None On Record

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

Snippet FEA ASOM’s activists in encounters (ES)

 
Black woman in a white headscarf and gray t-shirt, she is smiling and is holding a vessel above her head
People demonstrating and holding a long blue poster
Black woman speaking in a mic, there is a black girl standing next to her and a man sitting at the table
Photo of five black women in the front on a demonstration, wearing facemasks and holding posters
Photo of three women sitting around the table and talking in mics.

Activistas de ASOM en encuentros, desfiles y eventos

Snippet - WITM why - EN

Why should I take this survey?

Snippet FEA Aura Roig (FR)

Venez rencontrer Aura Roig, militante féministe visionaire, anthropologue, directrice et fondatrice de la coopérative Metzineres.

Elle a consacré les deux dernières décennies à la recherche, à la conception et à la mise en place de politiques de soutien aux personnes qui se droguent, basées sur la réduction des méfaits, les droits humains et le féminisme intersectionnel.

Après avoir expérimenté et appris des communautés qui consomment des drogues dans le monde entier, elle est retournée à Barcelone pour créer la Xarxa de Dones que Usen Drogues (le Réseau des Femmes qui Consomment des Drogues, XADUD). XADUD était un espace d'entraide et de solidarité avec la lutte pour les droits des groupes marginalisés, qui plus tard deviendra la coopérative Metzineres.

Aujourd'hui, Aura travaille à étendre le modèle Metzineres pour prendre en charge des groupes plus grands, tout en documentant de manière approfondie son parcours et son apprentissage prolifiques.

Snippet - WITM To Strengthen - FR

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.

Feminist Realities Magazine

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Feminist realities are the living, breathing examples of the worlds we know are possible.
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Snippet FEA Occupation’s kitchen Instagram 2 (EN)

Occupation’s kitchen campaign:

Women sustain Care | Care Sustains Life | Life Sustains Economy | Who takes care of women?  | Not one less1 | Together | Sunday lunch

1Nenhuna a menos literally translates as “not one woman less” or “ni una menos” in Spanish - a famous feminist slogan in Latin America that emerged in Argentina as a response to increasing gender-based violence.

Snippet - WITM about research - EN

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.

Rapport Annuel 2013

Notre rapport annuel 2013 retrace les temps forts du travail que nous avons réalisé au cours de l'année, afin de contribuer à l'avancement des droits des femmes et de l'égalité des genres à travers le monde.  

Nous présentons ici certains points saillants de notre analyse du contexte mondial, la position que nous adoptons en tant qu’organisation associative féministe mondiale dans ce contexte, les résultats que nous souhaitons atteindre et l’organisation de notre travail dans le but d’atteindre ces résultats.

Snippet FEA EoS The Howl (EN)

Three arms with fist raised: one black, pink, and the last one in purple

The Howl
Participation and activism

Snippet - WITM RESOURCES - FR

Ressources

2018: Supporting feminist movements to thrive and disrupt

This report looks back and celebrates the first year of AWID’s new strategic plan as we took our first steps towards our desired outcomes of supporting feminist movements to thrive, challenging anti-rights agendas and co-creating feminist realities.

Download the full report


We worked with feminists to disrupt anti-rights agendas, achieving important victories fought and won within the United Nations system when ground-breaking language on structural discrimination, sexual rights, and states’ obligations were included in a number of resolutions. Yes, the multilateral system is in crisis and in need of serious strengthening but these victories are important as they contribute to the legitimacy of feminist demands, providing feminist movements with more pressure points and momentum to advance our agendas.

We tried and tested different ways to build knowledge with feminist movements through webinars, podcasts and ‘live’ conversations. We developed facilitation guides with popular educators to reclaim knowledge in the interest of social and gender justice, even about a topic as seemingly opaque as illicit funding flows. We commissioned blogs and opinions about how feminist groups fund and resource themselves and threw light on the threats facing our human rights systems.

Within AWID, we practiced and learned from our shared leadership approach, and told the story of the trials and tribulations of co-leading a global, virtual organization. We don’t have a definitive answer to what feminist leadership looks like, but we know, a year on, that a continued commitment to collective experimentation and learning has enabled us to keep building an organization that we are all excited to contribute to.

As we look back on this year, we want to thank all our friends and supporters, colleagues and companions, who have given their time and shared their wealth of knowledge and wisdom with us. We want to thank our members who helped frame our strategic plan and joined us to make feminist demands. We could not do this work without you.

Download the full report