتهم محاور للبقاء. خلقت روابط مع الكويريين/ات وغيرهم من غريبي الأطوار مثلي. كان الأمر رائعاً حقاً. لكنّي أعاني الآن. لم أعد أشعر بالأمان في هايتي. أسبوعياً تُسجّل نحو 40 عملية خطف في بورت أو برنس – وهو وضع مستمرّ منذ العام 2018. أصبت بنوبات من القلق والذعر. لقد حان وقت الذهاب، فيما أسأل نفسي: «أين هو الوطن؟». قضيت 19 عاماً في مونتريال لكنّني لم أشعر مطلقاً بأنني في وطني. عندما غادرت، لم أفتقدها أبداً، لذلك لا أريد العودة إليها. أيضاً بكيت كثيراً مؤخّراً كوني أشعر بأنني دخلت إلى منفى ثاني.

السؤال الأوّل:  كيف هي علاقتك مع المتعة والترفيه والراحة؟

علاقتي مع المتعة والترفيه والراحة مماثلة وواحدة. إنها لحظة أعيشها عندما أدلّل نفسي بحرارة الشمس على وجهي على سبيل المثال. هي المتعة والترفيه والراحة في الوقت نفسه.

المتعة: مساحتى المُفضّلة، ملاذ للاحتفال بنفسي، حيث أحفظ لنفسي القوّة والحقّ في أن أكون هادئة أو صاخبة خلال لحظات المتعة التي أختبرها. أنغمس بكلّ لحظة متعة، بما في ذلك، متعة الوحدة والصمت.

الترفيه: ركوب الدرّاجة، والمهرجانات الموسيقية، والأكل، وتذوّق النبيذ، المشاركة في رقصات الفودو الهايتية التقليدية. كلّها من ضمن الأنشطة العديدة التي أشارك فيها حالياً.

الراحة: هو ما أعيش من أجله. بما أنني شخص متفوّق وأحبّ العمل، فمن المفارقة أن أكون كسولة أيضاً. لا أحد يعلم بالأمر، لأن ما يرونه هو أنني أعمل بجدّ وبأكثر من طاقتي. إنهم لا يعرفون كيف يمكنني الانغماس في الكسل بشكل عميق وبلا تردّد.

By Michel’le Donnelly 

The Crear | Resister | Transform Feminist Festival in September was such a breath of fresh air in these uncertain, turbulent and painful times.

The space created by this festival has been so necessary. Necessary for the souls of those who are seeking comfort during these bleakest of times. Necessary for those craving community in what feels like an increasingly isolating world and above all, necessary for those fighting against the very systems that have brought many of us to our knees, especially over the past two years.

“Crisis is not new to feminist and social movements, we have a long history of surviving in the face of oppression and building our communities and our own realities.”

Advocating for alternative visions and alternative realities to the one we are currently living in is a fundamental building block of the feminist agenda. So many amazing people are doing the work of exploring different ways for us to exist in this world. These alternatives are people-centred. They are equitable and just. These worlds are filled with love, tenderness and care. The visions outlined are almost too beautiful to imagine, yet we must force ourselves to imagine because this is the only way we can continue.

Over the past 10 months, I have been incredibly fortunate to be working with a feminist collective that is not just imagining an alternative reality but actively living it. We are inspired by the work of so many other feminist movements across the globe who have not let the white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy deter their visions. This collective has held me together when all I wanted to do was fall apart. Much like the story shared by Maria Bonita on Day 4 of the festival, the liberation I have found in feminist movements is far too great to only be experienced by me. This is something we need to share, that we need to shout from the rooftops as we invite others to join.

Day 4 of the festival brought with it a captivating conversation between Felogene Anumo, Dr Dilar Dirik, Nana Akosua Hanson and Vandana Shiva who encouraged festival attendees to believe that not only is an alternative future possible - but that it is indeed urgent. Feminists have been talking about alternative worlds for so many years and hearing about these from the panellists was not just eye-opening but also comforting. Comforting in the sense that it made me feel safe to know that there are indeed strong, global feminist networks working across international and national borders, seeking to decolonise the established frameworks of our current realities.

What does an alternative reality look like?

During the session, Dr Dirik highlighted the fact that belief, sacrifice and patience are most needed to abolish the oppressive systems we currently live in. Collaboration, partnership, creativity, solidarity and autonomy. These are key pillars to building a global feminist society and they should be embraced by all feminist movements around the world. 

