International Women’s Day 2026
Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls
International Women’s Day 2026 calls for Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls. This theme recognizes that advancing equality requires structural change, sustained advocacy, and leadership rooted in community.
Today and every day, we honour Indigenous women throughout the world who are advancing human rights, protecting lands and waters, strengthening communities, and shaping international policy. Their leadership reflects generations of resilience, responsibility, and action.
Sônia Guajajara
Brazil, Guajajara
Sônia Bone de Souza Silva Santos, known as Sônia Guajajara, is an Indigenous rights activist, nurse, and political leader from the Rariboia Indigenous Territory. In 2023, she became Brazil’s first Minister of Indigenous Peoples.
Sônia has been a national leader in the fight for land demarcation, environmental protection, and Indigenous political representation. Her work focuses on protecting the Amazon and advancing Indigenous self-determination.
Lorelei Williams
Canada, Skatin Nations
Lorelei Williams is a survivor, advocate, and community leader who has dedicated her life to raising awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people. Her advocacy is deeply personal, grounded in the loss of her aunt and cousin and the ongoing crisis affecting Indigenous families throughout Canada.
She founded Butterflies in Spirit, a grassroots dance group created to honour missing loved ones and bring visibility to the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women and girls. Through ceremony, public education, and community engagement, she works to support families, demand justice, and challenge systemic failures.
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim
Chad, Mbororo
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is a climate advocate, geographer, and founder of the Association of Indigenous Peul Women and Peoples of Chad.
She works to ensure traditional knowledge informs global climate policy and has served in leadership roles within international climate negotiations, including as Co-Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change. Her work advances the inclusion of Indigenous peoples, particularly Indigenous women, while strengthening community-led climate solutions.
Victoria Tauli Corpuz
Philippines, Kankanaey
Victoria Tauli Corpuz is a global Indigenous rights leader who served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and previously chaired the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Victoria has spent decades advancing land rights, sustainable development, and the recognition of Indigenous knowledge systems within international policy spaces. Her leadership has strengthened global accountability for Indigenous rights and elevated Indigenous voices within multilateral institutions.
Rukka Sombolinggi
Indonesia, Torajan
Rukka Sombolinggi is the first female Secretary General of AMAN, Indonesia’s largest Indigenous organization. She also serves as Co-President of the Global Alliance for Territorial Communities.
Rukka has been dedicated to the Indigenous rights movement in Indonesia and previously worked with regional Indigenous networks and the United Nations Development Programme in Asia-Pacific.
Her leadership centers on forest protection, climate justice, and Indigenous governance at both national and international levels, and she has been central to Indigenous land rights movements across the archipelago.
Pratima Gurung
Nepal
Pratima Gurung works at the intersection of climate change, disability justice, and Indigenous rights. She is an Indigenous advocate and academic focused on inclusive and equitable policy development.
Pratima amplifies the voices of Indigenous women with disabilities and works to ensure climate adaptation and sustainable development frameworks reflect lived realities and community knowledge. Her leadership highlights the importance of intersectional approaches to justice and policy.
Daria Egereva
Siberia, Selkup
Daria Egereva is a Selkup climate advocate and Co-Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change. She represents Arctic Indigenous communities in global environmental negotiations.
Daria works to ensure Indigenous knowledge and territorial rights are reflected in international climate policy and decision-making processes. Through her advocacy, Arctic Indigenous perspectives remain visible and influential in shaping global climate commitments.
She has faced criminal charges in connection with her advocacy, reflecting the risks that Indigenous human rights defenders continue to face in many parts of the world.
Maria Azhunova
Buryat Mongol, Central Asia
Maria Azhunova is a conservationist and cultural leader focused on protecting snow leopards and their habitats.
She integrates Indigenous ecological knowledge with conservation science and empowers communities to lead environmental stewardship initiatives.
Maria’s work demonstrates how cultural continuity and biodiversity protection are deeply interconnected.
Aka Niviâna
Greenland, Inuit
Aka Niviâna is a poet and cultural advocate whose work centers on sustainability, intergenerational knowledge, and Indigenous rights in the Arctic.
Through literature and public engagement, Aka elevates Greenlandic Indigenous perspectives in global environmental conversations. Her voice carries Arctic realities into international spaces where policy and public awareness are shaped.
Murrawah Johnson
Australia, Wirdi, Birri Gubba Nation
Murrawah Johnson is an environmental advocate who led legal action against the proposed Carmichael coal mine in Queensland. Her efforts contributed to a landmark ruling recognizing the impacts of the project on environmental and First Nations rights.
Murrawah has been at the forefront of community resistance to large-scale resource extraction on Indigenous lands. Her work demonstrates the power of Indigenous women’s leadership in advancing environmental justice and holding institutions accountable.
Ngahuia te Awekotuku
New Zealand, Māori
Ngahuia te Awekotuku is a scholar, cultural leader, and advocate for Māori and 2SLGBTQ+ rights.
She was the first Māori woman to earn a doctorate and helped establish Māori and Pacific Art History in tertiary education, creating space for Indigenous knowledge within academic institutions. Her work has reshaped education and public discourse by asserting the place of Māori identity, scholarship, and lived experience within national life.
Standing in Solidarity with Indigenous Women
Indigenous women across all regions and disciplines continue to advance rights, justice, and action in ways that are transformative and enduring. Their leadership shapes environmental protection, strengthens governance, advances human rights, and protects cultures and knowledge for future generations.
At DWF, we recognize that reconciliation is not symbolic. It is action. It is accountability. It is learning whose voices have long been excluded and ensuring they are centered in the decisions that affect lands, waters, and communities.
On International Women’s Day, DWF honours these global leaders and reaffirms our commitment to advancing Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls through meaningful education, sustained partnership, and reconciliACTION.
Sources
https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2024/sonia-guajajara
https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-indigenous-peoples/victoria-tauli-corpuz-former-special-rapporteur-2014-2020
https://iprights.org/team/rukka-sombolinggi/
https://matriarchmovement.ca/lorelei-williams-advocacy-for-missing-murdered-indigenous-women-girls/
https://www.weforum.org/people/hindou-oumarou-ibrahim/
https://worldjusticeproject.org/world-justice-forum-2022/pratima-gurung
https://www.daria-egereva.org/
https://law.stanford.edu/environmental-and-natural-resources-law-policy-program-enrlp/bright-award-2020/
https://events.globallandscapesforum.org/speaker/aka-niviana/
