Between March 11th and 13th, we held the first meeting between feminist funds and grassroots organizations from Latin America and Europe in Belgrade, Serbia. This gathering was convened by 20 women’s funds and more than 45 partner organizations from both continents. This historical meeting leaves us with a powerful  postcard, with over 100 participants waving their fists in solidarity between peoples and cultures, showing their eagerness to defend human rights and democracy together.

Joining strategies since 2018 

The Meeting was conceived within the framework of the cross-regional On the Right Track initiative, which since 2018 has been addressing various manifestations of anti-rights and anti-gender movements. Over these years, we have focused on building joint actions and strategies through research, collective mappings, communications and narratives, political advocacy, and anti-racist practices.

This is the very first time we have crossed borders to discuss our visions and strategies, coming together in the same space, which allowed us to unite political imaginations, reflect on our contexts and ourselves, and, above all, embrace the sense of belonging to the same international movement, which promises to be a powerful one.

In the spirit of the historical dimensions of this meeting, in the spirit of the desire to also change the path of history towards a society of justice, peace and equality, we firstly addressed our present reality. Hence, our group work included mapping the state of the affairs and focusing on our strategies. How do we respond in a broad, collective, effective way? How do we communicate the message that another world is possible, and how to do it all better?… These were some of the questions that were present during our time together.

Democracy guardians

The participants’ panels held during the gathering – focused on anti-gender issues and from an antiracist perspective– supported us in broadening our understandingof where we are, including what are the problems we need to resolve and the bridges we need to build for broader inclusion within movements and societies.

Our meeting came to an end with a public panel, named Amor Mundi: Who Is Afraid of Democracy. This one provided the audience with insights into the issues rooted at the core of our shared efforts: defending human rights and democracies in both regions. We are immensely thankful to Sonia Correa, Gillian Kane and Adriana Zaharijević, who spoke at this panel, facilitated by Djurdja Trajković.

Changing history together

When the intention is clear, when there is determination to object dehumanizing anti-gender politics, different languages are not a barrier. We are proud that we have done this gathering in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese! Likewise, we cherish the non-verbal expressions in the universal language of shared emotion.

Between work, difficult conversations, as well as creative and imaginative futures we can build together, we had time to socialize, explore a bit of the history of Belgrade and Yugoslavia, and just share warm moments of joy in connecting.

Precisely this joy of being able to be together comes as our strength in these uncertain times, when the future of movements is at stake. We are sure of one thing – this future has to be communitarian, built on the bases of international solidarity, action-orientated with clear frameworks defying the inhumane and suffocating anti-gender agendas.

And we will get there: if it was possible to make this historic step of togetherness, we might as well keep on walking together on the historic track. Another world is possible!

*Reconstruction Women’s Fund is endlessly grateful to everyone contributing the meeting: the OTRT coordination team (with Fondo Alquimia and Fondo Lunaria), facilitators Andrea Parra and Jelena Djordjevic, our hard-working translators, our dearest volunteers, Marija Jakovljević – our documentation expert, all the participants and guests, and all of our collaborators.