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ATTACHED is AWID Young Women's Fundamentalisms Institute Application

Extended AWID Deadline: September 27^th 2007- For applicants from the Middle East, SE Asia,  the Pacific , Russia or Central Asia ONLY

Completed applications should be sent to Kataisee Richardson - Kataisee@awid.org with Fundamentalisms Institute in the subject heading.

Additional Information: Sanushka Mudaliar sanushka@awid.org

AWID - Association for Women's Rights in Development

http://www.awid.org/go.php?pg=challenge_fundamentalisms

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RESISTING & CHALLENGING RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISMS: AN ADVOCACY RESEARCH PROJECT OF AWID

BACKGROUND

Religious fundamentalisms are gaining strength in many countries, manifesting themselves in control over women's sexuality, bodies, family relationships, movement, dress codes, and participation in public, etc. Religious fundamentalist forces are gaining undue influence in setting social norms and architecture; dominating everyday facets of life; defining laws in particular family laws which most impact women; controlling the media; influencing national policy-makers and international institutions; undermining human rights institutions and norms; putting religion at the center of state business; increasing the dominance of religion in public life; and undermining spaces for plurality and dissent.

Women's rights advocates have done considerable work detailing how religious fundamentalisms impact on women's rights, such as the demand for regressive reform of family law in Muslim contexts or the rise of the Christian evangelical movement in the United States. There has also been some documentation of strategies to resist and challenge religious fundamentalisms. However, there has yet to be feminist research which synthesizes the broad trends of the impact of religious fundamentalisms on women's rights and lives, that is cross-comparative across religions and regions which is credible, accessible and widely shared. We also need a greater in-depth and cross-comparative documentation of concrete examples of strategies being used by women to resist and challenge religious fundamentalisms.

Research and documentation which attempts to address these gaps should contribute to greater strategic thinking by women's rights movements around religious fundamentalisms, and help make the case that the rise in religious fundamentalisms is a global phenomenon which needs serious attention. We need to have a more open and honest dialogue, to better understand religious fundamentalisms as well as develop shared analysis and strategies if we hope to effectively meet the challenge posed by regressive political-religious movements.

This initiative, builds on the work of AWID's Challenging Fundamentalisms website project which was a joint project with Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and Rights and Democracy.

THE PROJECT'S GOAL AND KEY OBJECTIVES

In keeping with AWID's mission, this initiative aims to strengthen the impact and influence of international, regional and national women's rights advocates, organizations and movements resisting and challenging fundamentalist projects, which undermine women's human rights around the world.
Towards this goal, the project's two objectives are:

• To develop a deeper and more shared understanding amongst women's movements, organizations and their allies of the way fundamentalist projects work, grow and undermine women's human rights, and of what strategies exist to challenge them effectively;
• To build the resources and capacity of women's human rights advocates to implement successful strategies for resisting and challenging fundamentalist politics.

THE PROJECT'S ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY

To ensure we have as broad a perspective as possible on religious fundamentalisms, and to share the results as widely as possible with women's rights advocates and beyond, the project will engage in a variety of activities and use a variety of research tools.

Activities for the project in 2007-2008 will include:

• A mapping of all major past and present international and regional initiatives challenging the impact of religious fundamentalisms on women's human rights;
• Research on the broad trends and strategies vis-à-vis religious fundamentalisms whose methodology will include a desk review, in-depth interviews and case studies, and an online survey generating quantitative and qualitative data;
• An AWID Young Feminist Institute which will look at the particular experience and response of young women regarding religious fundamentalisms;
• An international meeting of up to 35 stakeholders working on religious fundamentalisms in late 2007 to review the research results to date, and identify strategies of challenge and resistance to religious fundamentalisms;
• Support and collaboration with key initiatives in the area and build partnerships with organizations that are potential allies;
• Dialogue with key networks and organizations within women's movements, other social movements and progressive religious leaders around religious fundamentalisms.

Plans for 2008
The late 2007 stakeholders meeting will also help develop the project's 2008 activities, specifically a possible 'fundamentalisms report card' for individual countries, regional workshops, and capacity-building in communications and resisting religious fundamentalisms.

Defining Fundamentalisms
The project acknowledges that the term 'religious fundamentalism' and its definition are contested, and because definitions are central to building a shared understanding of a phenomenon, part of our research shall examine some issues relating to definitions. However, our focus shall remain the lived realities of women's lives which may help traverse this hugely contested territory.

SHARING AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

As the project progresses, materials and information generated by the project will be shared with AWID members and beyond, and profiled through the AWID website and e-lists.

Following a review of the draft at the late 2007 stakeholders meeting, a final project report, with an executive summary, bringing together the research findings and addressing the project's research questions will be launched at the AWID Forum in November 2008. The final report will additionally address an overarching research question:

• What commonalities across religions are there in terms of how religious fundamentalisms work, grow, and undermine women's human rights and how does this inform the work that needs to be done by women's rights advocates to resist and challenge religious fundamentalisms?

While the research questions and actual questionnaires/framework for the project's various research vehicles are not framed in human rights language, the final report, to be published by AWID in English, French and Spanish, will refer to international human rights standards, where applicable.

The findings will form the basis of advocacy actions or a campaign that AWID staff will launch at the 2008 AWID Forum.

PROJECT TEAM

Shareen Gokal, AWID Strategic Initiative Manager
Ghadeer Malek, Programme Assistant
Sanushka Mudaliar, AWID Young Feminist Activist Coordinator
Cassandra Balchin, Lead Research Consultant
Juan Marco Vaggione, Research Consultant
Martin Redfern, Consultant, Online Survey

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