The Feminist Task Force (FTF) was launched in March 2005 when leaders of international women’s rights groups gathered in New York City for the annual meetings of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The global launch marked the start of a new alliance aimed at ending poverty among women and putting gender equality at the core of poverty eradication. Established under the umbrella of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), the Feminist Task Force focuses on the importance of framing poverty as women’s issues and calling for “Gender Equality to End Poverty.”
* 2011 * “100 Days -> 100 Ways” for UN Women e-camp@ign
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8th, and the first 100 days of the new UN women’s entity, UN Women, the “100 Days → 100 Ways” for UN Women e-camp@ign was launched to collect over 100 contributions from around the world on how the UN Women can better serve women, promote women’s human rights and be a champion for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. These contributions will be directed to, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, and delivered to the UN Women. March 8th will be a day of action for the “100 Days → 100 Ways” e-camp@ign.
* 2010 * Addressing Crisis at a Crossroads: Day of Dialogue on Women and the MDGs at UN Summit
On the opening day of the UN Millennium Development Goals Review Summit in December, the FTF held a Day of Dialogue to examine the impact on women of interconnected crises: financial and economic, climate change, food and maternal mortality. Panelists presented critical analysis on the systemic issues contributing to the crises and how these crises have exacerbated living conditions for women, throwing millions back into poverty.
• 2010 • 12 Days of Mobilization on the 12 Critical Areas of Concern – The International Women’s Day mobilization focuses on the 15th Anniversary and Review of the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) with Daily Action Alerts focused on the 12 Critical Areas of Concern of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), beginning with Women and Poverty and including Education, Health, Violence Against Women, Armed Conflict, Economy, Decision-Making, Institutional Mechanisms, Human Rights, Media, the Environment and ending with the Girl Child.
• 2009 • Women’s Tribunal on Gender and Climate Change – Calling for climate justice in the lead up to the UNFCCC in Copenhagen, Denmark, the FTF continued the success of the women’s tribunals calling for a series of tribunals on gender and climate change. Tribunals were organized in the global South, taking place in three regions, Africa, Asia and Latin America , in seven countries (Uganda, Nigeria, Botswana, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Brazil) between October and November 2009.
The findings of the seven women’s tribunals on climate change were presented at an event of the United Nations Framework on the Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the KlimaForum 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• 2008 • Women’s Tribunal in the Richest Country in the World – With the most unequal income distribution in the United States, New York City (NYC) has the top fifth of its population earning 40 times what the bottom fifth earns. Under the shadow of the United Nations, the FTF and ENLACE, a local organization, together with the Women of Color Policy Network-Wagner School at NYU and partner organizations, held a women’s tribunal on poverty in the world’s richest country. The Tribunal, which coincided with the crumbling of the financial institutions forty blocks to the south of the UN on Wall Street in September 2008, was unprecedented in highlighting the economic insecurity of women living in America and the inaccessibility to basic citizen rights, such as health care, food, education, and human security. Women spoke on the prevalence of a culture of poverty and how the “system” in NYC prevented women from advancing financially and professionally.
• 2007 • International Women’s Tribunals on Poverty – Beginning in 2007, the FTF launched a series of International Women’s Tribunals on Poverty to highlight the plight of women living in poverty around the world and to bring forth the voice of grassroots women. The Tribunals served to inform and present testimony on the conditions of women in different regions around the world. The documentation and testimony were used to put pressure on local officials and national governments to increase services for women and to improve women’s livelihoods. Women’s tribunals were held in India, Peru and Egypt.
• 2006 • International Women’s Day – Since 2006, the FTF has mobilized around March 8th, International Women’s Day (IWD), marking it as GCAP’s first global mobilizations for the calendar year. On IWD mobilizations take place around the world raising awareness about the feminization of poverty and calling for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment as a core demand –Women rights groups had been calling for putting gender equality and women’s empowerment at the center of poverty eradication. At a meeting of the GCAP Global Assembly in Beirut, Lebanon, the FTF fulfills the goal of adding “Gender equality and women’s empowerment” as a core demand of the GCAP platform.
“Gender Equality to End Poverty” is coined as the FTF motto at a global meeting of the FTF Facilitation Team in Toronto, Canada.
• 2005 • International Women’s Day – The Feminist Task Force was launched in March 2005 in New York City at the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
Feminist Task Force 