Category: Blog

Kuukua is one of the many talented writers who will be participating in AWDF and Alliance Francaise (Accra)’s book slam for International Women’s Day, 8th March. She will also be sharing her thoughts on writing, and providing insights into some of her experiences that has inspired her particular writing style.

She characterizes herself as a memoirist, essayist, and writer of social commentary. Kuukua is the author of several essays and prose poems. Some of her essays have been anthologized in: African Women Writing Resistance (UW Press), Becoming Bi: Bisexual Voices from Around the World (BRC), and Inside Your Ear (Oakland Public Library Press). Her essay, “The Audacity to Remain Single: Single Black Women in the Black Church,” won the Marcella Althaus-Reid Award for best “Queer Essay,” and is anthologized in Queer Religion II (Praeger Publishers). Her piece of creative non-fiction, “Where is Your Husband: Single African Women in the Diaspora and the Exploration/Expression of Sexuality” is due to be published shortly. She has participated in the Voices of Our Nation residency at UC Berkeley.

She has her hands in three projects currently: The Coal Pot, a Culinary Memoir celebrating her Ghanaian roots, Musings of an African Woman, her blog which features a collection of personal essays about immigration and assimilation, and The Innocents, an adolescent mystery novel. She hopes to compile an anthology of stories by adult children of immigrant parents sometime late 2013. Her scholarly and writing interests lie at the intersection of race and skin color, African culture, Black women’s bodies, expression of voice, and non fictional writing.

She avidly feeds a voracious travel bug that occupies the hinterlands of her soul, so is often found wandering various parts of the world. She has been feeding her love-hate affair with Ghana for the past 4 months.

Even though she’s struggling with the adjustment to Ghana—irregular availability of water and electricity, men’s sexist attitudes, and the Traffic (nothing can adequately capture it), her vision for the country requires that she deal with her own participation in the brain drain. For now, she is enjoying being Addidas, which in Twi means eating and sleeping and doing it all over again. In her case, the occasional memoir or blog post thrown in for color.

Monica Arac de Nyeko is a Ugandan writer. She was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African writing in 2004 for ‘Strange Fruit, winning the prize in 2007 for ‘Jambula Tree’ which was described by the chair of judges, Jamal Mahjoub, as “a witty and touching portrait of a community which is affected forever by a love which blossoms between two adolescents”.

In celebration of International Women’s Month, Monica will be participating in 2 events with the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) and our partners Alliance Francaise (Accra). On Thursday 7th March Monica will join a panel of writers including Mamle Kabu, Mama C and Kuukua Yomekpe to hold a vibrant discussion on writing which will include sharing inspiration behind characters, experiences of writing, and may even include a tips for all the aspiring writers out there. On Friday the 8th of March, Monica will join writers, poets and a DJ in Ghana’s first ever book slam . This event costs GHC10 with proceeds supporting the work of AWDF.

I’m really pleased that AWDF’s blog has been nominated in the category of ‘best organisational blog’. Many thanks to all of the AWDF staff that have contributed to this blog. I plan to revamp this blog soon with even more exciting content.

In the meantime, please vote for AWDF ‘s blog to win ‘best organisational blog’. Your vote counts towards 40% of the final vote. Also take the opportunity to check out the vast array of blogs listed. Who knows you might find a new blog that you could have you hooked.

By: Nana Darkoa

The Power of ‘we’ is about teamwork. The power of ‘we’ is about unity of purpose. Unity, undoubtedly, translates into concrete strength, huge achievements, steady and sustained progress amongst other benefits.

According to a recent publication in the American Political Science Review,” a new study on violence against women conducted over four decades and in 70 countries reveals the mobilization of feminist movements is more important for change than the wealth of nations, left-wing political parties, or the number of women politicians”. New York, NY (PRWEB) September 28, 2012

This confirms the benefits of the power of ‘we’ exhibited by the feminist movement.

Its important that at this and every stage in our movement building work we evaluate our activities to date and re-strategies around them: This is my personal analysis of our current strength, weakness, opportunities and the threats we face.

