A few days after the launch of the Francophone Feminist Alliance at the Quai d'Orsay, a project led by Equipop, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Fund for Women in the Mediterranean (FFMed) sent a first delegation of 17 activists to participate in the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), held from March 10 to 21, 2025, in New York, marking the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+30).
The Francophone Feminist Alliance (AFF) aims to strengthen the presence of Francophone feminists in multilateral spaces by offering a collective and diverse perspective to international debates on human rights and gender equality. As explained by Oumaima Dermoumi, Coordinator of the AFF, these activists face many obstacles in making their voices heard—from limited funding to a lack of support and coordination to language barriers, in spaces largely dominated by English and confronted with the rise of anti-rights movements. The Alliance aims to be a space for advocacy, exchange, coordination, and support in a context of declining rights for women and LGBTQIA+ people. As Rachimini Malam Moumouni, an activist with the Négresses Féministes community in Togo, theirtheir demands focus on five areas : 1) funding for feminist movements, 2) defending acquired rights and fighting against anti-rights movements, 3) access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), 4) participation in decision-making bodies and access to public and digital spaces, and finally, 5) the fight against gender-based and sexual violence (GBV). This first delegation, more than half of whose members were participating in the CSW for the first time, raised these key issues at various key moments.
Strengthening international feminist solidarity
On March 12, the launch ceremony of the Francophone Feminist Alliance brought together more than 150 people from diverse backgrounds: feminists, diplomats, government representatives, UN agencies, philanthropists, and civil society actors. This festive moment of sisterhood was an opportunity to to highlight the challenges of representation and funding for Francophone feminist organizations on the international stage, and to open up a space for dialogue. After an introduction to the Alliance by its coordinator, Oumaima Dermoumi, three activists spoke. Hajer Naceur, co-founder and coordinator of the Front for Equality and Women's Rights (FEDF) in Tunisia, emphasized the urgency of building bridges and uniting our resistance movements. Sokhna Fall, Coordinator of the Association Femmes Entraide & Autonomie , called for increased political and financial support for small associations that help victims of gender-based and sexual violence, echoing the call made by Oumou Khairy Diallo, Executive Director of the Club Jeunes Filles de Guinée, for greater solidarity and support in order to break the silence. Delphine O, Ambassador and Secretary-General of the Generation Equality Forum at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, emphasized the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in France's new France's international strategy for feminist diplomacy. Finally, Julie Gonnet, Deputy Head of the Social Cohesion Division at the French Development Agency, highlighted the powerful lever for change that these feminist voices represent in multilateral spaces.
Bringing the national realities of French-speaking feminists to the fore in multilateral spaces
Throughout the CSW, the Alliance participated in a wide range ofside events ranging from the rise of anti-rights movements and backlash (particularly in relation to sexual and reproductive health rights) to the fight against gender-based violence—through, for example, legislative frameworks, the transformation of masculinities, the culture of consent and youth engagement—the funding of feminist organizations, the intersection of women's, Peace and Security, climate action, and disarmament. Several Alliance members delivered powerful interventions, such as Carelle Laetitia Goli, a feminist activist from Côte d'Ivoire, lawyer, and blogger, invited as a panelist at the event "Femicide: A Global Crisis – A Conversation with Women Activists from Haiti, Kenya, and Ivory Coast." She highlighted the need to name gender-based and sexual violence and feminicide, to strengthen legislative frameworks, and to take into account the negative effects on secondary victims, particularly children and family members. Oumou Khaïry Diallo, Executive Director of the Guinea Young Women's Club, spoke at the event “Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage” (organized by Girls First Fund, Nawi, UK FCDO, and Global Affairs Canada) to warn about the limitations of protection and care services for cases of early marriage in Guinea, the persistence of patriarchal culture as an accelerator of this harmful practice, and the lack of funding for feminist organizations.
Taking action to promote equality
Designed as a space for exchange and networking, the Alliance also organized bilateral meetings ahead of and during the CSW with key players in the multilateral ecosystem. Ahead of the CSW, activists exchanged views with MEPs Mélissa Camara (France) and Hannah Gedin (Sweden) to present the Alliance's mission and open a dialogue on avenues for collaboration at the European Union level. These discussions continued in New York with the French parliamentary delegation, with the European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib, philanthropic actors such as the Chanel Foundation and the Foundation for a Just Society, and UN institutions such as UN Women and UNAIDS. Numerous exchanges with actors from feminist civil society also took place throughout the CSW in order to strengthen strategic partnerships. As highlighted by Oumou Khaïry Diallo, these bilateral meetings provided crucial opportunities to anchor multilateral debates in national realities, strengthen solidarity among actors, and emphasize the need to align political support for feminist organizations and feminist diplomacy with adequate funding, particularly through official development assistance (ODA). On the sidelines of the CSW, some members of the Alliance also participated in the march “No Backlash to Women's Rights" to demand equal rights for all women and protest against persistent inequalities and multiple forms of discrimination.
Fighting political regression and anti-rights movements
Although the participation of the Francophone Feminist Alliance in the 69th session of the CSW (2025) is an important step, the persistent challenges must not be overlooked. Despite some progress, the overall context of women's rights seems to be stagnating—or even regressing. This trend was highlighted during the side event organized by the FIDH and the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) on the decline of women's rights in the Maghreb, which brought together activists from Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria. The discussions, moderated by Mouna Dachri, Project Officer at the FIDH's Maghreb and Middle East office, highlighted the impact of alliances between authoritarian regimes and conservative groups, as well as feminist resistance strategies in the face of these growing threats. Similarly, several activists were able to join meetings with feminist NGOs in the Arab world to report on setbacks that particularly affect women and restrictions on freedom of association, calling for greater solidarity to enable them to continue their activities. Similarly, as noted by Najet Araari, a Tunisian feminist sociologist, on the occasion of the adoption by consensus of the Beijing+30 Political Declaration, while the inclusion of the fight against VAW and support for women's rights organizations in the text is noteworthy, the worrying omission of sexual and reproductive rights was also noted. The rise of anti-rights movements, which seek to restrict the freedoms that have been won and limit women's access to fundamental rights, is a cause for great concern and makes it even more urgent to keep up the pressure for real change.
