Fiona Richardson
AWID Forum: Co-creating Feminist Futures
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:
- Our Seed Initiatives, has helped 20 ideas that emerged at the Forum to grow into concrete actions
- The video “Defending people and planet” and guide “Weaving resistance through action” put courageous WHRDs in the spotlight and present concrete strategies they use to confront corporate power.
- With our animations about the State of Our Feminist Movements and Climate and Environmental Justice, movements now have creative tools to support their advocacy work.
- The compiling artistic expressions of our #MovementsMatter series continues to inspire stronger and more creative organizing around the world.
- Movements can also benefit from new methodologies on Visioning Feminist Futures (Coming up soon!)
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!
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.
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What will be different about this Forum?
We have always worked towards ensuring that our Forums are co-developed with partners, movements and our priority constituencies.
For our upcoming Forum, we aim to deepen and strengthen that spirit and practice of co-creation and collaboration. We also recognize the need to improve the balance between the inclusion of many voices and experiences with room for participants and staff to breathe, take pause and enjoy some downtime.
This Forum will be different in the following ways:
- We will have far less organized Forum activities because we want people to have time to engage, experience, process, talk to each other, etc. This is key to communicate: you can come to the Forum, be very engaged and active and not facilitate any organized activity (or “session”).
- We will have Open Spaces - at least one whole afternoon without any organized activities - but also physical spaces available throughout the Forum for people to self-organize meetings, etc.
- We have a Content and Methodology Committee made up of feminists from different regions with expertise on participatory methodologies to support us and all those leading activities at the Forum to use creative and engaging formats for the Forum activities.
CFA FAQ - Travelling to Bangkok - Thai
การเดินทางไปยังกรุงเทพมหานคร
Snippet FEA A Caring Economy (ES)
Economías de
CUIDADOS
Feministas Centrando
el Cuidado en la Economía
¿Qué pasaría si volviéramos a imaginar formas de cuidar a nuestras comunidades?
¿Y si la economía no estaría enfocada en la ganancia de una pequeña élite sino en el cuidado de nuestro bienestar individual y colectivo, y de la Naturaleza?
Estas historias tratan de la construcción de comunidades de cuidado con y para las personas que históricamente y actualmente están excluidas, privadas de sus derechos y deshumanizadas tanto por el Estado como por la sociedad.
Estas son las historias de las feministas que centran el cuidado en la economía.
Jeanne d´Arc Mihigo
How can I fund my participation in the AWID Forum? Many activists will not be able to afford the cost of the Forum – is AWID doing anything to provide assistance?
Please visit the "Funding ideas" page to get some ideas and inspiration for how you can fund your participation at the next Forum, including the limited support AWID will be able to provide.
ماذا عن العدالة المناخية، هل هذا حقًا هو الوقت المناسب للعديد من الرحلات الجوية الدولية؟
ونحن نسأل أنفسنا نفس السؤال، ونعتقد أنه لا توجد إجابات بسيطة. بالنسبة للعديد من المشاركين/ات، قد يكون منتدى جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية (AWID) أحد الرحلات الدولية القليلة التي يقومون بها في حياتهم/ن. علمتنا الجائحة الإمكانيات والقيود التي تفرضها المساحات الافتراضية لبناء الحركة: لا يوجد شيء أفضل من الاتصال الشخصي. تحتاج الحركات إلى التواصل عبر الحدود لبناء قوتنا الجماعية في مواجهة التهديدات التي نواجهها، ولا سيما أزمة المناخ. نعتقد أن منتدى حقوق المرأة في التنمية القادم يمكن أن يكون مساحة استراتيجية لعقد هذه المحادثات واستكشاف بدائل للسفر الدولي. ويشكل العنصر المختلط للمنتدى جزءًا مهمًا من هذا الاستكشاف.
Snippet FEA Carmen Silva (FR)
Ocupação 9 de Julho
Lorsque vous arriverez au centre-ville de São Paulo, vous verrez le bâtiment Ocupação 9 de Julho (Occupation de l’Avenue du 9 Juillet), un espace culturel et un site important dans la lutte pour le logement social.
C'est le travail du Mouvement des Travailleur·euses Sans-Abri (Movimento dos Sem-Teto do Centro, MSTC), un mouvement de plus de 2000 personnes qui agit dans le centre-ville et convertit les espaces abandonnés en logements pour les travailleur·euses à faible revenu, les enfants, femmes, adultes, personnes âgées, migrant·e·s et réfugié·e·s. Dans ce bâtiment en particulier, 122 familles sont nourries et logées.
Matrine Chuulu
Lillian Masediba Ngoyi
Will there be pre-Forum convenings this time around?
We have been contacted by global and regional partners about some ideas for pre-Forum convenings and we will share more information about these ideas soon.
If you plan to organize a meeting before the Forum please let us know!
Many beautiful things emerged from the 2016 Black Feminisms Forum (BFF) that was organized by an Advisory Group and funded by AWID. Some of the independent organizing that arose from the BFF include Black feminist organizing in Brazil. While we won’t have another BFF this year, we remain committed to sharing some key learnings with anyone interested in continuing work around Black feminist organizing.
Snippet - CSW68 - March 11 - EN
Day 1
11th March
Snippet FEA ASOM (EN)
Association of Afro-Descendant Women of the Northern Cauca
Black women community organizing in the Cauca Valley in Colombia can be traced back to the country's colonial past, which is marked by the racism, patriarchy, and capitalism that sustained slavery as a means to exploit the region’s rich soils. These organizers are the heroines of a broad movement for black autonomy - one that fights for the sustainable use of the region's forests and natural resources as vital to their culture and livelihood.
For 25 years, the Association of Afro-Descendant Women of the Northern Cauca (Asociación de Mujeres Afrodescendientes del Norte del Cauca, ASOM) has been dedicated to bringing power to Afro-Colombian women’s organizing in northern Cauca.
They became established in 1997 as a response to ongoing human rights violations, the absence of public policies, inadequate management of natural resources, and the lack of opportunities for women in the territory.
They have forged the struggle to secure ethnic-territorial rights, to end violence against women, and gain recognition of women’s roles change-making peace-building in Colombia.
Emma Gabriela Molina Canto
Madelaine Parent
Where and when will the next AWID Forum take place?
The 14th AWID International Forum will take place 20-23 September 2021 in Taipei, Taiwan.
Snippet - CSW68 - Feminist Community Evening - EN
🎤AWID's Feminist Community Evening
a gathering for feminist activists attending CSW68
(with special guests!)
📅Tuesday, March 12
🕒6-9.30pm EST
🏢 Blue Gallery, 222 E 46th St, New York
RSVP required
Snippet FEA Mano Cambiada (ES)
MANO CAMBIADA
Término de las comunidades negras del Norte del Cauca para la minga, el trabajo colaborativo en fincas, basado en el apoyo mutuo y la solidaridad.
Halla Barakat
Jyotika Singh