Our strength is our unity of purpose in creating a better world for all. A weakness is a movement that is still fragmented and under resourced. Yet there are huge opportunities out there. There remains a critical mass of women who could join the movement to strengthen the work that we do. In other words there is more room for fresh ‘recruits’ across board. Our threats remain uninformed people who misconstrue the campaign for equality.

If we do the above, the movement will be a stronger force to reckon with. Consequently, the spirit and the power of ‘we’ will yield more dividends.

By: Grace Amenyogbeli

Administrative Manager, AWDF

Yesterday the Ghana branch of ‘Women in Law and Development in Africa’ held ‘The 2^nd Women’s Dialogue with Political Parties’. I listened to the programme at 10.30am via radio en route to interview ‘Virtuous Women and Children International’, an AWDF grantee. I was disappointed I wasn’t there in person. A typo in the event advertised via a popular Ghanaian daily had stated the time for the dialogue as 2.00pm. I felt grateful that the organisers WILDAF had partnered with Joy Fm who aired the programme live on radio.

The women’s dialogue was aimed at the presidential candidates (or their vices) of the political parties namely the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), People’s National Convention (PNC) and Progressive Peoples Party (PPP). The NDC and the NPP, the two dominant parties in Ghana, were not represented by their flag bearers or vices. I found this extremely disappointing and indicative of a lack of commitment to dialoguing with women. WILDAF had gone to every effort to accommodate the schedules of all the political parties and for the flag bearers (or their vices) of the two main parties not to show up speaks volumes and what I hear is “We are not truly committed to a rigorous political debate with women. We can talk the language of gender but beyond rhetoric there is no action”.

The aim of the dialogue was to provide “… a platform for political parties contesting the 2012 elections to present their vision and intended policies to women who form 51.4% of the population”. Dr Abu Sakara of the CPP, Mr Hassan Ayariga of the PNC and Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom of the PPP were quizzed in an informal panel discussion by Matilda Asante with a broad range of questions focusing on the lack of a woman presidential candidate, and each party’s policies to increase women’s representation in the party political system. As a listener none of the politicians impressed me. There were a lot of the typical sentiments about women’s important roles as mothers and the support that each politician said they got from their wives. “Typical” I thought. “Ghanaian politicans only value women as wives and mothers”. The only politician on the platform who seemed to have thought seriously about gender was Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom. He is also the only presidential candidate whose vice is a woman, Ms. Eva Naa Merley Lokko. Nduom also spoke about the affirmative action policy within his party to ensure that at least 20% of the executives are women. I couldn’t help but think, “It’s a shame that Nduom stands little to no chance of being the next President of Ghana”.

In spite of the absence of the NPP and NDC I felt that ‘The 2^nd Women’s Dialogue with Political Parties’ had been extremely useful. The dialogue places issues of concern to women as central. The dialogue is an opportunity for women to hold our politicians responsible for the commitments they make to women when they seek our votes. The dialogue also gives us an opportunity to critically assess our politicians – can their rhetoric stand up to public scrutiny, can they really unpack what they mean when they claim to take gender issues seriously? Do they turn up when representatives of women’s rights organizations invite them to dialogue with women?

In a conversation with Bernice Sam, the National Programme Coordinator for WILDAF I asked her to share her thoughts on the dialogue and she stated:

“The Women’s Dialogue with Political Parties went very well. It provided an opportunity for the flagbearers of the political parties to share with women their visions for advancing women’s rights in Ghana. It equally provided an opportunity for women to assess the commitments of these parties to women’s concerns. Further, women will be able to hold the party that wins the elections to account for the statements made at the Dialogue.”

Holding parties responsible for their campaign promises is important. I commend WILDAF for holding this Dialogue, and all the media houses that supported with live transmissions. I hope that the 3^rd Women’s Dialogue with Political Parties will be attended by ALL political parties.

By Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Communications Officer, AWDF

In May this year, I found myself in an inspiring and thought-provoking event in Los Angeles, USA. It was the annual summit for Women’s Funding Network, and the theme was “Women Economics and Peace”. It was a most refreshing experience for me. This was mostly on account of the worth and quality of the presentations done during the event, and I share a particularly stimulating one with you today.

