Category: Blog

Saiadatu Bala Ahmed is a 22-year-old married woman from Adamawa State in Northern Nigeria. Saiada as she is usually called has had her life transformed after watching the Vagina monologues play (‘V’- monologues) in Lagos.

Saiada lives with her husband and 2 year old daughter in Apapa, a suburb of Lagos State. She is a member of The Ajegunle Community Project (ACP) a grantee organisation of AWDF. ACP seeks to reduce social inequalities among grassroots women and the girl-child. Saiada got married at the age of 17 years under duress and had to forfeit writing the West African Examinations because her father could no longer pay for her education. Her prospective husband promised to send her to school to complete her education after the marriage, alas this promise was a fallacy as her marriage turned out to be as abusive as any woman could imagine! Any reference to the promise to continue her education intensified the violence against her. Saiada was beaten, wrongly accused of adultery, thrown out of home, raped, denied her human rights and was even divorced once (according to her culture a wife is divorced four times before the marriage is finally dissolved). Saiada’s husband sacked her from her marital home when she was four months pregnant because a male neighbor was staring at her (her husband said he doubted he had made her pregnant). Saiada’s daily life was a nightmare, one of apprehension and violence! Certainly this could not be allowed to go on forever!

The turning point for Saiada was in 2006 when she was invited by the late founder of Ajegunle Community Foundation to join other young women to watch the “V-Monologues” play in Lagos. The “V- Monologue” resonates Saiada’s life story. “Every stage of the play was about me and my life, l felt so sad and l just told myself that this is it, these violations of my human rights must stop now. The play just gave me courage, confidence and strength, and l just discovered my voice and myself. I was ready to demand and take my rights from my husband no matter what, l was just ready” Saiada said. Such profound words indeed! Saiada had to be careful though; she was not just dealing with an abusive husband but also an obsessed one. She started off by posting posters with messages of violence against women on the walls of their room at places where he would never miss to notice. Messages such as “Do not allow any man to turn your body into a punching bag, it is your right to protect it”. “Against her will is against the law”. These messages continued for awhile but they almost also landed her into trouble with her husband. But this never deterred Saiada. She was determined and stood her ground, threatening to report her husband to the police if he beats her and saying she will use the marks on her body as evidence against him. The spark of audacity and determination in her eyes and actions sent a strong warning message to her husband to be careful with her, “this is the new Saiada Bala who is now well informed about her rights” she said. In order to gain his ‘masculine ego’ back, he asked her to stop attending the meetings at ACP but she refused and insisted she will continue to attend. He asked her to leave his house but she refused and reminded him that she was his wife and had to be divorced four times! He threatened to marry a second women but she told him she will simply move out and move on with her life. He used all sort of ploys to get her into a submissive demeanor but Saiada was now too well informed to be manipulated. He finally gave up!

Today, Saiada has completed a computer school with sponsorship from her husband and she is getting ready to go back to school to study diploma in sociology. “My husband is becoming a changed person now, thankfully the violence has stopped” she said. Saiada also has political aspirations and will like to go into mainstream politics one day. This is an awesome young lady with huge potentials that should be nurtured. She is highly recommended to attend the African women’s leadership institute and African feminist Forum.

“The Vagina Monologues, “V-monologues: The Nigerian Story” is a remake of the American version. The American version, written by Eve Ensler, was a catalogue of various monologues told by various women. A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality. However, the Nigerian version is a bit different. The play is aimed at raising awareness about various aspects of violence women and girls face in Nigeria.

The Vagina Monologues came to Nigeria for the first time in 2006 through Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) a grantee of AWDF. It has since evolved into a Nigerian version (The V-Monologues) infused with issues peculiar to the Nigerian cultural challenges with the use of Nigerian language and music.

Nafi Chinery

Capacity Building Officer (AWDF)

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah (Programme Officer, AWDF) and Thelma Owusu Boakye (Programme Assistant, AWDF) held a number of vox pops with some of the participants at the African Women in Film Forum, 16th-17th June 2010, Lagos, Nigeria.

