The Feminist and Women’s Movement Action Plan (fwMAP): mobilising globally for Beijing +25

ABSTRACT

In 2020, the United Nations will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women when 189 countries signed on to the Beijing Platform for Action. This must be a game-changing year, an opportunity for the feminist and women’s movement to produce a transformative framework and new alliances. Soon-Young Yoon and Melissa Upreti, along with Krishanti Dhamaraj, founders and drivers of the Feminist and Women’s Movements Action Plan (fwMAP) and members of the Beijing +25 Global Advisory Working Group established the goals, principles of organising, and hopes for this process in the context of Beijing +25 in July and August 2019. Organising under the fwMAP is premised on a reaffirmation of human rights principles and feminist values of agency, autonomy, and inclusion as the basis for a collective roadmap and approach for achieving gender equality.

En 2020, l’Organisation des Nations Unies célébrera le 25^e anniversaire de la quatrième Conférence mondiale sur les femmes, durant laquelle 189 pays ont signé le Programme d’action de Beijing. Cette année doit tout changer ; elle doit constituer l’occasion pour le mouvement féministe et des femmes de produire un cadre transformateur et de nouvelles alliances. Soon-Young Yoon et Melissa Upreti, avec le concours de Krishanti Dhamaraj, fondatrices et figures de proue du plan d’action du mouvement féministe et des femmes (Feminist and Women’s Movements Action Plan – fwMAP) et membres du Groupe de travail consultatif mondial Beijing +25, ont établi les objectifs, les principes d’organisation et les espoirs pour ce processus dans le contexte de Beijing +25 en juillet-août 2019. L’organisation dans le cadre du fwMAP se fonde sur une réaffirmation des principes liés aux droits de l’homme et des valeurs féministes de libre-arbitre, d’autonomie et d’inclusion comme base d’une feuille de route et d’une approche collectives pour assurer l’égalité entre les sexes.

En 2020 las Naciones Unidas celebrarán el 25 aniversario de la Cuarta Conferencia Mundial sobre la Mujer, ocasión en la que 189 países firmaron la Plataforma de Acción de Beijing. Se parte de la premisa de que 2020 debe ser un año que cambie las reglas del juego y una oportunidad para que el movimiento feminista y de mujeres produzca un marco transformador y nuevas alianzas. En julio y agosto de 2019, Soon-Young Yoon y Melissa Upreti, junto a Krishanti Dhamaraj, ambas fundadoras e impulsoras del Plan de Acción del Movimiento Feminista y de Mujeres (fwmap) y miembros del Grupo de Trabajo Consultivo Mundial de Beijing + 25, establecieron los objetivos, los principios de organización y las aspiraciones para este proceso de cambio en el contexto de Beijing + 25. En el marco del fwmap la organización se basa en reafirmar los principios de derechos humanos y los valores feministas de agencia, autonomía e inclusión como sustento de una hoja de ruta y un enfoque colectivos orientados a lograr la igualdad de género.

KEYWORDS:

• gender equality
• Beijing +25
• women’s empowerment
• feminism
• human rights
• youth

Notes on contributors

Melissa Upreti is Senior Director of Program and Global Advocacy, Center for Women’s Global Leadership. Postal address: Center for Women’s Global Leadership, Rutgers University, 160 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.

Soon-Young Yoon is the UN representative for the International Alliance of Women and Chair of the Board, Women’s Environment and Development Organization.

Notes

1 See http://beyondbeijing.org/storage/publications/September2018/43Kcd9uilfZZeI6H5vCc.pdf (last checked 31 March 2020).

2 For details on the example of Nepal, see http://beyondbeijing.org/storage/publications/March2020/S4saQkbRWLqzo8DLIxnk.pdf (last checked 31 March 2020).

3 This is a Special Procedure established by the Human Rights Council in 2000 and one of only three women’s rights mechanisms in the UN system, the other two being the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

4 For more information on this, see www.aaup.org/assault-gender-and-gender-studies (last checked 31 March 2020).

5 To understand where and how this campaign is gaining ground, see www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/gender-ideology-fiction-could-do-real-harm (last checked 31 March 2020).

6 See the Global Feminist Journey’s Timeline for more on what was achieved in Vienna and other conferences. Available at www.globalfeministjourneys.com (last checked 31 March 2020).

7 The seven members are: UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women (SRVAW); UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls (WGDAWG); Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI); Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO); African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. For more information, see www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/SR/Booklet_BPA.pdf (last checked 6 March 2020).

8 For more information, see www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/SRWomen/Pages/BeijingPlatformforAction.aspx (last checked 31 March 2020).

9 For more information on the methodology of fwMAP, see https://beta.voicevoice.com/register/beijing25security (last checked 31 March 2020).

10 See Note 9.