San Francisco Green Festival 2007

MISSION

The IIWF/FIMI mission is to bring together Indigenous women leaders and activists with human rights promoters from different parts of the world to coordinate agendas, build unity, and develop leadership and advocacy skills. IIWF/FIMI fosters Indigenous women's participation and leadership roles in international decision-making processes by ensuring the consistent and serious inclusion of Indigenous women's perspectives in all discussions of human rights.

VISION

IIWF/FIMI envisions a world free from all forms of discrimination where we, as Indigenous peoples, can exercise our human rights, access economic justice, and participate fully and effectively in decision-making processes that affect our lives at local, national and international levels. IIWF/FIMI strives for a new paradigm that overcomes racism, social exclusion and inequality where all women can fully enjoy their fundamental human rights. IIWF/FIMI works toward a time when Indigenous girls can realize their dreams and Indigenous women can equally participate in the development of their communities.

HISTORY

The 1995 Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing was one of the first times that Indigenous women had the opportunity to articulate our distinct identity at the international level. Indigenous women gathered to issue a declaration, which articulated our concerns as women from an Indigenous perspective. After nearly five years, many of the Beijing participants gathered at the fourth meeting of the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas in Lima, Peru. Based on the need to continue this work, the International Indigenous Women's Forum/Foro Internacional de Mujeres Indígenas (IIWF/FIMI) began as an organization to articulate the specific concerns of Indigenous women at the international level. IIWF/FIMI organized the First Forum of Indigenous Women in New York at the Beijing +5 Conference under the new leadership of its Steering Committee in 2000. [1] This gathering helped Indigenous women integrate agendas, strengthen unity, develop leadership, and cultivate participation in decision-making processes at the local, national and international levels.

Following Beijing+5, IIWF/FIMI participated in numerous United Nations conferences and organized the Second Forum of Indigenous Women in 2005 prior to Beijing+10. In addition to the aims of Beijing +5, this gathering pushed for increased participation of Indigenous women in decision-making processes related to projects, programs, policies, and laws from the local and national levels to the international arena.  At this meeting, IIWF/FIMI officially became a network of Indigenous women leaders from Asia, Africa, and the Americas: united in the purpose of strengthening Indigenous women's networks and increasing our participation and visibility in the international arena. 

As a part of the global Indigenous movement, Indigenous women advocate for gender equality and increased political participation as essential aspects of Indigenous Peoples' human rights. International Indigenous women activists lobby for a rights-based approach to meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals and the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  As a recognized leader in the Indigenous women's movement, we see the Declaration as a key instrument in establishing a framework for Indigenous human rights law and recognizing collective rights as essential to empowering and defending Indigenous Peoples' social, economic, and cultural rights.

[1]In April, 2008 the IIWF/FIMI Steering Committee transitioned into a Board of Directors to better address the expanded work of the International Secretariat and regional offices.

Under the guidance of Indigenous women leaders from the Global South, the IIWF/FIMI Board of Directors includes:

Chair: Tarcila Rivera-Zea, Executive Director of Chirapaq, Peru

                Co-Chair: Lucy Mulenkei, Executive Director of the Indigenous Information Network, Kenya

                Lea Mackenzie, Representative of IIWF/FIMI North America, Canada

                Monica Aleman, Executive Director of IIWF/FIMI, Nicaragua

                Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Executive Director of Tebtebba Foundation, Philippines

*** Read "Indigenous Women Create New International Organization" By Lea Nicholas-Mackenzie. ***