Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) worldwide defend their lands, livelihoods and communities from extractive industries and corporate power. They stand against powerful economic and political interests driving land theft, displacement of communities, loss of livelihoods, and environmental degradation.
Extractivism is an economic and political model of development that commodifies nature and prioritizes profit over human rights and the environment. Rooted in colonial history, it reinforces social and economic inequalities locally and globally. Often, Black, rural and Indigenous women are the most affected by extractivism, and are largely excluded from decision-making. Defying these patriarchal and neo-colonial forces, women rise in defense of rights, lands, people and nature.
WHRDs confronting extractive industries experience a range of risks, threats and violations, including criminalization, stigmatization, violence and intimidation. Their stories reveal a strong aspect of gendered and sexualized violence. Perpetrators include state and local authorities, corporations, police, military, paramilitary and private security forces, and at times their own communities.
AWID and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC) are pleased to announce “Women Human Rights Defenders Confronting Extractivism and Corporate Power”; a cross-regional research project documenting the lived experiences of WHRDs from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
"Women Human Rights Defenders confronting extractive industries: an overview of critical risks and Human Rights obligations" is a policy report with a gender perspective. It analyses forms of violations and types of perpetrators, quotes relevant human rights obligations and includes policy recommendations to states, corporations, civil society and donors.
"Weaving resistance through action: Strategies of Women Human Rights Defenders confronting extractive industries" is a practical guide outlining creative and deliberate forms of action, successful tactics and inspiring stories of resistance.
The video “Defending people and planet: Women confronting extractive industries” puts courageous WHRDs from Africa, Asia, and Latin America in the spotlight. They share their struggles for land and life, and speak to the risks and challenges they face in their activism.
Challenging corporate power: Struggles for women’s rights, economic and gender justice is a research paper outlining the impacts of corporate power and offering insights into strategies of resistance.
AWID acknowledges with gratitude the invaluable input of every Woman Human Rights Defender who participated in this project. This project was made possible thanks to your willingness to generously and openly share your experiences and learnings. Your courage, creativity and resilience is an inspiration for us all. Thank you!
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Shines a light on the financial status of diverse feminist, women’s rights, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied movements in all regions and all contexts
Difusión del Borrador Cero del Documento Final
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Human and ethnic-territorial rights Ensuring the defense of human rights and Nature’s rights through alliance-building with local, national, regional and global actors and organizations. |
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Sustainable development Ensuring all economic, cultural and environmental activities contribute to sustainable development, food security and income generation, while respecting the self-determination and self-government of Afro-descendant communities. |
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Education and training Carrying out training for women and empowering them to carry out women’s rights advocacy in different political, social and economic spaces. For more information, see here! |
Pour collecter des données probantes qui sont centrées sur les réalités des féministes sur la manière dont l’argent est transféré et qui il atteint réellement.
Le processus de l’Organisation des Nations Unies (ONU) sur le financement du développement (FdD) vise à traiter différentes formes de financement du développement et de coopération pour le développement. Selon le Consensus de Monterrey, ce processus comporte six axes clés :
Paseando por el barrio del Raval en Barcelona, puede que te encuentres con Metzineres, una cooperativa feminista por y para mujerxs que consumen drogas y que sobreviven múltiples situaciones de vulnerabilidad.
Imagínate un lugar libre de estigma, donde lxs mujerxs puedan consumir drogas de manera segura. Un lugar que brinda seguridad, apoyo y acompañamiento a mujerxs cuyos derechos son sistemáticamente vulnerados por la guerra contra las drogas y que sufren violencia, discriminacion y represión como consecuencia.
Justo afuera de la entrada, lxs transeúntes y visitantes son recibidxs con una enorme pizarra que describe consejos, trucos, deseos y dibujos de personas que usan drogas. También hay un calendario que cuenta con una serie de actividades auto-gestionadas por la comunidad de Metzineres. Ya sean talleres de peluquería y cosmética, radio, teatro, comidas comunales ofrecidas a la comunidad o clases de defensa personal, ¡siempre hay algo que hacer!
La cooperativa proporciona sitios de consumo seguros, así como servicios que cubren las necesidades básicas de las personas. Hay camas, espacios de almacenamiento, duchas, baños, lavadoras y una pequeña terraza al aire libre donde la gente puede relajarse o hacer un poco de jardinería.
