Year: 2016
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR AWDF FEMINIST LEADERS & GOVERNANCE COACHING PROJECT, 2016
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR AWDF FEMINIST LEADERS & GOVERNANCE COACHING PROJECT, 2016
Background
In 2014, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) launched a feminist coaching project on leadership for women leaders of its grantee organisations. In 2015, the project was expanded to include strengthening governance frameworks within participating organisations. The project is based on our knowledge of the persistent challenges of African women’s organisations with issues related to resource mobilisation, communications, governance, leadership transition, safety and wellbeing. Given these constraints and the external context women’s organisations work in, they tend to focus on narrow short-term advocacy or urgent service-delivery projects, with little capacity to expand alliances, envision innovative strategies and be forward thinking.
This coaching project seeks to develop the individual leadership skills and values of participating CEOs/EDs as well as those in second level management. It is also aimed at strengthening the institutional and governance structures of participating organisations and providing an enabling framework fortheirrelevance and sustainability. At AWDF, we believe that a well-grounded leader in feminist values, ideology and clarity of purpose can accelerate the process of social justice and development effectively. Therefore, investment in both individual leaders and governance frameworks of African women’s rights organisations is vital.
By September this year, the third batch of 10 AWDF grantee organisations and 20 women leaders will be completing the coaching project. So far, these grantees are reporting improvements in leadership and communication styles, effective staff management and active engagement of their board members. Leaders have improved their visibility and fundraising abilities through written articles and their media appearances.
Project Duration & Methodology
This is a 9-month coaching project on leadership and governance from December 2016– August 2017. The project is targeted at CEO/EDs/Programme Managers/Coordinators and those in second level management of AWDF grantee organisations within the age bracket of 18 – 45 years.
The coaching project will entail the following:
1. Attending a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) forum. This is a 3 day event for orientation, skills sharing, strategy development and networking for participating leaders, coaches and AWDF. This event will be held in Kenya from 15- 17 November 2016.
2. Engaging in one-on-one coaching via phone calls, email, Skype conversations and occasional inperson meetings with their personal coaches from December 2016 – August 2017
3. Governance strengthening activities for boards of participating organisations.
4. Writing of opinion pieces or articles by leaders about their work and development.
5. Participating in at least one AWDF skill building training/workshop where necessary.
Who Should Apply?
Interested organisations should fulfil the following criteria in order to be considered for this project:
✓ Be an AWDF grantee and should have received grants from AWDF in the last 3-5 years
✓ The organisation should have an existing board which will be available for the governance strengthening trainings.
✓ The organisation should have a minimum of 3 full-time staff
✓ The organisation should have access to reliable internet and be able to use Skype and email.
✓ The organisation should have functioning office space with basic office infrastructure.
✓ The organisation should work in any of these areas; Violence against Women (VAW), Health and Reproductive rights (HRR), Economic Empowerment and Livelihood (EEL) areas and with women especially young women.
✓ Two staff members from an organisation’s leadership. That is one CEO/ED/programme Manager/Coordinators and one staff from the next level in management.
✓ Applying leaders should be within the ages of 18 – 45 years.
✓ Leaders should be able to communicate in either English, French or Amharic.
✓ Leaders should be able to communicate via internet, Skype, telephone and email.
✓ Leaders who have demonstrated the potential to develop.
To be considered for the project, your organisation is required to send your application to the AWDF Capacity Building Unit at Nafi@africlub.net/awdf; Ayesha@africlub.net/awdf; cbsintern@africlub.net/awdf justifying why you and your organisation should be selected for the project. All applications MUST be received by 8th August 2016
Please include the following in your application:
❖ Names and positions of 2 staff from your organisation who will be participating in the project
❖ Why your organisation should be considered (highlighting on leadership & governance issues).
❖ Your last grant from AWDF, the year and for what project.
❖ Which level(s) your organisation typically engages in i.e community, national or regional
❖ Challenges you hope to overcome in the process
❖ How the project will enable you achieve your individual and organisational objectives.