It was a presentation by Jeff Kudash on “Catalytic philanthropy to collective impact- How funders effect large scale systemic change’’, which led me subsequently to read the article “Catalytic Philanthropy”, written by Mark R Kramer. This article discusses why the traditional approach to philanthropy cannot possibly be effective in the long term and highlights the need to paradigm-shift to catalytic philanthropy. Reading Kramer’s article brought to mind some challenges I had observed over the years, working in Fundraising and Financial Management at AWDF, and led to this desire to share my understanding of Kudash’s presentation, Kramer’s article, and their mutual relationship to the challenges hounding women’s organisations in Africa.

Traditional vrs Catalytic Philantrophy

In traditional philanthropy, what happens is that women’s organisations apply for funding from donors; the donors decide which women’s organisations to support, and how much money to give. What this means is that, the organisations are responsible for devising the solutions to their idetified social problems. However, considering the size and the budgets of most of these organisations working on women’s issues, they persistently face a lot of project and financial limitations, even though they are able to help thousands of people in need.

This is because generally, women’s organisations on the African continent tend to have a low institutional capacity. Some attribute this low capacity to the fact that the organisations do not have the required resources to attract and retain the necessary qualified staff, which eventually renders them inefficient. They are also not financially sustainable, partly because a lot of donors do not provide enough core support, but rather, prefer annual funding to medium-to-long term ones that consider three to ten year commitments. As a result of this challenge to secure long term funding, women’s organisations tend to spend a lot of their time, energy, and resources looking for financial resources rather than focusing on their key objectives, which ultimately makes them ineffective.

Additionally, a lot of women’s organisations tend to work alone, using strategies that they deem fit, with very little opportunity to learn from one another’s best practices, to develop the clout to influence government, or the scale to achieve national impact. This means that however generous the donors, or hardworking the staff, there is no assurance that these underfunded, non-collaborative, and unaccountable approaches of these countless women’s organisations will actually lead to workable solutions for large-scale social problems:

“The contributions of conventional traditional donors and the good work of effective women’s organisations may temporarily improve matters at a particular place and time but they are unlikely to create the lasting reforms that the African society so urgently requires. (modified from Kramer’s article)

Catalytic Philanthropy is therefore proffered as the new approach to philanthropy, already being practiced by some donors with great benefits and impact. These exceptional donors are acting differently, using these four approaches:

1. Taking responsibility for achieving results

Catalytic philanthropists have the ambition to change the world, and the courage to accept responsibility for achieving those results. This emphasizes the fact that funders have a more influential role to play than merely supporting these organisations. Foundations and corporations have the clout, connections and capacity to make things happen in a way that most non-profits do not, and by getting directly involved and taking personal responsibility for theory results, they can leverage their personal and professional relations, initiate public-private partnerships, import projects that have proved successful elsewhere, create new models, influence government(s), draw public attention to an issue, coordinate the activities of different non-profits, and attract fellow funders from around the world. All these powerful platforms are dissolved when donors confine themselves to writing cheques.

2. Mobilising campaign for change

Catalytic philanthropy stimulates cross sector collaborations, consequently mobilising stakeholders to create shared solutions. Funders should therefore seek and engage others in compelling campaigns, empowerment of stakeholders, and creation of collaborative and innovative tools. This is because systematic reforms require relentless and unending campaigns which galvanize the attention of the many stakeholders involved, and unify their efforts around the pursuit of common goals.

3. Using all available tools

Catalytic philanthropists use all tools available for the creation of change, including unconventional ones, and ones external to the non-profit sector such as corporate resources, investment capital, advocacy, litigation and even lobbying.

4. Creating actionable knowledge

Catalytic philanthropists gather knowledge; they create actionable knowledge to improve their own effectiveness and to influence the behaviour of others. Actionable knowledge is one that can impact government spending, and is not limited to compiling and analyzing data. In this same vein, funders must not rely solely on grant applications and grantees for information about social problems they are tackling, but must look beyond, answer their own enquiries through research, and have a broad perspective of the issue(s) at hand rather than focusing narrowly on it in financial terms. The information must also carry emotional appeal to capture people’s attention, and practical recommendations to inspire them to action.

