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.
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"Women Human Rights Defenders confronting extractive industries: an overview of critical risks and Human Rights obligations" is a policy report with a gender perspective. It analyses forms of violations and types of perpetrators, quotes relevant human rights obligations and includes policy recommendations to states, corporations, civil society and donors.
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"Weaving resistance through action: Strategies of Women Human Rights Defenders confronting extractive industries" is a practical guide outlining creative and deliberate forms of action, successful tactics and inspiring stories of resistance.
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The video “Defending people and planet: Women confronting extractive industries” puts courageous WHRDs from Africa, Asia, and Latin America in the spotlight. They share their struggles for land and life, and speak to the risks and challenges they face in their activism.
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Challenging corporate power: Struggles for women’s rights, economic and gender justice is a research paper outlining the impacts of corporate power and offering insights into strategies of resistance.
Share your experience and questions!
◾️ 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?
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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على من يجب تعبئة الاستطلاع؟
المجموعات، المنظمات والحركات التي تعمل خصوصاً وبالأساس على حقوق النساء، حقوق الفتيات، العدالة الجندرية، حقوق مجتمعات الميم - عين وحلفائها/يفاتها في جميع المناطق وعلى جميع المستويات، إن كانت مجموعات جديدة أو قديمة.
Snippet FEA Intro (EN)
Come meet the feminist economies we LOVE.
The economy is about how we organize our societies, our homes and workplaces. How do we live together? How do we produce food, organize childcare, provide for our health? The economy is also about how we access and manage resources, how we relate with other people, with ourselves and with nature.
Feminists have been building economic alternatives to exploitative capitalist systems for ages. These alternatives exist in the here and now, and they are the pillars of the just, fairer and more sustainable worlds we need and deserve.
We are excited to share with you a taste of feminist economic alternatives, featuring inspiring collectives from all around the world.
Stella Mukasa
Stella began her career at the Ministry of Gender and Community Development in Uganda engaging with policymakers for law reform, including the 1995 Ugandan Constitution, which established some of the most progressive reforms for women in the region.
She is revered throughout the region for her tireless efforts to create and enforce gender-responsive laws and policies. She played a key role in drafting Uganda’s Domestic Violence Act and in mobilizing support for gender-responsive constitutions in both Uganda and in Rwanda.
Through her work with International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), she worked on violence against children, and worked to strengthen the capacities of grassroots organizations addressing gender-based violence. She was a lecturer on gender rights and the law at Makerere University and served on the boards of Akina Mama wa Afrika, ActionAid International Uganda and the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa.
2002: Discussions on the Financing for Development agenda begin
The Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development marked the beginning of discussions on the Financing for Development agenda.
- The Monterrey Consensus was adopted at this first international conference on Financing for Development. It was the first United Nations hosted summit-level meeting to address key financial and related issues on global development.
- The Conference and its preparatory process saw unprecedented cooperation between the United Nations and the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) as part of efforts to promote greater coherence and consistency among the international monetary, trade and financial systems and institutions.
- Monterrey also marked the first time that financing for development debates took place between governments, representatives of civil society and the business sector. These actors moved the discussion beyond a ‘technical’ focus, to look at how to mobilize and channel financial resources to fulfill the internationally agreed development goals of previous UN conferences and summits of the 1990s, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
- The Women’s Caucus noted the historical significance of the conference stating that it had the potential to address structural challenges that continue to hamper development but also raised concern over the effects of increased militarisation and fundamentalism on women, despite the fact that the Monterrey Consensus assumed that the global economic and financial system worked for all.
- Learn more about the six Monterrey themes and the conference follow up mechanisms: Gender Issues and Concerns in Financing for Development by Maria Floro, Nilufer Çagatay, John Willoughby and Korkut Ertürk (INSTRAW, 2004)
Camille Lepage
Что подразумевается под внешним финансированием?
Внешнее финансирование включает гранты и другие формы финансирования от благотворительных фондов, правительств, двусторонних, многосторонних или корпоративных спонсоров и индивидуальных доноров – как внутри вашей страны, так и из-за рубежа. Сюда не входят ресурсы, которые группы, организации и/или движения генерируют самостоятельно, такие как, например, членские взносы, добровольные взносы "сотрудниц(-ков), участниц(-ков) и/или сторонниц(-ков), сборы через сообщество, сдача помещений в аренду или продажа услуг. Для удобства в опрос включены определения различных видов финансирования и краткие описания различных доноров.
Snippet FEA São Paulo City Center (ES)
Centro de la ciudad de São Paulo
Fuente: Censo de População de Rua, Prefeitura de São Paulo
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Edificios abandonados/desocupados |
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Personas que viven en la calle |
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Juana Ramírez Santiago
Juana fue una de las fundadoras y era actualmente integrante de la junta directiva de la Red de Mujeres Ixiles de Nebaj, una organización por los derechos de las mujeres indígenas que es parte de la Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Humanos (IM-Defensoras).
También era partera y madre de siete hijxs. Había recibido amenazas de muerte que fueron denunciadas ante la Fiscalía. Juana es la tercera defensora de derechos humanos indígena asesinada en el área durante 2018. El Ombudsman de Guatemala informa que un total de 20 defensorxs de derechos humanos fueron asesinadxs este año en el país.
