Rising together and keeping the heartbeat of the feminism movement alive

 The 15th AWID International Forum -from 2-5 December 2024- could not have come at a better time when the rollback on women’s rights feels so stark. As Co-CEOs of Womankind, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment, witnessing the alarming rise of right-wing governments, the proliferation of ideologies that threaten gender equality, and a disconcerting drawback in women’s rights across various nations.  

Just weeks after a right-wing government which challenges women’s bodily autonomy and rights has been elected in the US and months after the Taliban’s Vice and Virtue law which even further strips Afghan women of their basic human rights and dignity was introduced. This regression is not isolated; it’s a trend echoing across continents, affecting women and girls in myriad ways. The need for a reimagined funding approach has never been more critical. 

The global landscape for women’s rights is fraught with complexities. It’s easy to feel disheartened when we’re seeing hard won gains on women’s rights eroded daily and a shifting funding landscape that means less money for women’s rights. But let’s remember that feminist movements and women’s rights organisations are at the forefront of driving change and striving for rights, dignity and joy for women in all their diversities. It’s the collective action that these activists, groups and movements take that ultimately changes laws and behaviours and leads to gender equality.  

We know that the most impactful thing we can do right now to work towards gender equality is to resource, fund and nourish these feminist movements and women’s rights organisations and to work together as allies.  

”We’re really proud at Womankind to be prioritising our flexible funds in response to these challenges and seeing how we can make these funds work better for the women’s rights organisations, the feminist movements and the activists we work with.” 

Our vision is rooted in a decolonised, feminist approach that prioritises flexibility, trust, and the amplification and partnership of movements and local based organisation voices. We believe that by reimagining our funding strategies, we can better equip rights-holders to navigate and challenge these turbulent times. But because  minimal funding currently reaches women’s rights organisations we know one of the most important things we can do is share our learning and evidence and make the case for even more civil society organisations, funders and governments to prioritise more flexible funding for women’s rights organisations.   

The theme for this year’s AWID forum is Rising Together – an opportunity to learn from each other and work with funders, policy-makers and allies to share power, resource feminist movements flexibly and drive transformational change. It is also an invitation to connect with each other so that we can feel the heartbeat of global feminist movements and rise together to meet the challenges of these times. We’re excited to meet you there and to see what learning we can share and what ideas we can generate when we are open and listen to each other and work collectively.