Special Focus

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

Confronting Extractivism & Corporate Power

Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) worldwide defend their lands, livelihoods and communities from extractive industries and corporate power. They stand against powerful economic and political interests driving land theft, displacement of communities, loss of livelihoods, and environmental degradation.


Why resist extractive industries?

Extractivism is an economic and political model of development that commodifies nature and prioritizes profit over human rights and the environment. Rooted in colonial history, it reinforces social and economic inequalities locally and globally. Often, Black, rural and Indigenous women are the most affected by extractivism, and are largely excluded from decision-making. Defying these patriarchal and neo-colonial forces, women rise in defense of rights, lands, people and nature.

Critical risks and gender-specific violence

WHRDs confronting extractive industries experience a range of risks, threats and violations, including criminalization, stigmatization, violence and intimidation.  Their stories reveal a strong aspect of gendered and sexualized violence. Perpetrators include state and local authorities, corporations, police, military, paramilitary and private security forces, and at times their own communities.

Acting together

AWID and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC) are pleased to announce “Women Human Rights Defenders Confronting Extractivism and Corporate Power”; a cross-regional research project documenting the lived experiences of WHRDs from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

We encourage activists, members of social movements, organized civil society, donors and policy makers to read and use these products for advocacy, education and inspiration.

Share your experience and questions!

Tell us how you are using the resources on WHRDs Confronting extractivism and corporate power.

◾️ How can these resources support your activism and advocacy?

◾️ What additional information or knowledge do you need to make the best use of these resources?

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Thank you!

AWID acknowledges with gratitude the invaluable input of every Woman Human Rights Defender who participated in this project. This project was made possible thanks to your willingness to generously and openly share your experiences and learnings. Your courage, creativity and resilience is an inspiration for us all. Thank you!

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À quels défis les personnes Trans et Travesti sont-elles confrontées en Argentine ?

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عن استطلاع "أين المال"

استطلاع "اين المال" (أين التمويل للتنظيمات النسوية) هو ركيزة أساسية للنسخة الثالثة لأبحاثنا الموجهة نحو العمل. سيتم بحث وتوسيع نتائج الاستطلاع من خلال المحادثات العميقة مع النشطاء/ الناشطات والممولين/ات وسيتم مقارنة النتائج مع تحليلات وبحوث أخرى عن وضع التمويل للحركات النسوية وحركات العدالة الجندرية.

سيتم نشر تقرير أين المال للتنظيمات النسوية في العام 2026.

لمعرفة المزيد عن كيف تسلّط جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية الضوء على على تمويل التنظيمات النسوية أو ضدها، انظروا إلى قصة "أين المال" وتقارير سابقة هنا

Asma Jahangir

Asma était une militante pakistanaise des droits humains, une critique courageuse de l'ingérence de l'armée dans la politique et une défenseure acharnée de la primauté du droit.

Elle a été la présidente fondatrice de la Commission des droits de l'homme du Pakistan, un groupe indépendant ainsi qu’administratrice de l'International Crisis Group. Elle a remporté des prix internationaux et a été rapporteuse des Nations Unies sur les droits de l'homme et les exécutions extrajudiciaires.

Ses collègues et ami-e-s de l’AWID se souviennent d'elle avec affection

« Grâce à sa vie, Asma a réécrit l'histoire que beaucoup d'entre nous ont racontée en tant que femmes. Asma a changé le monde. Elle l'a changé au Pakistan et elle l'a changé dans notre imaginaire. »

 


 

Asma Jahangir, Pakistan

Ȃurea Mouzinho

Biography

Âurea Mouzinho est une organisatrice féministe dans le domaine de la justice économique. Originaire de Louanda en Angola, elle compte 10 ans de carrière dans la recherche, le subventionnement, le plaidoyer et le renforcement de mouvement pour les droits des femmes et la justice économique en Afrique et dans le Sud global. Actuelle responsable des programmes pour l’Afrique chez Thousand Currents, elle participe également au comité de rédaction de Feminist Africa et est membre d’Ondjango Feminista, un collectif féministe qu’elle a co-fondé en 2016. Tout juste maman d’un petit garçon Gémeaux, urea aime les journées tranquilles avec sa petite famille et les longues promenades sur la plage. Il lui arrive parfois de tweeter via son compte​​​​​​ @kitondowe.

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Background

Why this resource?

While active participants on the front lines of protests and uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), women became invisible, absent from processes of formation of the new states, and excluded from decision-making roles, responsibilities, and positions in the aftermath of the uprisings. Except in rare cases, men dominated leadership positions in transitional structures, including the constitutional reform and electoral committees[i]. Subsequent elections brought very few women to parliamentary and ministerial positions.

