On October 27-30, 2005, up to 2,000 women s rights leaders and activists from around the world will converge on Bangkok at the 10th AWID International Forum to debate the urgent question, "How does change happen?"

Location: Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok Thailand

Member Rate $390 USD
Institutional Member Rate* $360 USD
Non-member Rate $450 USD
Student Rate $180 USD
Volunteer Rate $100 USD

What is AWID?

The Association for Women s Rights in Development is an international membership organization that connects, informs, and mobilizes people and institutions committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development, and women s human rights.

AWID s goal is to bring about individual, institutional and policy changes that will improve the lives of women and girls everywhere. AWID achieves this goal by facilitating ongoing debates on fundamental and provocative issues as well as by building the individual and organizational capacities of those working for women s empowerment and social justice.

What is the Forum?

The International Forum on Women s Rights and Development is both a conference and a call to action. The largest recurring event of its kind, the AWID Forum brings together women s rights leaders and activists from around the world every three years to strategize, network, celebrate, and learn in a highly charged atmosphere that fosters deep discussions and sustained personal and professional growth.

Delegates to the Forum participate in four days of plenary speeches, interactive sessions, workshops, debates, and creative sessions geared to powerful thinking on gender equality and women s human rights. Delegates also participate in informal caucuses, gala events, cultural activities, and social and political events geared to global and regional networking and alliance-building.

Delegates who participate fully in the Forum not only empower themselves with new tools and resources, but they also, collectively, re-politicize the gender and development community, strengthen alliances between women, and engage in work and thinking that is truly transformative rather than simply palliative.

Who can participate?

Participation in the AWID Forum is open to anyone who works or has an interest in women s rights, international development, and social justice. AWID particularly welcomes women and men from the Global South, young women who are poised to take over from the current generation of leaders, and marginalized groups that have had difficulty getting their agenda heard on a global stage.

Plenaries
Day 1: What have we changed and how?

The Forum will open with a plenary that takes stock of what we, as women's movements and feminist activists, have achieved so far through our work and our activism. Speakers will reflect not only on the successes we've had, but they will also probe our key failures and some of the unintended consequences of our work. The best strategies will be highlighted and explored, and mistakes and challenges will be examined with an eye to avoiding the same mistakes and pitfalls in the future.

Day 2: What is the change around us?

Most of us are so occupied with day-to-day challenges that we are ill-prepared to face the future. The second plenary will begin with a screening of AWID's "future trends" documentary, which will open participants' minds to some of the biggest and most daunting challenges we will face together in the future. The screening will be followed by a wide-ranging discussion that spans everything from the emergence of new global governance regimes to the problems of climate change and its fallout.

Day 3: How should we change?

While celebrating our achievements is important, analyzing our challenges and shortcomings is even more critical. This plenary will focus specifically on the sustainability of our movements, with an emphasis on financial sustainability and leadership. During this plenary, AWID will launch its new "Where's the Money?" campaign, followed up with a frank and thoughtful critique of our current leadership capacities, intergenerational challenges, and organizational development needs.

Day 4: How does change happen: wrap-up.

What have we learned at the Forum? What were the big ideas that emerged, and what was everyone talking about in the hallways? AWID will have "trackers" working throughout the Forum, noting and analyzing the big conversations, ideas, meetings, and events. These trackers will close the Forum with their insights and findings, so that everyone leaves with not only their own experiences, but the fullness of having been a participant in a collective learning and growing process.

Workshops + Other Breakout Sessions
In addition to the plenary sessions, the AWID Forum also hosts over a hundred different breakout sessions and workshops on provocative and urgent issues for women's rights and development.

(artemisia's note: there is way too much stuff going on to list here...check out the website)

The Association for Women's Rights in Development
215 Spadina Ave, Suite 150
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5T 2C7

Tel: +1.416.594.3773
Fax: +1.416.594.0330