Oca - platform for activists
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Social movements are driving forces for social change. Through a participatory practice, Frieda promotes a common platform to facilitate connections and alliances between activists from different collectives and social movements.
Multiple crises and conflicts are accumulating and intertwining around the world: climate change is progressing rapidly, gender justice is experiencing a backlash, right-wing and conservative forces are gaining strength and armed conflicts are taking on a shocking dimension. These complex challenges make it more difficult to work towards a positive peace that seeks to create social justice for all.
Social movements that campaign against discrimination, violence or environmental destruction make a valuable contribution to positive, feminist peace: they scrutinise power relations and demand measures against structural oppression. In recent years, it has primarily been climate, (queer) feminist and anti-racist/decolonial movements that have organised themselves within this framework with the aim of promoting fairer and more peaceful societies. They usually share the desire to be as participatory as possible and to reflect social diversity.
Both state and civil society institutions are often structured according to individual concerns. There is a lack of interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches. This hinders social change for social peace for all and (re)produces social exclusion and discrimination.
What is it about?
The various movements and collectives do not have a permanent common space for cross-movement exchange. They also often lack the time, financial and institutional resources to give their important concerns the attention they need.
With the project Oca - Platform for Activists (Oca = 'common house' in Guarani), Frieda offers people from social movements a platform for connections, exchange and knowledge transfer. Frieda makes its expertise and experience available and responds to the needs of social movements within the framework of participatory practice.
What do we do?
Frieda understands peace from a feminist definition: peace is not only the absence of war, but also the active engagement against direct, structural and cultural violence within and outside of Switzerland at different points in history. This political vision and orientation of Frieda allows it to consider actors from social movements in an inclusive way. As a civil society organisation, Frieda operates between social movements and state decision-making levels.
Frieda has many years of experience in advocacy work and in promoting the participation of social actors and groups that are marginalised in decision-making processes. The Oca - Platform for Activists project works together with social movements and their expertise to shape a movement of movements.
What are the objectives of the project?
The project aims to create alliances between different activist collectives from climate, (queer) feminist, migrant and anti-racist/decolonial movements in order to
to understand and challenge the distance between different collectives and social movements;
to acquire transformative tools and knowledge for the development of transdisciplinary actions, perspectives and agendas to collectively advance change
and to develop a diverse and inclusive voice with more viability and power within the political and social system
Who is the project aimed at?
Activists and collectives from climate, queer, feminist, migrant, anti-racist/decolonial, anti-imperial and anti-capitalist movements who lack the institutional, political and legal means to push through their agenda
What is actually carried out?
Organisation of regular exchange meetings that provide space for encounters, networking and knowledge transfer
Participatory development of needs-oriented workshops, based on the interests of the Ocaworking group
Promoting communication between activist collectives
Relating different activist agendas and developing a common activist voice
Participatory development of a needs-based toolbox (institutional toolbox)
Participatory development of an needs-orientated toolbox (institutional archive) with and for collectives and social movements
Access to Frieda's networks and know-how
Multiplication of the experiences and knowledge acquired in the project by the participants
Are there any questions?
Please contact:
Yaren Kırmızıtaş (she/he)
Mail
Programme Officer Migration and Peace Policy
Join in!
Are you an activist and want to network with various activist collectives from different social movements? Then get involved in the project Oca - Platform for Activists. You can find all the information here.
