Information on Alliances Policy

The objective of this text is to share information regarding the alliances processes we are involved in so that the time allocated for discussion of this policy at the International Meeting can be used to define directions.  

We build alliances because eliminating the causes of poverty and violence against women cannot be achieved without profound political, economic, and social change.  What is needed is a large movement of movements that change the correlation of forces that sustain the capitalist, colonialist, patriarchal, and racist order.   

The World March of Women is part of the feminist movement and the anti-globalization movement.  We hope that our actions will strengthen analyses, practices, and sectors in the feminist movement aimed at structural changes and true equality, and that all women will have autonomy.  We hope to contribute so that feminism is well-positioned in the world-wide movement to resist the neoliberal offensive, which is patriarchal and racist, and to affirm alternatives.  The formation of alliances among women and progressive social movements is part of our mission.

We conceive of strategic alliances as collaborative relationships based on a long term joint vision that creates a converging agenda of strategies and common actions. We conceive of tactical alliances as those that we establish to address specific items on our agenda or when the political moment demands them.

One of the fears regarding an alliance policy is the ability to maintain equilibrium with respect to our energies and resources and between our own path of construction and the construction of common spaces.   In addition, the sexual and social division of activist work is common in the experience of grassroots women’s groups, leaving to us an enormous amount of invisible work to maintain coalitions and forums with women’s and men’s organizations, as well as spaces that bring together feminist personalities.

The other fear is that these common spaces, being based on consensus, may fail to take seriously issues that are relevant to us, such as the legalization of abortion, sexuality, and domestic violence, which are considered to be themes pertaining to the private sphere.  

However, we believe that new possibilities exist, given the historical moment we are currently experiencing:  the perception by a large portion of social movements that they cannot remain isolated, and our own strength and identity as the World March of Women.  

World Social Forum

The World Social Forum (WSF) has presented important opportunities for the construction of alliances.  The World March of Women has been active in the World Social Forum since it began in 2000.  The March has participated in every edition of the WSF, as well as in many regional and national forums.  We have organized roundtables, seminars, and actions on various themes in accordance with the different editions of the Forum, such as the women’s assembly, youth camps, presentations about our global actions, and the Assembly of Social Movements.  The next World Social Forum will be held in Belém, Brazil, January 2009.

We have participated in the International Council of the WSF with one permanent representative, who since January 2008, has been Wilhelmina Trout, and one representative of the National Coordinating Body from the region where the IC/WSF is being held.  This year, a new entity was formed to motivate the WSF process – the Liaison Group – in which 14 people from different organizations participate, including Wilhelmina.  In addition to the Liaison Group, we can identify women in other National Coordinating Bodies who have the time and willingness to follow the thematic work commissions of the WSF.   

In the last WMW/IC meeting, there were different perceptions of the WSF process depending on the region:  a more active dynamic in the Americas; interest in Africa, plus an evaluation that the process is controlled by few people; good possibilities for movement articulation in Southeast Asia; interest in South Asia; exhaustion in Europe.   At the beginning of this year, we elaborated a WMW document to debate the strategies of the WSF (attached).  We propose that the National Coordinating Bodies discuss this document in light of their own experiences with the WSF process, particularly its regional dimension, and send their evaluation to us.  


Alliances with social movements

Within the WSF process, we summoned a Social Movements Asembly, together with other organizations (Via Campesina, CUT, ATTAC, Focus on the Global South, CADTM, etc...).  The group of organizations that summoned the Assembly met in September, 2006, in Brussels.  We had hoped it would be an opportunity to build a common agenda that would extend beyond the events of the WSF; however no agreement was reached regarding how to carry out this work together.  The WMW participates in the Assembly facilitating group; however our initiatives, like the others, have not gone beyond the events of the WSF.

Nevertheless, relationships established during the organization of the Assembly resulted in a number of additional activities:  united actions against the WTO; an invitation from Focus on the Global South to join the Iraq Civil Society initiative; an invitation from CADTM to participate in educational activities on the issue of feminism; as well as a common agenda together with Via Campesina on the question of Food Sovereignty.  

