Year: 2016
International Women’s Month The Interviews Part 2
International Women’s Month The Interviews Part 2
Sex On College Campuses – Are Women More Than A Function?
By Maame Akua Marfo
“There are two types of relationships on campus– there’s the hook up kind which, maybe the boy has a lot of friends and then he starts to sleep with some of them. and then there’s another kind which is like a long one night stand.” – M
Relationships seem to find themselves on a sliding scale, from those preparing themselves for marriage to those that revolve around having multiple partners at one time but very rarely do these relationships turn out well for the women involved. The attitude to sex is casual, ranging from relationships that are considered “marriage like” but still involve other partners, to those that solely involve random hook ups.
For many of the women in the room it has always been clear that on campus women do not get to enjoy the same sort of sexual freedom without being reprimanded. For them there is a strange mixture of being encouraged to play the role of the “bad girl” on social media and everyone pretending to be okay with something with one breath but in the next taking a different position. For young men on campus however, sex is a game of divide and conquer. The students in the room describe a “the more the merrier” attitude and though sex itself is encouraged, women are often looked down upon for having more than one partner and the damage that open knowledge of a woman’s sexual partners can do is irreparable. It seems nearly impossible for a woman to be able to please both her boyfriend, herself, and the society around them.
“Some boys– only contact you when the semester is about to start because that’s when you’re conveniently accessible to them… Sometimes I feel like people look at girls on campus as commodities. It’s not just a singular problem. It’s about the way you view women in general. Because if you actually had respect for them as people you wouldn’t look at them as…disposable. People aren’t interchangeable like that.” -A
The relationships between students is far more complex than most would presume them to be. At a glance– relationships seem simple. Women are expected to play the role of the whore, the mother and the friend and in an age that boasts open mindedness about sex, it seems the open mindedness only applies to one gender. This puts women in precarious positions and contributes greatly to a culture that is unaccepting of womanhood in its totality. Women’s reputations are both armour and weapon depending on who is using them and their consistent subjugation and understanding of who they are always relates back to the men they are dating, sleeping with, or seen talking to.
How often do they understand themselves–for themselves? How often do men see them as more than a function? Are they more than just laundromats, cooks, wives and “whores”? This inability to see women as people in their entirety makes them easier to dismiss, easier to shrink and ultimately– easier to abuse. And on a college campus where students are learning how to relate to each other, and how to manage power in relationships, this places them in a dangerous position. It becomes easy to turn people– with their layers and unique individuality into little more than functions.
To Be Contd
The Interviews: Setting the Stage
The Interviews: Setting the Stage
By Maame Akua Marfo
In an empty classroom on the University Of Ghana’s Legon Campus, eight students are talking.
It’s the kind of exchange one would expect on what is arguably the nation’s premier university, but the topic is far from their daily classroom discussions. The topic is their life.
For International Women’s day this year the African Women’s Development fund is hosting a panel conversation focusing on sex and relationships and the concept of date rape on local university campuses. The topic is one that has been discussed at length both domestically and internationally. The Ghanaian public are already aware of just how brutal university campuses can be for young women – from the stripping of a suspected thief in Commonwealth hall, to the leaking of various sex tapes and private pictures, young women are often victimized in these spaces.
But from the outside it’s often hard to paint a real picture.
So before the discussion we gathered a group of young women and a few men to see what the landscape of their campus is to them– and how date rape, sexual abuse and gender-based violence find their way into what are presumed to be hallowed halls.
Over the course of the first hour it becomes clear that the students talking are reflective– a far cry from the apathetic trope tossed around when students are discussed. They care deeply, especially about this. They open up about their relationships – and the ones that happen around them, with a surprising ease.
“We were in class and the professor asked a question about how we think women should dress going to church. And this guy pipes up and starts talking about how as women when you go to church you have to dress well to attract the right kind of attention…you know? You’re looking for a husband and you don’t want to attract the wrong sort of man. Most of the girls in the class were offended. I mean what do you mean? Ghanaian girls everywhere we go we are looking for a husband. In a club. In church. In school. Everywhere,” N, a final year student, said.
