Our Story and Strategy

In 1995, after the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, women came together to create the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA). Inspired by the collective vision and momentum generated during this conference, as well as years of activism and advocacy, the founding women of FAFIA were determined to use international human rights law to improve the lives of women in Canada.

FAFIA was invented to take on, the work of pressing Canadian governments to fully implement the commitments they have made to women by ratifying international human rights treaties. Working with other women’s organizations, we wanted to ensure that international human rights law is incorporated into our work, our thinking, our way of understanding Canada’s domestic law and our way of assessing the conditions that women are living in.

Shelagh Day

FAFIA has since developed into a robust feminist national non-profit organization committed to advancing and upholding women’s human rights in Canada through research, advocacy, treaty body monitoring and reporting and public education.

Annual Reports