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:
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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.
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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.
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Promoting more effective multigenerational organizing, exploring better ways to work together.
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Supporting young feminists to engage in global development processes such as those within the United Nations
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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 Bio fertilizer and Sum-Pack (ES)

Who should participate in the survey?
Groups, organizations and/or movements working specifically or primarily for women, girls, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied people’s rights in all regions and at all levels, both newly formed and long-standing.
Elise Ama Esso
I can’t attend the Forum in person, how else can I participate?
More than just an event, the AWID Forum is part of our Feminist Realities Journey, with many spaces to come together, online and offline, for sharing, discussing, strategizing and co-creating feminist realities.
Learn more about the Feminist Realities Journey and everything that will happen before the Forum. Join our mailing list to stay tuned for Post-Forum announcements!
We are exploring options to participate virtually at the Forum and we will share information when we know what we can offer.
8. Finalize and format
Your comprehensive research product is now all organized and edited. You now want to ensure your findings are visually accessible and appealing to facilitate the dissemination.
In this section
- Package your long report for public dissemination
1. Think as your audience thinks
2. Work with a professional designer
3. Make sure it's consistent- Control the quality of the translations
Package your long report for public dissemination
Consider developing smaller products along with your long report.
As mentioned in the “Synthesize your research findings,” AWID often pulls smaller products from the lengthy research report. This allows for wider and easier distribution specialized for key audiences.
Always keep your targeted population in mind: who will read your report?
Examples of smaller products distilled from a larger report:
- Infographics
- Online gallery
- An animation presenting your arguments
1. Think as your audience thinks
People are bombarded with information constantly. Your product will have to be visually compelling to maintain the interest of your audience. Again, having an idea of what you hope to accomplish and who you hope to reach, will allow the designer to create targeted products.
A lengthy written PDF report may seem the only way to present your research, but it could appear overwhelming to most people – especially online.
If you want to share your product with an online community, think about creating memes and infographics to use on social media, blogs and web platforms.
When deciding whether to create smaller products, consider dividing your results into several smaller products that you could share with targeted populations or at different times of the year to reactivate the interest on your product.
2. Work with a professional designer
If you have limited time and a little bit of budget, we recommend hiring a design firm.
It can be tempting for economic reasons to use in-house staff to package your report. However, a professional graphic designer can make a huge difference on how your final product looks and thus on how much impact it will have!
The designer (in-house or hired) must be able to:
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Show you samples of their previous work that is similar to what you seek.
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Provide you clear advice on how to present your research based on the content you provide and the audience you are targeting.
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Suggest additional or different pieces to package your product.
What the designer will need from you:
- A general idea on what you would like the lengthy report to highlight through visuals and graphics (what are the most important pieces of information, the key findings, for example) and some ideas on the types of smaller products you want to create (brochure, an infographic, a series of viral memes, for example). If possible, show the designer examples of similar documents developed by other organizations.
- Your budget and time frame.
- Your organization’s visual guidelines if you have any (logo, official colours, fonts, etc...).
- A few photos copyright free or access to your photo bank if you have one.
- Key visuals that need to be included – graphs, tables and other visual graphics drawn from your research.
The designer is a graphic expert. S/he is not necessarily familiar with women’s issues and does not know the results of your research, especially if you hire an external firm.
Communicate what elements of this report is important to you and who is your target. The designer will propose a way to highlight these elements and make the whole piece appealing to your users.
3. Make sure it's consistent
While creating a set of smaller information products, do not forget to link them all together:
- A shorter version of the report that focuses only on your final results and recommendations should present a link to the final, full report
- A visually compelling infographic that sends a message on the state of funding for your particular research can link to your website and the related section of the full report. It should be associated with a call to share on social media.
- A short animation video that uses the data, findings and recommendations from your report should link back to your organization website and social media
- A series of viral memes that can be distributed online should link back to your report, infographic, shorter report, etc.
It is also important to keep the research staff involved, so they can ensure any offshoot products stay true to the actual findings of the research.
Control the quality of the translations
After the design and packaging of the final research report is complete, if any of the wording of content was changed, be sure to re-send to translators.
If you create smaller products, once designed and packaged, you will also need to get the copy translated for those pieces. The translations should be clear enough so the designer can apply to the design, even if she/he does not speak the language.
