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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

Young Feminist Activism

Organizing creatively, facing an increasing threat

Young feminist activists play a critical role in women’s rights organizations and movements worldwide by bringing up new issues that feminists face today. Their strength, creativity and adaptability are vital to the sustainability of feminist organizing.

At the same time, they face specific impediments to their activism such as limited access to funding and support, lack of capacity-building opportunities, and a significant increase of attacks on young women human rights defenders. This creates a lack of visibility that makes more difficult their inclusion and effective participation within women’s rights movements.

A multigenerational approach

AWID’s young feminist activism program was created to make sure the voices of young women are heard and reflected in feminist discourse. We want to ensure that young feminists have better access to funding, capacity-building opportunities and international processes. In addition to supporting young feminists directly, we are also working with women’s rights activists of all ages on practical models and strategies for effective multigenerational organizing.

Our Actions

We want young feminist activists to play a role in decision-making affecting their rights by:

  • Fostering community and sharing information through the Young Feminist Wire. Recognizing the importance of online media for the work of young feminists, our team launched the Young Feminist Wire in May 2010 to share information, build capacity through online webinars and e-discussions, and encourage community building.

  • Researching and building knowledge on young feminist activism, to increase the visibility and impact of young feminist activism within and across women’s rights movements and other key actors such as donors.

  • Promoting more effective multigenerational organizing, exploring better ways to work together.

  • Supporting young feminists to engage in global development processes such as those within the United Nations

  • Collaboration across all of AWID’s priority areas, including the Forum, to ensure young feminists’ key contributions, perspectives, needs and activism are reflected in debates, policies and programs affecting them.

Related Content

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Image with purple background. The words: AWID at CSW - Reclaiming Feminist Power. New York.

Salome Chagelishvili

Biography

Salome est une activiste féministe originaire de Tbilisi, Géorgie, qui se consacre à la justice de genre et sociale. Titulaire d’une Maîtrise en études sur le genre, elle s’est impliquée auprès de mouvements féministes, queers et écologiques au cours des neuf dernières années, travaillant entre autres sur les questions de la violence liée au genre, la violence domestique, la santé sexuelle et reproductive et les droits afférents, les droits LGBTIQ et la sécurité et les droits holistiques et numériques.

Depuis 2014, elle travaille activement sur les questions de sécurité et de sûreté des activistes et des femmes défenseures des droits humains, organisant des ateliers sur la sécurité intégrée et la sécurité numérique spécialement pour les activistes de groupes défavorisés (personnes homosexuelles, minorités ethniques et religieuses, femmes et filles rurales, etc.) ainsi que pour de grandes organisations féministes. Salome est membre de l’Independent Group of Feminists (Groupe indépendant de féministes)- une initiative non-formelle, non hiérarchique et non enregistrée qui réunit des féministes géorgiennes ayant différents parcours. Elle travaille actuellement avec le Fonds pour les femmes de Géorgie, où elle est pleinement impliquée dans la construction de mouvements de femmes/féministes, tout en offrant un financement féministe et encourageant la philanthropie féministe locale.

 

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Snippet FEA Metzineres has supported (EN)

Since its foundation,

Metzineres has supported over:

383

people

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Why should I take this survey?

Patience Chabururuka

Biography

Patience is a global human resources professional with over a decade of experience in human resources (HR) management in the not-for-profit sector. Patience previously worked at Mercy Corps as the Global HR Officer for Africa supporting the full employee life cycle for expatriates in the Eastern and Southern African region and provided HR technical guidance to Human Resources leaders in country offices within the African region. Before joining the global people team, she was the Country Human Resources and Safeguarding Focal Point, she was part of the senior management team leading on all human resources and safeguarding matters. Prior to Mercy Corps she led the HR and Operations department at SNV Netherlands Development Organization and was a member of the country management team. She also has HR Consultancy experience which she gained while she was still studying for her BSc Honors degree in Human Resource Management. She has a passion for HR, loves working with people and she takes wellbeing and safeguarding as her core values and in her professional work. As someone who loves sports, you can also find Patience at the basketball court, the tennis court or on the soccer field.

Position
Human Resources Coordinator
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Les droits des femmes et l’égalité de-s genre-s – La rubrique ‘Point de mire’ sur TheGuardian.com

Clone of Snippet FEA Environments Of Shelter (EN)

Metzineres provides the following kinds of support, known as

Environments of Shelter:

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The Cover
Care and healing environment

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The Powerful
Self-protection and strengthening

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The Ivy
Community and neighborhood

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The Howl
Participation and activism

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The Bold
Production and entrepreneurship

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Artisana
Art and creativity

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Pour renforcer notre voix et notre pouvoir collectifs en faveur de davantage de financement de meilleure qualité pour l’organisation des mouvements féministes, de défense des droits des femmes, des personnes LBTQI+ et des mouvements alliés dans le monde entier.