Together with Via Campesina, we established a concrete work agenda for the preparation and follow-up of the Nyéleni Food Sovereignty Forum, which was held in February, 2007, in Mali.  In this process, we also established closer ties with Friends of the Earth International (FOEI).  The objectives of Nyéleni were:  deepen our collective knowledge; strengthen dialogue among and through the interested sectors and groups; elaborate common strategies and an agenda of collaborative actions.  

World March of Women militant activists from Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Québec, Galicia, Turkey, India, Philippines, Guatemala, Basque Countries, Algeria, Iran, Burkina Faso, and Mali took part in Nyeleni.

The organising committee of Nyéléni was dissolved in August 2008 after having completed its function.  The work will be continued on two fronts: through a common work agenda between four movements (WMW, VC, FOEI, and WFFP – World Forum of Fisher Peoples), and through the creation of an education and training centre in Nyéléni.  

All four movements will be holding their international assemblies between October and November, 2008: the WMW will be meeting in Galícia from 14th – 20th October; Via Campesina in Mozambique from 17th – 23rd October; Friends of the Earth will meet in Honduras from 7th – 15th November; and the World Forum of Fisher Peoples will gather in Thailand from 8th – 18th October.  At each of these gatherings, Food Sovereignty actions as well as strategic alliances will be debated. In December 2008, we will be able to evaluate the commitments and political will of each movement to define next steps in common.

Alliances with feminist organizations

Forming alliances with other feminist and women’s organizations is one of our concerns.  We sympathize with their positions, have engaged in informal dialogue, have organized joint debates at the WSF, and have supported initiatives and received support for our global actions from diverse organizations such as Women in Black, 1000 women for peace, WILPF, Code Pink, CATW, and FEDIM.  However, we have not established a process that has lead to joint achievements and commitments on the international level, in part because many of them have no international coordinating structure or policy of strategic alliances.  Women in Black and CATW have closer ties in countries of Latin America, Europe, and Asia.   

In addition, we know there are many other international feminist organizations about which we have no detailed assessment.  It is our impression, however, that most are institutionalized and focused on lobbying activities in the United Nations and multi-lateral organizations, remaining distant from our concerns and practices.  As an example, we can consider the AWID Conference to be held in South Africa this coming November, with the theme “The Power of Movements”.  Our colleagues in South Africa and other local groups demanded that feminist practices be employed in the organization of the conference, such as:  financial transparency; use of local services and products to distribute the large amount of resources to be spent in the region; involvement of local organizations to define the contents and guarantee poor women access to the event, among others.  These demands are being criticized by sectors of the feminist movement that believe expressions of political discord show a lack of sorority (unity among women).  

For these reasons, we believe it is more interesting to build alliances at the regional level, and based on these, the International Committee will discuss which initiatives to include at the international level.


Alliances at the regional level

The March has many alliances formed at the regional level, many of which cover the spectrum represented here at the international level.  Examples include the participation of WMW Asia in “Climate Justice Now”, and in the Americas, joint work with REMTE (Red Latinoamericana Mujeres Transformando la Economia), CLOC (Coordinación Latino-americana de Organizaciones Campesinas), Alai (Agencia Latinoamericana de Informaciones), CADA (Campaña Antimilitarización de las Américas), and others.

It is our hope that based on regional experiences; we can establish alliances with sectors, like indigenous people, that are important for the affirmation of alternatives.

Regions must evaluate the alliances that have been established, identify gaps, and discuss what they have learned.  We suggest that this be a subject for discussion in upcoming Regional Meetings of the WMW.

So lead for the constitution of a strategic alliances policy of the WMW that articulates the various levels at which we operate:  local, national, regional, international; mobilizations, elaboration, popular education, communication, and others.  

To enable the definition of directions during the Meeting:

After reading this document and the attachment about the World Social Forum, reflect on it and, if possible, discuss your evaluation with other members of your National Coordinating Body, as well as challenges and possibilities regarding:
-    the World Social Forum;
-    alliances with mixed social movements (in which men and women participate);
-    alliances with feminist and women’s movements and organizations.