❖ Include a written recommendation from your board endorsing you and your participation in the project
❖ Any other information to strengthen your application is welcome.
Participation in this project is by application only. As only a specific number of grantee organisations will be chosen to participate in the project, there are no promises of automatic qualification for applying organisations. This is a non-paying project and participants are required to commit only about 10% of their total work time to the process.
Please note that the individual leadership coaching project is reserved for ONLY women leaders. Deadline for Submission is 8 th August 2016. The full application should be sent to Nafi Chinery, Capacity Building Programme Specialist at Nafi@africlub.net/awdf and cc: Ayesha@africlub.net/awdf, cbsintern@africlub.net/awdf
Thank you.
Grantee Highlight: SAYWHAT Shares New Documentary on the SRHR Defenders Program in Zimbabwe
Grantee Highlight: SAYWHAT Shares New Documentary on the SRHR Defenders Program in Zimbabwe
As dialogues surrounding sexual and reproductive health take a more visible place on university campuses, young people around the world, particularly young women, have worked towards inciting meaningful discussions and solutions to the challenges they face. In the African context, this conversation manifests in the organisation of innovative programs such as the “Reproductive Health Rights Defenders Program in Zimbabwe”. The Students and Youth Working on Reproductive Health Action Team (SAYWHAT), a Zimbabwean organisation supported by the African Women’s Development Fund, has worked tirelessly to create this program.
During May of this year, SAYWHAT debuted a short documentary film highlighting the achievements of Defenders program, how young women students are actively trained to participate in SRHR advocacy and address key challenges. Through a series of interviews, the viewer is introduced to the faces behind the great success of this youth driven organisation.
Tadiwanahse Bunikai, one of the members of SAYWHAT shares about the organisation: “It has groomed strong, confident, powerful women who are able to go beyond the issues of reproductive rights to discuss issues of national policy, politics, social and economic development, and entrepreneurship”.
As young women in Zimbabwe are faced with a number of sexual and reproductive health issues (which include but are not limited to child marriage, poverty, gender based violence and government accountability), SAYWHAT emphasises the capacity building needs of young women in order to better promote advocacy for institutional change within a number of tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe.
On this, SAYWHAT’s Programs Manager, Vimbai Mlambo states, “I have gained more confidence in myself and in my ability to relate with governance issues within my institution. I feel even more empowered to lead an organisation as a young woman. Mentorship has changed my perception about leadership. For me, leadership has become about discipline and self-leadership”.
SAYWHAT’s emphasis on leadership skills and knowledge building has not only increased the confidence of members, but has also produced agents of change. Some of the success stories achieved by the SRHR Defenders Program include projects such as the “Condomise Campaign”, a globally recognised initiative that promotes safe sex options to young women and men. The program has become quite popilar with women students, so much so that the Ministry of Health and Child Care in collaboration with the National AIDS council in Zimbabwe have accepted the proposal by SAYWHAT members to conduct the campaign at a national level.
Individual projects by SAYWHAT members have also developed more accessible and hygienic sanitary disposal methods for girls and women as well as marketing campaigns to increase the appeal for and effective use of the female condom. In this way, the Reproductive Health Rights Defenders Program ensures the social welfare of young women.
In addition to their work with young women, the Reproductive Health Rights Defenders Program challenges policies that miss the mark on SRHR and pushes for institutional changes that ensure respect, support and protection of young women. The Defenders Team has created persistent awareness about a number of sexual harassment cases on several Zimbabwean university campuses and are working towards the implementation of more expansive policies for women students. Partly due to this effort, one of the defenders has been invited to work as a women’s rights advisee to the presiding judge at the High Court of Zimbabwe.
Ultimately, SAYWHAT’s Reproductive Health Rights Defenders Team has a compelling focus on skills interventions and policy implementation on SRHR issues. SAYWHAT continues to empower young women into diverse, influential roles that, in turn, help to to create just futures for other girls and women around the country.
