Author: African Women's Development Fund

On Saturday 8^th October, Professor Wangari Maathai was laid to rest in Kenya. There will be an official memorial service for her on 14^th October, giving her country, her many friends and admirers and the rest of the world an opportunity for an official farewell.

The board and staff of AWDF would like to take this occasion to join the myriad of voices across the world that have paid tribute to Wangari in the two weeks since she passed away. The loss of Wangari Maathai means that African women have lost an iconic role model; that Africa has lost a caring and visionary leader; that the world has lost a global citizen of honour and integrity; and that the earth has lost an effective, courageous and unrelenting advocate.

Wangari Maathai’s passion for the environment inspired the planting of billions of trees across the globe. Yet her passion for social justice went beyond her beloved trees and beyond her well known and documented environmental activism. Her vision of social justice encompassed both human and ecological rights. She believed passionately in protecting our environment but her Greenbelt Movement was as much about asserting and advancing women’s rights as it was about reforesting the earth and rebalancing the relationship between humanity and mother earth.

Her fierce intelligence was complemented by a generous and easy warmth that was the foundation of her ability to relate so strongly to the diverse range of people she interacted with: families living in absolute poverty in urban slums or princes surrounded by extraordinary wealth; indigenous communities protecting their knowledge and traditions in the hearts of untouched environments or young people struggling to make sense of their lives in post conflict wastelands; African women changing the faces and fates of their villages or African women changing the destiny of their nations and our continent.

Wangari believed strongly that peace was essential for the true regeneration of the African continent and the preservation of the earth more generally. As the first African woman Nobel Peace Prize winner, she would have been delighted at the news that Africa now has its second and third female Nobel laureates in President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee – and particularly the citation regarding their efforts to promote peace building. The pride and inspiration to African women generated by the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners echoes that first provided by Wangari Maathai in 2004.

Wangari, the board and staff of AWDF hail your life and your legacy. Our heartfelt condolences go to your family, to the Kenyan nation and to African women everywhere. We pledge ourselves to join with the millions of people in Africa and across the world who will work to ensure your legacy is honoured. You will not be forgotten.

Rest in Peace.

Please click NETRIGHT congratulates CPP to read statement

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]07 October 2011

Media Release by the Women Peace and Security Network-Africa (WIPSEN-Africa)

The Women Peace and Security Network-Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) is today delighted to congratulate its Executive Director, Ms Leymah Gbowee (a warrior who fights with no weapon), for winning the 2011 Nobel Prize for Peace along with Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson–Sirleaf and Yemen’s Tawakul Karman.

Leymah Gbowee mobilized and organized a group of Christian and Muslim women across Liberia that pressured warring factions in Liberia to end the civil war that ravaged the country for over a decade. She fearlessly led women from across the country to defy war-lords and push men to sign the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2003. The group is most remembered for its long peace protests on a football field and government buildings in Monrovia. Dressed in their white- T-shirts they would pray and sing songs of hope in the hot sun and the heavy rain. Armed with nothing but their sisterhood these women pressured the then President, Charles Taylor to agree to hold peace talks with other warring factions to the Liberian conflict.

After the war, Ms Gbowee organised women across religious and ethnic divide to help Ellen President Johnson-Sirleaf’s successful campaign for the presidency in 2005.LeymahGbowee continues to play instrumental role in advancing women’s right in Africa, particularly in war affected West African countries through WIPSEN-Africa, which she co-founded in 2006.

The award is a testament to the bravery and determination of women in Africa to bring peace and democracy on the continent. Until now, only 12 out of 97 Laureates have been women.

WIPSEN-Africa would like to thank the Norwegian Nobel Committee for recognizing women’s role in promoting peace and security in Africa and around the world.

