Author: African Women's Development Fund

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]Any individual, non-governmental organization, group or network may submit communications (complaints/appeals/petitions) to the Commission on the Status of Women containing information relating to alleged violations of human rights that affect the status of women in any country in the world. The Commission on the Status of Women considers such communications as part of its annual programme of work in order to identify emerging trends and patterns of injustice and discriminatory practices against women for purposes of policy formulation and development of strategies for the promotion of gender equality.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: Any person or organization with a communication should write by 1 August 2013. More information.

The current communications procedure of the Commission on the Status of Women has its roots in Economic and Social Council resolution 76 (V) of 5 August 1947, as amended by the Council in resolution 304 I (XI) of 14 and 17 July 1950. The mandate of the Commission on the Status of Women to consider communications has been reaffirmed and the modalities of the procedure have been further modified by the Council (see Council resolutions 1983/27 of 26 May 1983, 1992/19 of 30 July 1992, 1993/11 of 27 July 1993, 2009/16 of 28 July 2009 and decision 2002/235 of 24 July 2002).

What types of communications are sought?

Accurate and detailed information relating to the promotion of women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields in any country anywhere in the world.

What information should be included in a communication?

It is advisable that communications should:

Identify as far as possible the woman victim, or women victims;
Indicate clearly where (the particular country/several countries) the alleged violation(s) or pattern of violations have occurred or are occurring;
Provide, when available, dates and circumstances of the alleged violations;
Explain the context by providing relevant background information; and
Provide, when available, copies of documentation.
The following are examples of categories of communications received and trends and patterns identified in recent years:
Arbitrary arrests of women
Deaths and torture of women in custody
Forced disappearances or abductions of women
Discriminatory application of punishments in law based on sex, including corporal and capital punishment
Violation of the rights of women human rights defenders to freedom of expression and assembly
Threats or pressure exerted on women not to complain or to withdraw complaints
Impunity for violations of the human rights of women
Stereotypical attitudes towards the role and responsibilities of women
Domestic violence
Forced marriage and marital rape
Virginity testing
Contemporary forms of slavery, including trafficking in women and girls
Sexual harassment of women in the workplace
Unfair employment practices based on sex, including unequal pay
Lack of due diligence by States to adequately investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of violence against women
Discrimination against women under immigration and nationality laws
Violations of the rights of women to own and inherit property
Discrimination against women in accessing international humanitarian aid
Forcible evictions of women in conflict situations

Submission of Claims

All claims must be signed and submitted in writing by e-mail or regular mail. However, the author’s identity is not made known to the Government(s) concerned unless she/he agrees to the disclosure.

Please note that the Commission on the Status of Women does not take decisions on the merit of communications that are submitted to it and, therefore, the communications procedure does not provide an avenue for the redress of individual grievances.

Where to submit a communication to the Commission on the Status of Women

Any person or organization with a communication should write by 1 August 2013 to:

CSW Communications Procedure
Human Rights Section
UN Women
220 East 42nd Street, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10017 USA

Or send an e-mail message to cp-csw@unwomen.org.[/tp]

[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]Toute personne, organisation non gouvernementale, groupe ou réseau peut présenter des communications (plaintes / appels / pétitions) à la Commission sur la condition de la femme contenant des informations relatives à des violations présumées des droits de l’homme qui affectent le statut des femmes dans tous les pays dans le monde . La Commission de la condition de la femme estime que ces communications dans le cadre de son programme annuel de travail afin d’identifier les tendances et les modèles émergents de l’injustice et les pratiques discriminatoires à l’égard des femmes à des fins de formulation et le développement de stratégies pour la promotion de l’égalité politique.

DATE LIMITE DE SOUMISSION: Toute personne ou organisation avec une communication doivent écrire le 1er Août 2013. Plus d’informations.

La procédure de communication actuelle de la Commission sur la condition de la femme a ses racines dans la résolution 76 (V) 5 Août 1947 du Conseil économique et social, tel que modifié par le Conseil dans sa résolution 304 I (XI) du 14 et 17 Juillet 1950. Le mandat de la Commission sur la condition de la femme à examiner des communications a été réaffirmé et les modalités de la procédure ont encore été modifié par le Conseil (voir les résolutions du Conseil 1983/27 du 26 mai 1983, 1992/19 du 30 Juillet 1992, 1993 / 11 du 27 Juillet 1993, 2009/16 du 28 Juillet 2009 et la décision 2002/235 du 24 Juillet 2002).

