Thematic Priorities

WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS

In many countries, societal attitudes and behaviours remain entrenched and the rights that have been gained are being eroded by the rise of conservatism and fundamentalism. Although there has been some progress in getting violence against women on the agenda of some African governments, brutal forms of violence and deprivation of rights still confront millions of African women. There are now universal standards in place, which provide a framework for human rights among the international community. Several African governments have made commitments to these standards of best practice through international conventions and agreements.

AWDF funds the work of organisations which prioritise the following areas:

• Eradication of discrimination and violations of women's human rights through legal and policy reform.
• Implementation of strategies of the Global Platform for Action on violence against women through research, advocacy, campaigns and monitoring and implementation of laws.
• Protecting and promoting women's human rights.
• Mobilisation of support for women's rights at grassroots level through networking and empowerment of community based organisations (CBOs).
• Research on harmful traditional practices and forms of violence against women, which infringe their basic human rights.
• Monitoring policies and legislation which infringe upon women's human rights.
• Harmonization of national laws and constitutions in line with regional and international commitments and standards to avoid inconsistencies.
• Training in leadership and advocacy for public advocates on women's human rights.
• Establishing national and regional networks to promote and advocate for women's human rights.
• Collaborating with regional and international partners and networks on women's human rights issues.
• Dissemination of information and networking on women's human rights at national and international levels.
• Developing legal frameworks and case law on best practice for women's human rights.
• Education and awareness of women's rights.
• Promoting gender equity/equality in public policy.

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

The low level of participation of women in politics and public policy decision-making processes has led to the marginalisation of gender issues and increased discrimination against women in African countries. It is imperative that women should participate in policy-making, particularly at a time when a fresh vision of gender sensitive development is needed in African countries. More emphasis needs to be laid on more representation of women by women in positions of decision-making.

AWDF funds organisations which prioritise the following:

• Programmes that create an enabling environment that will allow women to participate more in public policy,
• Media and communications strategies which support gender equity and women's participation in political processes.
• Dissemination of information, including research findings on women's participation in political leadership.
• Getting more women into decision-making positions in the governmental, corporate and social sectors, and capacity building support for women's participation in political leadership.
• Capacity building for providing the necessary conceptual, analytical and practical tools for leadership skills and training for women.
• Leadership development training which emphasises awareness raising, self- esteem, inter-generational and capacity building programs.
• Promoting equal gender representation in decision-making bodies in the public and private sector, the legislature and political parties, and in international organisations.
• Research on women's leadership in Africa.

PEACE BUILDING

Violent conflict is endemic in many African countries, and the number of internal conflicts is on the increase. Peace building initiatives continue to be largely male dominated and women are often absent from conflict resolution processes.

At the level of civil society however, there has been a broad-based mobilisation of women for peace throughout the continent at all levels. Women have taken advantage of their enhanced roles during conflict situations and used this as leverage to campaign and advocate peace. Women in collaboration with other allies, have been actively engaged in promoting mediation, peace and dialogue often under extremely difficult circumstances. This has led to the creation of many women led national and regional networks for peace. There is a need to increase women's participation in key decision-making positions at national and regional levels, and include women's participation in conflict resolution at the highest strategic levels, on peace missions and negotiations.

AWDF supports organisation which prioritise the following:

• Development of early warning mechanisms and post-conflict reconstruction mechanisms.
• Building partnerships for information sharing, advocacy and campaigning on conflict prevention and conflict resolution.
• Education and awareness raising on the role of women in peace-building and conflict resolution.
• Monitoring women's' participation in conflict prevention and peace-building.
• Support for processes and policy reform to stop the manufacture, importation and usage of small arms in order to facilitate the promotion of a culture of peace.
• Exchange and mentoring programmes for women leaders working on conflict issues.
• Capacity building for conflict resolution and training on conflict management skills.
• Information sharing and partnership development for research on women's role in conflict mediation and resolution.
• Research and documentation of women's' role in conflict resolution.

The HIV/AIDS Fund

AWDF funds organisations which prioritise the following areas:
Enhancing the status of women and girls and protecting their rights

• Protecting women’s rights to own and inherit property and land.
• Programs to combat harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, widowhood rights, child marriage, etc.
• Promoting a culture of non-tolerance to all forms of violence against women.
• Harmonisation of national laws and constitutions in line with regional and international commitments and standards to avoid inconsistencies.
• Eradication of discrimination and violations of women's human rights through legal and policy reform.

Creating opportunities for women and girls to make empowering choices

• Economic empowerment and skills building programs to lift women out of dire poverty and break the cycle of vulnerability.
• Leadership development programs for women in communities to give them more access to decision-making.
• Capacity building to strengthen women’s organisations working on HIV/AIDS issues in order to make them more visible, better resourced and more effective.

Women’s needs and circumstances in prevention, treatment, support and community care

• Support for groups of  women living with HIV/AIDS
• Advocacy and campaigning for gender sensitive treatment access and health care delivery systems.
• Home based care and all forms of support necessary to ensure women’s dignity and well-being.
• Treatment literacy programs for HIV infected women
• Support for orphans, particularly young children heads of households
• Support for voluntary testing and counselling
• Anti-stigma campaigns
• Targeting young women and young men in tertiary institutions
• Adoption counselling

HEALTH AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

AWDF funds organisations, which prioritise the following areas:

• Provision for training local, regional and national officials, as well as leaders of co-operatives, associations and NGOs, so that they can oversee and support community health programmes.
• Programs to combat harmful traditional practices.
• Monitoring health care provision and delivery systems for women especially primary care.
• Advocacy and campaigning for gender sensitive health care delivery systems.
• Partnerships with health care providers for awareness raising and education about gender sensitive health care provision.
• Institutional support and capacity building for community based health care providers.

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

Women constitute the majority of the poor in Africa, lacking access to resources such as land, capital, technology , water and adequate and nutritious food. The feminisation of poverty in Africa is also affected by difficult legal and fiscal environments, rigid rules, restrictive administrative procedures, patriarchal systems of inheritance which discriminate against women, and barriers to trade.

Micro-financing schemes are helping women to address the problem of access to resources and participation in the economy. However, micro and small-scale enterprises in Africa, particularly those belonging to women, are often in precarious situations, and struggle to survive in a constantly changing environment. Women's participation in regional trade is hampered by poor infrastructure, particularly transport and communication systems; insufficient knowledge of treaties, laws, policies, protocols and tariffs and border barriers.

AWDF supports organisations, which prioritise the following:

• Address information gaps and develop training programmes for women entrepreneurs.
• Community based income-generating schemes for women with a holistic approach.
• Advocacy and campaigning for equal opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
• Monitoring of legal and financial frameworks which discriminate against women's economic empowerment.
• Provision of advice and support to women on financial matters.
• Provision of accessible technology to enable women to access finance and markets.
• Capacity building and training for community based finance providers.
• Co-ordination and capacity building of women's finance organisations.
• Participatory evaluation of programmes to measure progress, impact and results of economic empowerment programmes on women and their communities.
• Training for women in management, entrepreneurship and negotiating skills.
• Establishment of information infrastructure, including databases and business centres.
• Advocacy activities which target international financial institutions, African governments, the private sector, sub-regional and regional organisations such as OAU and ECOWAS.