In conclusion, women’s organisations on the African continent need more catalytic philanthropists than traditional philanthropists. These catalytic philanthropists can be institutional funders, corporate institutions or individuals who exhibit the four attributes highlighted above, and can work with the women’s organisations to continuously build their capacities, commitments, communications, connections, networks, and to learn from each other so as to create the large-scale lasting solutions we all want to see. And we do need lasting solutions.

Gertrude Annoh-Quarshie

The Finance Manager

AWDF (African Women’s Development Fund)

In April this year, Mawusi Nudekor Awity, Founder and Executive Director of AWDF Grantee Network for Women in Growth (NEWIG) won a scholarship to pursue a short course in Canada. She visited us at AWDF House, here in Accra to share the good news and spend a few moments with us before starting her trip. Here, we share the warm conversation with you:

Golda Addo (AWDF Communications Associate): Mawusi, could you please give us a brief history of your relationship with AWDF?

Mawusi Awity (Founder): Yes. NEWIG has been in partnership with AWDF since 2005. It was our first grant from an international donor to organise a 16 days of Activism against Gender Violence activity. The grant was $1,000. The program was very successful and we were very grateful because before then, since 2002, we had never received any external funding. The next year, 2006, we were supported with $5,000 to run entrepreneurial training for young unemployed university graduates. From then, the support has been continual. To date, we have received grants four times, with the recent being a $20,000 to organise an “Integrated Services to Improve Maternal Health Care” Project.

G.A.: Tell us about yourself.

M.A.: I am a mother of three and the wife of a very supportive Army Officer. I always refer to him as such because he spends much of his time and resources on my NGO. He says that is where my passion is, and all he can do is to throw his weight behind. God bless him.

Anyway, I am a Women’s Rights Activist, Micro & Small Business Development Expert working for women, with a Theatre Arts background (Master of Fine Arts Degree). To develop this new career, I did courses in Advanced Entrepreneurship and Human Resource Management at University of Ghana School of Business. Other courses include Gender Analysis and Community Work Practice, Leadership Capacity Building, NGOs Management and many others. Passion for rural women drove me into social work, which is very challenging because I travel a lot throughout the country, especially to remote parts to execute my work. I work as a full time volunteer for NEWIG. Any money I make personally, I plough back into the coffers of the organization.

G.A.: Tell us about NEWIG.

M.A.: NEWIG was founded on 8^th January 2002 as a skills development and gender employment non government, non-profit organisation with the objective of contributing its quota to fighting economic, social and political poverty among Ghanaian women. It does so by creating the needed platform for them to have access to vocations (economic empowerment), good health and sustainable life style as well as political leverage in society. The NGO has trained over five thousand women both young and old, nation-wide and formed three vibrant women’s groups with the fourth one just being formed. Our areas of operation are entrepreneurial trainings, gender trainings and political trainings in addition to health-related programmes.

G.A.: Do you feel a relationship exists with AWDF on both the organizational and personal level, or is it mostly one? And if so, which of the two is it?

M.A.: The relationship that exists with AWDF on both organisational and personal level is like a “Mother and Child” relationship. NEWIG is like a child of AWDF. AWDF is our second main source of financial support. The success of NEWIG can never be mentioned without highlighting the role AWDF has played in our very existence. When nobody came to our aid to help push us into the space we are now occupying, AWDF did. On a personal level, I am like staff. I go there and I feel so comfortable. Any help I need from them comes stress-free; from the CEO to the security personnel. I have learnt a lot from our relationship which I also practice at my work place.

G.A.: How has AWDF’s funding helped you?

M.A.: AWDF funding has helped NEWIG to continue to be a good and reliable player in the “Support for the Poor” Team. AWDF funding helps us achieve our goals, reaching out to many women to help them establish their own business, which is so fulfilling for us.

G.A.: We heard that you recently won a scholarship to study outside Ghana. Could you share the details of this achievement with us? Also, share with us your plans after this scholarship, and how the course fits into your immediate, short and long-term plans for NEWIG?

