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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.

Related Content

Snippet - WITM Our objectives - EN

Our research objectives

1

Provide AWID members, movement partners and funders with an updated, powerful, evidence-based, and action-oriented analysis of the resourcing realities of feminist movements and current state of the feminist funding ecosystem.

2

Identify and demonstrate opportunities to shift more and better funding for feminist organizing, expose false solutions and disrupt trends that make funding miss and/or move against gender justice and intersectional feminist agendas.

3

Articulate feminist visions, proposals and agendas for resourcing justice.

Snippet FEA EoS The Cover (FR)

Illustration of a pink human in white underwear doing a power pose

La puissante
Autoprotection et renforcement

Juhi

Biography

Juhi es una entusiasta de las tecnologías. Posee una licenciatura en Ingeniería Informática de la Universidad Tecnológica de Gujarat y formación de posgrado en Telecomunicaciones Inalámbricas y Gestión de Proyectos del Instituto Universitario Humber. Apasionada de la resolución de problemas y de mantenerse a la vanguardia en el panorama tecnológico en constante evolución, Juhi se ha encontrado recorriendo diversas industrias como técnica en Tecnologías de la Información. Ha tenido oportunidad de aplicar sus competencias técnicas en distintos entornos, siempre abrazando los nuevos desafíos con entusiasmo. Más allá de los códigos y los circuitos, le encantan las aventuras de la vida. Explorar nuevos lugares y culturas es para ella una bocanada de aire fresco. Ya sea que se trate de descubrir alguna joya oculta en la ciudad, de probar algún plato exótico o de embarcarse en algún deporte de aventura, Juhi siempre está predispuesta a vivir nuevas experiencias.

Position
Coordinadora, Apoyo en Tecnologías de la Información
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Why should I consider responding to the survey?

There are many reasons why your response to the WITM survey matters. The survey offers the opportunity to share your lived experience of mobilizing funding to support your organizing; claim your power as an expert on how money moves and who it reaches; and contribute to collective and consistent advocacy to funders moving more and better funding. Over the last two decades, AWID’s WITM research has proven to be a key resource for activists and funders. We wholeheartedly invite you to join us in its third iteration to highlight the actual state of resourcing, challenge false solutions, and point out how funding must change for movements to thrive and meet the complex challenges of our times.

Snippet FEA Ecofeminism (EN)

WEST AFRICA

NOUS SOMMES LA SOLUTION
We are the Solution

ECOFEMINISM:

Respect for all we have around us

Patience Chabururuka

Biography

Patience est une professionnelle internationale des ressources humaines avec plus d'une décennie d'expérience dans la gestion des ressources humaines (RH) dans le secteur non lucratif. Elle a travaillé auparavant chez Mercy Corps en tant que responsable générale des ressources humaines pour l'Afrique. Elle y a appuyé le cycle de vie complet des employé·e·s expatrié·e·s dans la région de l'Afrique de l'Est et de l'Afrique australe et fourni des conseils techniques RH aux responsables des ressources humaines dans les bureaux nationaux de la région africaine. Avant de rejoindre l'équipe internationale des ressources humaines, elle agissait en tant que point focal national ressources humaines et protection, et faisait partie de l'équipe de direction qui traitait de toutes les questions de ressources humaines et de protection. Avant de rejoindre Mercy Corps, elle dirigeait le département des ressources humaines et des opérations de l'organisation de développement des Pays-Bas SNV et était membre de l'équipe de direction nationale. Elle possède également une expérience de consultance en ressources humaines qu'elle a acquise alors qu'elle étudiait encore pour sa licence spécialisée en gestion des ressources humaines. Elle est passionnée de RH, aime travailler avec les gens et considère le bien-être et la protection dans ses valeurs fondamentales et son travail professionnel. Amatrice de sport, Patience peut également être aperçue sur un terrain de basket, un court de tennis ou encore un terrain de football.

Position
Coordonnatrice des Ressources Humaines
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En nuestro caso, reorientamos dinero a nuestros socios beneficiarios y nos identificamos como fondo de mujeres/feminista, ¿deberíamos responder la encuesta?

No. Valoramos muchísimo su trabajo, pero no estamos buscando respuestas de fondos de mujeres/feministas por el momento. Alentamos a compartir la encuesta con sus socios beneficiarios y con sus redes feministas.

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

Est-il possible de répondre en dehors de la plateforme KOBO et de vous transmettre mes réponses par courriel?

Sauf si vous avez des problèmes d’accessibilité et/ou que vous répondez aux questions de l’enquête dans une autre langue, nous vous encourageons fortement à utiliser KOBO pour une collecte et une analyse standardisées des données WITM.

Snippet FEA Objectives NSS Family Farming (ES)

AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR, AGROECOLOGÍA Y SOBERANÍA ALIMENTARIA

Circle in mustard yellow with the illustration of a rural woman with brown skin and a blue dress, with a hoe tool on her left shoulder.
Promover la agricultura familiar a través de la agroecología y la soberanía alimentaria

Jemimah Naburri-Kaheru

Biography

Jemimah Naburri-Kaheru est une stratège internationale accomplie en matière de ressources humaines à impact profond dans la région de la Corne de l'Afrique. Jemimah était auparavant responsable régionale des ressources humaines et du bureau de l'Initiative stratégique pour les femmes dans la Corne de l'Afrique (SIHA) . Son influence s’est étendue jusqu’à la direction des ressources humaines de plus de 70 employé·e·s régionaux·ales, alors que l'organisation connaissait une croissance rapide, avec une augmentation de 40 % de ses revenus annuels. Tout au long de sa carrière, Jemimah a orchestré avec succès des efforts de recrutement, introduit des systèmes de performance basés sur le mérite, de même que supervisé les relations avec les employé·e·s et les politiques RH. Elle a joué un rôle central dans le soutien aux stratégies mondiales de personnel. Avec une formation universitaire en Études de Développement de l'Université de Makerere (Ouganda) et un Master en Gestion des Ressources Humaines, Jemimah est évidemment engagée envers le développement professionnel. Sa contribution à des effectifs hautement performants et à un leadership international en matière de ressources humaines la positionne comme un atout inestimable dans toute entreprise mondiale.

Position
Directrice adjointe des ressources humaines
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