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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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تمويل مشاركتك

Snippet Organising to Win_Fest (EN)

Plenary session:

Organising to Win

Margarita Salas, AWID
Nazik Abylgaziva, Labrys
Amaranta Gómez Regalado, Secretariado Internacional de Pueblos Indígenas frente al VIH/sida, la Sexualidad y los Derechos Humanos
Cindy Weisner, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Lucineia Freitas, Movimento Sem Terra

watch plenary

 

Ekaete Judith Umoh

Biography

Ekaete Judith Umoh is an international disability rights advocate and inclusive development expert with astute analysis of issues regarding gender, disability and inclusive development. Her dream is to see increased visibility of women and girls with disabilities in the global feminist movement, as well as in all development efforts around the world.

Ekaete enjoys activism and politics, and went on to become the first elected female President of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) in Nigeria, where she led Organizations of Persons with disabilities in the struggle to sign the Nigerian Disability Bill into Law in 2019, after over 17 years of consistent advocacy. Thereafter, she joined CBM Global as a pioneer Country Director and led her team for about 3 years, contributing towards ending the circle of poverty and disability in Nigeria. Aside from disability activism, Ekaete has served as consultant to several development agencies, providing technical assistance on disability inclusion in program and project design.

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Diakite Fatoumata Sire

Diakite was actively involved in advocating for women in political and public life in Mali.

She worked to support training of women candidates in elections, and spoke out against the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). She was a strong proponent of reproductive health and rights. 


 

Diakite Fatoumata Sire, Mali

มีวิธีการจัดกิจกรรมแบบเฉพาะเจาะจงที่ผู้จัดต้องการหรือไม่?

ในหัวข้อ เปิดรับสมัครกิจกรรม แสดงรายการรูปแบบและวิธีการจัดกิจกรรมที่แนะนำจำนวนหนึ่ง ใช้ความคิดสร้างสรรค์และอย่าลืมอ่านหัวข้อ “สิ่งที่คุณต้องรู้”

Snippet Festival Artwork_fest (ES)

Festival Art!

Featuring artwork by Upasana Agarwal, Ika Vantiani, & Naadira Patel.

Haga clic en las imágenes para agrandar

Por Upasana Agarwal

WebsiteInstagram

Anima Adjepong  "Yo me relaciono con lo queer como una práctica, como un servicio para la libertad. Lo queer perturba el orden normativo en el que vivimos a fin de crear otra cosa, se trata del liderazgo más allá del individuo"
Anwulika Okonjo «Lxs feministas son constructorxs de mundos»
Dilar Dirik «Debemos asegurarnos de que el feminismo sea una amenaza para el sistema» «Ya no necesitamos solamente ser solidarixs entre nosotrxs, necesitamos nuevas plataformas de luchas en común»
Makgosi Letimile «Los juguetes sexuales no deberían ser un lujo. Deberían ser accesibles y económicos.»
Manal Tamimi «Ustedes son el fuego que permite a todxs conservar el calor»
Nana Akosua Hanson «El arte nos permite crear una realidad alternativa»
Nomsa Sizani « Ocupar esta tierra es otra forma de repudiar este sistema capitalista» «Si no lo hacemos nosotrxs mismxs, nadie nos liberará»
Sandie Hanna «Ocupar esta tierra es otra forma de repudiar este sistema capitalista.» «Si no lo hacemos nosotrxs mismxs, nadie nos liberará»
Vandana Shiva «El panel de hoy es un hermoso despertar del mundo que es posible»
Yannia S. Garzón «Recuperar la dignidad de ser una mujer negra es lo que me mantiene viva»
Dr. Angelique V. Nixon "Escucha a tu cuerpo. Es más inteligente que tú."
 Patricia Wattimena "Yo quiero un futuro donde las economías estén al servicio de las mujeres y no las mujeres al servicio de las economías”

Por Ika Vantiani

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Collage of Mariama Sonko
Collage of Nomsa Sizani
Artistic collage featuring Yania Sofia

Por Naadira Patel 

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Illustration of several women of color with text that says: Moving from Transactional to Transformative
Illustration of three hand outstretched. Two are spilling seeds into the other. In the center there is planet Earth and a woman walking over plants. The text reads "To defy capitalism we occupy land acting as custodians of diversity"

Alejandra Morena

Biography

Alejandra is passionate about women’s rights and gender justice. She dreams of creating a world that centers care – for people and nature. As a feminist human rights expert, she’s worked at the intersections of gender, climate, social and economic justice at various international organizations. Her areas of expertise include knowledge building and co-creation, research, facilitation, and advocacy. She holds a MA in Human Rights from the University of Essex and has authored and co-developed many publications, including the article “Enraged: Women and Nature”. The campaign Feminist Activism Without Fear draws on interviews and research carried out by Alejandra. 

Originally from Argentina, she has lived and worked in several countries in Europe and Latin America over the past two decades. Alejandra loves photography, the sea, baking with her daughter, and enjoying food from around the world. As a mother, she aims to be a cycle breaker. Alejandra draws energy and inspiration from the amazing women in her life, who are spread in many corners of the world.

Position
Research & Advocacy Lead, Resourcing Feminist Movements
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Andaiye

Andaiye in Swahili means ‘a daughter comes home’. Born Sandra Williams on 11 September 1942 in Georgetown, Guyana, she changed her name to ‘Andaiye’ in 1970 as the Black Power movements swept her country and the wider Caribbean region. 

Andaiye was seen as a transformative figure on the frontlines of the struggles for liberation and freedom. She was an early member and active in the leadership of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a socialist party in Guyana which fought against authoritarian rule and continued throughout her life to focus on justice for the working-class and rural women’s rights and on bridging ethnic barriers between Indo and Afro-Guyanese women. 