Quels types de communications sont recherchés?

Des informations précises et détaillées relatives à la promotion des droits des femmes dans les domaines politiques, économiques, civils, sociaux et éducatifs dans tous les pays partout dans le monde.

Quelles informations devraient être inclues dans une communication?

Il est souhaitable que les communications devraient:

Identifier autant que possible la femme victime, ou les femmes victimes;
Indiquez clairement où (le pays particulier / plusieurs pays) la violation alléguée (s) ou le motif de violations ont été commises ou ont eu lieu;
Fournir, lorsque disponibles, les dates et les circonstances des violations alléguées;
Expliquer le contexte en fournissant des informations de base pertinentes; et
Fournir, lorsqu’elles sont disponibles, des copies de la documentation.
Voici des exemples de catégories de communications reçues et les tendances et les modèles identifiés au cours des dernières années sont les suivantes:
Les arrestations arbitraires de femmes
Décès et la torture des femmes en garde à vue
Disparitions ou enlèvements de femmes forcées
Application discriminatoire des peines en droit fondée sur le sexe, y compris corporels et la peine capitale
Violation des droits des femmes défenseures des droits humains à la liberté d’expression et de réunion
Les menaces ou les pressions exercées sur les femmes de ne pas se plaindre ou de retirer les plaintes
L’impunité pour les violations des droits humains des femmes
Les attitudes stéréotypées à l’égard du rôle et des responsabilités des femmes
Violence conjugale
Le mariage forcé et le viol conjugal
Le test de virginité
Les formes contemporaines d’esclavage, y compris la traite des femmes et des filles
Le harcèlement sexuel des femmes en milieu de travail
Pratiques de travail déloyales fondées sur le sexe, y compris l’inégalité de rémunération
Le manque de diligence raisonnable par les États à enquêter de façon adéquate, poursuivre et punir les auteurs de violences contre les femmes
La discrimination contre les femmes en vertu des lois d’immigration et de nationalité
Les violations des droits des femmes à posséder et hériter de biens
La discrimination contre les femmes dans l’accès de l’aide internationale humanitaire
Expulsions forcées des femmes dans les situations de conflit

Présentation des réclamations

Toutes les réclamations doivent être signés et soumises par écrit par e-mail ou par courrier ordinaire. Cependant, l’identité de l’auteur ne doit pas se faire connaître du gouvernement concerné, sauf si elle / il consent à la divulgation.

S’il vous plaît notez que la Commission de la condition de la femme ne prend pas de décisions sur le mérite des communications qui lui sont soumises et, par conséquent, la procédure de communication ne prévoit pas une avenue pour le redressement de griefs individuels.

Où présenter une communication à la Commission sur la condition de la femme,

Toute personne ou organisation avec une communication doivent écrire le 1er Août 2013:

CSW Communications Procedure
Human Rights Section
UN Women
220 East 42nd Street, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10017 USA

Ou envoyez un email à cp-csw@unwomen.org.[/tp]

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Co-Founder and Board Member of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF). She is also a member of the African Women Leaders Network for Reproductive Health and Family Planning. Bisi is also the wife of the Governor of Ekiti State, Nigeria.

In this video, Bisi shares her thoughts on the current controversy in Nigeria about the minimum age of marriage, and strongly advocates for the protection of the rights of girls and women.

 

One of the issues raised time and time again by AWDF’s grantee partners during a recent monitoring visit to Nigeria was the need to prepare for the 2015 general elections. In the context of insecurity and domestic terrorism, women’s rights organisations working in the areas of governance, political participation and leadership stressed the importance of encouraging women to enter the formal party political spaces, and to participate fully in political leadership positions. AWDF’s partners are adamant that women’s political participation is necessary not just on the basis of equity, but also a requirement for a change in ‘the old boys system of politicking’.

Women Environmental Programme (WEP) is one of AWDF’s grantee partners working to increase women’s participation in politics. An update in WEP’s recent newsletter provided this update below:

To be part of decision making on critical issues that affect them, women must come out to participate in political processes such as registering and voting in elections and vying for political positions. Participation of women in politics is the way through which the voices of women can be enhanced and their inputs captured for development purposes.