Practical examples of these realities can be found across the globe, including the Soulaliyate Women's Land-Use Rights Movement. Referring to the tribal women in Morocco who live on collective land, the Soulalyate Women’s Movement is the first grassroots nationwide mobilisation for land rights in Morocco. Whilst initially the movement was quite small, it grew into a nationwide agenda that challenged the gendered nature of laws regulating land in the country. In 2019, the group contributed to overhauling the national framework legislation on the management of community property through the adoption of three sets of laws guaranteeing the equality of women and men. 

Another practical example is Zuleymi Trans House in Peru. Operating since 2016, the house is a refuge for migrant trans women, girls and teens who the state has left behind. It has provided safe shelter for 76 migrant trans women from Venezuela, along with 232 from jungle areas, Indigenous communities and the north coast of Peru.

Knowing about these feminist movements who are doing the work to make alternative futures a reality is incredibly inspiring and just what is needed, especially as I struggle to grapple with the neverending stream of bad news that seems to flow uninterrupted.

“Capitalist patriarchy is like a cancer. It doesn’t know when to stop growing” - Dr Vandana Shiva

AWID has always been a movement inspired by the feminist realities that we can live in. Through their festivals, as well as feminist realities magazine and toolkit, we have been shown a different way of doing things. We can imagine a world where care is prioritised, where feminist economies and gender justice are the norm. Creating alternative futures is how we fight back, it’s how we resist the violence that is perpetrated against our bodies every day.

The Crear | Resister | Transform Festival has allowed me to feel so connected to a global community, many of whom I will never meet. Knowing that we are all working towards and claiming another world has lit a fire in my soul and I cannot wait to see what the next festival will have in store.

If you missed it, make sure to watch the: "She is on her way: Alternatives, feminisms and another world" session from Day 4 of the festival below. And remember, as Dr Shiva said so eloquently: “Women’s energies will continue life on earth. We will not be defeated.”

ใหม่

จุดศูนย์กลาง: การเดินทางข้ามพรมแดน

ผู้เข้าร่วมประชุมจะได้เข้าร่วมตามสถานที่ต่างๆนอกเพื้นที่ในการจัดงานที่กรุงเทพฯ  และตามส่วนต่างๆของ โลกในแต่ละวันของการประชุม สถานที่ประชุมที่ผู้เข้าร่วมจัดการเองทั้งหมดนั้นจะเชื่อมต่อกับสถานที่จัดงาน
จริงในกรุงเทพฯเช่นเดียวกับบุคคลที่เชื่อมต่อทางออนไลน์        ผู้เข้าร่วมในจุดศูนย์กลาง Hub นี้จะสามารถ ดำเนินรายการในหัวข้อกิจกรรมต่างๆ เข้าร่วมอภิปราย แลกเปลี่ยน และเพลิดเพลินไปกับโปรแกรม ที่หลากหลาย

ที่ตั้งจุดศูนย์กลาง Hub จะประกาศในปี 2567

It’s time for the next AWID Forum in 2024!

When thousands of feminists come together, we create a sweeping force of solidarity that has the power to change the world. The AWID Forum will be a moment for us to rest and heal together, connect across borders, and discover brave new strategic directions.

The date and location will be announced next year, as soon as we can. We’re excited and we know you’re excited too. Stay tuned!

Make sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our mailing list to stay informed!

Effective as of 25 Apr 2023. 

Please click here to view the previous version of our Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy describes how the Association for Women’s Rights in Development and our subsidiaries and affiliates (“AWID,” “we,” “us” or “our”) handles personal information that we collect through our website that links to this Privacy Policy (the “Site”), as well as through social media, our marketing activities, our live events and other activities described in this Privacy Policy (“Service”).  

You can download a printable copy of this Privacy Policy here. 

Index

Personal information we collect

How we use your personal information

How we share your personal information

Your choices

Other sites and services 

Security

International data transfers

Children

Changes to this Privacy Policy

How to contact us

Notice to European users

Personal information we collect

Information you provide to us.  Personal information you may provide to us through the Service or otherwise includes:

• Contact data, such as your first and last name, salutation, email address, billing and mailing addresses, professional title and company name, and phone number.
• Demographic data, such as your city, state, country of residence, postal code, date of birth, gender, pronouns, preferred language of communication, and information about how you identify (race/ethnicity, disabilities, migrant, sex worker, etc.).
• Communications data, based on our exchanges with you, including when you contact us through the Service, social media, or otherwise. 
• Marketing data, such as your preferences for receiving our marketing communications and details about your engagement with them.
• User-generated content data, such as profile pictures, photos, images, music, videos, comments, questions, messages, works of authorship, and other content or information that you generate, transmit, or otherwise make available on the Service, as well as associated metadata.  Metadata includes information on how, when, where and by whom a piece of content was collected and how that content has been formatted or edited.  Metadata also includes information that users can add or can have added to their content, such as keywords, geographical or location information, and other similar data. 
• Payment data needed to complete transactions, including payment card information or bank account number.
• Other data not specifically listed here, which we will use as described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise disclosed at the time of collection.

