Participants in this year’s Women’s Human Rights Advocacy Training, held 13-17 October, in Geneva. Photo: Panuga Pulenthiran
LWF and partners host annual training for community advocates of women’s human rights
(LWI) - If there is one question that makes Rev. Davorka Horvat grit her teeth, it is the one she often hears at the start of media interviews: “What does it mean to be a woman pastor?”
An ordained pastor of the Evangelical Church in the Republic of Croatia, Horvat is accustomed to being defined by her gender rather than her theological work, or her tireless advocacy through the non-governmental organization “HERA, Križevci, Croatia, which fights for human rights and offers assistance including shelter to victims of violence. Like many women in ministry and civil society, she constantly navigates spaces where her leadership is viewed through a gendered lens. “It is unfair – they work so hard and get no recognition,” she adds.
Horvat is one of 14 advocates of women’s human rights who attended the annual Women’s Human Rights Advocacy Training, held 13-17 October, in Geneva. It was jointly organized by The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), World Council of Churches, Norwegian Church Aid and Act Church of Sweden.
The workshop brought together participants from LWF member churches and ecumenical partner organizations, aiming to equip them with tools to advance gender equality and defend women’s rights in their communities.
Building confidence
“This training is about enhancing agency and confidence, understanding human rights systems, and creating allies,” said Sikhonzile Ndlovu, LWF Senior Advocacy Officer for Gender Justice. “It’s about giving women's rights advocates the tools to speak the language of human rights and justice in spaces where they are often ignored.”
The training included sessions on international and regional human rights frameworks, sexual and gender-based violence prevention, and context-specific advocacy strategies. Participants explored case studies, shared best practices, and engaged with multilateral partners at the United Nations.
The program placed strong emphasis on intersectionality and inclusion, addressing the specific challenges faced by women from marginalized groups, including those living with disabilities, in rural areas, or displaced by conflict or climate events.
Share the learnings
For the participants, the training also provided a space to exchange and share. They come with ample experience – like Dalina Bakine, Social Concerns Office Coordinator from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. When she became the mother of a child with a disability, she encountered barriers and discrimination, which she was determined to fight. “It’s not easy for a single person to advocate for justice in my community,” she said.
This year’s training took place at the LWF Communion Office in Geneva. Photo: LWF/C. Kästner-Meyer
It’s not easy for a single person to advocate for justice in my community
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
The workshop introduced participants to mechanisms such as the Universal Periodic Review and CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women), enabling advocates to connect local realities to international accountability frameworks.
Inka von Linden from the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Argentina shared the recent statistics of five femicides per week in her country. The law does not protect women from violence perpetrated by their families and partners, she said. “We can marry whom we love, but patriarchy means that women then become the property of men.” She plans to use the learnings from the workshop to train other women in human rights advocacy in Argentina next year.
The LWF supports women’s empowerment through a rights-based approach, aligned with its commitments under the LWF Gender Justice Policy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “This training is part of broader efforts to strengthen women’s leadership in both church and society, including in peacebuilding, governance, and humanitarian response,” Ndlovu said.
Participants left the training not only with new knowledge, but with a growing network of solidarity and support. “I don’t see myself as powerful,” pastor Horvat concluded. “But I have come here to learn, and to grow”.