M.A.: Through the initiative of Canadian Crossroads International, I had a scholarship from Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to pursue a two weeks’ certificate course in Livelihoods and Markets at Coady International Institute, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in Canada. The course is to put me in a better and clearer picture of how to conduct sub-sector and value chain analysis in the shea butter industry. Being a producer and trainer for the rural women in shea butter products, I would become knowledgeable in how to apply the tools to address key constraints for the rural shea butter producers (who are mainly women) as well as NEWIG, since we are also into production. The constraints I would work on are market access as well as product development to suit the international buyers. In addition to the scholarship, I was among a group of women who received an international honorary award “Leading Women Innovators Award” from Global Women Innovators and Inventors Network, an organisation with its headquarters in United Kingdom.

G.A.: Congratulations, Mawusi! Now, what is it like, being active in the political arena of Ghana, not just as a politician of your status, but also as a female?

M.A.: It is not that easy. I see the political arena as a whole jungle and it is like survival of the fittest. There is no mercy and you must play the game like “them”. If “they” hop, you hop, or even more than “them”. They will not give you the space, so you create a big one and operate in there with all the linkages. I am actually referring to our male counterparts. But I am quite fortunate; my husband has been my backbone. His support is enormous. He was there for me when I contested in the 2008 parliamentary primaries in South Tongu District, which I lost. I was later nominated a Member of NPP Presidential National Campaign Team in 2008 and then again as a Member of The 7-member NPP National Organisation Committee in 2010 to serve a four year term.

G.A.: Have you always had political interests, and did any institution, person, or event in particular prompt the last few steps into active politics?

M.A.: That is an interesting question. I never had any political interest. My last few steps into active politics was as a result of my association with the late Hawa Yakubu, a strong big feminist giant in the political space. We met in 2003. She liked me so much, and would often ask me to represent her at several functions. She said I had the drive and energy for active politics. Eventually I got convinced when in 2008 some of Constituency Executives and Elders of the South Tongu NPP persuaded me to contest as a parliamentary candidate. That was how my journey started and it’s been moving fast. Unfortunately, my mentor died before I got into active politics. To keep her memories alive, the Vocational Skills Training Shed at our Women Empowerment Centre bears the name “HAWA EMPOWERMENT SHED”. May HER SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE.

G.A.: Any extra message you’d like to share with us or our readers and partners?

M.A.: It is good to reach out to the reach-less. There is nothing more fulfilling than that. Strive hard to go an extra mile and the joy that comes with it is immeasurable. Let us all put our strength and resources together to support the poor to stand on their own to make the world a better place to live. To AWDF partners, God bless you for your good work. Continue it in that direction so women, irrespective of their stand in society, can all walk out with their chests out.

END

To Mawusi Awity and NEWIG, we wish all the very best, and look forward to more years of this warm, wonderful relationship. We are proud of you.

June 2012.

It’s been raining heavily in Ghana since late noon yesterday, the weighed-down clouds drenching the eastern and finally arriving in the southern half of the country early this morning. Even now, the weather is still very overcast and there is a constant baby-shower of rain. It is as if Mama Earth is projecting an aggregate of the vibes coming from all over the world today – World Environmental Day, June 5.

It is as if she is saying, “I am here.” In the current state of the environment, the earth, and the climate in the preparations leading to Rio+20, it is as if she is letting us know that she is with us – watching, waiting and hoping. Yet what a half century of exploitation, commercialization, and inconsideration it has been! Should you hop onto a satellite high above earth, and compare the forest/plant cover, the shorelines, the desert areas, the waterbody-volumes all over the continent, of 50 years ago with those now, the depletion is over 60%.

Concerned? We are most alarmed about the current state of the environment of the continent. This is not simply due to the increasing agricultural and resource challenges slowly strangling us day by day, but also because in Africa, it is women who bear the brunt of most disasters, suffer most, and work hardest – and in the global scheme of things, it is Africa that is usually at the receiving end of most environmentally dangerous products and activities from the rest of the world. This equates to African women being the ultimate recipients of the consequences of these events, whichever angle we analyse it from. Do we know what women represent in the circle of life? If we do, then this should be a very frightening state of affairs for each and every one of us!