Automatic data collection.  We, our service providers, and our business partners may automatically log information about you, your computer or mobile device, and your interaction over time with the Service, our communications and other online services, such as:

• Device data, such as your computer or mobile device’s operating system type and version, manufacturer and model, browser type, screen resolution, RAM and disk size, CPU usage, device type (e.g., phone, tablet), IP address, unique identifiers, language settings, mobile device carrier, radio/network information (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE, 3G), and general location information such as city, state or geographic area.
• Online activity data, such as pages or screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, the website you visited before browsing to the Service, navigation paths between pages or screens, information about your activity on a page or screen, access times and duration of access, and whether you have opened our emails or clicked links within them.

Cookies and similar technologies. Some of the automatic collection described above is facilitated by cookies, which are small text files that websites store on user devices and that allow web servers to record users’ web browsing activities and remember their submissions, preferences, and login status as they navigate a site. Cookies used on our sites include both “session cookies” that are deleted when a session ends, “persistent cookies” that remain longer, “first party” cookies that we place and “third party” cookies that our third-party business partners and service providers place. 

How we use your personal information

We may use your personal information for the following purposes or as otherwise described at the time of collection:

Service delivery and business operations.  We may use your personal information to:

• provide, operate and improve the Service;
• communicate with you about the Service, including by sending announcements, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
• communicate with you about events or contests in which you participate;
• understand your needs and interests, and personalize your experience with the Service and our communications; and
• provide support for the Service, and respond to your requests, questions and feedback.

Research and development.  We may use your personal information for research and development purposes, including to analyze and improve the Service. As part of these activities, we may create aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data from personal information we collect.  We make personal information into de-identified or anonymized data by removing information that makes the data personally identifiable to you.  We may use this aggregated, de-identified or otherwise anonymized data and share it with third parties for our lawful business purposes, including to analyze and improve the Service and promote our business.

Marketing.  We and our service providers may collect and use your personal information to send you direct marketing communications.  You may opt-out of our marketing communications as described in the Opt-out of marketing section below. 

Compliance and protection.  We may use your personal information to:

• comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal process, such as to respond to subpoenas or requests from government authorities;
• protect our, your or others’ rights, privacy, safety or property (including by making and defending legal claims); 
• audit our internal processes for compliance with legal and contractual requirements or our internal policies; 
• enforce the terms and conditions that govern the Service; and 
• prevent, identify, investigate and deter fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity, including cyberattacks and identity theft.  

With your consent.  In some cases, we may specifically ask for your consent to collect, use or share your personal information, such as when required by law.  

Cookies and similar technologies. In addition to the other uses included in this section, we may use the Cookies and similar technologies described above for the following purposes:

• Technical operation. To allow the technical operation of the Service, such as by remembering your selections and preferences as you navigate the site.
• Functionality. To enhance the performance and functionality of our services.
• Analytics. To help us understand user activity on the Service, including which pages are most and least visited and how visitors move around the Service, as well as user interactions with our emails. For example, we use Google Analytics for this purpose. You can learn more about Google Analytics and how to prevent the use of Google Analytics relating to your use of our sites here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. 

Retention. We generally retain personal information to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, to establish or defend legal claims, or for fraud prevention purposes.  To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we may consider factors such as the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.   

When we no longer require the personal information we have collected about you, we may either delete it, anonymize it, or isolate it from further processing.  

How we share your personal information

We may share your personal information with the following parties and as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy or at the time of collection.  

Affiliates.  Our corporate parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates, for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Service providers.  Third parties that provide services on our behalf or help us operate the Service or our business (such as hosting, information technology, customer support, email delivery, marketing, consumer research and website analytics). 

Payment processors. Any payment card information you use to make a purchase on the Service is collected and processed directly by our payment processors, such as Stripe.  Stripe may use your payment data in accordance with its privacy policy, https://stripe.com/en-gb/privacy. You may also sign up to be billed by your mobile communications provider, who may use your payment data in accordance with their privacy policies.

