2003
Bangalore, India
In 2003, DAWN launches its first DAWN Training Institute (DTI) in Bangalore, India, bringing together 28 young feminist activists for three weeks of intensive collective learning. The curriculum includes debates on themes of globalisation, political economy, ecological justice, sustainability, sexual and reproductive rights, and feminist strategies for social transformation—anchored in lived experience and intersectional analysis.
Over the next two decades, five more DTIs follow: Montevideo, Uruguay (2005) with 26 participants from 16 countries; Cape Town, South Africa (2007) with 28 participants; Siem Reap, Cambodia (2011) with 27 participants; Negombo, Sri Lanka (2016) with 27 participants from 23 countries; and Bali, Indonesia (2023) with 16 participants. The Bali DTI—originally planned for 2020, is delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic—receives 347 applications, reflecting the growing demand for feminist capacity-building across the global South.
The DTIs become incubators of transnational feminist leadership, weaving a vibrant network of activists who go on to shape regional and international activism.