Below are a selection of Audio Files from the film forum. Your feedback, comments and thoughts are appreciated:

Film Forum – Tunde Kelani

Film Forum – Bunmi Oyinsan

A selection of pictures from the Film Forum can be found on AWDF’s Flickr page

Abena Busia’s paper which set the context for the Film Forum, ‘ Women and the Dynamics of Representation: Of Cooking, Cars and Culture‘ can be viewed on the AWDF Blog and AWDF Facebook Page

The display of youthful exuberance, intelligence, confidence and beauty attracted me to this young lady sitting in the mist of older ladies and who occasionally would chip in useful information about the organisation’s activities at a meeting with some staff members of Heal the Land Initiative, a grantee of AWDF at Akwa Ibom state in Nigeria. Ms. Peace Augustines is the third of six children born to Mr & Mrs Augustine from Abia States in Nigeria. Peace as she is affectionately called is 21 years old and lost both parents in 2002 to HIV&AIDs.

Soon after the death of her parents and at a young age of 16, Peace begun to feel the impact of HIV &AIDS as it perpetuates the cycle of poverty. As an orphan from a poor home she and her siblings were thrown out of their parent’s home, she abandoned her education and each one of them had to take care of themselves. The issue of survival becomes very critical here! Peace was lucky enough to have moved into her grandmother’s house, at least there shelter was assured, but then she had to assume a new role as head of the household at the expense of her education. Peace quickly found her survival strategy to raise income for her household’s upkeep; street hawking of pure water in the busy streets of Abia State was her new income generation activity. It was during one of her hawking activities that she was spotted by Ms. Doris Ugwu, the Executive Director of Heal the Land Initiative who also knew about her parents death. Doris, knowing this young lady decided to give her a chance to live a better life. Doris is HIV&AIDS positive and the first to publicly announce her status in Akwa Ibom. Understanding the impact of the disease on families and children especially, Doris decided to seek permission from Peace’s grandmother to allow her to sponsor Peace’s education whilst she continued to live with her grandmother to sit her West African Examination Council (WAEC) papers.

In 2008, Peace moved to live with Doris in Akwa Ibom State. She has written the joint matriculation examination board and will soon be writing her aptitude test to guarantee her a place in the university. Peace is a very ambitious young lady; she is looking forward to going to the University of Oyo to read psychology. She also dreams of being a philosopher, Peace believes she possesses a wealth of knowledge which she would like to pass on to other people to shape their lives for the better.

Peace has increased her knowledge on HIV&AIDs through her personal life and also through her engagement with HEAL the Land Initiative where she volunteers her time when she is not in school. Obviously Peace has had huge challenges in life, from her childhood to date; experiencing the suffering and death of her parents and its repercussion on her growing up. She said to me “It doesn’t matter what you go through in life you just don’t have to give up. I have learnt to improve on my knowledge, be vigilant and not to be taken advantages of by boys or men and to trust in God”.

• She has learnt never to stigmatise anyone no matter his or her situation.
• She has learnt to give back, and so she also wants to rescue other children from the street.
• She has built her confidence level; to her living positively is not the end of one’s life and she want to support others to live positively.
• She has learnt that maturity is not in age but in mind and character because that is the powerful tool one needs to win the community over.
• She has learnt to make friends she can influence positively and vice versa.

Unfortunately, not many children are or will be as lucky as Peace to be rescued off the street and given a decent life and an education. There are many more children who are continuously exposed to the hazards of ‘streetism’. It is therefore important that as development workers, women’s activists and donor organizations we begin to rethink the factors which fuel the spread of HIV such as gender inequality, conflict, migration, poverty, exclusion and the denial of basic rights as factors that cut right across the development agenda. Approximately 99% of those infected by HIV&AIDS live in developing countries and 12 million girls and boys are orphaned as a result of HIV&AIDS. HIV&AIDS is now one of the most powerful barriers to achieving the 2015 development targets in Africa, where it is now the leading cause of death.

Peace is a peer educator in schools and her community but how effective can she be if her actions and those of organisations like Heal the Land Initiative are not supported by decision and policy maker and all of us?

P.S: Peace is not positive

Nafi Chinery

Capacity Building Officer

AWDF

I arrived in Lagos on Sunday, 13^th June ahead of the first African Women in Film Forum (AWIFF), which is being convened by AWDF in conjunction with Lufodo Productions. On previous trips to Lagos I have only spent a few hours before continuing to my final destination so quite pleased that this time I will get to spend a few days in Lagos and experience the city that I have heard described as ‘New York on crack’.

