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AWID is an international, feminist, membership organisation committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights

AWID Forum: Co-creating Feminist Futures

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In September 2016, the 13th AWID international Forum brought together in Brazil over 1800 feminists and women’s rights advocates in a spirit of resistance and resilience.

This section highlights the gains, learnings and resources that came out of our rich conversations. We invite you to explore, share and comment!

What has happened since 2016?

One of the key takeaways from the 2016 Forum was the need to broaden and deepen our cross-movement work to address rising fascisms, fundamentalisms, corporate greed and climate change.

With this in mind, we have been working with multiple allies to grow these seeds of resistance:

And through our next strategic plan and Forum process, we are committed to keep developing ideas and deepen the learnings ignited at the 2016 Forum.

What happens now?

The world is a much different place than it was a year ago, and it will continue to change.

The next AWID Forum will take place in the Asia Pacific region (exact location and dates to be announced in 2018).

We look forward to you joining us!

About the AWID Forum

AWID Forums started in 1983, in Washington DC. Since then, the event has grown to become many things to many peoples: an iterative process of sharpening our analyses, vision and actions; a watershed moment that reinvigorates participants’ feminisms and energizes their organizing; and a political home for women human rights defenders to find sanctuary and solidarity.

Learn more about previous Forums

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2018: Supporting feminist movements to thrive and disrupt

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This report looks back and celebrates the first year of AWID’s new strategic plan as we took our first steps towards our desired outcomes of supporting feminist movements to thrive, challenging anti-rights agendas and co-creating feminist realities.

Download the full report

We worked with feminists to disrupt anti-rights agendas, achieving important victories fought and won within the United Nations system when ground-breaking language on structural discrimination, sexual rights, and states’ obligations were included in a number of resolutions. Yes, the multilateral system is in crisis and in need of serious strengthening but these victories are important as they contribute to the legitimacy of feminist demands, providing feminist movements with more pressure points and momentum to advance our agendas.

We tried and tested different ways to build knowledge with feminist movements through webinars, podcasts and ‘live’ conversations. We developed facilitation guides with popular educators to reclaim knowledge in the interest of social and gender justice, even about a topic as seemingly opaque as illicit funding flows. We commissioned blogs and opinions about how feminist groups fund and resource themselves and threw light on the threats facing our human rights systems.

Within AWID, we practiced and learned from our shared leadership approach, and told the story of the trials and tribulations of co-leading a global, virtual organization. We don’t have a definitive answer to what feminist leadership looks like, but we know, a year on, that a continued commitment to collective experimentation and learning has enabled us to keep building an organization that we are all excited to contribute to.

As we look back on this year, we want to thank all our friends and supporters, colleagues and companions, who have given their time and shared their wealth of knowledge and wisdom with us. We want to thank our members who helped frame our strategic plan and joined us to make feminist demands. We could not do this work without you.

Download the full report

Sylvia Robinson

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Category
Derechos económicos, sociales y culturales
Region
Norte América
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Enfermedad

"La vida se trata ... de vivir en alegría – despertarse con objetivos, sentir tu propia energía creativa, responder a tu llamada." - Sylvia Robinson

Sylvia Robinson, una incansable organizadora y líder comunitaria, fue la fundadora y directora ejecutiva de Emergence Community Arts Collective [Colectivo de Artes Comunitarias de Emergencia] (ECAC, por sus siglas en inglés ), en Washington DC.

Este centro y espacio de performance combina la educación, el compromiso cívico, las artes, los servicios sociales y espirituales y las prácticas ambientales sostenibles. Sylvia lo concibió como un hogar donde " hubiera equilibrio y sinergia con las actividades que la gente necesitaba para sostener la vida".

También fue una de lxs co-fundadorxs del Georgia Avenue Community Development Taskforce [Grupo de Trabajo de Desarrollo Comunitario de la Avenida Georgia], un grupo vecinal que trabaja por la justicia social y la organización de la comunidad en el noroeste de DC, para asegurarse de que esta tenga una voz en la reurbanización y gentrificación del área.

