Letter from the Project Director

Dear Friends,
As the new project director for the Feminist Alliance for Rights (FAR), I’m honored to contribute to building such a diverse and dynamic international network. This is our first newsletter after we changed our name from Post-2015 Women’s Coalition to Feminist Alliance for Rights with updates about our recent work, announcements and reports, as well as our plans for next steps. We are thrilled to introduce FAR’s Steering Committee members and our new website.

In this new phase, we reaffirm our intersectional approach to human rights and our collaboration as an alliance led by women’s organizations in the global south. This approach includes complementary perspectives from regional organizations with both global advocacy experience and strong ties to local communities. As an inclusive and participatory international alliance, FAR works to strengthen feminist movement building.

Our thematic areas include peace, safety and security; ending gender-based violence and defending women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights; economic and social rights; climate change; cultural and indigenous and rights.

These developments were the result of a series of meetings and participatory assessments  to inform our work. In July of 2016 we organized a regional Asia-Pacific meeting in Kuala Lumpur on “Strategizing for Change in the 2030 Agenda World” hosted by ARROW, and key regional partners. It was an important opportunity for broadening feminist activism and exploring intersectionality. In October, the Steering Committee held a strategy meeting in Paris, where important decision were made about FAR’s next steps.

Earlier this month, we organized a US meeting, as a first step to build the North American region, with the participation of community and organizational leaders, policy advocates and academics working on justice, gender and rights. The meeting was critical to advance the discussion about the impacts of US policies nationally and around the world, and to build a common platform for solidarity among social movements

In preparation for the 61st CSW meeting at the United Nations in March, FAR has been working with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the NGO CSW to coordinate legal support at airports, to monitor and denounce cases of human rights violations, since the US administration created a situation of insecurity with the attempt of implementing a travel ban against citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Although the ban was considered illegal by a Federal Court, international visitors and immigrants in the United States face insecurity and discrimination.

We will continue sharing monthly updates during the year, but in March you can look forward to more news from us related to the CSW meeting, and actions by women’s organizations around the world.

Thank you very much for your participation!

In Solidarity,

Maria Luisa Mendonça
Project Director
Feminist Alliance for Rights (FAR)