Due to religious, cultural and other factors, the women in Zamfara State, North Western Nigeria do not participate fully in electoral processes. In 2011 general elections out of a total of 2088 candidates that contested within the North West region only 49 were women representing 2.3% and out of this number, only 3 women contested from Zamfara State.

Unimpressed with the low level of participation of women in political processes in Zamfara State, Women Environmental Programme (WEP) initiated an action on Capacity Building for Women in Electoral Process and Political Participation in the Build Up to 2015 Elections in Zamfara State, North West Nigeria.

This action supported by African Women Development Fund (AWDF) has the overall objective of increasing the level of women participation in politics and democratic governance in Zamfara State through awareness creation.

WEP has started raising awareness in the three (3) senatorial districts of the State on the need for women to participate in political processes. WEP targets men, women and the traditional leaders to talk them into allowing women come out to participate in electoral processes. WEP has also launched media campaigns on radio in the state to call for women participation in politics in Hausa language for easy communication. With this WEP anticipates an improvement in the turnout of women come 2015 general elections in Zamfara State.

 

 

 

In July 2012, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) supported Prudence Mabele, Executive Director of the Positive Women’s Network in South Africa to attend the XIX International AIDS conference in Washington D.C. in the United States of America. Under AWDF’s Solidarity Fund the organisation supports existing grantees partner to “…engage in activities which promote learning and the sharing of experiences on a local, national and international level”.

Prior to the conference, Ms Mabele attended two pre conference events: a 2 day conference organised by the Global Network Of People Living with HIV and NERELA’s pre conference organised by Religious leaders living with HIV.

During the conference, Ms Mabele participated in a plenary session on the theme ‘Collaborating Across Borders to Advance the Health of Women’, where she used the personal story of a PWN member to illustrate the gendered aspect of HIV and AIDS.The story is shared in full below:

 

Monica Modise died at the young age of 35. She left behind two daughters, Nomsa (17) and Zodwa (15), as well as a four-year old granddaughter, Zintle.

In 2005, Monica Modise was diagnosed HIV positive. It came to her as a shock. She was married to her husband, had been faithful in her marriage, and so had no reason to suspect that she would contract HIV. Her husband died in 2007 of AIDS related causes.

Monica was not employed, nor did she have the right educational qualifications or skills for the employment market. With limited options to make a means, she moved with her two daughters into her parental home then headed by her older brother, Mandla.

Moving back to her childhood home would prove to be a horrifying experience for Monica and her daughters. Unbeknownst to Monica, her brother, the uncle to her daughters had begun raping Nomsa on a regular basis. She was 13. She discovered this violation when Nomsa became pregnant. When Monica asked Nomsa why she had not told her about what was happening, Nomsa replied that her uncle had threatened to evict them from the home if she even thought of telling anyone. Monica was trapped. Without financial means, information, or support from other relatives or friends, she did not know where to go or who to turn to. They continued living with her brother, who now openly continued his criminal behaviour knowing that his sister had no alternatives.

It was through a PWN door-to-door campaign that Monica learned about living with HIV, support groups, counselling sessions, information about health facilities and people who she could turn to. Monica started attending one of PWN’s support groups and confided in the support group leader, who after hearing the story opened her home to Monica and her daughters.

At last, they had a place of safety. Baby Zintle was born healthy and in a place of safety. She escaped the nightmare that her mother, aunt and grandmother had lived through.

It was only in the place of safety that Monica could reflect and try to make sense of what had happened. She had lived in crisis management mode, never having a chance to examine her life on so many levels: discovering she is HIV positive, how to live with HIV, discovering her husband’s deceit, mourning the death of her husband, being left destitute, having to move back to her childhood home, having to negotiate living with her brother, finding out her daughter has been sexually violated, finding out her daughter is having a child by her uncle, having to find a way out of her living situation … With her stipend from PWN, she was able to take care of some of her basic needs and regain some sense of independence.

It took time for Monica to regain her strength and deal with depression, sadness, anger, disappointment, disillusionment, guilt and loss. Through the support groups and counselling, she built her strength to the point where she was able to report her own brother to the police and pursue the justice she and her daughters deserved. Upon hearing of the police case being filed, her brother fled their home and went to hide in the rural areas.

Monica followed up on the police case with little success. There was no follow-through by the police, the case was eventually dropped without explanation.

Monica became an active member of PWN. She campaigned, she counselled, she did all she could to provide women with the information she did not have access to. She often said that had she known what was out there in terms of support, she would not have made the decisions she had. But we encouraged her not to blame herself for what she did not know.

