Global Advocacy
WIMN’s Global Advocacy program strengthens the leadership and participatory power of grassroots women’s organizations and migrant women activists to influence the global frameworks that govern migration and gender policy.
Why This Work Matters—Now
Formed in 2012 from a shared commitment to advancing women’s human rights in migration policy and bringing migrant justice perspectives into feminist spaces, WIMN has spent more than a decade ensuring that the structural violence faced by migrant women is visible, addressed, and challenged in global arenas.
Today, as migration governance is reshaped by rising authoritarianism, shrinking democratic space, and political narratives that dehumanize migrants—especially women, LGBTQI+ people, and racialized communities—global policies continue to overlook the intersecting discrimination these groups face, reinforcing systemic exploitation and rights violations. In this context of rollback, it is more urgent than ever that lived realities, feminist analysis, and grassroots leadership guide international decision-making. WIMN’s Global Advocacy program ensures exactly that.
What We Do
WIMN coordinates and amplifies the collective advocacy of members across the world’s most influential migration and gender policy spaces—including CSW, the UN Migration Network, GFMD, and key international human rights mechanisms—to ensure feminist, rights-based perspectives shape global norms and commitments. Core activities include:
- Coordinating member participation and interventions across global policy processes
- Hosting advocacy caucuses, strategy sessions, and side events to shape shared priorities
- Issuing joint statements, talking points, and policy briefs to project a unified feminist, intersectional voice
Engaging human rights mechanisms, including CEDAW, CSW, and Special Procedures
Together, these efforts strengthen the influence of migrant women–led organizations and build power within global institutions.
Impact
WIMN has played a central role in shaping today’s global migration architecture. The network successfully championed a cross-cutting gender lens in negotiations leading to the 2018 Global Compact for Migration (GCM) and led the creation of the widely endorsed Marrakech Women’s Rights Manifesto. WIMN contributed key analysis to the Global Coalition on Migration’s Spotlight Report for the 2022 IMRF and remains an active leader at the GFMD, where members frequently organize sessions, deliver interventions, and influence policy direction.
What’s Next
WIMN will deepen and sustain its engagement across global policy forums—expanding member participation, coordinating feminist advocacy strategies, and strengthening the role of grassroots migrant women in shaping global governance.
Get Involved
Subscribe to the WIMN newsletter for updates, and WIMN member organizations are encouraged to contact the Secretariat to contribute to policy briefs, join caucuses, and coordinate advocacy across upcoming global forums.