"Estamos pidiendo viviendas asequibles. Estamos pidiendo que los pequeños negocios que han estado aquí desde siempre no sean aniquilados por nuevos comercios. Estamos pidiendo espacios verdes y espacios para que la gente se pueda reunir y socializar. Estamos pidiendo mejoras en el paisaje urbano – mejores calles y mejor iluminación en los tramos de carretera." - Sylvia Robinson sobre el Grupo de Trabajo

Antes de convertirse en organizadora y después de recibir un título en informática, Sylvia trabajó en sistemas de control de tráfico aéreo por más de una década. Después se dedicó al asesoramiento en materia de drogas y alcohol, a través de lo cual se involucró cada vez más en el trabajo comunitario.

"Involucrarme con la comunidad era mi vocación".  - Sylvia Robinson

Sylvia nació en Washington D.C. el 14 de agosto de 1961, y falleció el 18 de septiembre de 2017, después de una batalla contra el cáncer.

"El espíritu y el legado de Sylvia seguirán inspirando a esta comunidad durante muchos años." - ECAC

Pleasure Garden Exhibition

The artwork is a photography and illustration collaboration between Siphumeze and Katia during lockdown. The work looks at black queer sex and plesure narratives, bondage, safe sex, toys, mental health and sex and many more. It was created to accompany the Anthology Touch.

Mental Health
Mental Health
Sex and Spirtuality
Sex and Spirtuality
Orgasm
Orgasm

About the Artists:

Siphumeze Khundayi portrait
Siphumeze Khundayi is an art-maker, photographer and facilitator interested in creative ways of bringing together dialogue and artistic practice in relation to African Queer identity.

She is creative director of HOLAAfrica! a pan-Africanist womanist online collective.

Her solo and collaborative performance work has been featured in a number of festivals and theatre spaces such as Ricca Ricca Festival in Japan

She directed two Naledi nominated productions in 2017 and 2018. She directed a show that won a Standard Bank Ovation award in 2020.

As a photographer she was part of a group exhibition titled Flowers of my Soul in Italy organised by the Misfit Project. Produced three publications for HOLAAfrica and was published in and provided the cover for volume two: As You Like of the Gerald Kraak Anthologies.
katia portrait
Katia Herrera is a 21-year-old  Digital visual artist from the noisy city of  Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Despite Herrera being a self-proclaimed introvert, her artwork is remarkably loud in a world trying to quiet black voices. With titles like Black Woman, You Own the Moon, Earth Goddess, Forever,  and Universe Protector, Herrera’s legacy will be marked by her passion for highlighting the endurance and perseverance of black folks of old and present to contrast the narrative that black skin should only be associated with slavery.

One of her most lovely and vivaciously titled works, Universe Protector, portrays the black soul as a divine entity full of strength, power, and greatness. In her youth, her love of graphic design was stimulated by her parents’ artistry and the Photoshop they had downloaded on their computer for their professional photography.

Membership why page - Loyiso Lindani

I believe empowered women empower women and that is why I’ve had an incredible time being an AWID member. My knowledge and understanding of Feminism and intersectionality has been broadened by the exposure I received being part of the AWID Community Street Team. I hope more women join and share topics and ideas that will help other women.

- Loyiso Lindani, South Africa.

Snippet FEA Principles of work Education and Learning (ES)

Una pila de libros con una tapa rosa y un birrete negro en la parte superior.

EDUCACIÓN Y APRENDIZAJE CONSTANTE

FRMag - Editors Note (ES)

Nota de la editora

Las Realidades Feministas son una invitación cálida y afectuosa, una suerte de acto de cuidado y preservación colectivo (en oposición al autocuidado), una invitación a atesorar, a hacer inventario de toda la labor realizada para que no desaparezca. (...)