Monica died in January 2012. It was too soon, but at least she was able to make a difference in the lives of her daughters and granddaughter.

The South African Constitution is often mentioned as one of the best constitutions in the world for the rights it guarantees and protects its citizens. In terms of our policies, we can also be proud to have legislation that is progressive and seeks to serve the interest of all those who live in South Africa to the best of the nation’s ability.

However, it is unfortunate that with all the best policies and Constitutions in the world, when policy meets people it fails to live up to its promise. The story of Monica is one of many examples that demonstrate that somewhere we are missing the point.

When we look at HIV/AIDS through a gendered lens, then we can identify three main areas that cover the concerns that women and girls have to contend with:

Gender inequality and poverty

Rights to sexual autonomy and HIV

Rights to bodily integrity and HIV

 

1. Gender inequality and poverty

‘Women’s limited access to and control over assets and resources as well as the gender division of labour in the household increases their vulnerability to HIV and at the same time makes these conditions for women and girls living with HIV worse.’

In the case of Monica – and other women in her position

• She found out about her status when her husband got sick
• She had to look after her sick husband and then look after herself
• She had to start treatment
• She had to deal with her husband’s death
• She had to deal with finding a home and a means of survival
• Having moved in with her brother, she had to negotiate living in ‘his’ space
• She had to then deal with her daughter being raped
• She had to deal with her daughter’s pregnancy from her uncle
• She had to find a new home for her family

All these point to women and girls being extremely vulnerable. When women and girls do not have the security of access and control over assets and resources, it increases insecurity and vulnerability of the person. Also, even though the woman is sick as well, she still has to take care of the husband, and in many instances neglect herself and her children.

2. Rights to sexual autonomy and HIV

‘In most societies, women and girls, as compared to men and boys, face further restrictions on their sexual autonomy and bodily integrity. Women’s and girls’ inability to make sexual and reproductive choices free from discrimination, coercion or violence, as well as their inability to access and use information and products such as condoms, contraceptives, safe and legal abortion, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), etc. Such restrictions occur: at home, where women may not be able to negotiate safe sex; in communities and public spaces, where condoms or comprehensive sexuality education may be banned or unaffordable; and in health care settings, where women and girls living with HIV may be coercively sterilised or denied contraceptive information or products.’

In the case of Monica’s daughter Nomsa – and many other girls in her position

• Nomsa’s bodily integrity was violated by a member of the family
• Monica and the daughters were so embarrassed by the pregnancy that they did not have the courage to access health facilities due to stigma and discrimination
• Because of not accessing health facilities, they were not informed about the options available to them from PEP, to safe and legal abortion, and general well-being
• Nomsa did not have control or choice over her sexual and reproductive health
• Nomsa’s physical health was compromised because of being pregnant at a young age
• Nomsa had to drop out of school – she did return to complete high school
• Nomsa’s sexual interest and pleasure as an adult will be affected
• Nomsa’s exposure to HIV
• Nomsa’s access to justice was denied as the docket was closed without reasons provided

With Nomsa’s exposure to sex and sexuality in such a violent manner, she’s been ripped of experience sex as a positive experience. It will take considerable time and counselling for her to work through her experience. The restrictions placed on her sexual autonomy and bodily integrity reinforce discriminatory and patriarchal norms against women and girls.

3. Rights to bodily integrity and HIV

Gender based violence is a violation of human rights and impacts on people’s health and well being as well as inhibits their freedom of movement, ability to access education, employment, and political participation. The threats to bodily integrity and gender based violence hamper women’s and girls’ ability to prevent HIV – just as disclosure of HIV positive status may increase their vulnerability to violence. Harmful cultural and traditional practices that control women’s and girls’ sexual autonomy and bodily integrity, such as female genital mutilation, widow cleansing, property and spousal inheritance, early and forced marriages, and polygamy and virginity testing also exacerbate women’s vulnerability to HIV infection.

Monica’s story is in many ways a story of gender based violence

The violation of Monica and her daughters’ basic rights to bodily integrity and sexual autonomy are self-evident

The impact on their mental, physical and emotional well-being will remain with them through out their lives

Lack of financial independence restricted their freedom of movement and they were forced into a situation of danger

Lack of access to information and resources meant that Monica was not able to take advantage of social and health facilities available to her

The combination of all these factors place women and girls in high risk situations, and as seen through the live of Monica, the vulnerability to HIV infection is high. Without their mother, the girls have to negotiate their way through life in a manner that no child should have to. But it is through the work of support groups and counsellors that we seek to make a meaningful difference in the lives of women and girls in South Africa.