The staff of WIPSEN-Africa and its Board is proud to be associated with one of Africa’s women’s rights icon. To the Laureate, we say “Leymah, today, your determination and persistence to end conflict in Liberia has been recognized by the international community. We congratulate you on winning one of the most prestigious awards. You have done African women proud again!”[/tp]

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]07 Octobre 2011

Communiqué de presse de la paix et de la sécurité des femmes Network-Africa (WIPSEN-Afrique)

Women Peace and Security Network-Africaa (WIPSEN-Afrique) est aujourd’hui heureux de féliciter son directeur exécutif, Mme Leymah Gbowee (un guerrier qui se bat avec aucune arme), pour avoir remporté le prix Nobel de la paix 2011 avec la présidente Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf du Libéria et Tawakul Karman du Yémen.

Leymah Gbowee a mobilisé et organisé un groupe de femmes chrétiennes et musulmanes à travers le Libéria qui ont fait pression sur les factions belligérantes au Liberia pour mettre fin à la guerre civile qui a ravagé le pays pendant plus d’une décennie. Elle a mené sans crainte des femmes de partout dans le pays pour défier les seigneurs de la guerre et pour pousser les hommes à signer l’Accord de paix global d’Accra en 2003. Le groupe est surtout connu pour ses longues protestations de paix sur un terrain de football et des bâtiments gouvernementaux à Monrovia. Vêtus de leurs T-shirts blancs ils prient et chantent des chansons d’espoir dans la chaleur du soleil ou sous la pluie. Armés de rien mais leur fraternité ces femmes ont fait pressions sur le président d’alors, Charles Taylor et se mettre d’accord pour tenir des pourparlers de paix avec les autres factions belligérantes du conflit libérien.

Après la guerre, Mme Gbowee a organisé les femmes à travers une fracture religieuse et ethnique pour aider à la campagne réussie de la PrésidenteEllen Johnson-Sirleaf à la présidence en 2005.Leymah Gbowee continue à jouer un rôle majeur dans la promotion du droit des femmes en Afrique, en particulier en temps de guerre dans les pays ouest-africains à travers WIPSEN -Afrique, qu’elle a co-fondé en 2006.

Le prix est un témoignage de la bravoure et la détermination des femmes en Afrique pour apporter la paix et la démocratie sur le continent. Jusqu’à présent, seulement 12 lauréats sur 97 ont été des femmes.

WIPSEN-Afrique tient à remercier le Comité Nobel norvégien pour reconnaître le rôle des femmes dans la promotion de la paix et de la sécurité en Afrique et dans le monde.

Le personnel de WIPSEN-Afrique et son Conseil sont fiers d’être associés à une icône du droit des femmes de l’Afrique. Pour la lauréate, nous disons “Leymah, aujourd’hui, votre détermination et votre persévérance à mettre fin au conflit au Libéria a été reconnue par la communauté internationale. Nous vous félicitons d’avoir gagné l’un des prix les plus prestigieux. Vous avez rendu les femmes africaines fières à nouveau! “[/tp]

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr]PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

The African Women Leaders Network: Bringing Women’s Realities to Policy Decisions

The African Women Leaders Network for Reproductive Health and Family Planning (AWLN) will hold a series of high-level policy meetings with Ghanaian parliamentarians and stakeholders between the 10^th-14^th of October 2011. This will include meetings with Prof. Mike Ocquaye, the 1^st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Members of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament, and the Finance and Health Committees.

On 13th October, AWLN will hold a public dialogue with policy makers and other key stakeholders from 9am-5pm at the MÖvenpick Hotel, Accra. The policy dialogue will focus on the role of family planning as a developmental tool to achieve reductions in maternal/child mortality and emphasize the value of Government investments in family planning commodities and services.