These reasons are mostly why in 2007, we took the decision to make the African Biodiversity Network one of our biggest grantees, investing major funds into their biodiversity-environmental-sustainable arch of activities from then till now. The ABN’s pioneering initiatives have done much and continue to preserve important, sustainable ecological knowledge and practice. Please take a look for yourselves what this wonderful institution is doing for Africa!: ABN Healing Africa. And when you’re done, find out about Mphatheleni Makaulele, one of ABN’s women partners from South Africa, and the amazing initiatives being run by her Mupo Foundation.

Words defy us, ABN and Mupo! Words defy us, all African stalwarts fighting against the influx of disastrous products, groups, activities, and institutions that have been gnawing away at Africa’s foundations and lifestyles and threatening to turn our continent, a haven of life, hope, ingenuity, and sustenance; the cradle of civilization and great personalities, into a barren land!

Women of Africa join ABN, Mupo Foundation, and other partners in their efforts to re-heal what we have wounded and scarred, pledging to work towards a more hopeful future for our continent. Plant a tree today, make a donation to our Grantees, and do something environmentally friendly today (and every day!).

Little seeds make mighty trees. Happy World Environment Day, Africa!

Golda Addo (AWDF Communications Associate)

For the past few months, our radios and air spaces have been blasting out and vibrating with hair-raising acts of violence against women and children. What concerns us is the obvious disparity between the levels of violence before, and the levels currently. The magnitude of violence in Ghana is now overwhelming, and calls for immediate action from as many quarters as possible. The likely question on people’s minds will be “What are the various female activists in town doing? This, for us, is a very relevant question that requires prioritized and immediate action as its answer.

Be it due to complacency or lack of commitment to issues, we are not yet certain, but we definitely have seen a decrease in awareness creation and public campaigns against Domestic Violence in the country. Our media houses focus more on political issues and front-page scandals, amongst others, since these are what generate the huge amounts of revenue they desire. National issues surrounding Gender, Women, Children, and Empowerment have become de-prioritised in these media, only receiving central treatment once in every long while, or when prominent institutions and iconic figures make mention of them, which is often a momentary occurrence rarely sustained by the media stations.

Time was, when the “big guns” of women empowerment, female issues, and gender initiatives in Ghana all played very active roles before and during the 16days of Activism Against Violence Against Women, an event celebrated from 25^th November to 10^th December every year. All of a sudden this has ceased, and this event is marked by a few fluttering banners in inconspicuous locations in a few capital points in the country, a few newspaper and journal adverts with little stimulation or excitement to action, and very restrained, unexciting discussions in poorly publicized media programmes and forums. I vividly remember when we had attention-grabbing posters of abused women and children with inscriptions on them at vantage traffic lights in the capital which educated both literate and illiterate on the unacceptability of violence and abuse. This was an effective method of sparking debates and discussions among passengers in cars, taxis and tro-tros and even on pedestrian-walks. Remember that violence is no respecter of persons, class, profession nor public standing, and anybody at all could fall victim to it at any point in time.

From several recent reports coming in from Ghanaian media houses, Domestic Violence has taken on a new and deadly trend where abusers have progressed from physical battery to fatal attacks on both spouses and children. These attacks are often shown, post-occurrence, to have had murderous intent, and at times bear inherent traits of lunacy or mental illness. If this does not call for immediate governmental, national, and societal intervention, nothing does. Below is a catalogue of some of the recent reports on violence from random points and mediums:

• Man kills wife, commits suicide, 15^th May, 2012
• Father arrested for attempts incest with daughter, 16^th May, 2012
• Rapist kills two siblings, wounds mother, 15^th May, 2012
• Man kills his two kids, stabs pregnant wife, 3^rd May, 2012
• Man slashes wife’s throat for ‘daring’ to divorce him, 10^th May, 2012
• Pregnant woman dies from stab wounds, 4^th May,2012
• Trader cuts ex-lovers scrotum, testicles out, 7^th May, 2012
• Cop rapes married woman, 7^th May, 2012
• Man throws improvised explosive devices at 4 children for disturbing his siesta.
• Woman, 22, stabbed to death by boyfriend, 20^th April, 2012
• Fetish priest in court for murdering lover, 19^th April, 2012

“A suspected sex maniac has allegedly shot and killed two siblings and wounded their mother after raping their elder sister in the bush at Dukoto Junction in the Amenfi East District in the Western Region…………………”

“Police in Kumasi have commenced investigations into the death of a 22 year lady said to have been stabbed by her boyfriend at Oduom. The incident reportedly happened soon after *Maame Frema’s family told her boyfriend with whom she has a child that they could not continue the relationship. The victim is said to have reported her boyfriend’s abusive behavior to the family………………….”