Metzineres opera dentro de un marco de reducción de daños, que intenta reducir las consecuencias negativas del uso de drogas. Pero la reducción de daños es mucho más que un conjunto de prácticas: es una política anclada en la justicia social, la dignidad y los derechos de las personas que consumen drogas.
On July 11, 2024, we had an amazing conversation with great feminists on the state of the funding ecosystem and the power of "Where is the Money?" research.
Special thanks to Cindy Clark (Thousand Currents), Sachini Perera (RESURJ), Vanessa Thomas (Black Feminist Fund), Lisa Mossberg (SIDA), and Althea Anderson (Hewlett Foundation).
L'appel à propositions est maintenant fermé.
Nous avons lancé un Appel à activités le 19 novembre 2019 et la date limite de réception des propositions était le14 février 2020.
Trouvez d'autres moyens de vous engager sur le chemin du Forum
Les soins comme fondations des économies
La pandémie du COVID-19 a mis en évidence la crise mondiale des soins et démontré les échecs du modèle économique dominant qui continue de détruire les services publics essentiels, les infrastructures sociales et les systèmes de soins dans le monde entier.
Cozinha Ocupaçao 9 Julho, de l’Association des Femmes Afro-Descendantes du Cauca du Nord (ASOM) et Metzineres ne sont que quelques exemples d'économies des soins qui se concentrent sur les besoins des personnes marginalisées et de la Nature, ainsi que sur le travail de soins, le travail reproductif, invisible et non rémunéré nécessaire pour assurer la pérennité de nos vies, de nos sociétés et de nos écosystèmes.
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We are excited to share our new Strategic Plan (2023-2027) with the world.
Fierce Feminisms is our way forward, acknowledging both the multiplicity of feminisms and the value of fierce and unapologetic drive for justice. The state of the world and of feminist movements calls for brave conversations and action. We look forward to working together with our members, partners and funders in creating the worlds we believe in, celebrating the wins and speaking truth to power in service of feminist movements globally.
Download: Fierce Feminisms: Together We Rise
The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) is a global, feminist, membership, movement-support organization.
For 40 years, AWID has been a part of an incredible ecosystem of feminist movements working to achieve gender justice and women’s human rights worldwide.
AWID envisions a world where feminist realities flourish, where resources and power are shared in ways that enable everyone, and future generations, to thrive and realize their full potential with dignity, love and respect, and where Earth nurtures life in all its diversity.
Our mission is to support feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements to thrive, to be a driving force in challenging systems of oppression, and to co-create feminist realities.
We advance our work through these tactics:
We collaboratively leverage our access, power, resources and relationships to strategically influence policy and practice. We aim to advance feminist agendas through our work with policy makers, funders and activists in regional and global spaces. We also work to influence feminist and women’s rights movements to centre historically oppressed movements as part of efforts to strengthen our collective power and influence.
We use our convening power to facilitate dialogue and strategize on key issues. We connect our members and allies with one another, sharing and exchanging resources, ideas and action across relevant issues. We organize and facilitate spaces to strengthen and engage across movements, to imagine and envisage new futures, to develop effective influencing tactics and to co-create powerful agendas and processes.
We work to mobilize our members and the movements we support to strengthen collective action in solidarity with feminist causes and defenders at risk. We build partnerships, engage in active listening and ongoing, long-term, solidarity. We work with defenders to build a body of knowledge and support networks of solidarity on protection and wellbeing.
We recognize the unique and strategic value of cultural and creative strategies in the struggle against oppression and injustice. We work with artists who centre feminist voices and the narratives of historically oppressed communities. In this emerging tactic, we see art and creative expression helping us envision a world where feminist realities continue to flourish and be celebrated.
Our initiatives work at the intersections of the sites of change we work to address, the movements we prioritize, and the tactics we use:
We monitor, document and make visible how anti-rights actors are operating and colluding in multilateral spaces and support feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements and allies to counter their influence and impact.
Working on extractivism, tax justice and corporate accountability, we build knowledge on corporate power and influence; advocate for corporate accountability and equitable distribution of wealth; and amplify feminist proposals for just economies.
We develop accessible, action-oriented analysis on the state of resourcing for feminist movements. We aim to influence funders’ policies and practices, deepen and sustain funding for feminist social change, and support movements’ needs and strategies.
In addition to the impact we aim to have in the world, AWID is expressly committed to strengthening our own organizational learning and resilience in order to further strengthen global feminist movements.
Without the generous funding and support from our donors, our work would not be possible
