Globally the rise of fascism, authoritarianism, and extremisms, as well as increased conflict, have undermined the role of civil society. In the MENA and Asia regions, civil society has long been under attack by authoritarian governments or extremist groups. FEMENA works with partners to bring attention to pressures on women’s civil society organizations and the impact that shrinking civic space and repression has on women’s rights and feminist organizing.
Femena carries its work to protect and expand civic space through a variety of means, including through advocacy, campaigns, events, convenings and analysis. Femena also documents through interviews (video and written) the impactful work of feminists and feminist movements in promoting rights, inclusion and peace, with a view toward south-south learning focused on building and sustaining movements. See these interviews in the Focus on Movements section of our site.
Femena also highlights significant trends and developments in the region by capturing the perspectives of WHRDs who are best placed to provide analysis and updates on their local contexts. We do this through video, podcast and written interviews which are published under the WHRD Voices section of our site
