Feminist Development Justice Sub-grant for National Monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals and Development Justice 2020-2021 Announced!

Feminist Development Justice (FDJ) programme is launching a new Feminist Development Justice (FDJ) Sub-grant for National Monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals and Development Justice 2020-2021! The 18 month programme aims to develop capacity, provide resources and tools for national and local feminist, women’s right, and women-led organisations to produce their own analysis, critique and provide a recommendation on their government’s commitments and implementations of the SDGs using Development Justice as a framework.

This year, the FDJ Sub-grant for National Monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals and Development Justice will conduct monitoring and review of their priority goals and targets as well as a set of Development Justice indicators.

The following organisations were selected to participate in this programme:

1. Beyond Beijing Committee (BBC),  Nepal

Beyond Beijing Committee Nepal (BBC) is a human rights feminist national network organisation. It has been advocating and working continuously on the Beijing Platform for Action after the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing since 1995. BBC aims to work towards the civil, political, economic and social empowerment of women and girls to achieve substantive gender equality, women’s human rights and sustainable development in Nepal. BBC has been actively engaging in CEDAW monitoring, ICPD Monitoring, UPR reporting, and MDGs implementation and currently the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). BBC is a founder of Nepal SDGs Forum (CSOs Forum) and the Convener of Women and Girls’ constituency under the  gender justice theme. It also functions as the secretariat of the Women Major Group for Sustainable Development in Nepal founded (WMG-SDN) in 2017. 

2. “SHYRAK Association of Women with Disabilities” Public Association (SHYRAK) – Kazakhstan

SHYRAK Association of Women with Disabilities Public Association is a women-led organisation. SHYRAK was founded in 2001 by 10 women with mobility disabilities residing in the city of Almaty. It has 8 branches with over 2,000 individual beneficiaries throughout the country. SHYRAK also coordinates a network of partner organisations serving women with disabilities, uniting currently 50 disability people organisations (DPOs) and self-help groups of persons with disabilities in Kazakhstan and 26 DPOs and groups from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. SHYRAK has built the capacity for women with disabilities on leadership, human rights, gender and disability, reproductive rights, employment, and etc through several training courses. It amplifies the voices and demands of women and people with disabilities in several advocacy spaces such as the Coordination Council on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the National Commission on Women’s Affairs, and the National Action Plan. 

3.HomeNet Pakistan, Pakistan

HomeNet Pakistan was set up in 2005. It is a network of 360 organisations with over 50,000 women members of home-based workers across Pakistan. HomeNet Pakistan was  formed to raise awareness about the economic, social, and domestic and other working conditions of women in the informal economy that constitutes 74% of the informal workforce contributing towards the country’s economic activities. HomeNet Pakistan has been working to advocate for the  recognition and support of the home-based workers, domestic workers and women in the informal economy in order to ensure that they have legal recognition as a worker, security of income, enjoy social protection benefits and participation in governance related to their concerns and livelihood. HomeNet Pakistan, as a member of HomeNet South Asia, and Clean Cloth campaign strives to empower home-based workers and women in informal sector to realise their economic, political and social rights through strengthening of their respective organisations, adoption of fair trade practices, resulting in the improvement of their working and living conditions.

4. Initiative for Right View (IRV), Bangladesh

Initiative for Right View (IRV) is a rights based research, networking, and advocacy organisation working in the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh. IRV’s mandate is social, economic and democratic empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalised communities to ensure their basic needs and rights with  maximum participation and ownership. IRV perceives poverty as a state, resulting from a lack of people’s access to public resources, services, institutions to which they are entitled and caused through systematic denial and violation of rights by national, regional, and international actors. The organisation focuses on the human rights of all people particularly women, children, youth, indigenous community; ownership, control, and access to land, water, and other resources; sustainable livelihood; natural resource conservation; climate change and vulnerability. IRV envisages Equal & Just Society by establishing the poor, un-served and underserved, deprived and oppressed people focusing on women & children as worthy and capable citizens in Bangladesh improving their present socio-economic situation.

5. Center for Sustainable Community Development (SCODE) – Vietnam

The Center for Sustainable Community Development (S-CODE) was established in 2005. S-CODE has been engaging progressively with other civil society organisations and marginalised groups in Vietnam on poverty reduction, gender equality and environmental protection, land rights and climate resilience.  S-CODE is working with women and girls from ethnic minority groups located in remote areas to develop their capacity on laws and to increase their participation in the community’s work. S-CODE believes women and girls should have equal rights to land in Vietnam, that drives their advocacy work, position papers and policy recommendations submitted to the government. Its work is also about holding the state accountable via the collective work of a women-led organisations network. 

6. Voice for Change – Jiwaka Province – Papua New Guinea

Voice for Change began as Voluntary Rural Women’s Development Initiative in 1996 to bring local women of all ages to discuss issues affecting them and how to overcome these challenges. In 2004, it was registered as an organisation and it changed the name to Voice for Change in 2010. Voice for Change is based in Jawaka Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG). Voice for Change has been a leader in addressing many forms of inequality and violence against women in Jawaka province and in PNG. It has actively engaged in conflict resolution and peace mediation and settlement at the community level in response to the on-going tribal, clan and family conflicts. Today, its aspirations remain peace and gender equality for all. It has engaged equitable development of Jiwaka Province across many sectors, including law and justice, community development, social affairs, agriculture, finance, education, health and youth. 

7. PEREMPUAN AMAN – MALUKU, Indonesia 

PEREMPUAN AMAN (PA) is a national alliance of indigenous women in Indonesia. It was established in 2012 during the 4th Congress of Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN) or also known in English as the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago. PA’s national secretariat is located in Bogor, Indonesia, and one of its regional chapters is PA – Maluku, working with 146 indigenous groups in the province. PEREMPUAN AMAN – Maluku is fully led by indigenous women. Its mandates are: strengthening the distinct identity of indigenous women; elimination of any forms of discrimination towards indigenous women; ensure the recognition on the traditional knowledge of indigenous women; and advocate for gender equality including meaningful participation of indigenous women at all levels of decision-making processes. Various forms of support are provided to indigenous women in Maluku ranging from economic empowerment, support in strengthening political participation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and litigation support to the community.

8.Women’s League of Burma – Myanmar

The Women’s League of Burma (WLB) was formed in 1999 as a federation of 13 ethnic women’s organisations. It works for the advancement of the status of women towards a peaceful and just society in Burma. WLB is considered a pioneer in holding the military regime to account for human rights abuses, particularly against ethnic women – premised on genuine peace, social and political justice and gender and ethnic equality. WLB’s missions are to work for women’s empowerment and the advancement of the status of women, to work for the increased participation of women in all spheres of society in the democracy movement, and in peace and national reconciliation processes through capacity building, advocacy, research, and documentation. WLB has worked to ensure that feminist governance and democratic principles are applied in its role as an umbrella organisation for thirteen ethnic  women’s organizations as well as consistently providing opportunities for diverse women activists from within its membership and outside to have access to skills training, support networks and convening spaces as well as leadership opportunities.