New York, NY (August 24, 2016) — WEDO will attend the AWID 2016 Forum that will take place in Brazil from 8^th to 11^th September 2016. The Forum focuses on ‘Feminist Futures: Building Collective Power for Rights and Justice’, and in addition to celebrating and assessing the current accomplishments and challenges, the Forum hopes to generate strategies and collective actions for a future that is free from oppressions, injustice, war, and violence. In a bid to bring activists working on various movements and foster cross-movement dialogue, one key Forum component, Umbrella Issues sessions, is highlighted.

The climate and environmental crisis perpetuate existing gender inequalities, as women are often disproportionately affected by the climate and environmental degradation. WEDO recognizes the intersectionality of feminist movements and environmental justice, a cross-movement that requires integrated and coherent approaches, diverse and shared visions, and inclusive communication among activists. Supporting the Umbrella Issue sessions in the AWID 2016 Forum, WEDO co-hosted the eDiscussion on Climate and Environmental Justice, one of the four Umbrella Issues, with AWID and IDS. The Four “Umbrella” issues aim to capture four broad challenges to social and gender justice confronting us today; reclaiming democratic space, bodily integrity and freedoms, States of our Feminist Movements, and climate and environmental justice.

The eDiscussion was conducted from April 5th to 7th 2016, and the summary can be found in WEDO’s Tools here.

Three more sessions will be held during or after the Forum: State of our Feminist Movements, hosted by AWID and members of the Forum International Planning Committee; Reclaiming Democratic Spaces, hosted by Conectas and AWID; Bodily Integrity and Freedoms, hosted by Coalition for African Lesbians (CAL), CREA, RESURJ, and AWID. Please check the schedule/App/website for days, times, and places on http://www.forum.awid.org/forum16/program/umbrella-issues.