Women Engage for a Common Future

WECF was officially registered as a foundation in 1994 in the Netherlands as Women in Europe for a Common Future. During the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1992 women from the European region came together to create the network WECF. The work of the WECF has a global scale and aims to bring the voices of marginalized groups from around the world to the policy table. To reflect the global scope that the organization has, the organization officially changed their name from “Women in Europe for a Common Future” to “Women Engage for a Common Future” in 2016.[2]

The staff from WECF Germany posing in front of the #munich4Europe statue as part of the "make Europe sustainable for all" campaign 2018

WECF has observer status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and is an official partner of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). WECF was also a member of the European Environment and Health Committee until it concluded in 2010 (EEHC). Lastly, the WECF is involved in other global processes and groups, detailed below.

WECF's Founding of the Women's Major Group at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992

The WECF is one of the founding members of the Women's Major Group (WMG).[3] This group was created in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, after governments recognized that Women are one of the nine important groups for achieving sustainable development.[4] As a result of this, the WMG is an official participant in the United Nations initiatives for Sustainable Development and the WECF has helped facilitate this space since the beginning by making significant contributions to adopting and monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals.

WECF at The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing

In 1995, more than 30,000 activists from around the world came together in Beijing for the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was one of the largest meetings for promoting women's rights in history.[5] One of WECF's first large projects as an organization consisted of  sending a delegation of women to attend the civil society forum in Beijing before the conference, where they would highlight the intersections between gender and the environment.[6] The WECF organized multiple events and demonstrations during the Huairou civil society forum at this time with multiple other partners as well. As a result of this conference, the Beijing Platform for Action was established, and it is still one of the strongest commitments to women's human rights, and a sustainable, just and peaceful world to this day.[7]

Women and Gender Constituency

The WECF is also one of the founding members of the Women and Gender Constituency.[8] Founded in 2009, the Women and Gender constituency is one of the nine stakeholder groups which are a part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).[9] The role of the 33 women's and environmental civil society organizations like WECF that are a part of this group now is to make sure women's voices and rights are central to all processes and results within the UNFCCC Framework. They formalize the voice of the aforementioned organizations that are active within the UNFCCC, while developing, streamlining and advocating common positions as well.[9]

As a member of the Constituency, the WECF is present at each meeting of the UNFCCC to ensure that women's rights and gender justice are central to the UNFCCC. To achieve this goal, the WECF works alongside the UNFCCC Secretariat, governments, civil society observers and other stakeholders.[9] Overall, the WECF contributes to climate negotiations and ensures that grassroots women's organizations from within their networks participate in the policy meetings as well.[10]

WECF at the 2012 UN Rio+20 summit on sustainable development

More than 50,000 representatives of social movements and civil society organisations took to the streets in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012, to demonstrate against unfair and unsustainable economic policies. At the same time, 30,000 participants of the United Nations 2012 Rio+20 conferencecontributed to the document "The Future We Want"[11] which set the path for the Sustainable Development Goals (replacing the Millennium Development Goals). WECF took a leading role in the Rio+20 conference, as co-facilitator of the Women's Major Group,[12] one of the nine groups of civil society which have a space in the UN policy process, and are allotted speaking time and contribute to the proposed negotiation text. WECF's role was to facilitate the 300 organisations through virtual and face to face meetings, develop joint text proposals for the negotiation text, organise meetings with country negotiators, as well as organising events in which to present the priorities of women's organisations.

Beijing+25 and Generation Equality Forums

2020 marked the 25th anniversary of the fourth World Women's Conference, and UN Women has created the Generation Equality Forums in 2021 to build on the Beijing Platform for Action.[13] The forums are civil-society centred, global multi-stakeholder gatherings for gender equality convened by UN Women to set concrete actions to achieve progress for Gender Equality.[14] The WEFC's Executive Director Sascha Gabizon is a member of the Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG), which supports the decision-making of the Core Group at these forums and ensures that civil society priorities are reflected in the outcomes of the Forum.[15]

The organisation was founded by Marie Kranendonk in 1994. Now WECF has five offices in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland and Georgia. WECF has a dual governance system. The formal supervision of the executive directors and their team is done by the Board of Trustees (BOT). Their role is to approve the annual plans, budgets and reports, and supervise the work of WECF's directors. WECF's partners also have a say in their governance, through the International Advisory Board (IAB). The IAB's role is to give strategic advice to WECF's BOT and directors.

In order to achieve the organization's goals, WECF works through capacity-building, policy, and outreach. In order to support organizations in their work for climate justice, an environmentally sustainable future and gender justice, WECF provides training, expertise and offers grants to organizations working for women and gender equality.[2]  WECF also advocates to policymakers locally and globally to ensure that women's perspectives and gender equality are included in both policies and implementing plans, by helping their partner organizations participate in decision-making processes.[2] Lastly, WECF raises awareness about the importance of gender-just climate and environmental solutions using a variety of methods from social media campaigns to public debates.[2]

The WECF places diversity and gender equality at the centre of its work and its thematic focus areas include sustainable development, climate action, and a toxic-free healthy environment.[2] Furthermore, the key issues that the organization works for include climate justice, energy solutions, gender equality, inclusive forest governance, international solidarity, menstruation matters, safe water and sanitation, stopping toxic chemicals and waste and women's rights in Agenda2030.[2]