The Count Me In! consortium (CMI) is a joint initiative and strategic partnership with the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs. The CMI consortium is led by Mama Cash and includes member organizations CREA, Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Just Associates (JASS), and the sister funds Urgent Action Fund (UAF) and Urgent Action Fund-Africa (UAF-Africa). The sex worker-led Red Umbrella Fund (RUF) and the Dutch gender platform WO=MEN are strategic partners of the consortium.
CMI envisions a gender-equal and just world, where all women*, girls, and non-binary, gender nonconforming, trans, and intersex people enjoy their rights fully and live to their full potential. To this end, CMI supports and invests in their autonomy and capacity to lobby and advocate for the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence (GBV), for economic justice, and for sustainable resourcing of women’s rights and women-led organizations and movements.
strategies
Diverting funding to women*’s rights organizations and women* human rights defenders from big donors, to build resilient organizations, support partners during emergency situations, and include structurally excluded women* and girls in the decision-making of grants.*
Supporting women*’s rights organizations to become stronger, more resourced and coordinated at advocating for their rights. We also help them connect to other movements and build alliances.
Leading lobby and advocacy so that donors provide more and better funding for women*-led organizations, and political and societal actors push for social, legal and policy change to reach gender equality.
Note: While these are overall strategies for CMI!, CREA only focuses on strategies ‘movement building’ and ‘making change’.
themes
CMI works broadly under two thematic areas: Develop and strengthen the capacity of structurally excluded women*, girls, and trans and intersex people to effectively prevent and counter gender-based violence; and support structurally excluded women*, girls and trans and intersex people to advance economic justice and a fairer and more equitable distribution of resources.
Strengthening movements led by women and girls, and non-binary, gender non-conforming, trans and intersex people for a gender just world
Count Me In! has advanced mobilization and networking of structurally excluded groups in South Asia and East Africa to convene, connect and lead on advocacy efforts both locally and globally. As a part of Count Me In! CREA has enhanced the knowledge and capacity of LBT, LGBTIQ, sex workers and other structurally excluded women* in Kenya, Uganda, India, and Bangladesh to address gender-based violence and pave the way for strengthening cross-movement alliances.
CREA, as part of CMI, continues to support the advocacy and movement building efforts of LBT, LGBTIQ, sex workers and other structurally excluded women*, including with local, national and regional organizations and collectives in South Asia, East Africa and SWANA. CREA encourages alliance-building and cross-learning across regions and movements.
Many of us in the network did not know what CEDAW was and what role it played. The process [of] submitting the shadow report brought out the solidarity within the group in a way that was not there previously; there was awareness in coming together and our responsibility to each other. From the way we did the research and collection of evidence, to the drafting of the report. Another thing that came out is that we began really questioning why there was so little on Kenyan women and girls with disabilities at both the national and international levels. Third, there was a lot of learning of how we can use the local to influence the international and how the international can influence the local. I felt there was validation as well of the kind of activism I do. Currently, we are aware of and remember each other as network members and seek advice from each other through acknowledging that we all play different parts in the movement.
Elizabeth Ombati | Kenyan disability rights activist
CREA also leads the anti-gender working group and is part of the feminist economic realities and donor influencing working groups. As a part of these working groups, CREA works with CMI members to co-create shared advocacy agendas and influence global perspectives from a feminist lens.
CMI began its first first phase in 2016 for five years, and continues its work for a second phase (2021-2025) as CMI 2.0, during which CMI members focus on strengthening movements and supporting change at the local, national, regional and global levels.
Partner Organizations
Strategic Partners
To read more about CMI check out the website here! Or check out the CMI Impact Report here.
You can also read more about Sex Workers’ Rights by browsing through our factsheets here.
*CMI uses “women” broadly to include lesbian, bisexual, and queer persons, intersex, trans, gender non-conforming and gender non-binary persons.