Additionally, a strong and immediate backlash against women and women’s rights has clearly emerged in the aftermath. The rise of new religious fundamentalist groups with renewed patriarchal agendas aiming to obliterate previous gains of the women’s movements even in countries with longer histories of women’s rights, such as Tunisia, has been very alarming.

The varying contexts of governance and transition processes across the MENA countries presents an important opportunity for women human rights defenders to shape the future of these democracies. However, the lack of prioritization of women’s rights issues in the emerging transitions and the aforementioned backlash have posed a variety of complex challenges for the women’s movements. Faced with these enormous challenges and possibilities, women’s rights activists have been struggling to forge ahead a democratic future inclusive and only possible with women’s rights and equality. The particular historical and contextual legacies that impact women’s movements in each country continue to bear on the current capacities, strategies, and overall preparedness of the women’s movements to take on such a challenge. Burdened with daily human rights violations in one context, with lack of resources and tools in another, with organizational tensions in a third, in addition to the constant attacks on them as activists, women human rights defenders have voiced their desire to be more equipped with knowledge and tools to be effective and proactive in engaging with these fast-changing environments. Conceptual clarity and greater understanding of notions and practices of democratization, transitional justice tools and mechanisms, political governance and participation processes, international and local mechanisms, movement building strategies, constitutional reform possibilities, and secularization of public space and government are important steps to defining future strategic action.

It is clear that feminists and women’s rights activists cannot wait for women’s rights to be addressed after transitions – issues must be addressed as the new power configurations are forming. Experiences of earlier moments of transition, namely from colonial rule, have clearly demonstrated that women’s rights have to be inherently part of the transition movement towards a more just and equal society.

What is included?

This publication represents a research mapping of key resources, publications and materials on transitions to democracy and women’s rights in different countries of the world that have undergone such processes, such as: Indonesia, Chile, South Africa, Nepal, Mexico, Argentina, Poland, Ukraine, as well as within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It provides bibliographic information and short summaries of resources which succinctly identify the contextual changes and challenges facing women in those particular transitional moments, as well as clearly delineates the ways in which women’s rights activists sought to confront those challenges and what lessons were learned.

A key criterion in the selection process was the primacy of a women’s rights/feminist perspective; the few exceptions to this rule offer a unique and, we hope, useful, perspective on the issues that women’s rights organizations and activists face in the region.  The texts have been selected to provide a wide range of information, relevant to women human rights defenders working from the grassroots to the international level, across issues (including different case studies and examples), from different perspectives (international human rights bodies, academic institutions, NGO contributions, activists’ experiences, etc.), and at a wide range of levels of complexity, in order to respond to the needs of as many readers as possible.

The mapping clusters resources under six major categories:

  • Transitions to Democracy
  • Political Participation
  • Movement Building
  • Transitional Justice
  • Constitutional/Legal Reform
  • Responses to Fundamentalisms

 


[i]This and other context points are drawn from the report from Pre AWID Forum meeting on Women’s Rights in Transitions to Democracy: Achieving Rights, Resisting Backlash, collaboratively organized by AWID, the Equality Without Reservation Coalition, Global Fund for Women and Women’s Learning Partnership

Snippet FEA Brisa Escobar Quote (EN)

"My dreams and objectives have always been the same as those of Lohana Berkins: for the cooperative to continue standing and not to close. To continue to give this place to our travesti comrades, to give them work and a place of support"

Brisa Escobar,
president of the Cooperative

Por que devo considerar responder ao inquérito?

Existem várias razões pelas quais a sua resposta ao inquérito WITM é importante. Por exemplo, tem a oportunidade de partilhar a sua experiência vivida com a mobilização de financiamento para apoiar a sua organização; de reivindicar o seu poder como especialista sobre como o dinheiro circula e os bolsos em que entra; e de contribuir para a defesa coletiva e consistente junto de financiadores para mover mais recursos de maior qualidade. Ao longo das últimas duas décadas, o inquérito WITM da AWID tem-se revelado um recurso fundamental para ativistas e financiadores. Convidamo-lo a juntar-se a nós na sua terceira edição para destacar o estado efetivo do financiamento, desafiar soluções falsas e apontar a forma como o financiamento precisa de mudar para que os movimentos prosperem e enfrentem os desafios complexos do nosso tempo.

Deborah Holmes

At the time of her death, following a short but aggressive battle with cancer, Deborah was the Chief Communication and Engagement Officer at the Women’s Funding Network (WFN). 

Deborah also worked for the Global Fund for Women from 2008 to  2017. Deborah was extremely loved and respected by board, staff, and partners of Global Fund for Women.