Day 1: It’s a rainy Sunday in Lagos and the roads are quiet. I’m assured by the driver who picked me up from the airport that the journey from the airport to the hotel which took approximately 30 minutes (excluding stops to change money and buy airtime) would on a weekday take about 3 hours. He points out some landmarks to me including Lagos University and a market that the Lagos State Governor has cleaned up (the name starts with O, I cannot remember how its pronounced or spelt). According to the driver the State Governor has done a good job, the market is decongested and many of the traders who used to hawk on the streets have moved back to their villages because they can no longer trade on the streets. I can’t help but wonder how these traders who have been forced to move back home feel.

In the late afternoon I join Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, AWDF’s Executive Director and Professor Abena Busia, a member of the AWDF USA board who is also a resource person for the upcoming AWIFF at the launch of Tunde Kelani’s film ‘Aruba’. Tunde Kelani is a well-respected Nigerian filmmaker who has displayed sensitivity and awareness on the importance of using film as a tool for women’s empowerment. Two of his previous films, ‘The White Handkerchief’ and ‘The Narrow Path’ have been supported by AWDF as part of its Popular Culture Project. AWDF’s Executive Director, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi was the special guest invited to launch ‘Aruba’.

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Programme Officer

Fundraising & Communications

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) in collaboration with Lufodo Productions is convening an African Women in Film Forum, 16^th-17^th June 2010 in Lagos, Nigeria.

This forum is being held to facilitate a dialogue on women’s rights with movie producers and writers, and establish a Gender Dialogue with the `Nollywood’ sector in Nigeria. In order to further promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, there is a need for women’s rights organisations to adopt strategies that can target a mass base of the population if perceptions, behaviours and attitudes are to be influenced. This activity is a crucial component of AWDF’s Popular Culture Project, which is supported by the MDG3 Fund.

According to AWDF’s Executive Director, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi ‘The African Women in Film Forum will bring together a number of prominent African filmmakers, writers and creatives including Professor Abena Busia, Tsitsi Dangaremba and Akin Omotoso to start a gender dialogue on how we can reclaim popular culture to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment’.

ENDS

The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is a grant-making foundation which supports local, national and regional organizations in Africa working towards women’s empowerment. AWDF through institutional capacity building and program development seeks to build a culture of learning and partnerships within the African women’s movement.

The vision of AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which there is social justice, equality and respect for women’s human rights. To this end, our mission is to mobilize financial resources to support local, national and regional initiatives led by women, which will lead to the achievement of this vision.

Press Enquiries

Nana Sekyiamah – Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)

Tel: + 233 (0) 302 521257

Email: nana@africlub.net/awdf

Websites: www.africlub.net/awdf[/tp]

[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]Le Fonds Africain de Développement de la Femme (AWDF) en collaboration avec Lufodo Productions est la convocation d’une des femmes africaines dans le forum du film, le 16-Juin 17th 2010 à Lagos, au Nigeria.

Ce forum est organisé pour faciliter un dialogue sur les droits des femmes avec les producteurs et les auteurs de cinéma, et d’établir un dialogue entre les sexes avec le secteur `Nollywood” au Nigeria. Afin de promouvoir davantage l’égalité des sexes et l’autonomisation des femmes, il ya un besoin pour les organisations des droits des femmes à adopter des stratégies qui peuvent cibler une base de masse de la population si les perceptions, les comportements et les attitudes doivent être influencé. Cette activité est une composante essentielle du projet Culture Populaire de AWDF, qui est soutenu par le Fonds OMD3.

Selon le directeur exécutif de l’AWDF, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi «Les femmes africaines dans Film Forum rassemblera un certain nombre d’éminents africains cinéastes, écrivains et créateurs, dont le Professeur Abena Busia, Tsitsi Dangaremba et Akin Omotoso d’entamer un dialogue entre les sexes sur la façon dont nous pouvons récupérer la culture populaire pour promouvoir l’égalité des sexes et l’autonomisation des femmes ».