Third parties designated by you. We may share your personal data with third parties where you have instructed us or provided your consent to do so. We will share personal information that is needed for these other companies to provide the services that you have requested. Moreover, you may choose to translate user-generated content using Google Translate. Google may use your user-generated content in accordance with its privacy policy, https://policies.google.com.Professional advisors.  Professional advisors, such as lawyers, auditors, bankers and insurers, where necessary in the course of the professional services that they render to us.

Authorities and others. Law enforcement, government authorities, and private parties, as we believe in good faith to be necessary or appropriate for the compliance and protection purposes described above. 

Other users.  Your profile and other user-generated content data (except for messages)     may be visible to other users of the Service. For example, other users of the Service may have access to your information if you chose to make your profile or other personal information available to them through the Service, such as when you provide comments, reviews, survey responses, or share other content.   This information can be seen, collected and used by others, including being cached, copied, screen captured or stored elsewhere by others (e.g., search engines), and we are not responsible for any such use of this information.

Your choices 

In this section, we describe the rights and choices available to all users. Users who are located in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the European Economic Area can find additional information about their rights below.

Opt-out of marketing communications.  You may opt-out of marketing-related emails by following the opt-out or unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email, or by contacting us.  Please note that if you choose to opt-out of marketing-related emails, you may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing emails.  

Declining to provide information. We need to collect personal information to provide certain services.  If you do not provide the information we identify as required or mandatory, we may not be able to provide those services.

Delete your content or end your membership. You can choose to delete certain content you have provided to us.  If you wish to request to end your membership, please contact us.

Other sites and services

The Service may contain links to websites, mobile applications, and other online services operated by third parties.  In addition, our content may be integrated into web pages or other online services that are not associated with us.  These links and integrations are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party.  We do not control websites, mobile applications or online services operated by third parties, and we are not responsible for their actions. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other websites, mobile applications and online services you use.

Security 

We employ a number of technical, organizational and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect.  However, security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information. 

International data transfer

We are headquartered in the United States and may use service providers that operate in other countries. Your personal information may be transferred to the United States or other locations where privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your state, province, or country.  

Users in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the European Economic Area should read the important information provided below about transfer of personal information outside of the European Union. 

Children  

The Service is not intended for use by anyone under 18 years of age. If you are a parent or guardian of a child from whom you believe we have collected personal information in a manner prohibited by law, please contact us.  If we learn that we have collected personal information through the Service from a child without the consent of the child’s parent or guardian as required by law, we will comply with applicable legal requirements to delete the information.

Changes to this Privacy Policy 

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the date of this Privacy Policy and posting it on the Service or other appropriate means.  Any modifications to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon our posting the modified version (or as otherwise indicated at the time of posting). In all cases, your use of the Service after the effective date of any modified Privacy Policy indicates your acknowledgment that the modified Privacy Policy applies to your interactions with the Service and our business.

How to contact us

• Email: Contact Us 
• Mail: 192 Spadina Ave, Suite 300, Toronto, ON L1T 0G7
• Phone: 416 594 3773

Notice to European Users

Where this Notice to European users applies. The information provided in this “Notice to European users” section applies only to individuals located in the EEA or the UK (EEA and UK jurisdictions are together referred to as “Europe”).

Personal information. References to “personal information” in this Privacy Policy should be understood to include a reference to “personal data” (as defined in the GDPR) – i.e., information about individuals from which they are either directly identified or can be identified. It does not include “anonymous data” (i.e., information where the identity of individual has been permanently removed). The personal information that we collect from you is identified and described in greater detail in the section “Personal information we collect”.

Controller. AWID is the controller in respect of the processing of your personal information covered by this Privacy Policy for purposes of European data protection legislation (i.e., the EU GDPR and the so-called ‘UK GDPR’ (as and where applicable, the “GDPR”)). See the How to contact us section above for our contact details. 

Our legal bases for processing. In respect of each of the purposes for which we use your personal information, the GDPR requires us to ensure that we have a “legal basis” for that use. 

Our legal bases for processing your personal information described in this Privacy Policy are listed below.

• Where we need to process your personal information to deliver our Services to you (including our Site) (“Contractual Necessity”).
• Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests (“Legitimate Interests”). More detail about the specific legitimate interests pursued in respect of each Purpose we use your personal information for is set out in the table below.
• Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation (“Compliance with Law”).
• Where we have your specific consent to carry out the processing for the Purpose in question (“Consent”).  

We have set out below, in a table format, the legal bases we rely on in respect of the relevant Purposes for which we use your personal information – for more information on these Purposes and the data types involved, see How we use your personal information above.

