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Special Focus

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

Women Human Rights Defenders

WHRDs are self-identified women and lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LBTQI) people and others who defend rights and are subject to gender-specific risks and threats due to their human rights work and/or as a direct consequence of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

WHRDs are subject to systematic violence and discrimination due to their identities and unyielding struggles for rights, equality and justice.

The WHRD Program collaborates with international and regional partners as well as the AWID membership to raise awareness about these risks and threats, advocate for feminist and holistic measures of protection and safety, and actively promote a culture of self-care and collective well being in our movements.


Risks and threats targeting WHRDs  

WHRDs are exposed to the same types of risks that all other defenders who defend human rights, communities, and the environment face. However, they are also exposed to gender-based violence and gender-specific risks because they challenge existing gender norms within their communities and societies.

By defending rights, WHRDs are at risk of:

  • Physical assault and death
  • Intimidation and harassment, including in online spaces
  • Judicial harassment and criminalization
  • Burnout

A collaborative, holistic approach to safety

We work collaboratively with international and regional networks and our membership

  • to raise awareness about human rights abuses and violations against WHRDs and the systemic violence and discrimination they experience
  • to strengthen protection mechanisms and ensure more effective and timely responses to WHRDs at risk

We work to promote a holistic approach to protection which includes:

  • emphasizing the importance of self-care and collective well being, and recognizing that what care and wellbeing mean may differ across cultures
  • documenting the violations targeting WHRDs using a feminist intersectional perspective;
  • promoting the social recognition and celebration of the work and resilience of WHRDs ; and
  • building civic spaces that are conducive to dismantling structural inequalities without restrictions or obstacles

Our Actions

We aim to contribute to a safer world for WHRDs, their families and communities. We believe that action for rights and justice should not put WHRDs at risk; it should be appreciated and celebrated.

  • Promoting collaboration and coordination among human rights and women’s rights organizations at the international level to  strengthen  responses concerning safety and wellbeing of WHRDs.

  • Supporting regional networks of WHRDs and their organizations, such as the Mesoamerican Initiative for WHRDs and the WHRD Middle East and North Africa  Coalition, in promoting and strengthening collective action for protection - emphasizing the establishment of solidarity and protection networks, the promotion of self-care, and advocacy and mobilization for the safety of WHRDs;

  • Increasing the visibility and recognition of  WHRDs and their struggles, as well as the risks that they encounter by documenting the attacks that they face, and researching, producing, and disseminating information on their struggles, strategies, and challenges:

  • Mobilizing urgent responses of international solidarity for WHRDs at risk through our international and regional networks, and our active membership.

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Defending our land and ourselves from corporate power

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This economical model exploits nature and as it intensifies, so does the inequality between global North with their large corporations, and the global South, where resources are extracted.

Land contamination, water pollution, environmental damage, communities displaced are only some of the consequences.

Find more on our report on EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

There are sustainable alternatives for the environment and women's rights.

 

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Agradecimentos

A AWID agradece sinceramente às várias pessoas cujas ideias, análises e contribuições moldaram a pesquisa e a defesa do “Onde está o dinheiro” ao longo dos anos.

Em primeiro lugar, os nossos mais sinceros agradecimentos aos membres da AWID e às ativistas que participaram nas colaborações com o WITM e testaram este questionário connosco, ao partilhar tão generosamente o seu tempo, análise e espírito.

Agradecemos aos movimentos feministas, aos aliados e aos fundos feministas, incluindo, mas não se limitando ao Black Feminist Fund, Pacific Feminist Fund, ASTREA, FRIDA Young Feminist Fund, Purposeful, Kosovo Women's Network, Human Rights Funders Network, CEECCNA Feminist Fund e PROSPERA, pelas suas investigações rigorosas sobre o estado de financiamento, pela análise perspicaz e pela defesa contínua de mais recursos de melhor qualidade e poder para a organização feminista e de justiça de género em todos os contextos.

Junte-se à comunidade global de feministas que se manifestam sobre o estado de financiamento, e exigem mais recursos de melhor qualidade e poder para feministas globalmente.

Carmen de la Cruz

Carmen tuvo una larga carrera en la defensa de los derechos de las mujeres tanto en organizaciones no gubernamentales como en el sistema de las Naciones Unidas.

Dio clases en varias universidades españolas y latinoamericanas y publicó numerosos artículos e informes sobre mujeres, género y paz en países en desarrollo. Sus escritos y reflexiones críticas repercutieron en toda una generación de mujeres jóvenes.

En sus últimos años, fue responsable del Área Práctica de Género en el Centro Regional para América Latina del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD), desde donde apoyó iniciativas muy valiosas en favor de la igualdad de género y los derechos humanos de las mujeres.


 

Carmen de la Cruz, Argentina/ Spain
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Snippet FEA different lines of work S4 (ES)

Líneas de trabajo:

EN CONTRA DE

Voici votre guide pratique et les infographies «Vers un écosystème de financement féministe»

مجموعتنا، منظمتنا و\أو حركتنا غير مسجلة. هل علينا تعبئة الاستطلاع؟

نعم! نريد أن نسمع منكم/ن عن تجربتكم/ن بالتمويل.

