Jean-Marc Ferré | Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
A general view of participants at the 16th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

Special Focus

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

Human Rights Council (HRC)

The Human Rights Council (HRC) is the key intergovernmental body within the United Nations system responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe. It holds three regular sessions a year: in March, June and September. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the secretariat for the HRC.

The HRC works by:

  • Debating and passing resolutions on global human rights issues and human rights situations in particular countries

  • Examining complaints from victims of human rights violations or activist organizations on behalf of victims of human rights violations

  • Appointing independent experts (known as “Special Procedures”) to review human rights violations in specific countries and examine and further global human rights issues

  • Engaging in discussions with experts and governments on human rights issues

  • Assessing the human rights records of all UN Member States every four and a half years through the Universal Periodic Review

Learn more about the HRC


AWID works with feminist, progressive and human rights partners to share key knowledge, convene civil society dialogues and events, and influence negotiations and outcomes of the session.

With our partners, our work will:

◾️ Monitor, track and analyze anti-rights actors, discourses and strategies and their impact on resolutions

◾️ Raise awareness of the findings of the 2017 and 2021 OURs Trends Reports.

◾️Support the work of feminist UN experts in the face of backlash and pressure

◾️Advocate for state accountability
 
◾️ Work with feminist movements and civil society organizations to advance rights related to gender and sexuality.
 

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Nuestra agrupación no ha recibido financiamiento externo entre 2021 y 2023, ¿a pesar de ello, deberíamos responder la encuesta?

Sí, aún así deseamos saber de ustedes aunque no hayan recibido financiamiento en los tres, dos o cualquiera de los años comprendidos entre 2021 y 2023.

Snippet FEA argentina history cooperatives (FR)

L'Argentine a une longue histoire d’autogestion et de coopérativisme, avec des lieux de travail dirigés par et pour les travailleur·euses.

En 2001, le pays a connu l'une des pires crises économiques de son histoire.

En réponse à la récession et comme forme de résistance et de résilience, les travailleur·euses de tout le pays ont commencé à occuper leurs lieux de travail.

La Coopérative Textile Nadia Echazú a été la première coopérative créée par et pour les personnes trans et travesti en quête d'autonomie économique et de conditions de vie dignes.

Elle offre des opportunités d'emploi, l’accès à la sécurité sociale, des revenus durables et des droits économiques aux communautés qu'elle sert.

Merci d'avoir participé à la création de nos Horizons féministes

Un grand MERCI d'avoir pris part au 13ème Forum international de l'AWID !

Toute l'équipe de l'AWID vous remercie de nous avoir rejoint pour ces quatre jours d'apprentissage et de célébrations, pour envisager, rêver et co-créer nos Horizons féministes.

Nous avons été incroyablement inspiré-e-s et enthousiasmé-e-s par tout ce travail collectif que nous avons accompli ensemble !

Pour plus d'images, d'inspiration et de ressources :

Visitez le site du Forum

Bonne lecture !


Connectez-vous au #AWIDForum

Vous demandez le nom du groupe, de l’organisation et/ou du mouvement qui répond aux questions de l’enquête, et ses coordonnées – pour quelle raison?

Nous demandons ces données pour faciliter l’examen des réponses, éviter les doublons et pouvoir vous contacter si votre groupe n’a pas pu terminer le questionnaire et/ou vous répondre si vous avez des doutes ou des questions. Des informations sur la manière dont nous utilisons les informations personnelles collectées lors de notre travail sont disponibles ici.

Snippet FEA Lohana Berkins (EN)

One of the founding leaders of the cooperative was Lohana Berkins, an activist, defender and promoter of transgender identity. Lohana played a crucial role in the struggle for the rights of trans and travesti people. 

This brought about, among many other things, the passing of the Gender Identity Law. It is one of the most progressive legislations in the world, guaranteeing fundamental rights to trans and travesti people. Now, people can change their names and genders only with an affidavit, and have access to comprehensive healthcare without judicial or medical intervention/approval (Outright International, 2012).

Agroecology and Food Sovereignty

Context

The search for alternative means of food production based on environmental sustainability is gaining ground across regions. This worldwide search comes with a common characteristic: the need to involve rural people and particularly women, building on their local priorities and knowledge by employing the principle of agroecology.

Definition

Agroecology is a way of practicing agriculture or using technologies that do not harm the environment. It proposes breaking with the hegemonic rural development model based on large landed estates and single-crop plantations that benefit mostly agricultural businesses and entrenches social exclusion.   

In family farming, agroecology manifests as a resistance to the current development model and its social, cultural, environmental, and economic problems. It opposes the lack of the farmer’s financial capital autonomy; and it symbolizes a resistance to the current agribusiness model.

Feminist perspective

Efforts based solely on agroecology may not be sufficient to solve all problems of women’s marginalization and invisibility. A feminist perspective is then crucial to analyze the norms associated with the idea of family as currently constituted as the perfect institution, as well as with the condition of women’s subordination.

In simpler terms, it is important to include in this debate a reflection on socially constructed gender roles to advance the emancipatory potential of agroecology.


Learn more about this proposition

Part of our series of


  Feminist Propositions for a Just Economy

Leticia Eulalia Mary Mukasa- Kikonyogo

Leticia était une avocate et juge ougandaise.

