Zaitun Kasim
Protection of the Family
The Issue
Over the past few years, a troubling new trend at the international human rights level is being observed, where discourses on ‘protecting the family’ are being employed to defend violations committed against family members, to bolster and justify impunity, and to restrict equal rights within and to family life.
The campaign to "Protect the Family" is driven by ultra-conservative efforts to impose "traditional" and patriarchal interpretations of the family, and to move rights out of the hands of family members and into the institution of ‘the family’.
“Protection of the Family” efforts stem from:
- rising traditionalism,
- rising cultural, social and religious conservatism and
- sentiment hostile to women’s human rights, sexual rights, child rights and the rights of persons with non-normative gender identities and sexual orientations.
Since 2014, a group of states have been operating as a bloc in human rights spaces under the name “Group of Friends of the Family”, and resolutions on “Protection of the Family” have been successfully passed every year since 2014.
This agenda has spread beyond the Human Rights Council. We have seen regressive language on “the family” being introduced at the Commission on the Status of Women, and attempts made to introduce it in negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our Approach
AWID works with partners and allies to jointly resist “Protection of the Family” and other regressive agendas, and to uphold the universality of human rights.
In response to the increased influence of regressive actors in human rights spaces, AWID joined allies to form the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs). OURs is a collaborative project that monitors, analyzes, and shares information on anti-rights initiatives like “Protection of the Family”.
Rights at Risk, the first OURs report, charts a map of the actors making up the global anti-rights lobby, identifies their key discourses and strategies, and the effect they are having on our human rights.
The report outlines “Protection of the Family” as an agenda that has fostered collaboration across a broad range of regressive actors at the UN. It describes it as: “a strategic framework that houses “multiple patriarchal and anti-rights positions, where the framework, in turn, aims to justify and institutionalize these positions.”
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Brenda Salas Neves
Biography
Brenda Salas Neves is a feminist queer strategist born and raised in the southern Andes. They organize to shift narratives and mobilize resources to support racial and climate justice movements around the world. They have produced media projects to uplift migrant power and rise against U.S. military intervention across Latin America, with Deep Dish TV and the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee. They are a proud member of the Audre Lorde Project and a graduate of the United World Colleges (UWC) movement.
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Snippet FEA Mariama Sonko (EN)
This is Mariama Sonko, an inspiring small-scale rural farmer, eco-feminist and a woman human rights defender.
She lives in Niaguiss, a town in the southwest of Senegal. Growing up in a family and community of rural farmers, she witnessed the essential role of women in food production and seed preservation from a very early age, while also being immersed in the rhythms and working of the land. Mariama has been defending local agricultural knowledge and peasant practices since the 1990s. As a mother of five children, the food she grows herself is the main source of sustenance for her family.
She is currently the president of “Nous Sommes la Solution'' and is involved in promoting agroecological practices and family farming, encouraging food sovereignty, biodiversity and farmer seed preservation, and demanding equitable access to resources and land for women across West Africa.
Source: AWID’s Feminist Realities Festival Crear | Résister | Transform - Day 2/ 2ème jour/ 2º día
María Verónica Reina
María was recognized globally for her extraordinary leadership in the disability community.
She represented the International Disability and Development Consortium during the negotiation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2001-2006).
Her work was devoted to the implementation of the goal of the Convention - realization of universal human rights by, for and with persons with disabilities for an inclusive, accessible and sustainable world.
In her words, her leadership was about “...serving the disability community, starting with small tasks that others may not wish to do”.
She passed away on October 27, 2017 in her hometown of Rosario, Argentina.
Read more about María Verónica Reina in her own words
Could there be multiple responses to the WITM survey on behalf of a specific group?
No, we are asking for just one completed survey per group.
Rachel Mabaudi
Biography
Rachel is a financial professional with over two decades of experience. She has overseen financial affairs and projects for private and public entities, non-profits, and international non-governmental organizations. A Chartered Accountant with a Global Master’s in Business Administration, she is also a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. In her spare time, Rachel designs typography art, enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends over a bottle of wine.
Position
Finance Manager
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Snippet FEA Objectives NSS Advocacy (EN)
INCIDENCIA POLITICA
Amanda Castro
Asma Jahangir
Asma fue una destacada activista pakistaní por los derechos humanos, valiente crítica de la interferencia de los militares en la política, y firme defensora del estado de derecho.
Fue la fundadora y presidenta de la Human Rights Commission of Pakistan [Comisión de Derechos Humanos de Pakistán, un grupo independiente], y una de las administradoras del International Crisis Group. Obtuvo premios internacionales, y fue Relatora Especial de Naciones Unidas sobre derechos humanos y ejecuciones extrajudiciales.
Es recordada con afecto por sus colegas y amigxs de AWID
«Con su vida, Asma reescribió la historia que a muchas nos contaron, como mujeres. Asma cambió el mundo. Lo cambió en Pakistán, y lo cambió en nuestras imaginaciones.»
¿Puedo responder la encuesta por fuera de KOBO y compartir las respuestas con ustedes a través de correo electrónico?
Salvo que existan cuestiones de accesibilidad o que respondas la encuesta en otro idioma, alentamos encarecidamente a usar KOBO a los efectos de contar con una recopilación y un análisis de datos estandarizados para la investigación ¿Dónde está el dinero?
¿Qué labor realiza AWID?
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Écoutez cette histoire ici :
Cynthia Nicole
Olivia Arévalo Lomas
Olivia était la cheffe spirituelle des peuples autochtones Shipibo Konibo.
Sage femme et grand-mère autochtone, elle était connue pour sa préservation de la médecine traditionnelle et des chants sacrés de son peuple (les íkaros). Olivia Arévalo était une défenseure engagée en faveur des droits culturels et environnementaux de son peuple. L’assassinat d’Olivia s’est produit dans un contexte de conflit territorial entre la communauté Shipibo et les entreprises qui souhaitent s’accaparer leurs terres pour cultiver de l’huile de palme.
Les membres de sa communauté ont déclaré: « Sa mort est une agression contre toute la communauté Shipibo. Elle était la mémoire vivante de son peuple ».
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Il y a 47 questions au total, dont 27 obligatoires* et 20 autres facultatives. La plupart sont des questions à choix multiple. Nous vous invitons à répondre à toutes les questions.
Les organisations peuvent-elles devenir membres de l’AWID ?
Oui, nous encourageons l’adhésion institutionnelle.
Nous comptons actuellement parmi nos membres plusieurs centaines d’organisations parmi les plus connues et novatrices. Les critères d’adhésion sont les mêmes que pour les personnes, mais les cotisations diffèrent et les services proposés tentent de répondre à leurs besoins particuliers.
Snippet FEA In numbers (EN)
IN NUMBERS
Emilia Quan
Carmen Griffiths
Carmen was the Head of the Construction Resource and Development Collective (CRDC) and was instrumental in supporting women’s involvement in the construction industry in Jamaica.
She also worked on issues of disaster preparedness for rural and urban women. She worked closely with women (especially single mothers) teaching them how to use hurricane straps and other technology to secure their homes. She worked in the area of water and sanitation and was a strong advocate for sustainable environmental management and development.
She was a part of the Huairou Commission and advocated for grassroots women on such issues as shelter, energy, and sustainable livelihoods.