“*Nana Sika Manim, a 35-year old fetish priest, on Thursday appeared before the Kade District Magistrate’s Court charged with murdering his 19-year-old girl friend……”

“Emotions took the better part of a 34-year-old man when he allegedly slaughtered his wife on a farm last Saturday after the woman had threatened to divorce him, The woman, whose name was given as *Akua Boaminh, was the mother of five children, including a two-year-old she was nursing before her death. According to the police, when the deceased’s body was discovered in the bush, it lay supine, with the face covered with a scarf, while the hands were tied to a tree. The body, stained with blood, was almost covered with ants.”

*names changed to protect their identity

Reading and listening to these heart-breaking stories of violence impresses more deeply in us, the need for women and female-focused organisations in Ghana to be more proactive and set up strategies to deal with all forms of violence, before the fatal happens. AWDF is not left out in this struggle to create a violence-free Ghana and Africa and will continue to use its programme that supports the 16days of Activism Against Violence Against Women to support women’s organizations across the continent, to create awareness and literally “make noise “through various activities to commemorate the event. AWDF has supported this event from 2003 to date, and has provided financial supports to over 105 women’s groups from 25 African Countries to the tune of over $USD 97,000. From our 2011 analysis of applications received from across the continent towards the 16days of activism we realised that just a few of the applications came from Ghana; the period was silent and most women’s groups were not heard or seen undertaking any serious or extensive public awareness campaigns and activities on violence against women, which is very uncharacteristic of the Ghanaian Civil Society community.

The current worsening trends, as seen, heard and read in the media is a clarion call for all women’s rights organisations to take awareness creation and education extremely seriously, because, who knows whom the next victim will be? No, don’t look over your shoulder.

Hilda de-Souza

Rose Buabeng

Gifty Anim

(Grants Department – AWDF)

Today as I write this, I sit behind a computer, typing perkily away at my keyboard in my comfortable office environment that has, in the time I have been working here, empowered me very deeply. I feel strong, I believe in myself, I feel good, and I actually have for work-colleagues ‘sisters’ who project as wonderful a sense of warmth and self-confidence as I do. I am untroubled … and I am lucky.

Lucky. It is not particularly the most affirming word one will like to hear, but there it is. I am lucky to have been working in a time where the female actually has rights for work … employment … labour, call it what you will. A few decades earlier, I would have been working in a time where not only would I have swooned in joy for any odd job, domestic role or agricultural work thrown my way that actually put profits in my own savings, but would also have been shocked if I was noticed and appreciated as an actual worker who contributed to that venture in question. These would not have been extraordinary circumstances at all; I would only have been first a female, and secondly a black/African female. I was doubly ‘invisible’ and multiply discriminated against.

What makes me lucky is the fact that my predecessor, who lived these negative conditions, did not just ‘take for granted’ that it was her lot, but fought hard to change it for the better. They all fought hard to make it better. Now see us enjoying it … perkily playing the empowered little Missus, standing abreast with the best of the men and even leading them in the work-places; boldly ensuring our work is fairly remunerated; fighting for all possible allowances, leave-days, holidays, on-the-job training obligations, and indeed, salary increments when we believe our contribution is worth it; well, maybe not perky, but definitely bolder, stronger, and very much visible. A modern-day working woman.

At this point, a standing ovation for all the women who have gone before, in the fight for what we enjoy today; for those who continue to represent female needs in the ranks of the Trade Unions and Labour organizations world-wide; and those who ensured the improved rights of the African woman worker today. May Day for us here at AWDF, is not to take a jab at any sensitive aspects of labour issues, but to appreciate the role which black and African women played, and continue to play in improving the work and employment conditions of women, and to also review the long history behind it. We are therefore delighted to share with you, the story of Women on Farms Project (WFP) and Sikhula Sonke:

In November 2011, AWDF ‘shook hands’ with a South African NGO, and signed over, in confidence and trust, a grant of $US 25,000.00, targeted at helping over 3500 direct people and over 17,000 indirect beneficiaries. Today, we acknowledge the efforts of this grantee, whose work is an invaluable one that is impacting not just the approximately 3500 members, but their families too. This NGO, Women on Farms Project (WFP), won the grant under our Human Rights scheme, with the objective of training selected farm workers on their rights and provide them with legal assistance to defend their rights as well as actively participate in minimum wage negotiations.

