For more than a decade, the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung – New York Office has been collaborating with MADRE, a feminist fund the supports grassroots movements around the world. Our collective mission is to help grassroots feminists and indigenous and other marginalized women access to UN spaces. We see this as a two-way process. Women are able to physically attend UN conferences, such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and the UN Climate Conference (COP) to meet directly with lawmakers, UN officials and other civil society. Our delegations are also able to take back to their peoples the lessons learned in these UN spaces as well as knowledge of UN processes and treaties their governments have signed on to so that they can better hold their governments to account.
How effective have these efforts been? The short answer: very. One of the biggest success was the adoption of General Recommendation No. 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which was finally adopted after years of advocacy efforts supported by RLS, but entirely led by Indigenous women. The General Recommendation acknowledges the specific rights of Indigenous women and girls, the intersection discrimination they face and their roles as knowledge holders and community leaders. Now, our indigenous partners are able to call out their national governments, at least those that have signed CEDAW, for not upholding their commitments under international law.
In fact, our partners did just this when they came to New York to participate in CSW in March this year. CEDAW General Recommendation No. 39 came up in several advocacy meetings that RLS-NYC and MADRE organized for our delegation of indigenous women from Guatemala, Palestine and Iraq. Partners were also able to speak directly to UN agencies, like UN Women, as well as national governments about issues directly affecting them, their communities and their work. In particular, the nexus of feminism—and feminist foreign policy—and security was brought up many times. Being in these meetings and talking with our partners, it is clear how lasting security cannot be achieved anywhere if women aren’t at the negotiating table and if a feminist lens isn’t applied to peace building and conflict resolution.
Partners have also shared about their experiences when they return to their home countries. Their local and national advocacy efforts are supported by the fact that they have been directly involved in these UN processes. For instance, they have greater credibility when they speak on issues of climate change both within their communities as well as with government officials after attending the COP. Beyond gaining a better understanding of their countries international legal obligations, RLS and MADRE work to help partners understand how interconnected issues are within the UN system. Indigenous issues, women’s right and the climate crisis are all—obviously—connected, but knowing how they are included—or not—in different UN spaces, is important for more effective advocacy.
Beyond direct advocacy, arguably the biggest element of the RLS-MADRE collaboration is the ability to build international, feminist, indigenous solidarity. Across the more than 13 years of partnership, we have worked with women from Colombia, Nepal, the Philippines, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Panama, Guatemala and others. Despite language and cultural barriers, our partners are able to discover their commonalities, share best practices and forge lasting relationships.
Furthermore, through side events, receptions and other networking opportunities we arrange for partners, RLS and MADRE give our indigenous partners the opportunity to share their stories with diverse audiences, including civil society, UN officials, government officials and the general public. So often Indigenous voices—especially those of Indigenous women and girls—are not considered in policy making or activist spaces. We work to center these voices, which are key to finding lasting, effective solutions to violent conflict, the climate crisis and rising fascism.
A core principle of RLS globally is building international leftist solidarity. Here in the New York Office, the MADRE collaboration exemplifies this principle through a feminist and Indigenous lens. We are incredibly proud of what our Indigenous partners have accomplished, the relationships they’ve forged with each other as well as with non-Indigenous feminist activists and their ability to leverage their UN access and knowledge to achieve change in their local communities.
Maria Savel is a project manager at RLS–NYC focusing on reproductive and gender justice, foreign policy and multilateralism.
