Dear members,
This month many of us would have been together at the Forum in Brazil if we held it as originally scheduled. We at AWID feel now more than ever the importance of the Forum process towards the convening in September in Costa do Sauipe, Bahía, Brazil.
https://www.eventsforce.net/awid/frontend/reg/thome.csp?pageID=28242&eventID=25&traceRedir=2&eventID=25
A complex situation
As you know, we decided to postpone the Forum from May to September because of uncertainty about the Zika virus situation. At that time we were aware of the complex political situation in Brazil, but could not foresee that it would become even more challenging.
As you surely know by now, last week Brazil's Senate voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, suspending her from office for up to 180 days during the proceedings. In the meantime, interim President Michel Temer has just named an all-white male cabinet and among other things, has eliminated the Ministry of Human Rights, Women & Racial Justice and Ministry of Culture among others, sending clear worrisome signs of major setbacks in key social justice and human rights gains of the past years.
The increasingly complex and polarized political landscape in Brazil mirrors challenges that many of us are struggling against globally. Social justice activists all over the world know that coups and other undemocratic attempts at regime change are not acceptable solutions and, as is the case in Brazil, are often decoys by oligarchies and other right wing forces to protect their own economic and political interests and mask their own complicity in rampant corruption, deepening inequalities and outright repression.
Mobilizing Globally
As in so many places around the world, Brazilian feminist activists, oppressed peoples and social justice movements are actively mobilizing and uniting to overcome divisions and polarization and fight for their still nascent democracy. They are coming together across movements to counter rising fascism and reclaim/build democratic spaces to work for justice and equality.
Across regions we are witnessing the increased and intersecting impact of crises in governance, as transnational corporate power and architecture, organized crime networks, and fundamentalist religious agendas and actors are trampling on people's rights and freedoms with violence and impunity in failed and failing states. At the same time, emerging neo-fascist and militarized states are justifying their suppression of civil society, surveillance, censorship, and attacks on women human rights defenders by claiming the need for national security and economic growth. Of course the greatest impact is on historically marginalized groups and communities.
Creativity and Resilience
Given the creativity and resilience of our movements, we are excited that both the process leading up to the Forum and the event itself will be dynamic spaces for activists to come together -virtually and face to face- to analyze our struggles, strategize, and leverage our collective power.
As we mark the moment when the Forum was originally going to take place in Brazil, we would like to share a few of the feminist and progressive voices, opinions, experiences and analysesthat we've found valuable to understand not only the current political situation in Brazil, but how it fits into the broader regional and global context as well.
In these next four months before the Forum, keep you updated of all the pre-forum conversations, campaigns and resources you can engage with that AWID -and YOU- are co-creating towards the Forum. Even if you're not able to join us in Brazil in September, you can still contribute and be part of this movement process.
We will also continue to update you on the current context in Brazil from Zika to the political situation, and as much as possible share bring forward the voices of the amazing Brazilian feminists from all spectrum of movements who are hosting us.
We encourage you to contribute your opinions, questions, comments and suggestions in the online discussions. And we are very much looking forward to seeing you all in Brazil in September to come together across regions and movements in solidarity with and building collective actions justice movements in Brazil and across the globe!
A luta continua…
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