Once translated, make sure to have your design proofread by a native speaker before sharing it!
Previous step
7. Synthesize your research findings
Next step

Estimated time:
• 2-3 months
People needed:
• 1 or more research person(s)
• 1 or more editor
• Design staff or hiring design firm
• Translator(s), if necessary
Resources needed:
• List of online spaces for dissemination
Previous step
7. Synthesize your research findings
Next step
9. Advocate and tell the world
Ready to Go? Worksheet
Snippet FEA FEMINIST COOPERATIVISM (FR)
Coopérativisme
Féministe
Quand le travail et
la solidarité vont de pair
Widad Mitri
Nuestra agrupación, organización o movimiento no ha tomado ni movilizado financiamiento de donantes externos, ¿deberíamos responder la encuesta?
¡Sí! Reconocemos y valoramos las distintas razones por las que los feminismos en sus contextos respectivos no cuentan con financiamiento externo, ya sea por no reunir los requisitos para solicitar donaciones o para recibir dinero del exterior, o bien porque se financian con recursos generados de manera autónoma como estrategia política en sí misma. Deseamos saber de ustedes con independencia de su experiencia de financiamiento externo.
Faustine Mpanga Mule
Will the AWID Forum still be in Taipei in light of the COVID-19?
AWID is closely monitoring the global COVID 19 situation and for now anticipates continuing with the Forum as planned.
If at any moment the situation demands something different, we will let you know right away.
The 14th AWID International Forum is scheduled to take place 20-23 September 2021 in Taipei,.
Nuestra visión: La justicia económica en un mundo feminista
En nuestra lucha por la justicia de género, económica, social y ambiental, en la paz, lxs feministas sabemos que no existe una sola receta para el éxito sino una gama de posibilidades que pueden y hacen que sucedan los cambios.
El menú de opciones es tan diverso como lo son nuestros movimientos y las comunidades en las que vivimos y luchamos.
Antes de atrevernos a presentar algunas de las formas en que lxs feministas nos imaginamos un mundo diferente, aquí están los principios que sostienen nuestras propuestas:
1. Desarrollo autodeterminado desde lo local hasta lo global
Creemos que no existe un modelo único aplicable a todxs y que todxs tienen derecho a reivindicar la construcción de ese otro mundo posible, como lo expresa el lema del Fondo Mundial..
Esto incluye el derecho a participar en la gobernabilidad democrática y de influir sobre el propio futuro, en el ámbito político, social y cultural.
La autodeterminación económica permite que los pueblos controlen sus recursos naturales y los utilicen de manera colectiva o para los fines que ellos mismos decidan. Además, la autonomía económica de las mujeres es fundamental para mitigar la naturaleza a menudo cíclica de la pobreza y la falta de educación, seguridad y protección.
2. Los derechos, la igualdad sustantiva y la justicia ocupan un lugar central en la economía
El principio de la igualdad sustantiva o de facto forma parte de la Convención sobre la Eliminación de Todas las Formas de Discriminación contra las Mujeres (CEDAW) y de otros instrumentos internacionales de derechos humanos. Es fundamental para el desarrollo y para lograr una economía justa ya que afirma que todos los seres humanos nacen libres e iguales.
La no discriminación forma parte intrínsecamente del principio de igualdad que garantiza que a nadie se le nieguen sus derechos por factores como la raza, el género, el idioma, la religión, la orientación sexual, la identidad de género, las opiniones políticas o de otra clase, el origen nacional o social, la propiedad o el nacimiento.
La dignidad intrínseca de todas las personas sin distinción alguna debe ser afirmada y respetada. Si bien los Estados tienen la responsabilidad de garantizar el uso de los máximos recursos de que disponen para la realización de los derechos humanos, la reivindicación de los derechos y la dignidad configura sobre todo un espacio clave para las luchas de la sociedad civil y la movilización popular.
3. Distribución justa para todxs, sin monopolización (el principio de la anticodicia)
Este principio, que se ejerce mediante esfuerzos organizados para transformar instituciones injustas, guía la recuperación del equilibrio entre «participación» (entrada) y «distribución» (salida) cuando se ha violado cualquiera de esos dos principios.
