Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) - Global

AWID is centred around its global network of women and men, which, as of this writing, numbers over 5,000 researchers, academics, students, educators, activists, business people, policy-makers, development practitioners, funders, and others. In essence, AWID provides a virtual forum to connect these people, disseminate information, and foster debate. Among the mechanisms enabling these strategic communications are interactive e-mail discussions, e-bulletins, and print communications. The goal is "to harness the expertise of our membership, highlight THEIR on-the-ground knowledge and first-rate experience and integrate their points of view and multiple perspectives."

The network's central locale for this information and idea sharing process is the AWID website, which is offered in English, French, and Spanish. Offerings such as daily news on women's rights around the world and details about "women in action" are meant to provide information, networking, and learning opportunities that enable members to exchange practical and strategic tools and analyses relevant to their social, economic, and political change strategies. The site is interactive in that users may comment on articles, share views with other readers, and forward articles to colleagues and friends. In addition, all articles contain links to social networking sites. Content is classified by categories such as topic, region, and type of AWID initiative.

To expand upon the latter, AWID's work is strongly participatory, as illustrated by its structure. Multi-year programmes known as "strategic initiatives" include a range of activities from AWID membership consultations and surveys, primary research and dialogues with policy makers (including targeted advocacy) to capacity building institutes, regional networking, and information dissemination. In addition, AWID works to ensure that the specific priorities and voices of young women are strongly represented in all of its initiatives. Here are a few examples that highlight AWID's strategies:

• Where is the Money for Women's Rights? - AWID undertakes research and advocacy in order to call for an increase in the amount and quality of funding to support women's rights work, as well as to encourage activists to see funding and resource mobilisation as a critical aspect of their political agendas and key for building strong feminist movements.
• Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalism - This is an effort to develop more knowledge and resources in the area across regions and religions, foster a deeper and greater shared understanding of the way fundamentalist projects work and grow, and share strategies that advocates have used when religious fundamentalism threatens to undermine women's rights.
• Building Feminist Movements and Organisations - The goal of this programme is to assist advocates in organisational strengthening and movement building and help them develop ways to work not only individually but collectively to achieve the common goals of women's rights and gender equality. One part of this process involves undertaking trainings internationally to support the implementation of the tools that AWID has developed (and is sharing on the website).
• Women's Rights Information - Both the internet (e.g., interactive email discussions, e-bulletins, and the website) and printed materials are tools used here to build knowledge and understanding of the forces that undermine or promote women's human rights at the global level, put new issues on the agenda of the women's rights movements globally, and amplify the voices and perspectives of marginalised women from around the world.
• The AWID International Forum - Held every 3 years, this is both a conference and a call to action. For example, delegates to the 11th Forum (which is scheduled to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2008) participate in 4 days of plenary speeches, interactive sessions, workshops, debates, and creative sessions designed to spark thinking on gender equality and women's human rights. Delegates also participate in informal caucuses, gala events, cultural activities, and social and political events geared to global and regional networking and alliance building.
• Influencing Development Actors and Practices for Women's Rights - This initiative produces and disseminates knowledge on developmental issues with special emphasis on women's perspectives; undertakes advocacy actions and alliance building to influence development policy and practices; and mobilises women's organisations and groups on development discussions and key policy processes.
• Young Feminist Activism Program - This programme supports and mobilises younger activists by creating opportunities for engagement, research projects, capacity-building activities, and multi-generational dialogues linked to AWID's initiatives to promote change. The program also works with participants to create independent spaces for young women to debate, discuss, analyse, and plan.
• Feminist Responses to HIV and AIDS - Set to be fully launched after the 2008 International Forum, this initiative will aim to build the capacity of women's organisations and movements to challenge the dominant approaches to HIV and AIDS that both undermine as well as ignore women's rights, as a prerequisite for stopping the spread of the disease.

Women, Gender, Rights, Youth.

In 1982, 26 people from North American development agencies, agricultural universities, and community organisations gathered to discuss the role of women as agents and beneficiaries of the development process. They founded AWID. Over time, the vision of AWID members has expanded, from the initial goal of integrating women into development practices to include transforming the process of development itself in order to make a better world for women. AWID's scope of analysis and action has likewise broadened to include women's human rights, in addition to the organisation's historic focus on sustainable development and gender equality.