Nègès Mawon celebrates 10 years of women’s rights activism in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Ten years after it first emerged to defend women’s rights, Nègès Mawon marked its anniversary this month with a series of events that underscored not just a milestone, but the growing urgency of its work.

The monthlong celebrations included an anniversary cocktail night on Nov. 16 and an open-house gathering on Nov. 22—each designed to highlight the progress of Haiti’s women’s movement and honor the leaders who helped shape it.

Held at the group’s headquarters in Delmas 75, the open house brought together several dozen women and girls for conversations, interactive activities, and exhibitions showcasing the lives of historic female figures who shaped Haiti’s social, political, and cultural landscape.

“The 10 years of Nègès Mawon are 10 years of advocacy, of reports on the situation of women and their rights in Haiti,” co-founder and national coordinator Pascale Solages said during the organization’s anniversary cocktail on Nov. 16.

 “The only mission that matters to us is the protection, dignity, fulfillment, and humanity of Haitian women.”

Founded in 2015, Nègès Mawon has worked across Haiti to support survivors of violence, document abuses, and train younger generations on their rights. Over the last decade, the group has become a leading feminist voice at a time when political instability, deepening insecurity, and widespread displacement have disproportionately affected Haitian women.

During the open house, participants engaged in a lively question-and-answer game highlighting major victories in the women’s movement:
— the granting of women’s right to vote in 1950;
— equality before the law established in the 1987 Constitution;
— Haiti’s 1997 ratification of the Inter-American Convention of Belém do Pará, a landmark tool for fighting gender-based violence.

The event also paid tribute to Haiti’s pioneering women’s rights organizations — including SOFA (Solidarité Fanm Ayisyèn) and Kay Fanm — which emerged after 1986 and laid the foundation for the creation of the Ministry for the Status of Women and Women’s Rights (MCFDF) in 1994.

Heroic figures such as Sanité Bélair, Catherine Flon, and Marie-Claire Heureuse Dessalines were honored for their central roles in Haiti’s independence and for inspiring generations of women to assert their place in the country’s political and social life.

Below are scenes from Nègès Mawon’s 10th-anniversary open house:

• Audience photo:

• Exhibition panel:

• Banknote display:

• ALASO anthology signing:

• ALASO dedication:

• Q&A activity:

• Participant engagement:

• Popcorn distribution:

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