What WFP does, is empower and support women who work and live on farms, and educate them on their human and labour rights, since they often work in very harsh conditions and have poor representation in most trade unions. “We do this through socio-economic rights-based and gender education, advocacy and lobbying, case work and support for the building of social movements of farmwomen”, Fatima Shabodien, the Executive Director says.

This is not a new project or concept for them. As far back as 1999, three years after their own formation, the WFP team were already concerned with the futures of the farmwomen they ‘looked after’ via their foundation, and wondering what would happen to them should it close down due to funding issues or other unforeseen challenges. This prompted them to begin work on finding solutions, and conversations and deliberations with the farm-women led to the formation and registration of a women-led, women-focused trade union for Southern Africa women farm-worker. This happened in 2004, after two years of planning and organization. They named it Sikhula Sonke (‘We grow together’ in isiXhosa).

To entrench the specialness of the achievement, and its fulfillment of a crucial need, Sikhula Sonke was constituted by WFP on 9^th August, 2004 which is South Africa’s National Women’s Day, and registered by the South African Trade Labour Commission as a legal Trade Union on 10^th December, 2004 – International Human Rights Day. As a Trade Union they were there not just to join the ranks of other pre-existing ones but to be the union that represented women’s labour issues, fought to end the neglect and exploitation of for women farm-workers, and to get them better wages and representation at the negotiation tables of ordering companies from outside the country. In addition, and importantly, Sikhula Sonke also empowered the women, helped them to improve themselves in all aspects, and helped them out of substance abuses and addicitions.

What AWDF’s grant to WFP makes possible includes a better life and work situation for South African women farmworkers like Sikhula Sonke cares for. Their work areas cover: Women’s Labour Rights, Farm Workers’ Living Wage, Women’s Land & Housing, Trade Justice, Social Security, Farm Workers’ Human Rights, Human Rights Awareness Workshops, and crucial international campaigns against unethical practices affecting the farm workers.

There is a strong, clear link between the values and objectives of both WFP and AWDF. Whilst AWDF’s values include “the personhood of the African woman and her rights as an inalienable, indivisible, and integral part of universal human rights; acknowledging, valuing and rewarding women’s paid and unpaid labour in the private and public sector”, WFP envisions “an engendered society that treats women who live and work on farms with dignity and respect in accordance with the constitutional rights guaranteed to all South African citizens, where women lead the restoration of the social fabric of rural and agricultural communities so that respect, tolerance and accountability prevail.” Furthermore, both have a similar vision for African women – AWDF empowering, educating, and bearing feminists, whilst WFP works towards an “alternative South African rural landscape in which women play active leadership roles within family, community, labour, economic, and government structures.”

Women sustain the community; they nurture, care for, pass on knowledge to the members of the community. Due to their child-bearing abilities, and their accommodating personalities, their approach to issues are different, but no less important than that of the men. It is for this reason that we find it necessary to highlight the efforts of women-founded, women-led, women-focused entities like WFP, who against much odds, have sustained their fight to ensure better living and working conditions for the farmwomen workers of the Southern Cape of (South) Africa, and did not just stop there, but went ahead to consider possible crucial needs for their collective futures, and added yet another responsibility to their heavy load – Sikhula Sonke – the Trade Union for women farm workers in SA, saving and impacting over 17,000 lives and growing every year.

This is what a woman is – a living link to many; aprogenitor, warrior, awesome being, and in teams like WFP, we see sisters and sororities not only worth cheering on, but worth promoting. Show your worth today. Support a sister find her way. Donate to AWDF’s grant schemes. Partner our programmes. Share your stories. Leave a mark.

Golda Addo. Communications Associate – AWDF.