Debbie Stothard

Biography

Durante sus 38 años de carrera, Debbie Stothard ha trabajado con diferentes comunidades y activistas para involucrar en los derechos humanos y la justicia a los Estados, organizaciones intergubernamentales y otras partes interesadas a lo largo de Asia, África, Europa y las Américas. Su trabajo está enfocado en las prioridades temáticas de las empresas y en los derechos humanos, en la prevención de las atrocidades y en el liderazgo de las mujeres. Por ello, ha sido facilitadora o persona de referencia en casi 300 eventos de capacitación durante los últimos 15 años. La mayoría fueron talleres orientados a las bases, desarrollados en el terreno, centrados en la incidencia en derechos humanos, alfabetización económica, en empresas y derechos humanos, y en justicia transicional y prevención de las atrocidades. Su trabajo en justicia transicional y prevención de las atrocidades ha estado enfocado principalmente en Burma/Myanmar, aunque también ha proveído asesoramiento para responder a situaciones de otros países alrededor del mundo.

Entre 1981 y 1996, Debbie trabajó como periodista especializada en crímenes, activista estudiantil, analista política, académica, consejera de gobierno y proveedora de comida en Malasia y Australia, mientras era voluntaria en causas de derechos humanos. En 1996, fundó ALTSEAN-Burma, que encabezó una variedad de programas de innovación y empoderamiento en derechos humanos. Entre ellos, el programa intensivo permanente de liderazgo de ALTSEAN para diferentes mujeres jóvenes de Burma, que, durante los últimos 22 años, ha ayudado a fortalecer y ampliar el liderazgo de las mujeres en las zonas afectadas por el conflicto. Se desempeñó como integrante de la Junta de la Federación Internacional de Derechos Humanos (FIDH) durante 9 años como secretaria general adjunta (2010-2013) y secretaria general (2013-2019), durante los cuales promovió la misión y el perfil de la FIDH en, aproximadamente, 100 reuniones y conferencias por año.

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Remembering: A Tribute to WHRDs no longer with us

AWID honors feminists and Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) who have died and whose contributions to the advancement of human rights are very much missed.


Celebrating Activists and WHRDs

AWID’s WHRD Tribute is a photo exhibition featuring feminist, women’s rights and social justice activists from around the world who are no longer with us. 

The Tribute was first launched in 2012, at AWID’s 12th International Forum, in Turkey. It took shape with a physical exhibit of portraits and biographies of feminists and activists who passed away. The initiative was described by Forum participants as being a unique, moving and energizing way to commemorate our collective history.

At the 13th International Forum in Brazil, we honored activists and WHRDs with a mural unveiling ceremony in four languages, a dance performance and a Brazilian ritual.

In between the events, the Tribute lives as an online gallery that is updated every year as part of the 16 Days Campaign Against Gender Based Violence (25 November – 10 December).

Contributions from all over the world

Since 2012, through our annual Tribute to Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) no longer with us, over 400 feminists and WHRDs from 11 regions and 80 countries have been featured. 

AWID would like to thank the families and organizations who shared their personal stories and contributed to this memorial. We join them in continuing the remarkable work of these women and forging efforts to ensure justice is achieved in cases that remain in impunity.

Visit the WHRD Tribute online exhibit

The violence and threaths against WHRDs persist

In addition to paying homage to these incredible activists, the Tribute particularly sheds light on the plight of WHRDs who have been assassinated or disappeared.

One third of those featured in the Tribute were activists who have been murdered or disappeared in suspicious circumstances. They were specifically targeted for who they were and the work they did to challenge: 

  • State power
  • Heteronormativity
  • Fundamentalisms
  • Corporations
  • Patriarchy
  • Organized Crime
  • Corruption
  • Militarization…

Women like Agnes Torres, from Mexico, was killed because of her gender identity and sexual orientation; or Cheryl Ananayo, an environmental activist from the Philippines was assassinated as she struggled against a mining company; or Ruqia Hassan, a Syrian independent journalist and blogger killed for her criticism of ISIS. And so many others.

With the WHRD Tribute, we bring them all into our collective memory and carry their legacy of struggle as our torch in the feminists’ and women’s rights movements. We recognize that security, safety and self-care must be a priority in all our political agendas. And we call on to governments and international bodies to collectively address violence against feminists and WHRDs.

We believe this is a critical step to ensure the sustainability of our movements for gender equality, women’s rights, and justice for all.

Visit the WHRD Tribute online exhibit

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Yellow and pink cog wheels

La Osada
Producción y emprendimiento

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About Where is the Money? research

The global survey is a key pillar of the third iteration of our action-oriented research: “Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing?” (in short, Where is the Money or WITM). The results of the survey will be further elaborated and explored through in-depth conversations with activists and funders and cross-referenced with other existing analysis and research on the state of funding for feminists and gender equality globally. 

The full “Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing” report will be published in 2026.

To learn more how AWID has been shining a light on money for and against feminist movements check out the work of our Resourcing Feminist Movements Initiative here.

Simone Jagger

Biography

Simone has 20 years’ experience working in management support and administration in non-profit organizations, in particular post-graduate medical education and ICT training. She has qualifications in Management Support and Paralegal studies. She is based in South Africa, enjoys traveling and is an amateur Genealogist.

Position
Executive Assistant
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