The African Women Leaders Network for Reproductive Health and Family Planning (AWLN) is a network of 35 African women leaders from government, civil society, and the arts, who have committed to advocate for greater support for family planning and reproductive health by governments, donors and international agencies. Formed by the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation—Africa Regional Office (IPPF-ARO), the AWLN seeks to build upon the collective power of African women’s voices to ensure quality reproductive health and family planning services and supplies throughout Africa. The Network is supported by the Advance Family Planning initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute on Population and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Press Enquires:

Abigail Ony Nwaohuocha (AWLN Communications Consultant)

Email: Abigail.ony@africlub.net/awdf

Tel: 024 8440 425

Web: http://www.africawln.org[/tp]

[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE

Pour diffusion immédiate

Les dirigeants du Réseau des femmes africaines: Apporter les réalités des femmes aux décisions politiques

Le Réseau des femmes dirigeantes africaines pour la santé reproductive et la planification familiale (AWLN) tiendra une série de réunions politiques de haut niveau avec des parlementaires et des intervenants ghanéens entre le 10 et le 14 Octobre 2011. Cela comprendra des rencontres avec le professeur Mike Ocquaye, le 1er vice-président du Parlement, les membres du Caucus des femmes au Parlement, et les commissions des finances et de la santé.

Le 13 Octobre, AWLN tiendra un dialogue public avec les décideurs politiques et d’autres parties prenantes de 9 heures-17 heures à l’Hôtel Mövenpick, Accra. Le dialogue politique se concentrera sur le rôle de la planification familiale comme un outil de développement pour réaliser des réductions de la mortalité maternelle / infantile et souligner la valeur des investissements du gouvernement dans les matières premières et les services de planification familiale.

Le Réseau des femmes dirigeantes africaines pour la santé reproductive et la planification familiale (AWLN) est un réseau de 35 femmes africaines chefs de gouvernement, de la société civile, et des arts, qui se sont engagées à plaider pour un plus grand soutien pour la planification familiale et la santé reproductive par les gouvernements, les donateurs et les organismes internationaux. Formé par le Fonds Africain de Développement de la Femme (AWDF) et le Bureau régional de Planned Parenthood Federation-Africa International (IPPF-ARO), l’AWLN vise à tirer parti de la puissance collective de la voix des femmes africaines pour assurer des services et des produits de qualité pour le santé de la reproduction et de planification familiale dans toute l’Afrique. Le réseau est soutenu par l’initiative Advance Planning Familial de l’Institut Bill et Melinda Gates sur la population et la santé reproductive, et la Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Questions presse:

Abigail Ony Nwaohuocha (AWLN Communications Consultant)

Email: Abigail.ony@africlub.net/awdf

Tel: 024 8440 425

Web: http://www.africawln.org[/tp]

“I’m really excited that Leymah Gbowee alongside President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakkul Karman have been jointly awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Award. There seems no better time to publish the interview I held with her in 2008 on the sidelines of the 2nd African Feminist Forum” Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, Communications Officer, AWDF

NS: Who is Leymah Gbowee?

LG: How do I describe who Leymah is? Usually I will start with my children because that is one identity I really love (I have 4 biological and 1 adopted child) but I think I am a person who from a really young age has been looking for answers to life and this was reinforced during the early years of the Liberian war. I am a helper and a woman who loves herself. I am an activist at every level. Everything that touches a woman’s life, a girl-child’s life and a child’s life touches my being. I have a lot of compassion and a lot of energy. I find it difficult to relax. I was brought up in a home and was the fourth child of five girls. I had a mother who was an only child and a father who is sympathetic to feminism. It was my father who resisted us being subjected to female genital mutilation. I come from a family of activists. My grandmother got divorced thrice and taught us that if a husband brought in the charcoal or rice you should be able to bring the salt. I will also describe myself as a politician; I have a head for politics.

NS: I only became aware of your work through ‘Pray the devil back to Hell’…

LG: (wry smile) that’s funny because that is not what I focus most on. What I pride myself on the most is starting WIPSEN – Liberia from scratch and bringing it to international standards and through that making progress in the lives of women and children. While I celebrate ‘Pray the devil back to Hell’ I celebrate WIPSEN, which was founded by Thelma Ekiyor and myself.

NS: What is WIPSEN about?

LG: The co-founder of WIPSEN, Thelma was also the founder of a previous organization WIPNET, which focused on grassroots activism and what we realized, was missing was the links between policy and grassroots activism. Some of these grassroots women who were very good mediators were not being called up to serve as mediators at an international level. Good initiatives like resolution 1325 were also not filtering down to the grassroots. WIPSEN however focuses on peace and security governance, which allows us to fill in those gaps so at the moment for example we are working with the army in Liberia to ensure that women’s issues are reflected in policy.

