International Uyghur Women’s Dialogue Adopted the Berlin Declaration on Uyghur Women’s Rights
CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2025, 2:00 PM EST
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Berlin, Germany – Today, Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU), in partnership with the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), proudly opened the International Uyghur Women’s Dialogue in Berlin to address the grave abuses facing Uyghur women amid the ongoing Uyghur genocide. During the dialogue, participants adopted the Berlin Declaration Platform for Action on Uyghur Women’s Rights, a historic call for accountability and coordinated international action to protect Uyghur women’s rights, culture, and identity.
In 1995, Beijing hosted the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women, where the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted. Known as the global roadmap for women’s equality, China endorsed the agreement and used the event to claim leadership on gender equality. For the last 30 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has violated every core principle of that declaration while carrying out an ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs. Uyghur women have been disproportionately targeted, subjected to forced sterilizations, sexual violence, forced marriages, and state-imposed forced labor.
On the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, CFU and WUC convened the International Uyghur Women’s Dialogue to highlight the resilience, leadership, and courage of Uyghur women, while calling on the international community to take meaningful action. The event opened with remarks from Rushan Abbas, CFU Executive Director and Chair of the Executive Committee of the WUC, and Mr. Erkin Alptekin, the first President of WUC and a prominent Uyghur leader.
“The struggle of Uyghur women is tied to every woman’s freedom. The tools of their oppression are spreading globally quickly. What happens in East Turkistan will not stay there,” said Rushan Abbas. This is a global test of whether humanity can confront state-driven gender persecution in an age of digital authoritarianism. The CCP threatens the future of the free world.”
We were honored to feature U.S. Congresswoman Young Kim, Member of the German Bundestag and Co-founding Member of the Uyghur Friendship Group, Norbert Altenkamp, as keynote speakers. Renowned Iranian-American women’s rights activist and co-founder of World Liberty Congress (WLC), Masih Alinejad, and Venezuelan human rights advocate and Director of the WLC Political Prisoners Support Team, Lilian Tintori, also joined in solidarity and delivered powerful remarks at the opening.
The event also featured four panels, bringing together policymakers, researchers, civil society leaders, human rights activists, and Uyghur women leaders. Notable speakers included Scott Busby, former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of State; Geneviève Garrigos, Member of the Paris City Council; Daniel Murphy, forced labor researcher; Iveta Vancáková, Director of Forum for Human Rights; as well as special guests Antje Schippmann, Managing Director of the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation, and Lenya van Genni from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These discussions addressed critical topics, including China’s betrayal of women’s rights, women’s leadership in advocacy, gendered dimensions of transnational repression, and the CCP’s system of state-imposed forced labor.
A major outcome of the conference was the adoption of the “Berlin Declaration Platform for Action on Uyghur Women’s Rights and Freedom”, which calls on governments, international institutions, and civil society to reaffirm their commitment to justice, freedom, and the preservation of Uyghur cultural identity. It emphasizes the need for accountability mechanisms and survivor-centered support systems, ensuring that the voices of Uyghur women are heard globally. The declaration was translated into 20 languages and is currently signed by more than 80 organizations and about 150 individuals.
The International Uyghur Women’s Dialogue and the Berlin Declaration represent a critical step toward building international solidarity, countering China’s attempts to whitewash its genocide, raising global awareness of ongoing atrocities, and empowering Uyghur women to lead efforts for justice and human rights advocacy globally.
For more information, to view the Berlin Declaration, or to endorse the declaration, please visit the link here.