Kavita Ramdas, former CEO of the Global Fund for Women aptly noted that Deborah was “a small package exploding with warmth, generosity, intelligence, style, and a passionate commitment to fusing beauty with justice. She understood the power of story. The power of women’s voice. The power of lived experience. The power of rising from the ashes and telling others it was possible. And, still we rise.”

Musimbi Kanyoro, the present CEO of the Global Fund for Women, added, “We have lost a sister and her life illuminates values that unite and inspire us all. As we all come together to mourn Deborah’s passing, let us remember and celebrate her remarkable, bold, and passionate life.”

 


 

Deborah Holmes, USA

Fatima Qureshi

Biography

Una nómada de las culturas, nacida en Hong Kong y con raíces turco-paquistaníes, el amor de Fatima por la narración, ya sea su lectura o su creación conjunta, le infundió la pasión por el activismo de las comunicaciones. Formada en periodismo, ha trabajado durante siete años en los ámbitos de la comunicación digital y los medios de comunicación con ONG que brindan oportunidades educativas y asistencia jurídica a personas refugiadas y solicitantes de asilo, así como con el movimiento feminista musulmán, que aplica un enfoque feminista y de derechos para comprender y buscar la igualdad y la justicia en la tradición jurídica musulmana. Escribe con habitualidad artículos de opinión sobre asuntos feministas en el Sur Global.

Mediante la narración en esta era hiperdigital de las redes sociales, Fatima sigue colaborando con organizadores comunitaries y activistas de base para crear contenido audiovisual, a fin de tender puentes de comprensión hacia la liberación colectiva y la descolonización. Durante los días en que no trabaja, mira atentamente largometrajes feministas independientes de Irán, Marruecos y Pakistán, e interpreta poesía oral con sus camaradas de Kuala Lumpur.

Position
Responsable de Comunicaciones Digitales y Alianzas de ICM
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Twitter Test

Snippet FEA Map of Georgia (ES)

Esta imagen es un primer plano de Georgia en rosa coral con un alfiler amarillo que indica "Sindicato Red de Solidaridad".

نحن نعيد إعطاء المال لشركائنا/شريكاتنا ونعرّف عن أنفسنا كنسويات و\ أو صندوق نسائي. هل علينا تعبئة الاستطلاع؟

كلا. نقدّر عملكم/ن لكننا لا نطلب في هذه المرحلة من الصناديق النسوية والنسائية تعبئة الاستطلاع. نشجعكم/ن على مشاركة الاستطلاع مع شركائكم/ن و شبكاتكم/ن النسوية.

Carmen Griffiths

Carmen encabezaba el Construction Resource and Development Collective (CRDC, Colectivo de recursos para la construcción y el desarrollo) y fue fundamental para apoyar la participación de las mujeres en la industria de la construcción en Jamaica.

También trabajó con mujeres rurales y urbanas en temas relacionados a la preparación para afrontar desastres naturales. Trabajó de manera cercana con mujeres (especialmente madres solteras) enseñándoles cómo usar los cinturones para huracanes y otras tecnologías para poner sus hogares a resguardo. Trabajó en el área de agua y obras sanitarias y fue una fuerte defensora del manejo y desarrollo ambientalmente sustentable.

Fue parte de la Comisión Huairou y realizó incidencia en favor de las mujeres de base en temas vinculados a refugio, energía y medios de vida sustentables.


 

Carmen Griffiths, Jamaica

Nana Abuelsoud

Biography

Nana est militante féministe et chercheuse spécialisée dans les droits reproductifs et les politiques démographiques. Elle exerce ses activités en Égypte. Elle collabore avec Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ), siège au conseil consultatif de l’A Project au Liban et fait partie du comité communautaire de Mama Cash. Nana est diplômée d’un master en santé publique de l’Institut KIT et de l’Université Vrije d’Amsterdam. Son travail consiste à analyser et contextualiser les politiques démographiques nationales tout en documentant les questions liées à l’eugénisme contemporain, aux programmes d’aide internationale régressifs et aux régimes autoritaires. Auparavant, elle a collaboré avec la Fondation genevoise pour la formation et la recherche médicales, l’Initiative égyptienne pour les droits de la personne, ainsi qu’avec le Collectif féministe Ikhtyar au Caire.

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Funding Ideas

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. 

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!

Snippet FEA collaborator and allies Photo 1 (FR)

La photo montre Sopo Japaridze, l'une des cofondatrices de l'Union Solidarity Network. Sopo a de longs cheveux bruns, avec une frange, et des yeux bruns, et porte un masque rouge de l'Union du réseau de solidarité. La photo est prise de nuit.

На каких языках проводится опрос?

На данный момент опрос в KOBO доступен на арабском, английском, французском, португальском, русском и испанском языках. В начале опроса у вас будет возможность выбрать нужный вам язык.