Created in 1982 by a group of professional U.S.-based women, Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) embodied the goal of seeking to improve women’s lives through more effective "women in development" strategies. As a membership organization incorporated in Washington D.C., it aimed to bring three isolated constituencies together: academics, development practitioners and policy-makers. In response to its first call for a meeting, over 800 people registered.

At the 11th AWID Forum (November 15-17, 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa), women’s rights activists, policy-makers, funders, practitioners, students and researchers, as well as representatives from other social movements from around the world gathered to debate and strategize about how to build stronger women’s movements and forge alliances with other social movements, in order to advance more effectively struggles for social justice, environmental sustainability, women’s rights and gender equality.