To N there seemed to be a strange draw for long-term relationships which many girls presumed would lead to marriage, and there was a trend where a lot of the girls seemed to date older men. A few comments from the male participants made it clear that there were times when this was true on their end too. They described relationships were their fellow students would have a decisive say in the ways their girlfriends dressed and the way they did their hair– and the girls in turn would have a list of things they didn’t want their boyfriend to do– though it seemed the first list was more restrictive.
This need for long term relationships that mirror marriage can set a dangerous precedent. The large amount of pressure placed on these young women makes them susceptible to making choices that go against their best interest just to fit in better. It also makes them more likely to accept undesirable behavior from their spouses because catering to them becomes more than just a suggestion; it becomes a necessity.
One thing is clear however, these relationships aren’t the only kind on campus. There’s a hook up culture here too, though it’s often hidden to avoid public shame (for women). Men however seem to be encouraged to have multiple relationships with multiple girls.
To be continued
International Women’s Day 2016 – Breaking The Brass Ceiling In Ghana’s Armed Forces
International Women’s Day 2016 – Breaking The Brass Ceiling In Ghana’s Armed Forces
Right in time for International Women’s Day this year we are thrilled to hear about Ghanaian Col. Constance Edjeani-Afenu’s promotion to the rank of Brig. General. It is the first time in the history of the Ghana Armed Forces that a woman has attained this rank.
Edjeani-Afenu, the Deputy Military Adviser of the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations in New York, now joins Africa’s tiny handful of elite ranking female officers.
This is a huge step forward for women in Ghana and shows how far we have come in such a male-dominated sector. We celebrate her achievement.
At AWDF we support changemakers – women’s activist organizations and individuals who defend and advance women’s empowerment, voice and rights. The Nimbus Foundation is an example of one such group. An $8,000 dlr grant from AWDF in 2015 enabled the Foundation to train 100 police officers to effectively handle cases of reported abuse. The police, selected from the Greater Accra region, were provided with a better understanding rights of the vulnerable, how to reduce rights violation by security officers. The officers; training was completed last month.
In 2001 Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr) Selase Agbenyefia graduated as Ghana’s first female military helicopter pilot. She is also the first female helicopter pilot who flew with the Ghana Aviation Unit of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Cote d’Ivoire UNOCI. More recently in August 2015, Col Felicia Twum-Barima was appointed Director of the Education Corps for the Ghana Armed Forces, another first.
Turning to a completely different subject, AWDF will investigate Violence Against Women, Sexuality and Relationships on university campuses in Ghana, with a special emphasis on Date Rape and Sexual Assault. Read here our in-depth interviews with students on the University of Ghana as they open up about real-life relationships on campus.
For International Women’s Day we also salute women whose innovative and heroic interventions proved timely and life-saving during West Africa’s Ebola epidemic which raged from March 2014 to September 2015. Read how Sierra Leone’s Media Matters For Women made that crucial difference here.
International Women’s Day 2016: AWDF In Conversation
International Women’s Day 2016: AWDF In Conversation
To mark International Women’s Day this year, AWDF will host two special public events examining the status, role and contribution of African women. Join us as we explore “Don’t Call Me Beautiful,” a photo exhibition by Nana Kofi Acquah and tackle sex and relationships at the University Of Ghana campus.
