Feminist organisations have been at the forefront of women’s and girl’s rights advocacy and action across Africa and the Middle East. Often working in
challenging socio -economic and political contexts with limited organisational capacity and ever-increasing demands, women’s organisations help bridge the public service delivery gap, while redefining conventional ideas and practices on the rights and roles of women in society, the economy, and policymaking. How do these women’s organisations continue to push the envelope on impact
while embarking on feminist movement building? How do they remain innovative and relevant in ever-changing women’s rights, development and professional landscapes? How do they stay accountable as they tackle Africa’s challenging socio-economic and political issues?
To address the capacity building needs of African women’s organisations, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) spearheaded the creation of the CEO Forum. Designed by African feminists, the CEO Forum seeks to build individual and collective leadership and skills of senior, mid -level and emerging women leaders and executives. Participants benefit from networking, technical skills acquisition and professional capacity building, alongside in-person and virtual coaching over a specified timeframe. The coaching process involves practical exercises and feedback for the continuous evolution and growth of African feminist leaders. To date, 60 feminist leaders and activists have been coached.
From 4th to 6th October, 2018, 30 representatives of grantee women’s organisations joined coaches Hope Chigudu, Paula Fray, and Yene Assegid and the AWDF team at Accra’s Best Western Hotel for a period of sharing, reflection, learning and evaluation on the CEO Forum’s successes, shortfalls and impact. The gathering marked the eighth edition and grand finale of the CEO Forum and featured past and prospective coachees working in 14
African and Middle Eastern countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso,
Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra
Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
See below for the event report: