2000 feminists from 144 countries around the world gathered at the AWID Forum “The Power of Movements” to discuss the global women’s movement from all angles and perspectives. Meem was invited by the organizers to give a speech at the Opening Plenary “Woman Organizing and Transforming the World.” The Meem speech received a standing ovation from the participants who described it as provoking, bold, and honest. You can listen to the speech here.

Austrian Member of Parliament, Ulrike Lunacek, presented Meem with a special award recognizing Meem’s courage, creativity, and commitment in the struggle for equal rights (i.e. for our awesomeness!) A Meem member was presented with the €500 award in Vienna to the standing ovation of over 200 LGBT activists from around the world. Lesbian group Labrys from Kyrgyzstan also received an award for their outstanding work, as did Aswat, Palestinian Gay Women, who won the Go Visible award.

Meem received a scholarship from the ILGA World Conference to attend and give a panel on feminism. Our panel consisted of a 7-point presentation on how to incorporate feminism into the LGBTI movement. Meem also participated in the women’s pre-conference, networked with different LGBTI organizations from around the world, and joined ILGA Asia taking on the responsibility to empower LGBT groups in West Asia.

A Meem member traveled to Marseille in July and participated in the UEEH conference that takes place every year with LGBT participants from Europe and the Mediterranean. The Meem member gave a presentation on feminist and lesbian organizing in the Arab world and networked with various organizations at the conference. We’d like to thank Helem Paris for their amazing and warm hospitality!