NS: Where do you get your strength from?

LG: I get my strength from my faith in God. Pain has a way of moving people to 2 levels. When you are in pain you want revenge or you want the pain to go away. From the age of 17 till I turned 31 all I saw was different versions of pain. The situation went from bad to worse to ridiculous. It’s almost like you are sinking and you can see no end. I experienced this personally and this was also the experience of other women in Liberia. This is how I started working to build peace in Liberia and I was grateful when the women said ‘we trust you, guide this process”. Daytime was the time for action and night-time was when I would do my strategic thinking and planning. During the war it was the pain that gave me the most energy. There is a scene in ‘Pray the devil back to Hell’ when we barricaded the men in the venue where the peace talks were being held. That was the time when I was most angry; I wanted to grab an AK47. I started stripping like I had threatened to do (The documentary ‘Pray the devil back to Hell’ explains that it is a taboo for African men to see the naked bodies of their Mothers so stripping in front of men is an act of defiance)

NS: How did you meet Abigail Disney? (Abigail Disney is producer of ‘Pray the devil back to Hell’)

LG: That was a weird one. I had gone to the US to attend university in Virginia; no one knew I was there. I got invited to speak at the 5^th anniversary of 1325 and Swanee Hunt told me that ‘Someone is looking for you – Abby of Disney world’. So Abby and I had a meeting and she asked me about the work I had done and told me that she wanted to explore this as a movie. We went back to Liberia and set up a meeting with key people and Abigail’s team interviewed lots of people, took tons of footage and images of film. When I saw the final piece I thought they had done a good piece.

NS: What kinds of support do women working in peace building need?

LG: One of the things I firmly believe in is giving the support that is needed. Never underestimate work anyone has done. Validate and show confidence in what women do. When we started it was a lonely road. We started our activism with $10 from a woman’s handbag. For two months we were fundraising. We had no support from NGOs and initially had a church help us with fundraising. When we went to Accra for the peace talks we thought we would be there for three weeks but we ended up being there for twice that time. AWDF gave us support, which enabled us to stay, and women from Northern Ghana gave us support. They sent us 5 women who sat down and cried with us. When the press asked the women why they were there, they said, ‘When our time comes, the Liberian women will help us’. That’s the kind of support we need. Technical, financial and moral support – it makes you feel good. At the same time we also heard that Nigerian women had presented a statement on our behalf. That’s what we need to do. When we hear something has happened women all over Africa need to start mobilising.

NS: How have you found the AFF so far?[1]

LG: Spaces like AFF is where I come to rejuvenate. Over the past year I have been mellow and quiet. Yesterday during the trial (As part of the AFF a ‘Feminists on Trial’ session was held which explored through a mock trial critical issues that feminists need to address) I was jumping about and people said, ‘This is the old Leymah’. You are able to rejuvenate when you are with women who share the same challenges…

By the African Women’s Development Fund

The Executive Board and Staff of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) extend their heartfelt congratulations to Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia; Leymah Gbowee, Executive Director of WIPSEN/Member of the African Women Leaders Network for Reproductive Health and Family Planning (AWLN), and Tawakkul Karman, Human Rights activist, for being joint awardees of the Nobel Peace Prize 2011 “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”.

This award is a significant recognition of the efforts that all 3 women have made to create sustainable peace in their respective communities. As Africa’s first democratically elected woman Head of State, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a powerful symbol for women’s leadership on the African continent and beyond.Leymah Gbowee, through her tireless mobilisation of community women across religious and ethnic lines, first in Liberia and then across West Africa, signifies the power and impact of building movements for women’s rights, peace and democracy.

Theo Sowa, Interim CEO of AWDF states, “I am delighted that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman have been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2011. This is especially important for all of us that work on women’s human rights and peace building. This is a great boost to women’s rights activists everywhere.”

