Background
A talk organised by the Women's Development Collective (WDC) for International Women's Day in 2006 surfaced the idea of a regular nationwide women's meeting in Malaysia.
This was inspired by similar initiatives from other parts of the world (e.g. the Latin American Feminist Encounters, Indian National Women's Conference, the Feminist Dialogues ) which have allowed women, activists and feminists to successfully exchange ideas, strategise and extend solidarity with one another.
It was felt that this was opportune at a time when increasing challenges are confronted by the local women's movement, in terms of organising and addressing inequality and discrimination, as well as for movement-building purposes.
Another key consideration is the current socio-political climate in the country, where despite efforts to foster greater transparency and accountability, basic human rights continue to be denied.
This situation has been aggravated by the politicisation of ethnicity and religion, the latter which has resulted in a backlash that affects women - particularly women's sexuality - disproportionately.
Building on its existing networks, WDC proposed organising this event in collaboration with other members of the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG). JAG later approached the Gender Studies Programme of the University of Malaya to co-organise the event.
This collaboration is a novel opportunity where two key players in civil society - women's groups and the academia - are coming together to synergise efforts to address issues and challenges facing Malaysian women.
The name Fiesta Feminista was chosen for this groundbreaking initiative.
