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UAF Co-Hosted A Global Solidarity Series: Palestine Episodes

From June to July 2021, UAF and our partners co-organized a series of conversations for funders on building solidarity with historically marginalized communities and social movements in Brazil, Colombia, Palestine, India, and Myanmar.
 
As we saw the narrative shifting around Palestine, on June 29th UAF co-hosted a panel asking: how can donors move towards the same shift in discourse to support movements in Palestine?
 
Click here to read the full story on the Global Solidarity Series: Palestine Episode!

Funding Feminists in Times of Crisis
 
In August, UAF Programs Officer Elsa Saade spoke in a podcast episode hosted by Kvinna Kvinna called “Funding Feminists in Times of Crisis”.
 
Listen to the podcast episode where Lina Abou Habib moderates a discussion with Theresa Pontius (Alliance of Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon), Rana Boukarim (Anti-Racism Movement) & UAF’s Programs Officer Elsa Saade on responding to COVID-19 and its disproportionate impact on migrant domestic workers in the Middle East.
 
Listen to the full podcast episode here!
 
Urgent Call to Action: Afghan Women, Girls, and Non-Binary activists Need Our Support
 
The Urgent Action Sister Funds are committed to the resistance and resilience of the brave women, girls, and non-binary activists and defenders of Afghanistan. Together, we pledge to make resources and our collective support available for their safety and well-being as quickly and safely as possible.
 
We are seeking resources for our sisters at Urgent Action Fund Asia & Pacific (UAF A&P) to support safety measures and relief efforts for Afghan women, girls, and gender nonbinary human rights defenders and activists. All contributions will be designated to our sisters at UAF A&P.
 
Make a contribution today to support the safety of women, girls, and non-binary activists in Afghanistan!
Supporting reproductive freedom post-SB8 in Texas
 
The passage of Senate Bill 8 (SB8) in Texas went into effect on September 1 and is one of the most restrictive laws at the state level to chip away at Roe vs. Wade. SB8 makes it illegal to have an abortion after six weeks, a period where most individuals who are pregnant may not know they are expecting a child. 

UAF quickly responded to support several women-led organizations through rapid response grants to enable and support the reproductive justice and freedom movement in this critical period to educate the public, defend reproductive justice and rights, and loudly oppose SB8. 


Click here to read the full story on how UAF stood by US activists who are protecting reproductive rights and freedoms in the face of SB8. 
Transvanilla's fight against The Registry Act in Hungary

Earlier this summer in Hungary, numerous gender repressive laws were introduced with the Registry Act being one of the most harmful. The Registry Act denies trans and gender diverse people the right to legal recognition and self-determination, forcing them to use their assigned birth sex on the registry with no way to change it later in the civil registry. 

An initiative hosted by UAF grantee Transvanilla called “Name from the Past”, was created to highlight this issue. The binary assignment of sex excludes trans identity and will prevent any future opportunities to change legal documentation with the appropriate gender identification for trans folks. The “Name from the Past” campaign is a unique social initiative that, by joining forces with trans and cis people, draws attention to what it is like to officially live with a name that no longer or never belonged to someone.

Learn more about the awareness-raising campaign "Name of the Past” led by Transvanilla against the Registry Act here!
 
Kazakh Artivists Organize to Save Endangered Ecosystem 
 
UAF supported a Kazakh environmental rights group called SOS. Taldykol in their efforts to stop the construction of a landscaped park in the Small Taldykol Lake, a 200,000 square meter stretch of water and marshland that is a habitat for hundreds of birds and other wildlife, including endangered species in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan.

Dressed in the attire of a baksy, a traditional healer associated with shamanism, artivists attempted to halt construction trucks from continuing their work in the Small Taldykol Lake. The artivists said they were conducting a ceremony known in Kazakh as Baqsy Saryny, which can be loosely translated as “incantation of the healer.” “The lake does not have a voice but we can be its voice,” Aigerim Ospan, the leader of SOS. Taldykol. 

The area around Taldykol, which lies a short walk from Nur-Sultan’s landmark tent-shaped Khan Shatyr shopping mall, is a hive of construction activity. Adjacent roadworks to lay sewage lines to the new residential area also contribute to the noise and pollution in what was once a peaceful lake on the edge of the new part of the city and is now being consumed by urban sprawl. 

“Taldykol Lake is on the brink between life and death” says SOS. Taldykol claiming that the lake was shrinking as construction waste is dumped into it. “In moments of crisis, steppe communities turned to shamans and artists are turning to traditions to appeal to society” said SOS Taldykol.

SOS. Taldykol and the shaman are standing up to preserve the balance of nature in Kazakhstan that is being violated by humans.


Follow the Journey of SOS.Taldykol in their attempts to save their endangered Ecosystem!
UAF Is Hiring!
Join the UAF team!

Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights is looking to expand the Development & Communication team and two positions are now open! We are looking for a Senior Communications Officer & Senior Development Officer.

If you are passionate about feminism, philanthropy, communications, and outreach, then we want to hear from you! This is your chance to be a part of a dynamic and energetic feminist fund that protects, strengthens, and sustains women and transgender human rights defenders around the world at critical moments.


Learn more about these amazing opportunities by visiting our website!
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