Le Fonds Africain de Développement de la Femme (AWDF) est une fondation d’octroi de subventions qui soutient des organisations locales, nationales et régionales en Afrique travaillent à l’autonomisation des femmes. AWDF à travers le renforcement des capacités institutionnelles et le développement de programme vise à construire une culture de l’apprentissage et des partenariats au sein du mouvement des femmes africaines.

La vision de AWDF est pour les femmes africaines de vivre dans un monde dans lequel il ya la justice sociale, l’égalité et le respect des droits humains des femmes. À cette fin, notre mission est de mobiliser des ressources financières pour soutenir les initiatives locales, nationales et régionales dirigées par des femmes, ce qui mènera à la réalisation de cette vision.

Questions presse

Nana Sekyiamah – Administrateur de programme (Levée de fonds et des communications)

Tel: + 233 (0) 302 521 257

Email: nana@africlub.net/awdf

Sites Web: www.africlub.net/awdf[/tp]

“Know Thyself”, a popular saying, is so real in my life. I have come to realise that lyrics of songs is my greatest source of inspiration. I have therefore programmed myself to listen to only good music every day.

I tuned into a radio station this morning and I heard an unfamiliar song but the lyric was so touching and real that I goggled the lyrics to get the words. The title of the song is “No charge”. It talks about a guy who sent a bill to his mum for all that he’s done and being doing that the mum never paid for. The mum turned the sheet and wrote on the paper all the things she’s done for the boy: from the nine months in her womb to the cost of his college fees that she never charged him anything, after reading, he was filled with so much tears and he told her of how much he loves and appreciate her effort.

Sunday 9^th May 2010 is Mothers day and as usual Children are having lots of plans for their mum. My question this year is “Do we appreciate our mother’s everyday or we wait till Mother’s day to show our love”? For some, it’s just about getting her a voucher for a shopping spree and it ends there, for others, it’s all about the fact that they have the money and so can even buy the world for their mums.

Every mother’s greatest pride is to see her child do something to make her proud so for most mothers, little things like their kids receiving prizes at school and getting promotions at work or their chosen field of endeavours make them proud and it has always been the case.

Even as we mark this year’s mother’s day, I wish we would go the extra mile of telling our mothers how much we appreciate their effort, not through a text message but if possible seeing them face to face to tell them how much they mean to us, that I believe will make them proud of us

They carried, nurtured and did everything we needed at no cost, so let’s give them our all not on mother’s day but as long as God gives us breath, for they deserve it.

Kudos to all mothers, No amount of money can be used to repay your efforts and for that reason you never and can never be able to charge us.

Love to you all

Mavis Gardiner

Finance Assistant

25-year-old Nana Abena Akrasi is the founder of Young Women Empowerment Initiative (YWEI) in Ghana. In her own words, ‘Young Women Empowerment Initiative runs projects that will enhance young women’s lives and address challenges young women face.’

One of these projects, ‘Young Single Mothers/The Soya Project’ was recently awarded ‘Best Project’, by the National Union of Ghanaian Students (NUGS). The project involved training 64 young single mothers between the ages of 15 and 29 in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana on the use of soya beans for commercial and domestic use. Participants also attended a workshop on establishing new businesses, managing and expanding existing businesses and identifying market opportunities.

Nana Abena decided to start working with single mothers when she visited the Brong Ahafo region in December 2006. She was struck by the high number of teenagers who are single mothers and are struggling to raise children without the support of the men with whom they had the children. As a result, Nana Abena initiated a ‘Young Single Mothers Club’ in Baabianiha, near Berekum in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana.

In order to provide members of the club with a source of income, YWEI decided to take advantage of a ‘Medium Term Agriculture Development Project’ initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture in conjunction with Women in Agriculture and started a Soya Project. Soya is normally produced only in the Northern part of Ghana so this project involved introducing a new crop to the community. YWEI partnered with a number of bodies to ensure the success of the project. This included the Municipal Assembly, the local Business Advisory Centre, and the local unit of the Department of Women. YWEI also successfully garnered corporate sponsorship from a national telecom company.

Key achievements of the project included:

• Training 64 single mothers in the cultivation and processing of soya beans within the Berekum, Jaman North and Dorma Districts of the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana
• Forming 3 strong single mothers groups which provides support and solidarity to its members
• Successfully introducing a new crop to the Brong Ahafo Region. As a result of the training a number of participants have started soya farms.

