by Annie Wilkinson

The Association of Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) Conference – the Power of Movements – in Cape Town, South Africa last November, provided a number of firsts for me: my first international activist gathering, my first time meeting with more than a few dozen feminists, and my first time meeting so many young feminist activists from around the world. It was also a first for AWID – it was the first time that participation of young feminists in the triennial conference of 2000 attendees reached 20 percent.

We came from all over. A student activist from Fiji (20), a Global Fund advisor from Lebanon (26), activists from a young women’s group in Sao Paolo (27, 29), a young representative of a South African Global Fund grantee (26), and even a handful of Global Fund staff in their 20s.

For many of us, getting to the forum presented the first challenge. Many young women lack the financial resources to travel to feminist gatherings. Or their organizations do not see their participation as a priority. This lack of resources reflects a greater trend – young women’s organizations have a hard time getting their work funded. Just coming together marked a huge step forward as it represented one of the first and only times that so many young feminist activists were able to convene and connect face-to-face. Meeting other feminists – and other young feminists from around the world – felt akin to landing for the first time on a long lost home-planet.

Not only were there record levels of young attendees, but young women spoke up. They raised issues related to inclusion in the feminist movement of indigenous women, lgbtiq women, women from racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, young women, and men. They pressed forth lessons learned, concerns, and questions related to activist burnout, healing and self-care, and the sustainability of the feminist movement. They urged the movement to prioritize mentorship in an intergenerational lunchtime discussion, expand the resources available to young feminists through two back-to-back sessions called “Where is the Money for Young Women’s Rights,” and explored new tools and technologies for activism that both leverage and address the realities of a globalized world. Young women spoke on panels about issues ranging from upholding sexual and reproductive rights to challenging fundamentalisms to using the arts and sports for social change to addressing the needs of queer women and women with disabilities in our communities.

While some young women are new to feminist activitism and have entered the movement following in the steps of their mothers and grandmothers, many are already longtime activists, having stepped into the role as young teens, alongside or even before their mothers and grandmothers. What experiences, then, connect this young, diverse group of activists? Is a young woman’s contributions defined by her age or her experience?

Young women described not being able to set the agenda in the women’s move­ment at the local or international levels. We are sparse among women in positions of leadership inside and outside the movement, and hard to spot at the decision-making table in funding organizations that financially fuel the movement.

Many work as unpaid activists during their spare time. While the professionalization of the feminist movement has allowed the movement to gain ground, sustainability, legitimacy, and influence for its constituency at all levels, there are problems too. It has created a structure that concretizes some divisions – including that of age – and makes it difficult for many young feminists to “break in” or gain visibility for their work in the movement. Along with greater difficulty in accessing funding, this leaves many young feminists with unpaid activism as a sole option. As a result, some are turning instead to other pursuits that are not related to the movement.

But does this ageism go both ways? As some older feminists pointed out, the contributions of older feminists are sometimes also overlooked and recognition of their achievements often lacking. Young women may sometimes forget the sacrifices that older women have made to advance the movement to where it was when young feminists entered.

The key to building a stronger, multi-generational movement lies in recognizing that older feminists are a tremendous resource to younger feminists just as younger feminists are a tremendous resource to older feminists. Mutual learning and mentorship are important ways to leverage these resources.

While the impact of the young feminist organizing that occurred before and during the conference remains to be seen, I was delighted to notice that here, at the Global Fund, senior staff are reflecting on the conversations that took place in South Africa. Post-forum, I have heard senior leadership in my organization repeatedly raise issues of sustainability – issues that were largely brought up by young women at the forum and which have tremendous relevancy for multigenerational movement building. Without a doubt, the activities of the awid Young Feminist Activist Committee resulted in sowing seeds and laying the groundwork for leaders of the movement to pay closer attention to the needs and contributions of young feminists and consider the need for a deliberate multigenerational approach to movement building. A multigenerational movement cannot exist without the unique perspectives and invaluable contributions of young women. Funders like the Global Fund must be a key part of ensuring that young women have the resources and confidence to be at the table.