Beijing +30: Looking back, moving forward
JASS at CSW69: full list of sessions hosted by JASS
Virtual Dialogue
When: March 12, 2025 @ 12 PM UTC
Where: Online
Thirty years ago, something extraordinary happened—activists from around the world gathered in Beijing for the Fourth World Conference on Women, forging bold strategies and shared feminist agendas that shaped the future of gender justice. The momentum from that moment led to major advances, but today, as hard-won gains face backlash, we must recover and critically reflect on those movement histories.
What lessons does Beijing hold for building powerful feminist movements today? How can we reclaim and reimagine strategies for our times? JASS and Gender at Work held this intergenerational conversation with those who were there and those leading the next chapter.
Available in Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish, and English.
Watch & Listen
Music Playlist
Summary
Beijing +30 Interviews
What happened in Beijing in 1995, for feminists and governments? How did women and institutions organise to get there, over years and in every region? And why does it still matter to feminists worldwide?
What did we gain from Beijing 1995? And from the tumultuous context of 2025, how does it inspire us and what does it demand of us?
Srilatha Batliwala recalls a powerful memory of accountability and forgiveness during the 1995 Women’s Forum.
Panelists
Gina Vargas
Sociologist, militant feminist in Peru and Latin America. Co-founder of the Flora Tristán Center in Peru, part of the political network Articulación Feminista Marcosur in Latin America, as well as of the Democracy and Global Transformation Program in Peru. She has published various books and articles, and has been a visiting professor at different universities in Europe, the United States and Latin America. She was the Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Civil Society Forum at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. She participates in numerous feminist networks and initiatives in Latin America and at the global level. She is an active member of the International Council of the World Social Forum, representing the Articulación Feminista Marcosur.
Lina Abou-Habib
Lina Abou-Habib is the Director of the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. She also teaches undergraduate and graduate gender courses at the American University of Beirut. Lina is a feminist activist and researcher with a long career working with local, regional, and international institutions on gender mainstreaming and feminist activism. She has designed, implemented, and led multi-year gender equality initiatives including training, research, and community actions. She has been writing and publishing about feminist movements in Lebanon and the MENA region. She currently serves on the boards of the Urgent Action Fund and is the Chair of the Board of Doria Feminist Fund and is a member of the editorial committee of Gender & Development. She served previously as Secretary and Chair of the Board of AWID. Abou-Habib is based in Beirut, Lebanon.
Beverley Ditsie
Dr. Beverley Ditsie (Hon) is a renowned keynote speaker, an award winning filmmaker, TV writer,director and editor and gender nonconforming activist who was instrumental in bringing LGBTIQA+ rights into focus in the late 80’s and 90’s in South Africa and the world. Over the past 30 years, Bev has written,directed, produced and consulted in over 20 socio political and human rights documentaries, screened nationally and internationally. They have also directed some of the biggest reality TV shows in South Africa including Big Brother Africa, Survivor South Africa, All You Need Is Love and Project Runway South Africa.
Charlotte Bunch
Charlotte Bunch was the founding Director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at Rutgers University and is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Women’s and Gender Studies. She has been an activist, writer, and organizer in feminist, LGBT, and human rights movements for over 5 decades. She has served on the boards of many civil society organizations and is currently on the Board of the Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism. She has led global campaigns for women’s human rights at the UN and has written numerous essays and authored books and anthologies on feminism.
Alexa Bradley (moderator)
Alexa Bradley has worked as an organizer, facilitator, organizational strategist and popular educator for over 25 years. She founded and co-directed Milwaukee Water Commons, helped form Great Lakes Commons, was a senior partner at the Grassroots Policy Project and On the Commons, sat on the board for Windcall and co-directed the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action. Currently, Alexa is JASS’ Programme Director.
Vivienne Mentor-Lalu (moderator)
Vivienne Mentor-Lalu, JASS Regional Coordinator, is a feminist activist committed to defending and advancing womxn’s rights and social justice. She has experience as a facilitator grounded in popular education and supporting the work of collectives, coalitions and collaborations. Her work and activism have taken place South Africa and the USA. Vivienne studied at the University of the Western Cape and completed a degree in social work. She has worked on issues like violence against women and gender-based violence; violence against children and children’s rights; sex worker rights; government accountability and public participation; and feminist governance. Vivienne has worked with a range of different approaches including law and policy reform; monitoring and tracking state performance; research; and organising and mobilising. She has a firm belief in structural violence and womxn’s intersectional experiences of oppression.
Go Deeper
JUST POWER: A Guide for Activists and Changemakers: a vital resource designed to support activists, organizations, and movements in navigating – and transforming – the challenging contexts of today’s world.
Rethinking Protection, Power, and Movements is a vital contribution to the emerging conversation about the shifting dynamics of power and protection.
ONLY open for CSW and women’s month: FULL FILM “Lesbians Free Everyone”
PW: Fr33toB3
See also: Lesbians Free Everyone – The Beijing Retrospective Teaser, by Bev Ditsie