ENDS

Press Enquiries

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah (AWDF Programme Officer for Communications)

Tel: +233 302 521 257 (Ghana)

Email: nana@africlub.net/awdf

Website: www.africlub.net/awdf

Please click Chevening Scholarships for details

In 2008, the Centre for Widows and Children Assistance (CWCA) in Tanzania received a grant of US$10, 000 from AWDF. This grant enabled the group to do training on women’s land rights for local government leaders, widows and youth in Kisarawe district

Discrimination against women through customary law prevails in Tanzania, particularly in the regions where land is fertile, productive, and a scarce commodity. Since land in the areas of Kilimanjaro, Kagera, Mara, Dodoma, and Iringa is a highly valued resource (because of cash crop production) it remains under male control and is distributed through patrilineal inheritance practices.

In general, customary law prohibits women’s land ownership or entitlement, but allows them to work on the land, provided they give all profits to their husbands. CWCA Executive Director Utti A. Mwang’amba noted that when the one-year training programme funded by AWDF started, there were only four women representatives in the 7 village land councils in the pilot villages. That situation has now changed and all the 7 village land councils have a minimum of 3 women representatives as required by the law. In areas like Kibuta, women now chair these councils. Currently, women chair three out of seven village land councils.

Presently, men are unable to sell a plot of land without the consent of their wives. A 70-year-old woman won a land dispute case at the high court even though she lacked legal representation. CWCA provided coaching to her on how to present her case in the court. The copy of the court ruling was provided as evidence and a copy was given to the AWDF monitoring and evaluation team. [1]

AWDF’s grant to CWCA enabled the organization to attract more donors including the KIOS Foundation, which meant that the legal education program could be extended to cover ten wards in the country. Additionally, the Foundation for Civil Society in Tanzania provided funding to develop a manual of Statues/Acts in the local language to be used by the village land councilss to enable them understand the law and make good judgments.

CWCA also benefited from a consultancy contract from Concerned Worldwide to train ward tribunals in three districts. In all 721 were trained in women’s land rights. This also led to some women legalizing their marriages as it has an impact on the sharing and owning of property. Documents available also indicate that most women are now able to speak publicly and participate actively in their communities.

Through AWDF’s support the organization has also trained 60 local government leaders, women, youth, representatives of disability and HIV&AIDS groups from Kisarawe district. The training focused on issues of application of customary rights of orphans and land dispute machinery (composition of courts dealing with land issues). The training sought to enlighten the trainees on the procedures for hearing of cases, making judgments and record keeping.

By: Ewurama Nyarkoh

Communications Intern

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Stephanie Glover 612.424.3634, usawdf@gmail.com

Jackie Copeland-Carson, Ph.D. Named to Head

African Women’s Development Fund USA

The African Women’s Development Fund USA (AWDF USA) has selected Dr. Jackie Copeland-Carson as its first USA Executive Director. Her appointment is effective September 15, 2011. Presently she is the president of Copeland Carson & Associates, a global philanthropy consulting firm providing services in the US, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Dr. Copeland-Carson is founder and chair of the Pan-African Women’s Philanthropy Network, a diverse and growing coalition of Pan-African women leaders and their allies devoted to African and African diaspora development. PAWPNet, an AWDF USA partner, is the convener of the innovative Pan-African Women’s Action Summit, a bi-annual leadership conference recently held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from August 10^th-14^th, 2011.

An independent public charity and start-up foundation, AWDF USA was created as the US sister organization of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) based in Ghana. It shares AWDF’s mission to empower women to lead African development. AWDF, created by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, Dr. Hilda Tadria and Joanna Foster more than 10 years ago, is the first foundation created by Africans to support women-led nonprofit organizations throughout the continent. A recipient of many international awards, AWDF has made over $US17 million in grants to support more than 800 nonprofit organizations in 42 African countries.

A recent study by the World Bank and African Bank reports that African migrants worldwide gave more than $40 billion to their home countries to support extended family members and community projects in 2010. AWDF USA will mobilize support for African development from the US African diaspora and others committed to African development.