Conclusion

• Women are not a homogenous group. This principle must inform the policies and programmes that lead to the implementation of gender equality.

• Women’s rights should be seen as human rights.

• As NGOs we need to monitor and evaluate the work the we perform in the field, so that we can reduce the vulnerability to social injustice such as poverty, violence against women and girls, and HIV/AIDS.

• We need to realise that all these are cross-sectoral actions on cross-cutting issues such the girl-child, violence against women, HIV/AIDS, and the need for collaboration among partners is important.

• We must continue to work network with organisations such as the African Feminist Forum that works with organisations across the African continent towards achieving equality for women.

• We must continue to collaborate with women’s organisations in Africa but also outside of Africa to address the social and health challenges.

• We must continue to use women’s rights approach in the work that we do.

• We must look at existing instruments like CEDAW and implement the protocols. Regionally in Africa we have the African Women’s Decade 2010 – 2020 (AU) with its protocols, or the Agenda for Accelerated Country Action for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV.

 

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]GENEVA (6 February 2013) – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday applauded the upcoming entry into force of a key Protocol to an international treaty which will, for the first time, enable individual complaints on economic, social and cultural rights, thereby helping place all human rights on an equal footing.

After crossing the required threshold of state ratifications on Tuesday, the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will enter into force on 5 May.

“The entry into force of the Optional Protocol is a major breakthrough, which will enable victims under the jurisdiction of the States parties to seek justice for violations of their economic, social and cultural rights,” Pillay said.

“The Protocol will provide an important platform to expose abuses linked to poverty, discrimination and neglect, which up until now victims have had to endure without any possible recourse at the international level. It will provide a way for individuals, who may otherwise be isolated and powerless, to make the international community aware of their situation,” the High Commissioner said.

“The entry into force of the Optional Protocol will also finally help place economic, social and cultural rights on an equal footing with all other human rights,” Pillay said. “The Protocol makes a strong and unequivocal statement about the equal value and importance of all human rights and the need for strengthened legal protection of economic, social and cultural rights in particular,” she added.

Uruguay triggered the coming into force of the Optional Protocol when, on 5 February, it became the tenth country to ratify, joining Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mongolia, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain.

The Optional Protocol was adopted four years ago, on 10 December 2008, by the UN General Assembly. It gives the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – the body which monitors the International Covenant to which the Protocol is attached – the competence to examine complaints from individuals or groups of individuals who claim a violation of rights protected under the Covenant. It also enables the Committee to conduct inquiries if it receives reliable information indicating grave or systematic violations by a State party of any of the economic, social and cultural rights covered by the Covenant.

“With the entry into force of the Optional Protocol, a jurisprudence will now be developed that will help define the scope of application of economic, social and cultural rights and outline adequate remedies for victims,” Pillay said.

The High Commissioner strongly encouraged other States among the 160 that are already party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to ratify the Optional Protocol as soon as possible. The equivalent Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights came into force 37 years ago (in March 1976), and has been ratified by 114 States.[/tp]

[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]GENÈVE (6 Février 2013) – Le Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les droits de l’homme, Navi Pillay, a salué mercredi l’entrée en vigueur prochaine d’un protocole clé d’un traité international qui, pour la première fois, permet des plaintes individuelles sur les droits économiques, sociaux et culturels , contribuant ainsi à placer tous les droits de l’homme sur un pied d’égalité.

Après avoir traversé le seuil requis de ratifications de l’Etat, mardi, le Protocole facultatif se rapportant au Pacte international relatif aux droits économiques, sociaux et culturels entrera en vigueur le 5 mai.

“L’entrée en vigueur du Protocole facultatif est une percée majeure, qui permettra aux victimes relevant de la juridiction des États parties à demander justice pour les violations de leurs droits économiques, sociaux et culturels,” a déclaré Mme Pillay.

“Le protocole fournira une plate-forme importante pour exposer les abus liés à la pauvreté, la discrimination et la négligence, que jusqu’à présent les victimes ont eu à endurer sans aucun recours possible au niveau international. Il fournira un moyen pour les individus, qui pourraient autrement être isolés et impuissants à tenir la communauté internationale au courant de leur situation “, a déclaré le Haut Commissaire.

