Rocío Mesino
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.
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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.
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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;
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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:
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Mobilizing urgent responses of international solidarity for WHRDs at risk through our international and regional networks, and our active membership.
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متى يمكنني التسجيل في المنتدى؟ كم هي تكلفة التسجيل؟ ماذا يشمل التسجيل؟
سيبدأ التسجيل أوائل العام 2024. وسنعلن عن تاريخ التسجيل المحدد ورسوم التسجيل قريبًا. سيتضمن التسجيل المشاركة في المنتدى، بالإضافة إلى الغداء والوجبات الخفيفة (يتم تقديم وجبة الإفطار في الفنادق)، وعشاء واحد في الموقع.
AWID in 2016: Co-Creating Feminist Futures
AWID is pleased to share our 2016 Annual Report.
2016 was an incredible year for AWID, we convened the 13th International AWID Forum in Bahia, Brazil, a space for strategizing and alliance building with feminists and other justice movements, which was attended by over 1800 participants from 120 countries and territories across the globe.
We know that women’s rights and feminist movements are key actors in creating sustainable transformative change. Within our movements, organizing, resisting and responding to the challenging context is sharpening, and in our increasingly connected world, the potential for collective action across diverse movements has dramatically grown.
This is the crucial work that AWID seeks to amplify and support every day.
What we achieved in 2016
We expanded solidarity and joint action across diverse movements
A highlight of 2016 was our ground-breaking 13th International Forum with the theme: “Feminist Futures: Building Collective Power for Rights and Justice”, where we harnessed the thinking and energy of nearly 500 partners, presenters, panelists, moderators, artivists, writers, facilitators, IT innovators, and performers, many of them leaders in their movements. We also supported the convening of the first and historical Black Feminisms Forum (BFF) organised by a working group of Black Feminists from across the world.
We strengthened knowledge of issues and strategies
- On challenging corporate power - we produced ‘Challenging corporate power: Struggles for women’s rights, economic and gender justice’ with the Solidarity Center, revealing the scale and scope of corporate power and outlining how corporations in collusion with elites and other powerful actors, are impacting the lives of women and oppressed peoples.
- On feminist economies - we released ‘Feminist Propositions for a Just Economy’ with the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) and the African Women’s Development and Communication Network FEMNET.
- On Young Feminist Activism - we published ‘Brave, Creative, Resilient: The Global State of Young Feminist Organizing’, a young feminist mapping project.
We contributed to collective advocacy
AWID, in partnership with other feminist and women’s rights organisations, engaged in advocacy and dialogue to explore better solutions for women’s rights agendas including our work with the Count Me In! consortium .
We increased the visibility of movements
The experiences of women with disabilities, Black and Afro-descendant women, sex workers, Indigenous women, trans and intersex people, domestic workers and how their lives are impacted by multiple oppressions and violence were placed front and center of the Forum process.
We also launched the 2016 WHRD Tribute to commemorate defenders who are no longer with us, during the 16 Days of activism, and thanks to the contributions from our members,
We drove attention to groups and issues that do not usually receive adequate mainstream media coverage through our partnership with The Guardian and Mama Cash.
Our members
Snippet "un"Inclusive Feminism_Fest (ES)
Feminismo «no» inclusivo:
las jóvenes sin voz del movimiento feminista haitiano
Naike Ledan
Semi Kaefra Alisha Fermond, Trans Rights Activist ACIFVH
Natalie Desrosiers
Fédorah Pierre-Louis
هل سيفتح الباب لتقديم المقترحات؟
"نعم! يرجى قراءة الدعوة للمشاركة والتقدم هنا . الموعد النهائي هو 15 يناير 2024" .
2021: Feminist Power in Action
In 2021, AWID, along with many other organizations, was coming to grips with the implications of the on-going global pandemic for how we work and our role in this particular time. The year taught us three critical lessons about navigating this moment as a global feminist movement-support organization.
Download the full 2021 Annual review
Through dialogue and exchanges critical to their work, AWID connected thousands to feminists from around the world.
Our experience in 2021 reaffirmed the importance of building and sustaining a global feminist community, and AWID’s core mission to support feminist movements as a whole. We believe that at this moment, a strong community bound by a shared vision and collective care is the foundation of all social change and transformation.
Snippet Festival In Review - Presentation (FR)
Créar | Résister | Transform : un festival pour les mouvements féministes !
Voulez-vous vous inspirer des stratégies de résistance créatives des féministes du monde entier ? Souhaitez-vous découvrir des initiatives féministes qui nous montrent comment nous pouvons tou.te.s vivre dans un monde plus juste ? Voulez-vous en savoir plus sur les modèles de soins et de guérison féministes à apporter à votre propre communauté ? Est-ce un oui retentissant que nous entendons ? OUI!
Alors consultez Crear | Résister | Transform : un festival pour les mouvements féministes. Ce festival s'est déroulé virtuellement tout au long du mois de septembre 2021 sur toutes les plateformes de l'AWID, et vous pouvez désormais en faire l'expérience à votre rythme.