Retention. We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, to establish or defend legal claims, or for compliance and protection purposes, unless specifically authorized to be retained longer.  

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. 

When we no longer require the personal information, we have collected about you, we will either delete or anonymize it or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible. If we anonymize your personal information (so that it can no longer be associated with you), we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

Other information

No obligation to provide personal information. You do not have to provide personal information to us. However, where we need to process your personal information either to comply with applicable law or to deliver our Services to you, and you fail to provide that personal information when requested, we may not be able to provide some or all of our Services to you. We will notify you if this is the case at the time.

No Automated Decision-Making and Profiling. As part of the Services, we do not engage in automated decision-making and/or profiling, which produces legal or similarly significant effects. We will let you know if that changes by updating this Privacy Policy.

Security. We have put in place procedures designed to deal with breaches of personal information. In the event of such breaches, we have procedures in place to work with applicable regulators. In addition, in certain circumstances (including where we are legally required to do so), we may notify you of breaches affecting your personal information.

Your rights

General. European data protection laws give you certain rights regarding your personal information. If you are located in Europe, you may ask us to take any of the following actions in relation to your personal information that we hold:

• Access. Provide you with information about our processing of your personal information and give you access to your personal information.

• Correct. Update or correct inaccuracies in your personal information.
• Delete. Delete your personal information where there is no lawful reason for us continuing to store or process it, where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal information to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons that will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request. 
• Portability. Port a machine-readable copy of your personal information to you or a third party of your choice, in certain circumstances. Note that this right only applies to automated information for which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
• Restrict. Restrict the processing of your personal information, if, (i) you want us to establish the personal information's accuracy; (ii) where our use of the personal information is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (iii) where you need us to hold the personal information even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (iv) you have objected to our use of your personal information but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use.
• Object. Object to our processing of your personal information where we are relying on legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation that makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedom – you also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
• Withdraw Consent. When we use your personal information based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent.  

Exercising These Rights. You may submit these requests by email. See the How to contact us section above for our contact details. We may request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and process your request. Whether or not we are required to fulfill any request you make will depend on a number of factors (e.g., why and how we are processing your personal information), if we reject any request you may make (whether in whole or in part) we will let you know our grounds for doing so at the time, subject to any legal restrictions.  Typically, you will not have to pay a fee to exercise your rights; however, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. We try to respond to all legitimate requests within a month. It may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or if you have made a number of requests; in this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

Your Right to Lodge a Complaint with your Supervisory Authority. In addition to your rights outlined above, if you are not satisfied with our response to a request you make, or how we process your personal information, you can make a complaint to the data protection regulator in your habitual place of residence. 

• For users in the European Economic Area – the contact information for the data protection regulator in your place of residence can be found here: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en.
• For users in the UK – the contact information for the UK data protection regulator is below:

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Water Lane, Wycliffe House

Wilmslow - Cheshire SK9 5AF

Tel. +44 303 123 1113

Website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Data Processing outside Europe; we are a US-based company and many of our service providers, advisers, partners or other recipients of data are also based in the US. This means that, if you use the Services, your personal information will necessarily be accessed and processed in the US. It may also be provided to recipients in other countries outside Europe.  

It is important to note that that the US is not the subject of an ‘adequacy decision’ under the GDPR – basically, this means that the US legal regime is not considered by relevant European bodies to provide an adequate level of protection for personal information, which is equivalent to that provided by relevant European laws. 

Where we share your personal information with third parties who are based outside Europe, we try to ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it in accordance with applicable privacy laws by making sure one of the following mechanisms is implemented: 

• Transfers to territories with an adequacy decision. We may transfer your personal information to countries or territories whose laws have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal information by the European Commission or UK Government (as and where applicable) (from time to time).

• Transfers to territories without an adequacy decision. 
  • We may transfer your personal information to countries or territories whose laws have not been deemed to provide such an adequate level of protection (e.g., the US, see above).  
  • However, in these cases:
    • we may use specific appropriate safeguards, which are designed to give personal information effectively the same protection it has in Europe – for example, standard-form contracts approved by relevant authorities for this purpose; or 
    • in limited circumstances, we may rely on an exception, or ‘derogation’, which permits us to transfer your personal information to such country despite the absence of an ‘adequacy decision’ or ‘appropriate safeguards’ – for example, reliance on your explicit consent to that transfer. 

You may contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal information out of Europe.

Yes please. The world has changed since 2021 and we invite you to submit an activity that reflects your current realities and priorities.