Apart from the ‘Young Single Mothers/The Soya Project’, YWEI has also commenced a ‘Ladies Empowerment Club’ at Zenith University in Ghana. Members of the club meet to discuss a range of issues, which are a challenge to women on the campus. It is the hope of YWEI that they will be able to establish Ladies Empowerment Clubs’ in a number of tertiary universities across the country.

AWDF is proud of the achievements of YWEI and the initiative, leadership and tenacity demonstrated by its Executive Director by Nana Abena Akrasi. Congratulations!

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) will be participating in the 54^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, USA, as well as several parallel events, February 27^th -8^th March, 2010.

On Monday 1st of March, 2010, AWDF will hold the New York launch of an exciting new publication ‘Voice, Power and Soul: Portraits of African Feminists” during the African Women’s Caucus. This event will take place between 2.00pm – 4.00pm on the 8^th floor of the Church Centre. A number of African feminists featured in the book will be present at the launch. AWDF will also be participating in the launch of the African Regional Shadow Report for Beijing + 15 which it has supported.

AWDF, as part of its commitment to promote learning and the sharing of experiences on a local, national and international level will be supporting the following national and regional partners to participate in this year’s CSW in New York:

• African Women’s Communication and Development Network (FEMNET)
• ABANTU for Development (Ghana)
• Federation of Women Lawyers (Ghana)
• Young Women’s Christian Association (Zimbabwe)
• Inter-African Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices (IAC)
• Nigeria Gender Budget Network (NGBN)
• Women’s Consortium of Nigeria
• Network for Women’s Rights (Ghana)

According to AWDF’s Executive Director, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, “Supporting African women’s rights organizations to participate in key international convening’s such as the CSW is critical to the work that we do at AWDF. It is important that the voices of African women are represented at all levels of policy and dialogue especially at this key juncture where women around the world are debating action and accountability around the Beijing Platform for Action”.

AWDF’s delegation to this year’s CSW includes Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi (Executive Director), Dr Hilda Tadria (Board Chair), Sarah Mukasa (Director of Programs), Roselyn Musa (Information and Documentation Officer) and Nana Sekyiamah (Communications Officer).

The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is a grant-making foundation which supports local, national and regional organizations in Africa working towards women’s empowerment. AWDF, through institutional capacity building and program development seeks to build a culture of learning and partnerships within the African women’s movement.

The vision of AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which there is social justice, equality and respect for women’s human rights. To this end, our mission is to mobilize financial resources to support local, national and regional initiatives led by women, which will lead to the achievement of this vision. Since its establishment in 2000, AWDF has funded over 1,000 women’s groups in 46 African countries.

Press Enquiries

Nana Sekyiamah – Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)

Tel: + 233 21 521257

Fax: +233 21 521257

Email: nana@africlub.net/awdf

Websites: www.africlub.net/awdf[/tp]

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]Le Fonds Africain de Développement de la Femme (AWDF) participera à la 54ème session de la Commission sur la condition de la femme à New York, Etats-Unis, ainsi que plusieurs événements parallèles, le 27 Février -8th Mars 2010.

Le lundi 1er of Mars 2010, AWDF tiendra le lancement à New York d’une nouvelle publication passionnante Voice, Power and Soul: Portraits des féministes africaines »pendant le Caucus des femmes africaines. Cet événement aura lieu entre 14h00-16h00 au 8e étage du Centre Eglise. Un certain nombre de féministes africaines figurant dans le livre sera présent lors du lancement. AWDF participera également au lancement du rapport alternatif régional africain de Beijing + 15, qui a pris en charge.

AWDF, dans le cadre de son engagement à promouvoir l’apprentissage et le partage d’expériences au niveau local, national et international sera de soutenir les partenaires nationaux et régionaux suivants à participer à la CSW de cette année à New York:

• Africaine Communication et le Développement Réseau des femmes (FEMNET)
• ABANTU pour le développement (Ghana)
• Fédération des femmes juristes (Ghana)
• Association chrétienne des jeunes femmes (Zimbabwe)
• Comité inter-africain sur les pratiques traditionnelles néfastes (IAC)
• Nigéria Sexe Réseau Budget (NGBN)
• Consortium des femmes du Nigeria
• Réseau pour les droits des femmes (Ghana)

Selon directeur exécutif de AWDF, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, “Soutenir les organisations de femmes africaines de l’homme à participer à est essentiel pour le travail que nous faisons à AWDF clé de convocation internationale comme la CSW. Il est important que les voix des femmes africaines sont représentées à tous les niveaux de la politique et le dialogue en particulier à ce moment clé où les femmes du monde entier débattent action et la responsabilité autour de la plate-forme d’action de Beijing “.