Panel Discussion: Don’t Call Me Beautiful
Date: Tuesday 8th March, 2016 Time: 6pm Venue: Exhibition Hall, Alliance Francaise Rate: FreeRenowned Ghanaian Photographer Nana Kofi Acquah’s photo exhibition “Don’t Call Me Beautiful,” celebrates the resilience of African women. In partnership with Alliance Francaise, this informal and interactive discussion will use the photo exhibit as a springboard for conversation about stereotypical depictions of women in current social media trends, women’s rights, gender, arts and culture and feminism. There will also be readings by participants of the 2016 Writivism workshop which is to be held in Accra. Moderator: Kinna Likimani, Mbaasem Foundation
Catch Nana Kofi Acquah’s thoughts on his exhibition here:
Panel Conversation About Date Rape, Sex and Relationships On Campus
Date: Friday 11 March 2016 Time: Film Screening: 4-5h30 pm, Panel Discussion: 6 PM. Venue: Institute Of African Studies Auditorium, UG, Legon Rate: FREE
In partnership with the Center for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) and the African Studies Department of the University Of Ghana Legon, AWDF will host an interactive panel discussion on Campus date rape, sex and relationships. The event will be preceded by the screening of a film: The Hunting Ground, a ground-breaking documentary on rape on campuses in the US. Again, there will be also be readings by participants of the 2016 Writivism workshop which is to be held in Accra. Moderator: Prof. Audrey Gadzekpo, University of Ghana, Legon
We invite you to be a part of these special events. Don’t miss.
Passionate Legacies: AWDF @15
Passionate Legacies: AWDF @15
Passionate Legacies: A Celebration and Fundraiser For The African Women’s Development Fund At 15
“When you invest in women and girls, the return on your investment is not about the life of the one woman or the one girl who has been affected, but it’s about healthier families, healthier communities, healthier countries and revitalized communities all round.”– Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi
New York, NY—March 1, 2016— The African Women’s Development Fund-USA (AWDF-USA) today announced a cocktail gala event for the 15-year anniversary celebration of the African Women’s Development Fund. The event is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, March 16, from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. at the Millennium Plaza Hotel located at 1 United Nations Plaza in Manhattan.
Entitled “Passionate Legacies: A Celebration and Fundraiser for the African Women’s Development Fund @ 15” the event will host founders, grantees, partners, community members as well as the passionate legacies, work and history of AWDF. It is a great time to recognize the achievements and history of AWDF during the 60th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN headquarters in New York.
The invite-only affair will include a cocktail hour and two live performances from recording artist and prominent leader in the Pan African movement, Maame Afon Yelbert-Obeng. The event will also commemorate African women through the dual launch of “Voice, Power and Soul II,” a book that illustrates the success stories of African women feminists, and “Sheroes,” an AWDF Compilation CD that includes
- music from artists such as Angelique Kidjoe, Nneka, Somi, Maame Afon- Yelbert Obeng, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and many other African women
- select videos and short films
- original poetry authored by African women
Hosts of the event include AWDF Co- Founder and First CEO Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, AWDF CEO Theo Sowa, Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee, and The AWDF-USA Board.
AWDF USA provides a vehicle for effective American philanthropy to Africa that builds the capacity of the continent’s women for social change and sustainable development. This event is an important platform to elevate the visibility of our work with the US Diaspora, empowering and engaging African women currently living in the United States.
For further inquiries please email info@womenchangeafrica.com. Additional information is also available online via social media via facebook.com/awdfusa or twitter.com @AWDFUSA
A Fire to Transform This World: A Perspective on Sexual Health and Rights
A Fire to Transform This World: A Perspective on Sexual Health and Rights
By Belinda Amankwah
“I remember when I was growing up, my mom told me I like to play too much and that I shouldn’t play with my brothers. She said I was to help her in the kitchen. So she would wake me up early in the morning whilst my brothers were still in bed to sweep the compound and do some other house chores. So I asked my mother why my brothers won’t join me to do the house chores and she said it is because I am a woman and that’s my job. This was when I realized that I was different and society had different expectations from what they had for men.” – ACSHR Participant
The 7th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights (ACSHR) was held at the Accra International Conference Center this month. AWDF and Curious Minds hosted a Young Women’s Pre-Conference on 9th February, 2016 to provide a safe space for feminist engagement and knowledge sharing on the topic of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
According to the organizers, ACSHR’s vision is “part of a long-term process of building and fostering regional dialogue on sexual health and rights that leads to concrete actions and enhance stakeholders’ ability to influence policy and programming in favour of a sexually- healthy continent.”