Andaiye was a founding member of Red Thread Women, an organization that advocated for women’s care work to be fairly remunerated, worked at the University of the West Indies and with CARICOM. Never afraid to challenge governments, she pointed out gender imbalances in state boards, laws that discriminated against sex workers, called for abortion rights in Jamaica and spoke out against trade agreements such as the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allowed for the free movement of women domestic migrant workers but did not give their children the same rights.  

Andaiye published several scholarly essays, wrote newspaper columns and also edited the last books of Walter Rodney, the Guyanese political activist and fellow WPA leader, who was assassinated in 1980. A cancer survivor, Andaiye was one of the founders of the Guyana Cancer Society and the Cancer Survivors’ Action Group. She also served on the executive of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA), as a Director of Help and Shelter and as Board Member of the Guyana National Commission on Women. She received a number of awards, including the Golden Arrow of Achievement in Guyana (the fourth highest national award).

Andaiye passed away on 31 May 2019 at the age of 77. The subsequent tributes that flowed in from activists, friends and those inspired by her life spoke eloquently to her amazing legacy and her beautiful humanity.

Here are but a few: 

“Andaiye had a profound effect on me...she was so many things, an educator, fighter, she taught me to be self-critical, to think more clearly, she taught me about survival, about incredible courage, about compassion, about going beyond external appearances and treating people as people and not being distracted by status, class, race...anything.”
- Peggy Antrobus, Feminist Activist, Author, Scholar, Barbados

“The kind of confident idealism Andaiye expressed, this willingness to confront the world and a stubborn belief that you could actually change it... That politics of hope...How else to honour her life, legacy and memory but to keep doing the work ethically and with ongoing self-critique? And to put women’s caring work at the center of it.”
- Tonya Haynes, Barbados

“I can hear her quip at our collective keening. So through the tears I can laugh. Deep bows to you beloved Andaiye, thank you for everything. Love and light for your spirit’s journey. Tell Walter and all the ancestors howdy.” - Carol Narcisse, Jamaica

Read more tributes to Andaiye

لم أسافر من قبل. ماذا يجب أن أعرف؟

نحن نعلم أن السفر لأول مرة يمكن أن يكون مثيرًا ولكنه مرهق أيضًا. وإدراكًا للتحديات العديدة التي ينطوي عليها الأمر، سنقدم المزيد من المعلومات والتفاصيل حول كيفية الوصول إلى بانكوك عندما يتم فتح التسجيل في أوائل العام المقبل.

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¡Descarga nuestro fondo de zoom y postal imprimible!

diseñado por Ellena Ekarahendy

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Descarga aquí

¿De dónde obtiene AWID su financiamiento?

El trabajo de AWID es posible gracias al apoyo financiero de una amplia gama de donantes, incluyendo agencias multilaterales y bilaterales, fundaciones privadas y fondos de mujeres.

Consulta la lista actualizada de donantes

Paula Andrea Rosero Ordóñez

"[Ella] era una persona que se caracterizaba por su arduo trabajo a favor de la defensa de los derechos humanos y la construcción de la paz en Nariño, especialmente en el municipio de Samaniego-Nariño". - Jorge Luis Congacha Yunda para Página10.

Paula Andrea Rosero Ordóñez fue abogada de primera instancia en la oficina del Ministerio Público en Samaniego, Nariño, la principal agencia de defensa de los derechos de la ciudadanía en Colombia.

Paula se  especializó en los derechos civiles y políticos, las  problemáticas de la impunidad y la justicia, y contribuyó a descubrir abusos de poder, incluida la corrupción. Paula participó también en proyectos para la consolidación de la paz en su ciudad natal, Samaniego, a través del Consejo Municipal de Paz y la Junta Municipal de Mujeres.

Paula recibió amenazas de muerte tras exponer el manejo irregular de los recursos y de denunciar actos de corrupción en el Hospital Lorencita Villegas del municipio nariñense. Fue asesinada el 20 de mayo de 2019, cuando dos hombres se acercaron y le dispararon a corta distancia. 

คำถามของฉันยังไม่ได้ถูกตอบจากข้อมูลนี้

หากคำถามเพิ่มเติมอื่นๆ กรุณาติดต่อเรา เราจะอัปเดทเนื้อหานี้อยู่เสมอจากคำถามต่างๆที่เราได้รับจากคุณ

Snippet Love Letters Intro (FR)

Lettres d’amour Aux Mouvements Féministes

Peut-être savez-vous déjà que l’AWID fête ses 40 ans en 2022. Mais saviez-vous que nous avons retenu pour thèmes « Rassembler, semer et perturber » ? Pour célébrer cette occasion comme il se doit, nous avons invité des membres, des partenaires et du personnel de l’AWID à écrire leur propre « lettre d’amour aux mouvements féministes ». Ensemble, nous avons créé une constellation de mouvements féministes. Restez près de nous alors que nous poursuivons notre chemin, pour rassembler, semer et perturber !

Une remarque sur notre collection de lettres d'amour :

Toutes ces lettres ont été écrites par des activistes qui font part de leurs expériences diverses au sein des mouvements féministes. Certaines peuvent inclure du contenu difficile ou éprouvant à propos d’abus, de violence sexuelle, de conflit, d’exclusion ou d’autres éléments potentiellement déclencheurs ou perturbants. Ces lettres sont emplies d’amour, mais restez néanmoins attentifs·ves à vos émotions lorsque vous les lirez.

Les hommes peuvent-ils adhérer à l’AWID ?

Oui, l’adhésion à l’AWID est ouverte à tous ceux et à toutes celles qui partagent nos valeurs.

Nombre d’hommes qui partagent notre engagement vis-à-vis du féminisme et des droits humains des femmes sont membres de l’AWID.

Rencontrez nos membres