According to Her Excellency Adeleye-Fayemi, who is also AWDF’s president and First Lady of Ekiti State, Nigeria, “AWDF recognizes that there is a worldwide community of Africans living in the diaspora and others who want to support African development—especially through women’s leadership. AWDF USA will be an accessible means for the US-based African diaspora and all Americans to advance women’s leadership for development.” Reflecting the priorities of African women, AWDF USA will support women’s rights, reproductive health, economic security, governance and peace, as well as arts and culture.

Dr. Abena P.A. Busia, chair of the AWDF USA search committee and its board secretary, notes that “After a search and review of almost 100 candidates, we could not find anyone more knowledgeable of both philanthropy in the African diaspora and on African continent to lead AWDF USA. Dr. Copeland-Carson has the expertise and the hands-on technical skills to ensure AWDF USA’s success.”

For Dr. Jackie Copeland-Carson, “I have long admired AWDF’s pioneering work on African women’s issues. It is at the forefront of an African philanthropic renaissance, blending the best of traditional and global giving to create an entirely new development model that puts women at the center. I am honored to be the first executive director of AWDF USA and look forward to raising public awareness and support in the US for African women’s development.”

A respected African diaspora philanthropy scholar and advocate, Dr. Copeland-Carson, trained as an anthropologist and urban planner, has almost 30 years of experience in the foundation field. She has been an executive, evaluator, trainer or researcher with numerous philanthropies, including global or African-focused private foundations such as the Ford Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Bertelsmann Foundation and TY Danjuma Foundation among others. She has worked with some of the US’s largest community foundations, including the Philadelphia and Hartford foundations. Also, she has been a consultant on evaluation and strategic planning with philanthropy associations, including, for example, the Women’s Funding Network and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees. As founding managing director for philanthropic services at US Bank’s Private Client Group, she had sales, regulatory and grantmaking responsibility for foundations clients throughout the US.

International human rights activist, Naomi Tutu, notes that “Jackie is the right leader at the right time for AWDF USA. She brings the vision, passion and know how needed to increase support for our Motherland throughout the US.”

Dr. Copeland-Carson’s writings are influencing trends in multiple fields. For example, “Pan-Africanizing Philanthropy” (Palgrave, 2012); “Kenyan Diaspora Philanthropy” (TPI/Harvard University, 2007); “Promoting Diversity in Contemporary Black Philanthropy” (Indiana University, 2004); Creating Africa in America (University of Pennsylvania, 2004) examine various issues in the African diaspora, community development and women’s leadership.

A recipient of the Bush Foundation’s prestigious Leadership Fellowship recognizing her contributions to community leadership, she has been on the boards of more than 20 nonprofit organizations, including the Association of Black Foundation Executives.

Dr. Copeland-Carson holds two masters degrees, one in urban planning and the other in cultural anthropology, with a Ph.D. in anthropology (African/African diaspora and South Asian concentration) all from the University of Pennsylvania. Her undergraduate degrees are from Georgetown University in literature with a certificate in African studies from its School for Foreign Service with studies at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria.

For information about AWDF USA, contact Stephanie Glover, AWDF USA Publicist, at 612.424.3634 or usawdf@gmail.com

Philanthropy in Africa has become an area of increasing interest in the past 10 or more years. A key focus for interrogation is the manifestation of philanthropy in the African context – its areas of strength and weakness. Another is how to build on the traditions of philanthropy in Africa to attain stronger institutional processes that scale up localized forms of giving and ground these in principles of social justice, equality, peace and sustainable development. Africans are challenging the notion that Africa is purely a ‘donor recipient’ continent and instead are pointing to the rich traditions of giving and philanthropic practice in Africa – which in many instances have been the mainstay of entire communities.

