Women are the experts in building peaceful futures for their communities. Any efforts to resolve the conflicts and their root causes will require women to play a full and equal part.
We say women matter. #IMatter is a worldwide campaign that connects women, girls, LGBTQI+ people, and gender non-conforming people who are living through and after a crisis. We want to showcase their power and strength from the beginning- when they are often the first to respond- all the way to their leadership in reconstructing their societies after a conflict.
The #IMatter campaign was co-created in 2019 by 17 women-led and women’s rights organisations in order to build and strengthen a movement that recognises and values women and girls as critical leaders during and after a crisis.
We believe that through supporting women-led and women’s rights organisations and connecting existing women’s rights movements and allies, to build critical mass, opportunities are created to disrupt power and demand that women can live safely and are leaders in their communities.
By focusing on feminist peace and security we can challenge a male-focused, militarised state-centred security agenda and together we can create a peaceful and just world.
Those feminist principles in our humanitarian responses is necessary to create transformational change in the lives of women and girls; so that they can thrive and not just survive. That the gains they win by becoming leaders in their own communities, are consolidated.
Our goal is to change the terms of the debate on women’s rights so that women, girls, LGBTQI+ people, and gender non-conforming people are seen as leaders and credible humanitarian and peace actors.
We are a global network and our partners work all across the world.
We have seen in recent years, an increasing backlash against women rights around the world. Women rights activists, LBTQI communities and gender non-conforming people are subject to violence. Sexual and reproductive rights are also under attack making it even more dangerous for these communities to fully contribute in crisis and post-crisis contexts. Oxfam and partner feminists’ organisations saw a need to unify our voices and stand in solidarity with all those women.
IMatter is a global movement of solidarity with all women during war and peace. It is a campaign joined by thousands of women across the globe to say I have a voice, I deserve to be heard and to take part in building peace, to be protected and to take part in the future of their country.
Women often bear the brunt of every crisis context, whether it is a war, famine or flood. Despite this, they are often the leaders in their community; they are the first responders to crisis, feeding people, delivering aid and emergency health care before NGOs and responding where INGO can’t reach. They negotiate local ceasefires, disarm their compatriots and after the crisis they rebuild their society and promote peace. Women’s role is rarely recognised and after the crisis, they are often pushed back into the private sphere and lose their hard-won gains.
We seek to make these women more visible, create space for them in decision-making and ask others to ‘give up their seat’ to support them to build their skills and confidence, so that they can advocate for their own agendas directly to decision makers.