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2022: Transitions, Inspiration & Collective Power

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Our strategic plan “Feminist Realities” completed its final year at the end of 2022. For the past five years, this bold framework pushed us to go beyond feminist futures and to recognize the feminist solutions and ways of life that already exist in the here and now. Realities that must be uplifted, celebrated, and popularized. The Feminist Economies We Love multimedia story project and Our:Resource knowledge hub on autonomous ways to resource feminist activism are just two examples of this visionary work, always deeply collective with diverse feminist movements.

Download the full 2022 Annual review

Cover for AWID's 2022 Annual Report. The cover is light blue and shows a group of people joining hands. Over the text "Transitions, Inspiration and Collective Power" there is a semi circle formed by little moons, representing the transtions.

2022 was a year of transitions in AWID.

With this reflection on the year, we invite you to celebrate with us beautiful closures and promising beginnings. Change and transitions are an inseparable part of life and movements, which we seek to embrace with intention and care.

Download the full 2022 Annual review

Maritza Quiroz Leiva

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Category
Droits civils et politiques
Region
Amérique latine
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Assassinat

Maritza Quiroz Leiva était une activiste sociale, leader communautaire et défenseure des droits des femmes afro-colombienne. Comptant parmi les 7,7 millions de Colombien·ne·s déplacé·e·s internes par 50 années de conflit armé, Maritza a dédié son travail de plaidoyer au soutien des droits des autres, particulièrement au sein de la communauté afro-colombienne ayant souffert deviolations et déplacements similaires.

Maritza était responsable adjointe du Conseil de victimes  Santa Marta et une voix importante pour celles et ceux qui défendaient la justice dans leur communauté, réclamant réparation pour la torture, les enlèvements, les déplacements et les violences sexuelles subis par les victimes tout au long du conflit armé. Elle aégalement été active au sein du mouvement pour la redistribution des terres et la justice foncière en Colombie. 

Le 5 janvier 2019, Maritza a été tuée par deux personnes armées qui se sont introduites à son domicile. Elle avait 60 ans. 

Maritza s’ajoute ainsi aux cinq autres activistes et leaders colombien·ne·s assassiné·e·s au cours de la seule première semaine de 2019. Un total de 107 défenseur·e·s des droits humains ont été tué·e·s cette année-là dans le pays. 
 

Colectivo Morivivi

El Colectivo Moriviví es una colectiva de solo mujeres. Nuestra producción artística consiste en muralismo, muralismo comunitario y acciones/performances de protesta. Nuestro trabajo tiene como objetivo democratizar el arte y llevar a la esfera pública las narrativas de las comunidades de Puerto Rico, para generar espacios en donde sean validadas. Creemos que, a través del artivismo, podemos promover conciencia sobre temas sociales y fortalecer nuestra memoria colectiva.

“Cacibajagua” 2017, Mural Project. Jiangxi, China
“Cacibajagua” 2017, proyecto de mural, Jiangxi, China
“Cacibajagua” 2017, Mural Project. Jiangxi, China
“Cacibajagua” 2017, proyecto de mural, Jiangxi, China
“Paz para la Mujer” 2015, collaboration with Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer Organization. Santurce,
“Paz para la Mujer” 2015, colaboración con la organización Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer, Santurce, Puerto Rico

 

“Paz para la Mujer” 2015, collaboration with Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer Organization. Santurce, Puerto Rico
“Paz para la Mujer” 2015, colaboración con la organización Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer, Santurce, Puerto Rico
Collectivo Moriri Artwork

En el marco de su participación en el Grupo de Trabajo Artístico de AWID, el Colectivo Moriviví convocó a un grupo diverso de afiliadxs, asociadxs y personal de AWID y facilitó un proceso colaborativo de imaginación, configuración y decisión sobre el contenido para la creación de un mural comunitario, a través de un proceso de creación conjunta en múltiples etapas. El proyecto comenzó con una conceptualización remota con feministas de diferentes zonas del planeta reunidxs por AWID, y luego evolucionó hacia su recontextualización y realización en Puerto Rico. Nos honra haber contado con la contribución de las artistas locales Las Nietas de Nonó (@lasnietasdenono), la participación de mujeres locales en la Sesión de Pintura Comunitaria, el apoyo logístico de la Municipalidad de Caguas, y el apoyo adicional al colectivo, brindado por FRIDA Young Feminist Fund.
 
