Indigenous activist Judith LeBlanc calls it the Standing Rock moment and describes it as a historic, “magic movement moment in Indian country.”

Since 1947 the Commission on the Status of Women is a multilateral space for government, NGOs and activists to promote gender equality and women’s rights. But the CSW61 was marred by the spectre of travel bans. The restrictions spurred doubts from a number of  human rights organizations about the legitimacy of the US as a venue.

Feminist activists have seen their hard work pay off as the CSW61 adopted a set of Agreed Conclusions that made significant commitments to advance women’s rights and economic empowerment in the changing world of work.

Human Rights Council, 34th Session - Statement by the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)

The advance of actors pushing fundamentalist agendas within international policy spaces is cause for concern this Human Rights Day. Feminists and other social justice activists must act now to reaffirm and safeguard our human rights.

At the 31stSession of the Council, the report that was mandated by the protection of family resolution in the 29th Session was tabled. The report was the outcome of a controversial resolution in the 29th Session of the Council which was sponsored by a cross-regional group of states including Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, El Salvador, Mauritania, Morocco, Russian Federation, Tunisia, Uganda, Qatar, Belarus, China and Bangladesh.

Dealing with the escalation of violence against women across the world requires a wider adoption of a feminist approach to working at the nexus of development, religious fundamentalisms and women’s rights.

Five years following the forced resignation of dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, on 14 January 2011, Tunisians continue to face countless violations of their rights and freedoms. At a time of repression of human rights activists, and increasing violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity, a number of civil society organizations decided to mobilize as an informal group for individual freedoms.

AWID, as part of the Women’s Political Participation Committee in Afghanistan, condemns the cowardly and inhumane attack that targeted the progressive Tolo TV and Kaboora Production network.

The outcome of the 21^st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Paris from November 30th to December 11th 2015, has reinforced the reasons why women must be at the heart of decisions and mobilization to advance climate justice. This week AWID looks at some of the challenges and opportunities of integrating women into these processes.