Whilst it is known that philanthropy is an age-old practice in Africa, there is little recognition of the contributions it has made in developing and sustaining communities. In Africa today, much of the giving takes place in familial and informal community networks responding often to immediate/ welfare concerns. Burial societies, individual support to the payment of school fees and, building of community facilities are examples of philanthropy that can be found in many variations on the continent. Religious organizing has also formed a critical avenue for much of the more formal and institutionalised mechanisms for philanthropy, with programmes driven by local actors providing a range of services including education, health services and feeding programmes.

More recently, a number of African philanthropic actors and organisations seeking to address social, economic and political inequalities and disparities have emerged[1]. In addition there has been an increase in the number of high net worth individuals in Africa establishing their own, more formalised philanthropic initiatives and organizations. At the same time, the private and corporate sectors in Africa are increasingly developing corporate responsibility programmes. These developments have raised the visibility of philanthropy in Africa, highlighting its critical role in our societies and communities. Initiatives such as the African Grantmakers Network- a network developed by African grant makers to promote and strengthen philanthropy in Africa- are testament to the shifts in thinking and organisation on the continent. Increasingly Africans on the continent and elsewhere are seeking to make a difference as collaborative and organised donors to the kinds of change they wish to see.

This is both evident and urgent within the feminist movement. The role of women within the growing field of philanthropy in Africa- their contributions, successes and challenges – remain largely undocumented and unrecognised. Yet the establishment of organizations such as the African Women’s Development Fund and Urgent Action Fund –Africa amongst others, has concretised the central nature of African women’s participation and influence in philanthropy, especially social justice philanthropy.

Within the feminist movement, there is a growing body of thought on the need for us as women to fund our own movements. This partly reflects an increasing unease with external donor practice in support of short term, project based approaches- which do initiate some change, but which are in the long term difficult to sustain, since often they can only address symptoms, and not root causes. Mounting pressure to demonstrate immediate results or face the risk of losing funding has driven many to develop projects that are all SMART but have little in the way of substance and relevance. Many in the feminist movement point to the need for a different type of organizing. Organising that builds strong social movements of women and institutions who are able to define their own agenda and develop appropriate responses that encompass the breadth and depth of women’s realities on the continent, and that holds the state and other duty bearers accountable for their commitments to women’s rights. This approach suggests a shift from regarding our constituencies as beneficiaries to working with them as active and autonomous citizens. This requires also long term investments, risk taking, being bold and having an understanding that occasionally being unclear is as good as it gets!

In as much as there is a hunger for a different approach to funding, there is also recognition within the feminist movement that it is women in Africa and elsewhere who will have to pioneer it. Globally, women’s funds have emerged as critical players and investors in feminist movements worldwide. Increasingly feminist organising is interrogating the disjuncture between their movements and their sources of funding and are responding with internally driven processes for generating income. Many organisations are evolving wide ranging strategies including schemes such as workplace giving, development of social enterprises, endowment building, and individual or collective regular donations to feminist organisations, campaigns or initiatives. In Africa women have begun to recognize themselves and one another as an untapped resource base to support the movement on the continent. They are seeking ways in which to engage the high net worth and middle class African women who have thus far been rendered largely invisible in the global discourse on finance and resourcing for gender equality.

This is not to let traditional donors off the hook. As 50% of the global population and as contributors to the wealth created on a global scale, women have a right to an equitable share of development resources. This needs to be acknowledged and promoted as a priority on women’s rights, development and philanthropic agendas. However, there should also be recognition that women are exercising a new kind of agency – one that gives rise to a new source of power within, to truly own their movements, agendas and issues. This is an exciting time for the feminist movement in Africa. Our wealth has been and continues to be our passion, commitment, solidarity, and contestation. This provides new opportunities for learning and growth, creativity, knowledge and increasingly, our money and economic security. We are challenging the dominant development narrative that depicts us as passive recipients of external aid to one in which we are the active agents of the change we envision. We are putting our money where our hearts are……….

Sarah Mukasa

Director of Programmes, AWDF

Sarah Mukasa is Director of Programmes at the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF). Her interest in philanthropy has been informed by over two decades of work with African women’s rights organizations in Africa and the Diaspora.