The conference saw the gathering of many young women from different countries around the continent, mostly between the ages of 15- 30. The venue was almost filled to capacity by the time the conference started. The young women looked happy to be together, enthusiastic about the day and the atmosphere was very blissful. Many were striking an acquaintance with other young women and getting to understand the environment.
As a young women’s rights activist, it was a great experience attending this meeting. I met many intelligent and passionate young feminists, women’s rights activists and a few veterans in the African Feminist movement. The sessions were well delivered as the facilitators did not only present information but also made the experience very interactive. This gave young women the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences freely – more so than they would have had the chance to in other spaces.
The first session focused on the foundations of African Feminism. The facilitator, Jessica Horn, Director of Programmes at AWDF and a feminist activist, spoke on the principles, theories and practice of feminism. She started by throwing this question to the audience: “When did you first know you were a woman and that you were different?” This exercise was done in small groups, giving us the opportunity to listen to some interesting stories and lessons. For me, what I heard most was that being a woman comes with a lot of expectations that sometimes do not allow women to develop themselves to their full desired potential, especially outside the home. However, being a woman surely has positive results, too.
Here is another story shared in my group:
“When it was time for me to go to college, my father paid my fees and provided me with everything I needed but when it was my brother’s turn to go to college, things got financially difficult and my brother had to work to pay his fees. My dad still continued to pay my fees. He said, a man is supposed to provide for himself and a woman is to be taken care of.”
I have a memory from my childhood. My brother and I are very close in age and we would fight over any and everything. Every time we fought, my mom would tell me I am too tough. She said women should be emotionally and physically soft and should not fight. So I kept on asking myself, “Why should I intentionally allow my brother to beat me when I am capable of fighting back?” I understood at an early age that this showed the world that I was a woman.
A highlight during the workshop for me was when Juliana Lunguzi, a woman MP from Malawi, was invited to share some motivating words. She told us about her struggles as a member of Parliament but also reminded us of the need to support girls throughout their education. She said, “UNICEF, Action Aid and other organisations are building schools but no one is paying the fees of these young girls to attend school, and for me, that is the most important thing. In our fight for the rights of women and equal opportunities, we should remember that it is through education that young women can occupy and share the spaces we are fighting to create for them.”
I enjoyed the session by Cecilia Senoo (Executive Director for Hope for Future Generations) on how Feminism intersects with SRHR. I particularly loved the interactive aspect as it led to some passionate discussion on issues such as virginity, violence against women, and harmful cultural practices, among other issues. From that conversation, here are some profound statements I would like to echo:
- Why is a woman’s virginity so important to men when many men sexually abuse girls and women? Does a woman check if a man is a virgin before she marries him? “IT’S MY BODY, I OWN IT, IT’S MINE” – our bodies do not belong to men for them to decide what to do with it.
- African peoples have some harmful cultural and community practices that directly affect women and can destroy us, physically and emotionally. What is a culture when it destroys its own people? A true culture protects its people and does not expose them, especially marginalised populations, to harm.
- How do we break the cycle of violence against women? We need to put systems in place and ensure that they work. We will fight for our rights as women because no one will fight for us if we don’t. We should remember that power is not given; it must be expressed from within.
A fiery passion to transform this world and demand respect for women’s rights was borne in me this day, attending the conference and meeting so many young and courageous Feminists. It is important for us to sustain the dialogue on women’s rights and build support networks between young women so that we don’t feel isolated. It is good to have sisters around who will encourage and keep you.
Belinda Amankwah works at AWDF as a Knowledge Management intern.
AWDF Co-Founder Launches New Blog Above Whispers
AWDF Co-Founder Launches New Blog Above Whispers
AWDF Co-founder Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi has launched a new blog targeted at mature audiences.
Above Whispers is a space “primarily, (but not exclusively) for middle-aged women, and will provide an opportunity for people to engage in discussions about a range of issues such as politics, social justice, development, financial security, women’s rights, health, entrepreneurship, popular culture, faith, parenting and relationships.”
It hopes to offer a unique platform to engage with other people in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
Click here to read Bisi’s response to Nigerian writer Olatunji Ololade’s article on African Feminists “Beasts Of No Gender, The Nation.”