Avant de prendre sa retraite, elle a occupé de nombreux postes de haut niveau, notamment celui de membre de la cour d’appel et juge en chef adjointe de l’Ouganda. Elle a été la première femme ougandaise à occuper le poste de magistrat en chef entre 1973 et 1986 et la première femme à être nommée juge à la Haute Cour de justice en 1986.

Elle fut l'une des premières femmes à recevoir le titre de chevalier pontifical de l'histoire de l'Église catholique en Afrique. Elle est morte d'une crise cardiaque.

 


 

Leticia Eulalia Mary Mukasa- Kikonyogo, Uganda

When will survey results be available?

We will analyze the survey responses, derive insights and trends, and present the results during the 15th AWID International Forum in Bangkok, and online, in December 2024. Register to attend the Forum here!

Snippet FEA Exclusion and Stigma (ES)

Una ilustración de un megáfono en azul marino. Líneas que representan ondas de sonido salen del extremo del altavoz, en color rojo vino.

LA EXCLUSIÓN, ESTIGMA Y ABUSO INSTITUCIONAL
que las personas trans y travesti siguen enfrentando diariamente

AWID Members Engaging at CSW61

Member states and women's rights advocates and organisations are gathering at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 - 24 March for the 61st Commission on the Status of Women to address ‘women’s economic empowerment’ in the context of Sustainable Development Goal 5.

Whilst AWID is looking forward to physically meeting those of you who will be in New York, we want to engage with all those who cannot attend CSW, and as much as possible, amplify your voices in relevant spaces.

Continue reading to find out how to engage with AWID around CSW, whether you are attending physically or not.


Participate in an artistic takeover!

We are thrilled that AWID member Nayani Thiyagarajah is attending CSW this year and will take over the AWID Instagram. She will be available onsite to connect with other members for a possible feature on our Instagram. She will also explore possibilities of including some AWID members in a short film on the theme, ‘The personal is political’, a story of Nayani’s participation in this year’s CSW.

Nayani Thiyagarajah

Who is Nayani?

Nayani Thiyagarajah is a director, producer, and writer, dedicated to stories for the screen. A daughter of the Tamil diaspora, she calls Toronto home. For over 10 years, Nayani has worked in the arts and cultural industries. Her first independent feature documentary Shadeism: Digging Deeper (2015) had its World Premiere at the 2015 Zanzibar International Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize. Nayani recently launched [RE]FRAME, with her producing partner Camaro West, a production company based out of Atlanta and Toronto, focused on re-framing the narratives around Black, Indigenous, and other people of colour through storytelling on screen.

On a more serious note, it should be noted that Nayani has a strange laugh, she's quite awkward, and her head is always in the clouds. She feels blessed beyond belief to create stories for the screen and play make believe for a living. Above all else, she believes in love.

(Biography submitted by Nayani)

Interested in meeting Nayani and being considered for inclusion in the film?

  • Send an email to membership@awid.org with the subject line “CSW Artistic Takeover”

  • By 13 March 2017

  • Please include your full name and country information.


Can't attend? Voice it!

If you are not able to attend CSW61 because of a travel ban, either due to the one imposed by the Trump administration or one you are facing from your own government, please share your story with us.

Send us messages you want heard in the United Nations spaces concerning funding, the impact of the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule, and the need to push back against all types of religious fundamentalisms. You can send these in the following formats:

  • Video: no longer than two minutes and sent through a file sharing folder (for example dropbox, google drive) 

  • Audio: no longer than two minutes and sent through a file sharing folder (for example dropbox, google drive)

  • Image: you can share a photo or a poster of your message 

  • Text: no longer than 200 words and sent in the body of an email or in a word document

Share your message with us


Meet other members @CSW61

AWID members tell us that connecting with other members at CSW is valuable. In such a huge advocacy space, it is useful to connect with others including activists working on similar issues, or originating from the same country or region. Recognising the importance of connecting for movement building, we invite you to:

Interested in connecting with other members @CSW61?

  • Email membership@awid.org with the subject line “CSW AWID Members

  • NOTE: Please let us know your full name and country, and if we can share your email address with other members interested in meeting at CSW. 

Meet current AWID members


Take a picture!

If you are attending the CSW, we’d love to see what’s going on through your eyes!

Show us by capturing a moment you find speaks to the energy in the CSW space, be it on or off site. We hope to publish some of your ‘images’ on our social media channels and share on awid.org

You can send us: 

  • colour and/ or black and white photographs with a title (if you wish) and 

  • a caption (no longer than 100 words) about the story your image tells.

​Please also include:

  • your full name and country of origin and

  • let us know if we can publish the information you shared (in part or in full).

Send your images:

  • Email membership@awid.org with the subject line “CSW: Take a Picture!

  • During the whole CSW or shortly after until Tuesday 28 March 2017. 

Asma Jahangir

Asma was a leading Pakistani rights activist, fearless critic of the military’s interference in politics and a staunch defender of the rule of law.

She was the founding chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent group, and was a trustee of the International Crisis Group. She won international awards and served as the United Nations rapporteur on human rights and extrajudicial killings.

She is remembered fondly by colleagues and friends at AWID

“With her life, Asma rewrote the history that many of us were told as women. Asma changed the world. She changed it in Pakistan, and she changed it in our imaginations."

 


 

Asma Jahangir, Pakistan
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