La délégation de AWDF à la CSW de cette année comprend Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi (directeur exécutif), le Dr Hilda Tadria (président du conseil), Sarah Mukasa (directeur des programmes), Roselyn Musa (et de la direction de documentation et d’information) et Nana Sekyiamah (Agente des communications).

Le Fonds Africain de Développement de la Femme (AWDF) est une fondation d’octroi de subventions qui soutient des organisations locales, nationales et régionales en Afrique travaillent à l’autonomisation des femmes. AWDF, à travers le renforcement des capacités institutionnelles et le développement de programme vise à construire une culture de l’apprentissage et des partenariats au sein du mouvement des femmes africaines.

La vision de AWDF est pour les femmes africaines de vivre dans un monde dans lequel il ya la justice sociale, l’égalité et le respect des droits humains des femmes. À cette fin, notre mission est de mobiliser des ressources financières pour soutenir les initiatives locales, nationales et régionales dirigées par des femmes, ce qui mènera à la réalisation de cette vision. Depuis sa création en 2000, AWDF a financé plus de 1000 groupes de femmes dans 46 pays africains.

Demandes de la presse

Nana Sekyiamah – Administrateur de programme (Levée de fonds et des communications)

Tel: + 233 21 521257

Fax: +233 21 521257

Email: nana@africlub.net/awdf

Sites Web: www.africlub.net/awdf

PRESS RELEASE

16 February 2010

A Black Day in the History of Justice in Egypt

Justice in Egypt received a blow to its essence when the general assembly refused to allow judges of the State Council (Administrative Courts) the option to appoint women to judiciary positions. 380 members participated in the vote. 334 members refused the option to appoint women while 43 agreed to allow women in these positions and 4 members abstained from voting. This decision is contradictory with the principles of justice and law. Because of abstract and general legal norms, the law should not be applied differently based on one’s gender, color, or race. Article 40 of the Constitution emphasizes this and states “All citizens are equal before the law. They have equal public rights and duties without discrimination between them due to race, ethnic origin, language, religion or creed.” This decision is contradictory to principles of citizenship, which is stated in the first article of the Constitution, “The Arab Republic of Egypt is a democratic state based on citizenship. The Egyptian people are part of the Arab nation and work for the realization of its comprehensive unity” as well as to Article 3 of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant.”

ECWR views that this discussion and consequent decision is humiliating for both men and women. The discussion expresses a double standard within judicial appointment and puts shadows of doubts on the applied measures of justice in the State Council. ECWR is fearful of such double standards when the law is applied and do not trust such rulings.

ECWR wonders how the judges who refused women’s appointments will respond or make judgments to those women who come with cases seeking justice and equality in order to obtain positions in other governmental bodies. In a time that judges are calling for independence of the judicial system according to the Egyptian Constitution and international conventions they insist to make discrimination against women despite these documents.

ECWR sees that pretending women have failed in the judiciary or are not suitable for such positions based on women’s role in society is a real step back because they did not evaluate them based on the a criteria that measures their qualifications, experience, and expertise. Furthermore, there is an absence of an objective base of evaluation, as they did not invite women to participate in the discussion with regards to this decision and concerning what positions are suitable for women. In particular, there are a lot of highly qualified graduates from the faculty of law, who have been interested in participating in the judicial system since the middle of the 20th century and understand well the circumstances of work. ECWR strongly condemns the attitude of certain judges who regard themselves as the only rightful guardians of justice, in spite of the fatwa issued by Dr. Ali Gomaa, the religious ‘mufti,’ that stated women can be appointed to the position of judge or president.

ECWR demands:

– From all governmental bodies, NGOs, educated people, and the whole of civil society to come together in order to confront this decision that denies the appointment of women.

– Opportunities for law school graduates and lawyers to be appointed as judges based on a criterion that does not discriminate between men and women.