Les sessions ci-dessous sont pour vous et tou.te.s les incroyables militant.e.s féministes et de justice sociale que vous connaissez. Rassemblons-nous pour partager nos stratégies de résistance, co-créer de la magie féministe et transformer ce monde ensemble.
Le Festival a été une expérience multiculturelle et multilingue.
Les exposant.e.s ont participé en parlant leur langue préférée et à AWID, nous avons inclus des sous-titres sur les vidéos pour votre accessibilité.
Mina Agarwala
هل سيكون هناك دعم لترجمة لغة الإشارة بخلاف لغة الإشارة الدولية؟
إذا تم قبول مقترحك فسيتم الاتصال بك من قبل فريق جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية لتقييم احتياجات الترجمة الفورية وإمكانية الوصول والاستجابة لها.
Lucy O.
Biography
With over ten years of finance experience, Lucy has devoted her career to for profit and furthering nonprofit missions. She also worked and volunteered at non-for-profit organizations. From the fast-paced world of Finance, Lucy has passion for staying tuned with tech skills in the finance field. Lucy joined AWID in 2014. During her spare time she enjoys music, traveling, and variety sports.
Position
Accounting Coordinator
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Snippet Relive the Festival_Fest (FR)
Revivez le Festival
Maria del Rosario Fuentes Rubio
هل ستكون هناك تدابير لتسهيل الوصول في المنتدى؟
باختصار، نعم! تعمل جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية حاليًا مع لجنة إمكانية الوصول لضمان إمكانية الوصول إلى المنتدى قدر الإمكان. نحن نجري أيضًا تدقيقًا لإمكانية الوصول إلى مكان انعقاد المنتدى والفنادق المحيطة ووسائل النقل. ستكون المعلومات التفصيلية حول إمكانية الوصول في منتدى جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية متاحة في هذا القسم قبل فتح التسجيل. وفي الوقت نفسه، لأية أسئلة يرجى الاتصال بنا.
Kasia Staszewska
Biography
Kasia viene apoyando la labor de los movimientos feministas y por la justicia social desde hace 15 años. Antes de sumarse a AWID, se lideró las acciones de política e incidencia ActionAid y Amnistía Internacional, a la vez que participaba en procesos de organización feministas y de distintas agrupaciones por la justicia social en Polonia, en pro del acceso al aborto y contra la violencia en las fronteras europeas. Es una apasionada del financiamiento para la movilizaciónfeminista en toda su audacia, riqueza y diversidad. Reparte su tiempo entre Varsovia y su aldea comunitaria de trabajo artesanal en el bosque. Le encanta tomar saunas y adora con locura a su perro Wooly.
Position
Gerente, Financiamiento de los Movimientos Feministas
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Sandhya Rao
Snippet FEA Intro (EN)
Come meet the feminist economies we LOVE.
The economy is about how we organize our societies, our homes and workplaces. How do we live together? How do we produce food, organize childcare, provide for our health? The economy is also about how we access and manage resources, how we relate with other people, with ourselves and with nature.
Feminists have been building economic alternatives to exploitative capitalist systems for ages. These alternatives exist in the here and now, and they are the pillars of the just, fairer and more sustainable worlds we need and deserve.
We are excited to share with you a taste of feminist economic alternatives, featuring inspiring collectives from all around the world.
Roberta Galler
Snippet - CSW68 Intro _Es
Recuperar Nuestro Poder Feminista
Este año, junto con activistas feministas de todo el mundo, estaremos en la CSW68 en Nueva York .Estaremos presentes para desafiar las narrativas capitalistas y neoliberales y las falsas soluciones en torno a la pobreza, el desarrollo y la financiación. A través de eventos presenciales, transmisiones en vivo en nuestras redes sociales, un stand de exhibición y más. Nos presentamos para convocar, amplificar y apoyar las voces y la participación de nuestra membresía y aliades.
Conoce más sobre nuestro programa para este año a continuación.
Faye Macheke
Biography
Faye est une féministe panafricaine passionnée, engagée dans les mouvements pour les droits des femmes, la justice raciale, les droits des migrant·e·s et des travailleur·euse·s, et la justice environnementale. Son activisme s'appuie sur l'héritage de la lutte contre l'apartheid en Afrique du Sud et de ses suites au Zimbabwe.
En 2019, Faye rejoint l'AWID en tant que Directrice des Finances, des Opérations et du Développement. Elle s’est efforcée de garantir que l’AWID respecte les principes et les valeurs féministes dans toutes ses opérations. Elle y apporte plus de 20 années d’expérience en leadership féministe, en stratégie et autres aspects du développement organisationnel et financier.
Faye est membre engagée du conseil d'administration de Urgent Action Fund-Africa et d'autres organisations de défense des droits des femmes. Auparavant, elle a occupé des postes de responsable des finances et des opérations chez Pediatric Adolescent Treatment for Africa et JASS - Just Associates Inc. en Afrique australe. Elle a également occupé des postes de direction chez International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) en Afrique centrale et australe. Elle est titulaire d'une licence en sciences comptables de l'Université d'Afrique du Sud ainsi que membre du Southern African Institute for Business Accountants.
Position
Codirectrice Exécutive
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Fatima Mernissi
