Resistance, Resilience and Care

A Leading from the South cross-regional convening aimed at Supporting resilient movements within challenging contexts in the Global South

Hosted by the Women’s Fund Asia (WFA) and organized by the Leading from the South (LFS) Consortium, the cross-regional convening on Resistance, Resilience, and Care was six years in the making. Finally during the month of October in 2023, the four LFS Consortium partners, namely the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), FIMI-AYNI – the International Indigenous Women’s Fund (FIMI), Fondo de Mujeres del Sur (FMS), and WFA, convened alongside more than 50 Global South women, young women, and trans and non binary feminists, from 26 countries to reflect on activism at the frontlines of environmental and social justice movements and its impact on their lives and wellbeing.

This space provided a critical opportunity for women’s rights defenders and grassroots leaders to exchange and build cross-border solidarity; oftentimes, due to the nature of their work and their role(s) within the movements themselves, these advocates lack access to such convenings.

For many participants, it was the first time they had ever left their communities and met women and gender-diverse people from different countries to share individual and collective stories of how they withstand the impacts of traumatic and life-changing experiences. Ultimately, the convening provided a refuge to imagine how activism could look if care practices were fully resourced and universally viewed as integral to the work.

Care means understanding the realities of women as a whole and not in silos.

Grassroots activists at the frontlines believe that human rights funders, including LFS consortium and the community of women’s funds, can help improve their working conditions and lives by promoting more comprehensive funding that encompasses care practices and ensuring that the groups they already support are able to prioritize the importance of care.

Acknowledgements

Our deepest gratitude to the over 50 feminist activists representing frontline community organisations, human rights and environmental defenders, indigenous communities and trans and intersex groups who participated actively and with vigor and tenderness at this convening. The strong and incredible women's funds and its allies that push further the vision and mission of the LFS Consortium. And to our funders, we are grateful for the continued support and commitment in advancing the feminist movements in the Global South.