El mural explora la trascendencia de las fronteras, al presentar cuerpos como un mapa en un abrazo que realza la intersección de las distintas manifestaciones, prácticas y realidades feministas.
 
Agradecemos también a Kelvin Rodríguez, quien documentó y captó las diferentes etapas de este proyecto en Puerto Rico:

Collectivo Moriri Artwork
Collectivo Moriri Artwork
Collectivo Moriri Artwork
Collectivo Moriri Artwork
Collectivo Moriri Artwork
Collectivo Moriri Artwork
Collectivo Moriri Artwork
Collectivo Moriri Artwork
Collectivo Moriri Artwork

Sobre el Colectivo Moriviví

Colectivo Morivivi portrait

Moriviví es un colectivo de jóvenes artistas mujeres que trabajan en arte público desde abril de 2013. Con sede en Puerto Rico, hemos obtenido reconocimiento por la creación de murales y de arte comunitario.
 
El grupo se inició en festivales locales de arte urbano. A medida que nuestro trabajo se fue haciendo más conocido, algunas organizaciones y líderes comunitarias comenzaron a contactarnos. Al principio éramos solo ocho estudiantes de secundaria que querían pintar juntas un mural. Y en estos ocho años de duro trabajo hemos enfrentado muchos desafíos. Ahora estamos en un período de transición. Queremos reestructurar internamente el colectivo durante el próximo año. Nuestro objetivo es abrir nuevas oportunidades de colaboración y respaldar nuestro proceso de toma de decisiones con un nuevo sistema de evaluación. Aspiramos, en el largo plazo, a convertirnos en una escuela alternativa para la práctica artística, destinada a  aquellas personas interesadas en sumergirse en la producción de arte comunitario.

Snippet - Intro CSW69_FR

#BloquerLesFascismes

#FreezeFascisms

Depuis l’adoption de la Déclaration et du programme d’action de Beijing il y a 30 ans, les groupes fascistes exercent un pouvoir et une influence croissantes dans les espaces multilatéraux, faisant reculer les acquis en matière d’égalité de genre et de protection des droits humains dans le monde.

À l’approche de la CSW69, nous co-organisons de courageuses initiatives horizontales, sur le terrain et en ligne, pour échanger des stratégies et bâtir un pouvoir féministe au-delà de Beijing+30. Notre présence collective perturbe les mécanismes d’exclusion des institutions dans ces espaces tout en soutenant les mouvements qui s’organisent autour d’alternatives féministes aux systèmes d’oppression.

Participez aux conversations du 10 au 21 mars 2025 pour, collectivement, faire de la CSW69 un espace de résistance et de solidarité.

Snippet FEA Story 1 Maps Economies of Care (FR)

Fond bordeaux avec les cartes du Brésil en blanc, de l'Espagne en jaune moutarde, et de la Colombie en rose

FRMag - My queer Ramadan

Mon Ramadan queer

par Amal Amer

Je prie en famille pour la première fois en six ans, recouvert.e d’un keffieh que j’ai déniché dans une poubelle.  (...)

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illustration : « Les anges aussi sortent la nuit », par Chloé Luu >

Inna Michaeli

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Biography

Inna is a feminist queer activist and sociologist with many years of deep engagement in feminist and LGBTQI+ struggles, political education and organizing by and for migrant women, and Palestine liberation and solidarity. She joined AWID in 2016 and served in different roles, most recently as Director of Programs. She is based in Berlin, Germany, grew up in Haifa, Palestine/Israel, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and carries these political geographies and resistance to colonial past and present into her feminism and transnational solidarity.