“L’entrée en vigueur du Protocole facultatif permettre également enfin de mettre les droits économiques, sociaux et culturels sur un pied d’égalité avec tous les autres droits humains,” a déclaré Mme Pillay. “Le Protocole fait une déclaration forte et sans équivoque sur la valeur et l’importance égale de tous les droits humains et la nécessité de renforcer la protection juridique des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels en particulier,” at-elle ajouté.

L’Uruguay a considéré l’entrée en vigueur du Protocole facultative quand, puis le 5 Février, il est devenu le dixième pays à le ratifier, rejoignant l’Argentine, la Bolivie, la Bosnie-Herzégovine, l’Équateur, El Salvador, la Mongolie, le Portugal, la Slovaquie et l’Espagne.

Le Protocole facultatif a été adopté il ya quatre ans, le 10 Décembre 2008, par l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies. Il donne au Comité des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels – l’organisme qui surveille le Pacte international à laquelle le protocole est joint – la compétence d’examiner les plaintes émanant de particuliers ou groupes de particuliers qui prétendent une violation des droits protégés par le Pacte. Il permet également à la Commission de mener des enquêtes si elle reçoit des informations fiables indiquant des violations graves ou systématiques par un État partie de l’un des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels énoncés dans le Pacte.

“Avec l’entrée en vigueur du Protocole facultatif, une jurisprudence va maintenant être développé qui aidera à définir le champ d’application des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels et de définir des recours adéquats pour les victimes,” a déclaré Mme Pillay.

Le Haut Commissaire a fortement encouragé les autres États parmi les 160 qui sont déjà parties au Pacte international relatif aux droits économiques, sociaux et culturels à ratifier le Protocole facultatif dès que possible. Le protocole équivalent au Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques est entré en vigueur il y a 37 ans (en Mars 1976), et a été ratifiée par 114 États.[/tp]

In June 2013, a 3 member team from AWDF – Rose Buabeng, Anglophone Programme Officer; Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, Communications Specialist, Solange Kuadjo, Programme Assistant – visited 19 grantee partners, and 3 potential grantee partners in 7 Nigerian States (Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Ilorin, Nasawara, Ile Ife, Kwara). Chika Oduah, a multi-media journalist who took many of the lovely images you will see below, accompanied the AWDF team on this monitoring visit.
One of the advantages of being on monitoring visits is that you get to see directly the impact of the work being done by grantee partners. An unexpected and always pleasant surprise is the positive feedback you get directly when you are doing a good job.

Below are some of the comments our grantee partners said about the work of the AWDF:

“I am happy to see women trying to touch the lives of other women. I am so glad and encourage you to continue. I know what touching lives mean and the effort and resources that goes into it.”
Ms Ndudi Bowei, Executive Director, The International Center for Environmental Health & Development

“AWDF is supporting a lot of women on the African continent, I am happy for AWDF and praying that they will get more money to continue funding women’s organizations.”
Ms Lucy Attah, Executive Director, Women and Children of Hope Foundation

“I thank God for the people who supported AWDF. It is a wonderful women’s organisation. No matter the quality of one’s application and the standard of the organisation, they still have patience for everybody. Please keep it up. I know this project will take FARDEM to a higher level”

Ms. Rose Nwaogwugwu, Executive Director, The Family Resources Development Motivators

“With AWDF even if you don’t ask, they know you are there so we don’t need to let them down; we thank them for all the support through the years. They are really a women-focused organization and are always there for women”
Ms Funmi Doherty, Executive Director, Society for Women and AIDS Africa Nigeria

“The partnership between GADA and AWDF has boosted the organization’s morale. We have always resorted to AWDF in times of need and they don’t disappoint. The partnership has also helped GADA leverage more funding and other opportunities. I wish GADA and AWDF partnership never ends”
Ms Ada Agina-Ude, Executive Director, Gender and Development Association – GADA).

