Background
The 5th DAWN Training Institute (DTI) was held in Negombo, Sri Lanka, in November 2016 with a passionate group of 27 young women feminists from across 23 countries1 and diverse professional and advocacy backgrounds. The first DTI took place in Bangalore, India (2003), the second in Montevideo, Uruguay (2005), the third in Cape Town, South Africa (2007) and the fourth in Siem Reap, Cambodia (2011).
The DTI is a three-week intensive training programme for young feminist activists and advocates from the South. The programme draws on DAWN’s feminist analysis which interlinks issues under the themes of Political Economy of Globalisation (PEG), Political Ecology and Sustainability (PEAS), Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), and Political Restructuring and Social Transformation (PRST). Its contents also reflect the network’s considerable experience in UN conference processes and other sites of engagement and struggle, including the global civil society movement against neoliberal economic globalization, as well as regional, sub-regional and national processes. The 5th DTI particularly focused on ways forward on the implementation and accountability of the Post 2015 Development Agenda.
The DAWN Secretariat worked closely with the host institution, Women and Media Collective (WMC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a well-established women’s organization focusing on gender, poverty and governance issues. Importantly, given the major political transitions occurring in Sri Lanka, DTI participants gained direct understanding about the complexities of post-conflict political transformation and strategies through the lenses of local feminist activists and advocates.
“Within my busy life I do not have much time to get together with other activists to learn and share in such a dynamic space and for this length of time. Every person from the DTI team, facilitators, trainers, sister participants were amazing and inspirational; I loved it!”
“Definitely was inspirational to be in such a supportive and enriching working space… I felt appreciated and challenged and inspired to try new things, come forward and speak”
“I always thought internationalism with Latino-american boundaries. Now I feel more and more identified with many fighting women from Africa, Asia and Pacific. This is the most valuable experience that I carry besides the concrete content of the training.”
“I’m convinced DTI has broadened what i now recognize as my “limited understanding of feminist politics” I’m quite compelled to strengthen my organizing around these issues and now have the “how to” to mobilize around these issues in my country”
“Really, I think that all the content and the political analysis was really good, having the time to really work on the connections, it’s like wiring our brain to see things in a new dimension, like a horror 3D with so much inequality, devastation and urgency”
“It has deepened my knowledge particularly about extractivism and climate change.”
“It helped me to look and think more critically towards every issues, and it’s quite helpful in shaping my work strategy and focus.”
“Thanks to the DTI team for making space for all of us to learn, to share, to challenge, to be challenged, to inspire and to be inspired.”
The Program
The program development process emphasized the interlinked crises of neoliberal financialized globalization, climate change and the ecological and human impacts of ‘extractivism’, the backlash against sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the closing spaces for civil society that characterize what DAWN describes as “the fierce new world”. Like each DTI before this one, it built on the lessons learned from previous DTI editions, but also completely rethought and revamped them to respond to current realities such as the post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs.
DTI is a feminist training program where a South inter-linkages perspective is applied to an interrogation of issues cutting across the terrains of gender justice, economic justice, sexual and reproductive rights, ecological justice, sustainable development and democracy. It is a formal arena through which DAWN women, along with other resource persons, share with younger feminists from the South the accumulated knowledge, analyses, skills and experiences of DAWN in the past years.
The 5th DTI benefitted immensely from the knowledge and vast experiences of women advocates who work on different, interlinked areas of development and women’s rights. Resource persons featured the members of the DAWN Executive Committee (EC), each with their own area of expertise, shared critical analysis and gender perspectives of global development agendas. In addition to the DAWN EC, various resource persons were engaged to provide key in-depth analysis and critic on thematic components of the program. DAWN appreciates the contributions of each resource persons in highlighting the interlinkages of development challenges for women.
Through this partnership with resource persons, participants were shown how to develop an inter-linkages approach with a focus on Extractives as a basis for the discussions. There were sessions on analysis and advocacy by way of exploring different forms of communications and to decide which tools are the most appropriate to use for varying situations.
Furthermore, sessions looked to sharpen the ability to analyze controversial issues with participants engaging in respectful listening and discussions. New tools for perspective building were introduced, focusing on the transition from the MDGs to the SDGs by equipping participants with skills to think in the medium and long term, to look beyond being reactive to current concerns, to engage in influencing strategic trends and to develop the ability to respond to new questions and/or scenarios.
Finally, an emphasis was placed on the issues, importance and challenges for the women’s/feminist movements in building alliances and coalitions with other social movements as well as working with the state and the UN in the current context of closing spaces. Recognizing issues within the women’s/feminist organizations themselves, and supporting participants’ individual sustainability were explored as factors that need more feminist reflections.
“These were not new thematic areas but the useful part of it was the deeper analysis of each theme and the interlinkages, which made me realize that a lot of things in the spheres are not as they seem, but there are so many other factors and forces that we need to consider.”
“This was a life changing experience for me. I almost did not come to DTI 2016… DTI is full of interesting, passionate women that lifted my spirit again. I went to the Fidel Castro memorial in Colombo, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Young and old people still passionate for a cause. I have started to rethink how I engage with finance and trade issues. I will not give up.”
“The DTI has inspired me to be more fearless, confident and passionate about myself and what I do or stand for. It has encouraged me to continue to raise my voice on issues that affect me and my community, especially gender equality in all its spheres.”
Beyond DTI 2016
The 5th DTI created a collective space for analysis and review of dominant development priorities, including a focus on the implementation and accountability of the Post 2015 Development Agenda. Here feminists engaged as participants, facilitators and trainers to share learnings and develop critical analysis needed to advance their advocacy and action for women’s rights. This space enabled feminists to build new bonds, connect over shared challenges, and offer up diverse approaches and responses to challenges.
The building of networks and continuation of key partnerships was an outcome that the DTI enabled by bringing together young feminists from the South. Strong bonds were created among the participants and between participants and trainers through the three weeks of being together in a supportive and creative feminist learning environment.
Additionally, one of the main feedbacks provided by participants concerned the importance of remaining connected and engaged with DTI alumni and DAWN activities.
1 Liberia, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Madagascar, Fiji, PNG, Tonga, Cambodia, China, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Chili, Palestine, Caribbean.