IWDA’s Feminist Movement Strengthening Framework

IWDA’s Feminist Movement Strengthening Framework outlines our understanding of the elements of resilient and vibrant feminist movements as well as our approach to resourcing and contributing to them. This framework forms part of our commitment to resource and contribute to feminist movements. IWDA is proud to be part of the global feminist movement.

The Feminist Movement Strengthening Framework outlines five key elements of a strong feminist movement based on IWDA’s own learning, research and practice since 1984 as well as growing global evidence of the power of feminist movements.

We define resilient, vibrant feminist movements as groups of people and organisations with some connection to constituency who invest in relationships of trust, who can leverage their diversity, have co-developed an intersectional feminist analysis of issues, in order to collectively realise a common vision for change.

The framework applies a decolonising solidarity lens to our feminist movement strengthening practice by organising our work into the following roles:

• Stepping Up to use our power to leverage resources and access for women’s rights organisations, and make our own contribution to feminist movements
• Standing With feminist movements in solidarity and amplifying the work of global south actors
• Stepping Back when others are better placed to take the lead.

The ‘3Ss’ have been applied to this framework because IWDA acknowledges that the inequalities we seek to address through our movement strengthening work are both a result of, and perpetuated by, historical and contemporary forms of colonialism. Stepping Up, Standing With and Stepping Back is IWDA’s approach to acknowledging and mitigating these structural issues.