When people struggle together, what was once unimaginable suddenly becomes possible.

Among the most compelling examples of the power of movements is unquestionably the global women’s movement-a fact recognized by civil society scholars worldwide. Over many hundreds of years, women in solidarity have forcefully challenged prevailing patriarchal ideologies, eradicated institutions and customs that supported discriminatory practices, compelled women’s voice and representation in a multitude of institutions, created formal and informal structures to monitor the implementation of women’s equality, and mobilized and empowered women in communities around the world. The effect of these combined efforts has been, over time, a gradual but significant improvement in the lives of women and girls around the world.

Despite these successes, the struggle for women’s rights continues to face formidable obstacles. Recent years have witnessed a marked increase in the fragmentation of activists, as well as decreased investment by funding agencies in movement-oriented as opposed to project-oriented work. But there has been little space to discuss the implications of these trends, or to think about strategies to confront them. There has been even less space to reflect on the health of our movements, to critically examine our successes a well as our failures, to update and re-cast our understanding of movements in the current global context, and to find a better way forward, working in cooperation with other, like-minded social movements towards the common goals of peace, social justice, environmental sustainability and human rights for all.

The questions we need to answer are complex and multi-faceted: How do we build movements that allow us to be strong but flexible, diverse without being fragmented, adaptable without compromising our core values, strategic without being expedient? What kind of collective power is possible in the 21st century, what types of mobilizations work - and in what contexts? What are the contradictions we need to confront in our movements in order to move forward? How do we build solidarity across different movements? And what is the cost of simply letting things drift along the present path?

From November 14-18, 2008, up to 1,500 women’s rights activists from around the world will gather in Cape Town, South Africa to discuss the issue of building stronger women’s movements globally. We invite you to contribute to this urgent discussion by submitting a proposal to organize a session at the 11th AWID Forum: The Power of Movements.

Deadline for Applications: January 28, 2008

For further information (including guidelines for submissions), please visit The Power of Movements