Inna is the author of “Women's Economic Empowerment: Feminism, Neoliberalism, and the State” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), based on the dissertation which earned her a doctoral degree from the Humboldt University of Berlin. As an academic, she taught courses on globalization, knowledge production, identity and belonging. Inna holds an MA in Cultural Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is a Board Member of the Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East (Germany), and previously of +972 Advancement of Citizen Journalism. Previously Inna worked with the Coalition of Women for Peace and she is passionate about mobilizing resources for grassroots activism.

Position
Co-Executive Director
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María Digna Montero

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Category
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Region
Latin America
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Killed

María Digna Montero was a Garifuna (Afro-descendent and indigenous) land defender and a member of the National Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), a grassroots organization working to protect the Garifuna communities, their ancestral rights, culture, resources and territory.

María also taught in the local school and was a member of the OFRANEH Intercultural Bilingual Education working group.

On the Day of Indigenous Resistance, October 12, 2019, unknown assailants shot María multiple times in the backyard of her house.  

She was one of six Garifuna women defenders murdered between September and October 2019 and according to OFRANEH, there was no investigation by the authorities into these crimes. In an official statement, the organization also highlighted the connection between the violence against Garifuna leaders and the increase in extractive industries which exploit natural resources in their communities calling this violence part of a “strategy of intimidation and systematic expulsion” by the Honduran State. 

“The heightened tension and growing risks to the security and human rights of the leaders in the communities and ancestral territories is a product of the dispossession, displacement and criminalization of the communities and of the extractive mega projects promoted by the State together with the national and international corporations.” - OFRANEH communique, October 12, 2019

Tactiques, stratégies et impacts des antidroits

Chapitre 5

Les antidroits ont adopté une double stratégie : outre leurs attaques ouvertes sur le système multilatéral, ils et elles sapent les droits humains depuis l’intérieur. Leur implication vise à prendre le contrôle des processus, instaurer des normes régressives et fragiliser la redevabilité.

Photo-OP // the first anniversary of the EU signature to the Council of Europe Convention to prevent and combat gender-based violence and domestic violence, the so-called Istanbul Convention
© ALDE Group/Flickr
Photo-OP // Le premier anniversaire de la signature par l'UE de la Convention du Conseil de l'Europe pour prévenir et combattre la violence basée sur le genre et la violence domestique, dite Convention d'Istanbul

Leur implication dans les sphères des droits humains a un but essentiel : saper le système et sa capacité à respecter, protéger et assurer les droits humains de tout un chacun, et à tenir les États membres pour responsables de leurs enfreintes. Certaines tactiques antidroits en dehors de l’ONU visent à la délégitimer, exercer des pressions politiques pour limiter son financement ou se retirer d’accords internationaux sur les droits humains. Les acteur·rice·s antidroits gagnent cependant en influence au sein même de l’ONU. Leurs tactiques de l’intérieur incluent la formation de délégué·e·s, la dénaturation de cadres relatifs aux droits humains, la dilution de la substance d’accords sur les droits humains, l’infiltration de comités d’ONG, la demande du statut ECOSOC sous un nom neutre, l’infiltration des espaces des jeunes et la pression pour que des acteur·rice·s antidroits occupent des postes clés.

Sommaire

  • L’institutionnalisation des antidroits dans les mécanismes de l’ONU
  • Le retrait et la délégitimation
  • L’appauvrissement des standards relatifs aux droits humains
  • La prise de contrôle : création d’un cadre des droits humains parallèle
  • Exercice : Oui, ils et elles sont fort·e·s, mais nous aussi!
  • Exercice : Tenir les gouvernements pour responsables

Lire le chapitre complet

Snippet - CSW69 - Full Calendar - EN

This image shows a full list of AWID at CSW69 activities

Snippet - Podcast Playlist Season 1 (EN)