Bisi Adeleye- Fayemi, a feminist activist, philanthropist, social entrepreneur and writer, is one of AWDF’s co-founders.
Women Lead The Charge In Post-Ebola Guinea
Women Lead The Charge In Post-Ebola Guinea
CONAKRY, Guinea – A women’s cooperative saw its work almost reduced to ashes after years of work as the Ebola outbreak ravaged the West African country of Guinea, but the women would have the last say.Djakagbe Kaba has spent decades working towards women empowerment. Despite the setbacks during the Ebola outbreak, she is determined to reposition women at the forefront of agricultural development and lead the way to better earning power.
The women cannot be independent if they do not have the means
It is Friday in Conakry and the streets are busy. Vendors are selling their wares as passers-by haggle over prices, afternoon prayers at the mosque have already begun.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, Djakagbe Kaba, head of the women’s organisation AGACFEM (Association Guineenne pour L’Allegement des Charges Feminines), opens the boutique where the organisation sells locally-made products produced by the women they work with.
The shop is modest but Kaba is confident. She has spent the last 30 years working with women’s groups before she co-founded the AGACFEM in 1995. With a focus on training and women’s economic and political empowerment, AGACFEM has supported thousands of women living in the country’s rural areas.
One of the organisation’s early projects was a women’s leadership programme after receiving funds from the Accra-based African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF). Kaba and her team organised trainings for women to participate in local governance. By the end of the project seven women were elected as members of the municipal council.
But AGACFEM did not stop there. The programme extended to illiterate women, who were taught how to read and write and the importance of voting.
In recent times AGACFEM has pooled together a co-operative of 45 women’s groups in the rural areas Kissidougou, Guéckédou and Kankan. The Coopérative des Femmes Rurales pour l’Agriculture, la Souveraineté Alimentaire et le Développement (COFRASAD) spent the last four years training women in 10 villages in organic agricultural production and value-added processing and are currently in the process of completing the finishing touches to two processing centres. But when the Ebola virus hit in 2014 everything changed.
Kaba and her colleagues were forced to re-strategise. AGACFEM received another grant from the AWDF, this time for the fight against Ebola. The organisation decided to team up with three other Guinean NGOs – Coalition des Organisations pour le Rayonnement de L’Economie Sociale Solidaire en Guinee (CORESS), Cooperative Badembere and Association des Jeunes Agriculteurs pour le Developpement Communautaire (AJADEG) – some of whom are members of COFRASAD working in the same region that also received grants from AWDF during the Ebola crisis to put their funds together to tackle the crisis head on.
Kaba decided to leave the capital, Conakry, and base herself in Kissidougou for three months to ensure all the programmes ran efficiently. While she headed the project planning and budget organising, roles were allocated to her partners to ensure that they maximised their efforts and networks as they reached to villages across the region.
“When it came to making orders for hand-washing kits, we placed one order together to keep costs down.” Kaba points out that it was important to her that each organisation used its strengths. “For example,” she says. “Badembere is an organisation that manufactures soap, so we thought let’s put the money we have each been allocated to buy soap into Badembere to strengthen their capacities.”Kaba bought and bargained every item needed for the hand-washing kits, even down to the stickers on the bucket, to make sure the group got the best for their buck. After overseeing the manufacturing process, the kits would then go out to the villages with the women volunteers who were spreading the message about Ebola.
Though Kaba and her colleagues were successful in their efforts in distributing hand-washing kits across communities, raising hygiene awareness and communicating with people, the work they had been doing in agricultural production took a hit. Nothing was produced for a whole year, setting the whole project back.
“We had to stop production,” says Fanta Konneh Condé, the secretary general of COFRASAD and one of Kaba’s colleagues, as she overlooks one of the gardens in just outside Kissidougou. “We missed the harvest season.”