Implica ponerle un límite a toda acumulación monopólica de capital y otros abusos de la propiedad. Este concepto se apoya en un modelo económico que gira en torno a la ecuanimidad y la justicia.
4. La solidaridad entre feministas y entre movimientos es fundamental
Para que se produzcan cambios, necesitamos redes feministas fuertes y diversas. Necesitamos movimientos que construyan solidaridad desde lo personal hacia lo político, desde lo local a lo global, y viceversa.
La construcción de poder colectivo a través de los movimientos sociales ayuda a convertir la lucha por los derechos humanos, la igualdad y la justicia en una fuerza política para el cambio que no puede ser ignorada.
«Únicamente los movimientos pueden crear cambios sostenidos a niveles que las políticas y las leyes solas no pueden alcanzar»
Para leer más sobre este tema, consulta Batliwala, S: 2012 «Cambiando el mundo: Conceptos y prácticas de los movimientos de mujeres», 2da edición. AWID.
Ver también
Snippet FEA trans and travesti people in Argentina (EN)

Only 18% of trans and travesti people in Argentina have access to formal work.
Cecilia Loria
Quelles sont les langues officielles de l’enquête WITM?
À l’heure actuelle, l’enquête est disponible sur KOBO en français, anglais, arabe, espagnol, portugais et russe. Vous pouvez choisir votre langue au début du questionnaire.
Luz Yeni Montaño
Why did AWID decide to change the Forum location from Bali to Taipei?
Events in Indonesia, in late 2019 - in particular, signs of intensifying militarization and backlash against LGBTQ rights - led us to question AWID’s ability to maintain a reasonably safe and welcoming environment for the diversity of participants we aspire to bring together at the Forum.
After careful consideration the AWID Board of Directors decided to change the venue for the 14th International AWID Forum, in November 2019 from Bali to Taipei.
Taipei offers a strong degree of logistical capacities, and is accessible for many travellers (with a facilitated e-visa process for international conferences).
For more details:
Contester le modèle de croissance économique
Le contexte
Contestant la prémisse que l'économie d'un pays doit toujours «grandir ou mourir», les propositions de décroissance démystifient le rôle central d’une croissance mesurée par l'augmentation du produit intérieur brut (PIB).
Définition
Le modèle de la décroissance propose une transition vers des niveaux de production et de consommation plus faibles et durables. En substance, il s’agit de restreindre l’espace économique pour laisser plus de latitude à la coopération humaine et aux écosystèmes.
La proposition prévoit ce qui suit :
- Réduire la production superflue, consommatrice de grandes quantités de ressources et d'énergie, qui génère des émissions destructrices, en particulier dans les pays du Nord (par exemple l’industrie automobile et l’industrie militaire).
- Réorienter les investissements vers le secteur des services de soins, des infrastructures sociales et de la restauration de l'environnement.
Perspective féministe
Les perspectives féministes sur la théorie et la pratique de la décroissance soutiennent qu'il est également nécessaire de redéfinir et de reconnaître la valeur du travail rémunéré et non rémunéré, sur le marché comme dans le secteur des soins aux personnes. Ceci contribuerait à surmonter les stéréotypes de genre traditionnels, les écarts de salaires en vigueur et les inégalités de revenus qui dévalorisent le travail réalisé dans le domaine des soins.

Pour en savoir plus sur cette proposition :
- Dans The Future WE Want: Occupy development (L'avenir que nous voulons : Occuper le développement), Christa Wichterich fait valoir que pour briser la logique hégémonique de la croissance débridée et le retour rapide sur investissement, un autre modèle de développement doit émerger qui combinerait les trois piliers suivants : les soins, les biens communs ainsi qu’une production et une consommation adéquates. Article en anglais uniquement.
- Dans Equitable, Ecological Degrowth: Feminist Contributions (Décroissance équitable et écologique : Contributions féministes), Patricia Perkins suggère d’élaborer des indicateurs alternatifs concernant le bien-être, qui comprendraient notamment des données sur l’équité économique et sociale ainsi que des statistiques sur la répartition du temps de travail. Elle vise à démontrer l'importance du travail et des services non rémunérés pour l'économie et à proposer un mécanisme qui permettrait d’attribuer une valeur à cette contribution.