“AWDF has always supported Ajegunle’s women in politics and leadership project. The women here who are now active in politics owe AWDF and those who support them a great gratitude. They are now very vocal and demanding their rights from political party leaders and others in various leadership positions. The International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation has also been very useful to me. Thanks AWDF”
Ms Funmi Adeniyi, Senior Programme Manager, Ajegunle Community Project

By Rose Buabeng with Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

In this interview, Happy Gloria, Executive Director of ‘Busia Community Based Services’ (BUCOSS) in Kenya speaks to Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah of the AWDF on some of the detrimental cultural practices contributing to the spread of HIV and AIDS in Busia, Kenya. Here she shares details of the innovative ways in which BUCOSS has been working to change these cultural practices. This interview was conducted on the sidelines of AWDF’s recent strategic meeting on economic empowerment and livelihoods in Cape Town, South Africa.

Click link below to listen to this audio interview:

Happy Gloria of Busia Community Based Service

Site visits are one of the numerous ways in which the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) keeps in touch with its diverse constituencies. These visits enable AWDF to interact directly with grantee partners, learn about issues of concern to women’s rights organisations, identify the developmental needs of grantee partners, assess the impact of grants provided, and offer technical assistance to the women’s rights organisations funded.

 

A bird’s eye view of the 2013 Nigeria site visit

 

In June 2013, a 3-member team from AWDF visited 19 grantee partners (and 3 potential grantee partners) who had received financial support between 2011 and 2013. The organisations visited worked in the following thematic areas:

 

Number of organisations	Thematic area of work
7	HIV and AIDS
6	Women’s Leadership, Governance and Political processes
2	Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods
4	Health and Reproductive Rights

 

Overall, AWDF’s grantee partners in Nigeria are creating significant change with relatively small amounts of money. Some of the change created has led to the creation of new policies at the level of state government. Family Resources Development Motivation (FARDEM) for example, successful lobbied for a gender equality law resulting in Imo State Community Administration Law No.1 of 2012.

 

The main challenges grantees spoke of were linked to a lack of resources, challenges with fundraising in an economic downturn, and the inability of non-governmental organisations to retain well trained staff. Many spoke of the need for consistent institutional support, something that many funders outside of AWDF are often reluctant to consider. Grantees also spoke of the difference AWDF’s resource mobilisation capacity building support had made to those organisations that had benefitted. Organisational outcomes included completed fundraising strategies, diversification of funding sources and more innovative and robust fundraising programmes.

Highlights of the visit included:

Towards Gender Parity in Politics and Governance

 

The women politicians being supported by Ajengunle Community Project (ACP), an AWDF grantee partner in Lagos sing:

ACP song

No longer men in front

And women at the back

Together we shall walk

Side by side

Side by side

 

‘2015’ came up several times during AWDF’s monitoring visit. That is the year when Nigeria next goes to the ballot box, and there is already considerable anxiety around the forthcoming elections. There are concerns around potential political and physical insecurity in the context of increased conflict in parts of the country, as well as numerous challenges affecting women’s political participation in the next general elections. The Ajengunle Community Project (ACP) has already started working with women politicians in the Lagos and Delta States with the goal of increasing the number of women politicians in public office. Towards this goal, ACP has trained 20 advocates in their target states who are in turn reaching out to women involved in politics at various levels in the states. A key success has been changing the mind-set of women who previously supported partisan parties by mobilising other community women as voters, cooks and dancers for the benefit of male politicians.

 

Grace Bayo, participated in ACP’s training programme and stated:

 

I used to be quiet until I joined ACP. Politicians had reduced women to singing and dancing. I had become disappointed in politics until I came to ACP. I have learnt to demand my rights. Women are not elected into office or given [government] contracts. Now we negotiate with the men.

 

Women trained by ACP now want to play active roles within their parties, and have learnt the art of negotiating with the key figures within their chosen political parties to gain more substantive political office. Women like Alhaja Babs-Olurun Kemi Ndurat, a local government Chairperson of the ruling PDP, and a beneficiary of ACP’s training programme, has taken on the responsibility of mentoring younger women politicians.

Living Positively

 

Several of the projects visited (for example ‘Women and Children of Hope Foundation’, ‘Positive Action for Access Treatment’ and ‘Heal the land Initiative’) have been working for many years with some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people living with HIV/AIDS. They spoke to the AWDF team about some of their key learning points over the years, including the importance of ensuring that women living positively are “economically empowered”. This translates to having sustainable and adequate incomes, and being able to afford nutritious foods and supplements, which are essential for those on anti-retroviral medication. Grantee partners also reported that stigma is still very much an issue of concern for women living positively. Click here to listen to a member of a support group run by Women and Children of Hope Foundation in Lagos share her experience of dealing with stigma.