– That we quickly act to enact a law that prevents discrimination so Egyptians may begin to believe that the government treats its citizens on the basis of their citizenship principles and qualifications.

Women’s appointment as judges is an important step on the road to true justice!

Nehad Aboul Komsan

ECWR’s Chair

The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights

135 Misr-Helwan El Zeraay

2nd Floor, Suite 3

Hadayek El Maadi, Cairo, Egypt

Tel: (20) 2.2527.1397 / 2528.2176

Fax: (20) 2.2528.2175

Email: ecwr@ecwronline.org

www.ecwronline.org

http://www.fourliteracies.com/

NGO in Special Consultative Staus with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

Over the past two decades there have been conscious global efforts to promote women’s participation in politics. Some of these efforts include the Beijing Conference held in 1995 with the main agenda being women’s empowerment. The international community has also underscored the importance of women assuming positions of power and influence, not only because their points of view and talents are needed, but also as a matter of respecting their human rights.

In many African countries women are still considered as second class citizens and have been relegated to the background. The situation in some communities is worsened by entrenched traditional practices which do not allow women the right to be part of decision-making on issues affecting them in their communities. Irrespective of the emerging changes on the political landscape of women’s active involvement in political activity, politics continues to be male dominated and women face many socio cultural and economic challenges which prevent them from entring political offices.

For this reason the West African Civil Society Institute and the Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN – Africa) organized the 2^nd Women’s Policy Forum. The theme for the second forum was “Our Politics is NOW: Moving Beyond the Rhetoric of Women’s Political Participation”. The gathering brought together 40 women’s civil society groups (women’s groups and networks), government, intergovernmental organisations, academia, ECOWAS gender machineries, and development agencies. Three donor organizations namely the African Women’s Development Fund, the Urgent Action Fund-Kenya and Daphne Foundation were also represented. The aim of the forum was to examine and develop strategies to enhance women’s visibility, involvement and candidacy in upcoming electoral processes across West Africa, to identify potential entry points for women’s political participation in politics and to learn from the experiences of countries that have successfully increased women’s participation in politics. Coming just before the review of Beijing +15, where African governments will evaluate progress made in implementing the Beijing Platform of Action, the need for this forum couldn’t be overemphasized. It actually provided a safe space for women to critically assess progress made and identify gaps in women’s participation in politics. In line with its values and principles, AWDF awarded a grant of US$30,000 towards organizing this forum. During the meeting, AWDF made a presentation on accessing financial support for women’s political participation. The under-representation of women in the political landscape is closely linked with economic difficulties. Funding continues to be a challenge for women’s political participation and the session also highlighted the fact that irrespective of the many challenges around access to financial resources, new fundraising initiatives and opportunities have been created and they are in addition to the existing UN institutions, in the form of women’s funds which have been established across the world to raise funds for women’s rights activities. Women’s funds are committed to funding women’s work at local, national and international levels.

It is a unanimous opinion that many women have competent skills and resources guaranteeing their self-reliance but do not engage in political activities. Attracting self-reliant women to politics therefore must be one of the goals of the women’s empowerment process. On the other hand, adequate strategies must be developed to move women in lower echelons of leadership to higher levels and to help those already in leadership position maintain their positions and be able to influence decisions and policies and make meaningful changes. The timing of this a forum is critical as between 2010 and 2012 many countries like Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone will be holding general elections. This was therefore an opportunity for many politicians and civil society networks to strategize around enhancing women’s active participation in the political circle.

Amongst strategies proposed by the forum to promote the process of women’s political empowerment were collective strategies of research on existing regional and legal instruments to end gender discrimination through legislation, government policy, development policy, documentation of elections models and experiences, capacity building and resource mobilization training.

As key regional organisations, WACSI and WIPSEN Africa form key strategic partners in the realization of women’s active political participation. It is therefore important that organisation’s such as AWDF take keen interest in the management and direction of these organizations to support them to play their role as strategic partner in the quest for enhancing women’s political participation. Personally I think women in leadership positions must also devise means of sustaining their collaboration with women’s organizations, activists and the media to concretely address women-specific concerns, without breaching loyalty to their respective political platforms.

Rissi Assani-Alabi

Francophone Programme Officer

AWDF