Read a blog by Bessma Mourad, Program Associate for MENA, on the ongoing GFW-AWID conference on resource mobilization for women's rights in Morocco. This is the first in a blogging series on the conference:

As part of AWID’s Young Feminist Activism program, today, over 20 women participated in a pre-meeting dialogue that provided a space for young women participants to share experiences, discuss challenges, and strategize ways for both empowering young women within their organizations, while gaining skills for resource mobilization.

The morning began with an ice-breaker in which each of the participants gave an introduction by answering three questions: 1. Where is the place you call home; 2. Where is a place that tugs at your heart; and 3. Where is a place that influenced your activism/political thinking.

As participants spoke, AWID staff marked these locations on a world map, and by the end, nearly each continent (with the exception of Antarctica!) was covered in marks. It was, in some ways, a new understanding for globalization. As the day progressed, I think everyone began feeling more comfortable with one another. While some joked with new friends, others challenged each other, playing “devils advocate” in small working groups. In the session titled “Everything you wanted to know about fundraising but were afraid to ask” the presenter, who is very well versed in the women’s rights funding world, told the participants “They [funders] need you as much as you need them.” A good reminder that fundraising and fundseeking is a two-way street.

Today’s meeting reinforced the importance that each one of us, regardless of age or experience, brings to the movements. We, as individuals, have much to both contribute and learn as we go into these next three days of meetings.