A third key concern related to ensuring the sustainability of their organisations and services. An important part of AWDF’s support to grantee partners includes organisational strengthening in multiple ways. Organisations like Heal the Land, who had benefited from initiatives such as AWDF’s resource mobilisation training (run in conjunction with Resource Alliance UK), reported that training had provided greater knowledge in fundraising, with some organisations reporting a more diversified approach to fundraising including elements such as reaching out to the corporate sector, implementing work place giving schemes and even starting small enterprises.

Watch a video of Jacinta Ine, Finance Manager of Heal the Land Initiative of Nigeria share her experiences of attending a resource mobilisation workshop organised by AWDF.

 

Reducing Maternal Mortality

 

The International Centre for Environmental Health and Development (ICEHD) has been working with the Ogun State Government towards reducing maternal mortality rates. Towards that goal, ICEDH has focused its efforts on training traditional birth attendants (TBAs) whose services are in high demand from women in the community because TBAs are more affordable than some other maternal health services. The traditional birth attendants AWDF spoke to said they often accepted whatever sums of money women were able to pay, and even provided services when clients had no money. However, they highlighted how a lack of money still affected women’s health choices as some women are reluctant to attend clinics because they have to pay for consultations; treatments, and medication – which sometimes include paying for services that are supposed to be offered for free.

 

ICEDH has worked with local hospitals to train TBAs on a broad range of topics including menstrual cycles, diagnosis and management of pregnancy, and dangerous signs and symptoms in pregnancy. TBAs are then provided with a certificate of training and a birth attendant kit filled with sanitary equipment. More importantly, the hospitals involved have built and continue to maintain relationships with the TBAs.

 

Grace Olubunmi Popoola, a traditional birth attendant shared,“I used to run away from the police, but now that I am certified, I am free to work. I also practice family planning. Before I would use Dettol, now I use Jik, cotton wool and forceps. I also use a surgical blade instead of an ordinary blade.”

Who would have thought that working with rubbish could become so exciting? 9 years ago, 5 Ethiopian women, Kiros Wolde-Giorghis, Embafrash Berehie, Legawork Ayle, Tsehay Haile and Mulatua Haileselassie decided that Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia needed cleaning up, and that they would help do that whilst giving women a means of making a living. The plan was simple: pay unemployed women to collect the plastic waste that littered the city of Addis, and ensure that this waste gets recycled. And that’s how SOS Addis was born. From its genesis, the cooperative has prioritized working with the most marginalised women in Addis Ababa including elderly women, and women living with HIV/AIDS. Most of the members of the cooperatives have low education levels, and as the organization has grown, they have hired young women to manage their administration.

 

The business of collecting rubbish is no easy task. A hefty 132,000 kilograms of plastic waste has been collected by members of SOS Addis and delivered to a recycling plant. As we all know, one person’s rubbish has the potential to become something a lot more precious, and to capitalize on this potential SOS Addis trained 34 of its members to re-use plastic waste bags.

 

A priority for the group was to stop people from using the plastic waste bags that have become so commonplace. Towards this goal, the group launched a campaign to ban the importation of these bags. Extensive media outreach was embarked on; an annual walk through the principal streets of Addis Ababa commenced; and a tree-planting programme was instituted to take place every 4 years. Numerous environmental awareness workshops and anti plastic pollution campaigns supported this effort to ban the importation of plastic bags. The result? The group has been successful. In Ethiopia today, government Proclamation Number 513 bans the importation and manufacturing of plastic waste bags. Elenatane Getachew Fikre, the Executive Director of SOS Addis, is adamant that this change in national policy is due to the advocacy efforts of her group.

It is clear that SOS Addis has made a significant difference to sanitation in the city of Addis Ababa, whilst impacting government policy at a national level. What is even more impressive is that the Ethiopian government has rolled out the model of plastic waste collection implemented by SOS Addis Ethiopia, and there are now 90 cooperatives throughout the nation’s capital working on plastic waste collection.

These are the kind of groups that the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) specializes in funding. To date, SOS Addis has received US$45,000 in grants from AWDF. This funding has been essential in supporting the organization in its efforts to create a cleaner environment in Addis Ababa, creating decent jobs for some of the most marginalized women and establishing a model that now benefits all of Ethiopia through Proclamation Number 513.

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