We are proud of the incredible work that our grantee partner, SAYWHAT, is able to accomplish each day in Zimbabwe.
Watch the full documentary on the Reproductive Health Rights Defenders Program below:
By: Mama Biamah
Grantee Highlight: Public Health Uganda tackles HIV/AIDS, on all fronts.
Grantee Highlight: Public Health Uganda tackles HIV/AIDS, on all fronts.
Today, a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS no longer means a death sentence. For many women, however, the situation can quickly turn into one. While many constraints to accessing affordable medication exist, there are other complex factors at hand. Even with the right medication, the stigma, discrimination and injustice surrounding the illness can easily erase promise and opportunity from the futures of many, flipping lives that were once vibrant into mere shadows of what they once were. Public Health Network Uganda (PHAU) is an organisation that helps to correct this imbalance.
Since 2011, PHAU has focused on tackling stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS and providing vital education to numerous communities in Uganda. In 2013, the prevalence of HIV for young men was 2.4 % and for young women, it was 4.2%. (UNAIDS, The Gap Report 2014) The spread of the illness affected women nearly twice as much as men within the same age range (15-24). This data only reinforced the international trend of girls and young women being particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV, and therefore, accelerating multi-layered risks within their livelihoods. Young women who do contract HIV are met with quite hostile and isolating social relations, complicated by the lack of education on how to prevent or manage the illness.
The most effective way of tackling this lack of information is by creating innovative programs and implementing sound policies that bridge the gap in young women’s education. This drive for comprehensive education is one of the many ways PHAU is helping lead the fight to end HIV/AIDS transmission, discrimination and stigma in Uganda. Their activities focus on providing a safe space for girls and young women to understand their condition and how to increase wellness in their lives and relationships with family, friends and within their communities. PHAU explores ways to create positive futures for the young women through hope, dignity and empowerment by also developing community initiatives targeting stigma and misinformation about HIV/AIDS.
AWDF is currently supporting PHAU with USD 15,000 to implement a compelling and unconventional outreach program to help tackle stigma within Uganda. The project was implemented in June 2015 and will be completed in November 2016.“Stamp Out Stigma” is a musical outreach campaign that reached several thousand people using flash mobs and street theatre in Kisenyi, a resource-strapped province in Kinshasa. The program’s popularity led to a sharp increase in attendance that provided an opportunity for 2,400 persons to receive HIV testing and/or counseling. Additionally, PHAU has trained and sensitised peer educators and community leaders on HIV stigma and discrimination as well as reproductive health and life skills development. The project’s reach continues to grow with PHAU reaching a total of 23,000 people.
One of PHAU’s current anti-stigma campaigns – “Tuli Wamu Nawe” – provides entrepreneurial training for HIV+ girls and young women to enable them to set up and manage small businesses. A participant, Nakisozi Mastulah – Kyabando Kisalonsalo, shares: “I have learned how to evaluated my business internally and externally using the SWOT Analysis”. The workshop also trained young women in financial systems and recordkeeping as an honest and responsible means to sustain their business practices. Such interventions also help the participants to sustain themselves and to focus on keeping a forward-thinking mindset. The training also helps the participants foster a sense of community that is integral to supporting their physical and mental wellbeing.
PHAU’s programs are widespread, impactful and inventive.The organisation’s response to the needs of positive girls and women is immense because PHAU recognises the complexity of the situation and how best to ensure accessibility, efficiency and effectiveness to those who need it the most. By using music, dance and theatre, PHAU entreats community members to confront those ostracised because of their illness as well as practices of stigma and discrimination against positive people. Through this work, it is clear that the Ugandan organisation is making holistic impact in the lives of girls and women and stimulating communities into open, active and inclusive ways of communication and participation with people living with HIV/AIDS.
For more check out their World Aids Day Flashmob below:
By: Maame Akua Kyerewaa Marfo