Category: grantees

The WSC was established in 1989 by a group of feminists in Palestine and works on various programs to empower women and build women’s capacities for the purpose of determining and standing up for their rights. With the Leading from the South grant, the organisation will support youth-focused community-based advocacy activities to fight violence against women and girls including training university students to lead the campaign and training political parties to promote peace and respect for women.

The A Project was established in 2014 to address the gaps in advocacy for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy and works toward a society where sexual and reproductive justice and mental health of women, girls, and trans* folk are reclaimed, cared for, respected, recognised in their diversities, and not used against them. With the Leading from the South grant, the organisation will help change social norms that inhibit the enjoyment of women’s rights by creating awareness around women’s right to their bodily integrity through the production and dissemination of knowledge products on violence against women and girls that will help deepen the conversation and bring about change.

RIFONGA-Benin was founded in 1997 to push for the promotion of democracy, the reduction of poverty and increased political representation of women in decision-making spaces in Benin. With the Leading from the South grant, the organisation will promote the Beninese law on the prevention of violence against women by engaging the general public in 3 communities, engaging those responsible for the implementation of the law to put measures in place for its effective application

ONG ALAFIA is a national organisation established in 1997 by a group of women concerned about the appalling living conditions of women in Togo. The organisation was formed to advocate for, and promote the rights of women, widows, and young girls. The organisation was awarded a renewal grant to monitor the effective implementation of the declaration made by Chiefs and traditional rulers in Dankpen to end inimical widowhood practices. The project will work with chiefs and also intensify education within the communities to attain the social norm change necessary for the community to adapt this change in behaviour

Mosaic was founded in 1993 to prevent and reduce abuse and violence against women by providing services for women to claim their rights, access healing and various opportunities to participate fully in society. With the Leading from the South grant, the organisation will push for the effective implementation of the protective order process in South Africa by training representatives of the police, the Ministries of Interior and Defence, magistrates, court clerks and other court officials as well as other NGOs and women’s groups on the laws and policies affecting protective orders.

The Gender Centre was formed by a group of women human rights activists who, in the period after the Vienna Conference on Human Rights and processes leading up to the Beijing Conference, found a gap in the availability of data to support assertions about women’s human rights issues. Gender Centre was therefore established to undertake research on gender issues, provide data for effective lobbying and policy advocacy. With the Leading from the South grant, the organisation will reduce the incidence of violence against women and girls by advocating for increased allocation of resources to the DOVVSU to ensure effective implementation of the law leading to an improved response to victims.

The EWF/SAYWHAT South Western Region Coalition is made up of three Zimbabwean organisations and led by the Emthonjeni Women’s Forum. The coalition was formed to address sexual harassment in tertiary institutions and workplaces and to address violence against women and girls and women’s rights. With the Leading from the South grant, the coalition will engage women’s groups within various labour movements and student representative councils to advocate for policies to protect women and young women from sexual harassment and protect employees and students who report cases of abuse.

Emang Basadi Association (EBA) was started in 1986 by a group of concerned citizens (mainly women) who felt that issues of women and gender were not adequately reflected on the development agenda in Botswana. The organisation’s mission is to raise awareness through lobbying, advocacy and capacity building and provide legal aid and counselling services for the empowerment of women. EBA was awarded a renewal grant to be used as core grant. Part of the funding would also be used to consolidate the results achieved in the first phase of the project including popularising the findings of the research report on the representation of women in politics in Botswana, creation of a platform for women politicians from all political parties and advocating for a greater involvement of women in politics and governance.

Education as a Vaccine (EVA) was founded in 2000 to equip young people with the information and skills to tackle the AIDS epidemic when formative research revealed that a majority of young people lacked the basic life skills necessary to prevent the HIV infection. With the Leading from the South grant, the organisation will advocate for measures to ensure the safety and security of women in tertiary institutions and advocate for the review and implementation of sexual harassment policies, protocols and programmes at the University of Ibadan and the University of Abuja.

CBDF was formed by organisations that promote human rights and women’s rights in particular. From 1998 to 2002, 15 organisations implemented a project on the rights and citizenship of women in French-speaking Africa with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). At the end of the project, these organisations decided to form a coalition to consolidate their achievements under the project. Under the Leading from the South project, the organisation will use the grant to carry out a countrywide advocacy campaign with sensitisation meetings for decision makers, religious leaders and community members to increase the women’s participation in decision making processes to 30% as prescribed by law.