In short 12-minute inserts, Siyayinqoba, a television documentary series, helps young women claim their spaces by telling their own stories to other young women. Using popular media such as television and social media outreach, the programme makes substantial gains in the fight to give South Africa’s youth enough information to make informed decisions about their health rights. South Africa has one of the highest HIV rates in the world and the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province has the highest concentration of HIV in the country. It continues to record consistently high prevalence of the HIV in the age cohort of 15-49 years. Rising HIV rates are attributed to declining knowledge as well as an increase in risky sexual behaviour.

Research shows that young women have a disproportionate risk compared to their male peers with adolescent girls ages 15-19 eight times more likely to be infected with HIV. Young women ages 20-24 are more than three times likely to be infected with HIV than their male peers. Young women’s risk for HIV is further exacerbated by high rates of violence against women as well as rape, income and gender inequalities and other harmful cultural practices that target women. Siyayinqoba is a media product of the Community Media Trust (CMT) which promotes knowledge, transparency, accountability and democracy through the production of multiple forms of media, training and communication “in order to capacitate communities to improve their quality of life in South Africa”.

Watch their amazing story below:

Read the entire Grantee highlight here: CMT Grantee Highlight

New Faces New Voices is a pan African advocacy group that focuses on expanding the role and influence of women in the financial sector. “For us to have inclusive growth,” said NFVF Executive Director Nomsa Daniels, “we can’t afford to leave 50% of the population behind.” This belief that women have the potential to deliver a significant contribution to economic growth in Africa drives the organisation’s mandate. In 2015, the organisation identified the need to bring women into the formal banking sector to enable them to have access to financial services. NFNV Uganda Chapter director Theopista Ntale had been a banker for over 20 years, and therefore, understood the sector. “She also saw how the banking sector does not really serve women who are not able to access the full range of services,” explained Daniels. In Uganda, as in many African countries, there are clear gender inequalities in the finance sector with the majority of women lacking access to financial services and remaining unbanked and financially excluded.

The 2013, FinScope Uganda’s national survey on demand, usage, and access to financial services noted that the low usage of the formal banking products and services impacts heavily on the level of savings mobilised domestically through the financial system, which in turn affects access to credit and investment by the private sector. That survey also identified that the level of financial literacy among the adult population also remained low. “Lack of knowledge about existing financial products and services was rife among a large proportion of the adult population,” said the Finscope Report. Limited access to financial services is one of the biggest obstacles to development — especially in rural areas. Often the gap is bridged through the use of savings groups — most of whom are led by women.

Read the rest of their riveting story below, and watch the interview above for more insight into the work of the advocacy group.

New Faces New Voices: Grantee Highlight

6th AWDF CEO Forum Report

For the rest of this photo story click this link: Box Girls Photo Story

Since its inception in 2001, AWDF has supported over 1200 women’s organisations in 42 African countries to work on critical issues that is of great importance to women on the continent. These organisations are doing remarkable work and have earned recognition, and influence in their localities / communities, countries, in the continent and beyond. Such recognition has taken various forms, including certificates of recognition, awards or commemorations, invitations to seek leadership roles, invitations onto committees and other decision-making bodies, donations of resources such as money, land, and materials among other things. To this end, aside grantees project reports, site visits etc, AWDF conducts a recognition survey annually to ascertain the recognition and reward grantees have received as a result of profound impact they are making in the lives of women and the continent at large. To achieve this, online questionnaires were sent to 149 organisations (139 Anglophone and 13 Francophone) supported in 2014. A detailed findings of the analysis of the survey are presented in the chapters below.

Recognition Survey Report – 2016

The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) conducted a Grantee Recognition Survey in February, 2015 to collect information on the recognition and influence attained by grantee partners and stakeholders in Africa as a result of the remarkable work that they are doing. To do this, a questionnaire was sent to 102 grantee organizations in Anglophone Africa and 24 organizations in Francophone Africa that were provided with grant in 2013. Responses were received from 54 organizations in Englishspeaking Africa and 8 organizations in French-speaking Africa representing a response rate of about 49%. The report is available below.

RECOGNITION SURVEY REPORT – 2015

Les organisations de femmes connaissent à fond les barrières socioculturelles qui entravent l’égalité entre les sexes et l’autonomisation des femmes et sont en mesure de mener des actions pour aborder ces sujets selon leurs forces financières. Elles ont de bonnes idées mais n’arrivent pas à les exprimer clairement et de façon cohérente pour susciter l’intérêt d’un bailleur de fonds. Or l’architecture des financements pour les activités de défense des droits de la femme et les exigences des bailleurs de fonds est devenue très complexe. Il s’agit malheureusement d’une réalité dans le monde des financements que les organisations de défenses des droits de la femme doivent accepter et s’adapter à ce système afin d’accéder à des financements et produire des rapports pertinents.

RENFORCEMENT DES CAPACITES, REDACTION DE DOCUMENT DE PROJETS ET RAPPORT DE PROJETS

Sofia Omar, 19, is Muslim young woman and part of BoxGirls Kenya. She joined Box Girls whilst in high school, at the age of 16. As a result of engaging in the organisation’s programmes, she has honed her boxing skills. In addition, she has nurtured her entrepreneurial abilities and become more proficient in financial management. Currently a mini-coach and life skills facilitator, Sofia has defied the odds and transcended stereotypes on the basis of her gender and religion. As a result, she has leveraged an inborn capacity for leadership to influence her peers and mentor young girls and women in her community.

To read the rest of Sofia’s story click the link below:

Box Girls Profile: Sofia Omar

Click here for the AWDF 2016 Activity Report

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]AWARD OF GRANTS FOR 2017-2018

AWDF is happy to announce the award of the first round of grants for “Leading from the South” for Africa and the Middle East, supporting advocacy and lobbying to advance women’s rights.

The demand was tremendous and we received many very exciting applications from women’s rights organisations and coalitions from across Africa and the Middle East. After a rigorous screening, 23 grants have been approved with grant awards totalling US $4,421,805.

Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications received, we are unable to provide individual feedback. Successful applicants will be contacted directly by Friday, May 26^th 2017. For information on the basis of our assessment and our selection, please see the information below. [/tp]

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NOUVELLE PHASE DE NOTRE PROGRAMME DE SUBVENTION DANS LE CADRE DU PROJET « LEADING FROM THE SOUTH »

SUBVENTIONS OCTROYEES AU COURS DE LA PERIODE 2017-2018

L’AWDF a le plaisir de vous annoncer sa première série de subventions octroyées en Afrique et au Moyen Orient dans le cadre du projet «Leading from the South» dont l’objectif est d’appuyer les actions de plaidoyer et de lobbying en vue de la promotion des droits des femmes.

La demande était très énorme. Les organisations de défenses des droits des femmes et des coalitions en Afrique et au Moyen Orient ont envoyé des propositions de projets intéressants et après un examen rigoureux de ces dossiers, 23 subventions d’un montant total de $4,421,805 dollars américains ont été approuvées.

Malheureusement, en raison du volume de projets reçus, nous ne pouvons pas vous faire des retours à tous les candidats. Nous allons contacter directement les organisations retenues d’ici vendredi le 26 mai 2017. Pour de plus amples informations sur le fondement de notre évaluation et sélection, veuillez consulter le tableau ci-dessous. [/tp]