Juana Ramírez Santiago fue baleada de muerte por atacantes desconocidos mientras cruzaba un puente en Nebak, Quiché, Guatemala. Están en curso las investigaciones para identificar a los perpetradores.
2009: la ONU celebra una Conferencia sobre el impacto de la crisis económica
- Esta conferencia de 2009 fue un producto de la Conferencia de Doha realizada en 2008. La Declaración de Doha le había encargado a la ONU que el Presidente de su Asamblea General organizara una conferencia sobre la crisis financiera y económica mundial y su impacto sobre el desarrollo.
- En esta conferencia los grupos de mujeres, a través del WWG, destacaron el impacto de la crisis financiera mundial sobre los grupos en situación de vulnerabilidad. En su declaración ante los Estados Miembros, el WWG les propuso acciones que consideraba necesarias para remediar los efectos de la crisis sobre las mujeres. También observó que otros grupos sociales afectados por la crisis son clave para una respuesta que esté en consonancia con los estándares y compromisos internacionales en materia de igualdad de género, derechos de las mujeres, derechos humanos y empoderamiento.
Geertje Lycklama à Nijeholt
O meu idioma não é um dos oficiais do inquérito, e estou a ter dificuldades a preencher o mesmo. O que posso fazer?
A AWID compromete-se a alcançar a justiça linguística e lamentamos que, neste momento, não seja viável disponibilizar um inquérito do WITM em mais idiomas. No entanto, caso precise de apoio com traduções ou queira preencher o inquérito em qualquer outro idioma, entre em contacto connosco através de witm@awid.org.
Snippet FEA Occupation’s kitchen Instagram (FR)
Campagne publicitaire d'Ocupação 9 de Julho :
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Les Femmes Maintiennent les Soins | Les Soins Soutiennent la Vie | La Vie Soutient l'Économie | Qui s'Occupe des Femmes ? | Pas Une de Moins1 | Ensemble | Déjeuner du Dimanche
1Nenhuna a menos se traduit littéralement par « pas une femme de moins » ou « ni una menos » en espagnol - un célèbre slogan féministe en Amérique latine qui a émergé en Argentine en réponse à l'augmentation de la violence sexiste.
Ana M. Tallada Iglesia
Ana était un ardente défenseure des droits des femmes et travaillait avec un large éventail de femmes au sein d’organisations de terrain ainsi que dans le secteur privé.
Elle croyait en la construction de ponts entre les secteurs. Ana était membre du Réseau national de promotion de la femme (RNPM) et participait activement à l'élaboration de nombreux programmes sociaux traitant de questions telles que la santé et les droits sexuels et reproductifs.
Janvier 2015: 1ère session de rédaction du document final de la 3ème Conférence sur le FdD
La première session de rédaction du document final de la troisième Conférence sur le financement du développement
- À partir de janvier 2015, les sessions de rédaction du document final se sont succédé au siège de l’ONU à New York.
- Avant la première de ces sessions, les co-facilitateurs du processus préparatoire de la Conférence d’Addis Abeba ont présenté un document récapitulatif (en anglais) en vue de la rédaction de la dite « version zéro » du document final. Ce document avait vocation à servir de base aux négociations intergouvernementales relatives au contenu du document final.
- Pendant les sessions, des organisations de défense des droits des femmes ont mis l’accent sur la nécessité, au cours des processus relatifs à l’après-2015, d’aborder séparément le FdD et les modalités de mise en œuvre. À leurs yeux, le FdD offre une occasion unique aux États de s’attaquer aux causes structurelles des inégalités.
Samira Saleh Al-Naimi
لم تتلق مجموعتنا التمويل بشكل متواصل بين الأعوام 2021-2023. هل علينا تعبئة الاستطلاع؟
نعم. نريد السماع منكم/ن دون أي علاقة ان حصلتم/ن على تمويل لثلاثة أعوام أو عامين أو عام واحد في السنوات 2021-2023.
Snippet FEA Clemencia (EN)
Meet Clemencia Carabalí Rodallega, an extraordinary Afro-Colombian feminist.
She has worked relentlessly for three decades towards the safeguarding of human rights, women’s rights and peace-building in conflict areas on the Pacific Coast of Colombia.
Clemencia has made significant contributions to the fight for truth, reparations and justice for the victims of Colombia’s civil war. She received the National Award for the Defense of Human Rights in 2019, and also participated in the campaign of newly elected Afro-Colombian and long-time friend, vice-president Francia Marquez.
Although Clemencia has faced and continues to face many hardships, including threats and assassination attempts, she continues to fight for the rights of Afro-Colombian women and communities across the country.
In memory of all women journalists who were killed in 2018
Just like women have learned to avoid dark streets for their safety, women journalists are forced to avoid reporting certain stories as a result of online harassment.
Harassment is not part of the job description and should be called out and challenged at every turn to ensure these important voices are not silenced.
This tribute to journalists was made on behalf of IFEXWhat is the United Nations Financing For Development Process?
The United Nations (UN) Financing for Development (FfD) process seeks to address different forms of development financing and cooperation. As per the Monterrey Consensus it focuses on six key areas:
- Mobilizing domestic financial resources for development
- Mobilizing international resources for development: foreign direct investment and other private flows
- International trade as an engine for development
- Increasing international financial and technical cooperation for development
- External debt
- Addressing systemic issues: enhancing the coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading systems in support of development.