Fast-forward to December 2015 and work has restarted. Condé and her colleague, Mariame Touré of Badembere take a stroll through the garden, stopping to talk to the women, as they remark at how far they all have come. With babies on their backs and farming tools in their hands, some of the women are – for the time being – cultivating carrots, lettuce and chives. Once again working to provide for their families. Under the initiative, they also produce rice, cereals and potatoes.
Back in Conakry at the boutique, Kaba is sure of the direction she wants the co-operative to go.
“We want to increase production,” she declares, as she gestures towards the pots of shea butter and black soap on the shelves. “We would like to export these products.”
COFRASAD is expanding rapidly having grown from a co-operative of four groups after its first year, to 45 groups today, four years later.
“The women cannot be independent if they do not have the means,” Kaba says. “It is better to support a group of women, rather than just one.”
Read the original article on Theafricareport.com : Women lead the charge in post-Ebola Guinea | West Africa
Diane Abbott Meets With Ghanaian Women’s Rights Activists At AWDF House
Diane Abbott Meets With Ghanaian Women’s Rights Activists At AWDF House
“Change can happen quicker than you thick. We have to have the courage to seize opportunities,” Abbott said.
Job Vacancy: Grants Administrator
Job Vacancy: Grants Administrator
BACKGROUND
The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is an Africa-wide fundraising and grant making African foundation based in Accra, Ghana. Our mission is to mobilise financial, human and material resources to support African women and the work of the African women’s movement to advance women’s rights and gender equality in Africa. AWDF is currently looking to hire a Grants Administrator (GA).to join the AWDF Grants Department and contribute to our dynamic grantmaking activities.
Applications should be sent with your CV and cover letter by no later than 4th March 2016.
Applications should be sent to: grace@africlub.net/awdf
JOB SUMMARY
Reporting to the Grants Manager, the Grant Administrator plays a critical role in the grant making function of the organisation and works closely with Programme Staff to manage the grant making process. The job holder will be responsible for the pre-grant review stage of the grant making function.
The GA will provide hands on support to applicants as it relates to the grant application and serve as the key point person for applicant queries. The person will be the administrator for the grant management system, with oversight from the Grants Manager. The GA will be responsible for inputting all necessary data into Grants Information Management system.
The GA will also participate in departmental conceptualisation of projects and reporting to relevant stakeholders.
The position requires you to build your knowledge of women’s rights frameworks and issues, AWDF’s thematic areas and strategies for achieving change. This will include a need to demonstrate self-directed learning as well as pursuing learning through support from your line manager and the Director of Programmes.
Responsibilities
The grants administrator will;
- Oversee all incoming grant applications
- Manage the workflow of the grant review process
- Input the necessary data into Grants Information Management System
- Assure the accuracy and integrity of the grants database
- Support the preparation of dockets
- Analyse and interpret grant application trends
- Collate and analyse grant application data
- Develop and prepare statistical reports for internal and external audience
- Produce relevant reports
- Write stories for AWDF websites and other media
- Support stakeholder enquiries and data requests
- Act as a point person for grantee enquiries
- Perform related responsibilities as required
- Any other duties as may be assigned by the Grants Manager
Person specification
The GA must have the following competencies:
- Ability to think and problem solve creatively
- Strong time management skills
- Highly organised and detail oriented, and able to multi-task
- Enjoy working independently and as part of a team
- Ability to analyse and interpret grant application trends
- Self-motivated
- Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment, support tolerance and diversity
- Ability to work flexible working hours, sometimes outside of regular working hours expected
- Ability to travel when necessary
- Ability to manage a heavy work schedule
- Organising and coordinating skills
- Ability to prioritise multiple demanding tasks
- A passion for women’s rights and a commitment to AWDF’s feminist values
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office required
- Knowledge of using an Information Management System important
- Information research skills
- Strong written and oral communication skills
- Ability to research and provide background information for AWDF grant making themes and focus areas
- Records maintenance and digital database management skills
- Excellent attention to detail
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in gender and development, human rights, or other relevant area
- Minimum of 3 years working experience
- Excellent command of oral and written English essential; proficiency in French desirable
- Commitment to women’s rights essential, experience of working in women’s rights organisations or funds preferred