Efua Dorkenoo

Affectueusement connue sous le nom de « Mama Efua », Efua a lutté contre les mutilations génitales féminines (MGF) pendant trois décennies et a contribué à attirer l'attention et l'action de la communauté internationale pour mettre fin à cette pratique néfaste.

En 1983, Efua a cofondé FORWARD (fondation pour la santé, la recherche et le développement des femmes), qui est devenue une organisation de premier plan dans la lutte contre les MGF. Son livre intitulé « Cutting the Rose: Female Genital Mutilation »  (couper la rose), publié en 1994, est considéré comme le premier ouvrage sur les mutilations génitales féminines. Il figure parmi « Les 100 meilleurs livres africains du XXe siècle » de l’Université de Columbia.

Originaire du Ghana et infirmière de formation, Efua a rejoint l'OMS en 1995 et a réussi à faire en sorte que les mutilations génitales féminines fassent partie des agendas politiques des États membres de l'OMS. Elle a également travaillé en étroite collaboration avec le gouvernement nigérian pour élaborer une politique nationale globale qui servirait de base légale aux lois nigérianes contre les mutilations et qui est toujours en vigueur à ce jour.

Son travail de pionnière a abouti à une campagne menée par l'Afrique intitulée « The Girl Generation », qui s'est engagée à mettre fin aux MGF en une génération. Efua a montré comment une seule personne peut devenir la voix unificatrice d'un mouvement : « Une identité partagée peut aider à rassembler des activistes d'horizons différents dans un but commun ». Ces mots, emplis de sagesse, sont plus pertinents que jamais.


 

Efua Dorkenoo, Ghana
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Snippet FEA Decent Pay (FR)

Illustration d'une main à la peau blanche tenant de l'argent rose sur un fond turquoise.

DES SALAIRES DÉCENTS

The AWID Forum Access Fund

We strive to make the AWID Forum a truly global gathering with participation from a diverse array of movements, regions and generations. To this end, AWID mobilizes resources for a limited Access Fund (AF) to assist some participants with the costs of attending the Forum. 

The 14th AWID International Forum will take place 11-14 January 2021, in Taipei, Taiwan. 


How will  the Access Fund be allocated?

For this AWID Forum, there will be no application process. 

Access Fund grants will be allocated by invitation only to:

  • Two  persons per activity selected for the Forum program (decided by those organizations, groups or individuals organizing the activity) 
  • Participants who identify as part of Priority Forum  Constituencies (PFCs) recommended by the organizations, networks and groups who are co-creating the Forum with AWID. 
  • PFCs are those which we consider would strengthen our collective power as movements, are not centered in mainstream feminist movements, and whose Feminist Realities we would like to honor, celebrate and visibilize: 
    - Black feminists 
    - Indigenous feminists
    - Trans, gender non-conforming and intersex feminists
    - Feminists with disabilities 
    - Feminist sex workers and informal workers, including migrant workers
    - Feminists affected by migration 
    - Women affected by drug policy
    - Feminists from the Forum regions (with a focus on the Pacific and mainland China) 

In addition, AWID will fund approximately 100 participants from the Forum’s location. Forum Committee Members (Content and Methodology, Access and Host) as well as those in the Artists Working Group [link] are also granted Access Fund support.

What does the Access Fund cover?

For selected participants, the Access Fund will cover the cost of their:

  • Flight
  • Accommodation
  • Visa
  • Local transportation in Taipei
  • Travel medical insurance

The Access Fund will NOT cover their: 

  • Forum registration fee
  • Transportation to and from the airport in their city of departure
  • Other incidental costs

Apart from the Access Fund, how can I fund my participation at the Forum?

We have listed other ideas on how to fund your participation at the AWID Forum on the Funding Ideas page. 

More Funding Ideas

Reason to join 1

Faites partie d’une organisation et d’une communauté internationales, associatives et féministes. Nos membres sont établi·e·s dans toutes les régions du monde; iels apprennent les un·e·s des autres et se soutiennent mutuellement dans un réseau mondial fondé sur la solidarité.

Как я могу получить доступ к опросу?

Опрос доступен на KOBO – открытой платформе для сбора, управления и визуализации данных. Чтобы принять участие, просто перейдите по ссылке здесь. Следуйте инструкциям, чтобы пройти опрос.

Su’ad Al-Ali

Su’ad was a strong advocate of women’s and children’s rights, and was the head of Al-Weed Al-Alaiami - an Iraqi human rights organisation.

She participated in the July 2018 demonstrations that took place in Basra and several other Iraqi cities protesting unemployment and demanding jobs and proper public services for citizens, as well as calling for the elimination of rampant corruption.

On 25 September 2018, Su’ad was assassinated in the Al-Abbasiyah district in downtown Basra. A video of the incident showed a person approaching her as she was getting into her car, firing a bullet at the back of her head and pointing another bullet at her driver Hussain Hassan, who was injured in the shoulder. Al-Ali was 46 and the mother of four children.


 

Su'ad Al Ali, Iraq